Southern Cooking!

[freebird]

lol Seriously is the same for diners. Gotta see lots of trucks in the parking lot. What r we going to do if all the trucks disappear. We will starve. lol

I don't think too many in Oklahoma or Texas will give up their trucks lol. Seems as if they think there's an addition to the second ammendment that allows them the right to bear arms and the right to drive trucks. Not complaining, I'm one of them. lol

 

[Boxerken]

It's got Hot Rize!

Been a few years since I heard that. Thanks Alan

 

[Foofoogal]

fftopic: do you think with prices going up more people will be going back to the home cookin?
I have to have home food. I get unhappy if I have to eat out much?

 

[freebird]

fftopic: do you think with prices going up more people will be going back to the home cookin?
I have to have home food. I get unhappy if I have to eat out much?

fftopic:

IMHO yes. I've noticed an increase of truck gardens in this area. People getting away from buying veggies (can you believe the price of tomato's?!)when they can grow their own for a fraction of the price, and not have to worry about food borne diseases.

We hadn't planted tomato's in 20 years, but did plant a few this year, and I'm sure will plant more next, if things do not change. We've been buying farm fresh eggs and planning on buying fresh milk from a local dairy (straight from the cow).

 

[DeaconKC]

Glad to see there's some folks that know sugar goes in the iced tea and not the corn bread around here! While it's still warm crumble some up in a bowl and pour milk over it!

 

[Foofoogal]

While it's still warm crumble some up in a bowl and pour milk over it!
__________________

This was my dads favorite dessert next to strawberry shortcake.
He also loved chocolate cake with red beans. No kidding.
It was also standard for my mom to make pork chops and red eye gravy. She of course made homemade biscuits to go with it. She made homemade rolls every day of my childhood.

 

[KittyT]

Scotrace, your biscuit recipe is fantastic! I made it last night, but had to use butter because I forgot to get shortening. I also discovered that my buttermilk had gone bad, so used 2%. I can't imagine how good these will be made with shortening and buttermilk. I may also try using powdered buttermilk and soda water, as that's supposed to make them really light and fluffy!

My sausage gravy totally sucked though. Everyone tells me it's easy but I'm going to call them liars. lol

 

[scotrace]

Yay! Glad you liked. I've never tried it with buttermilk, so let me know how that goes. I use whole milk.

 

[rumblefish]

Here is how my South Carolinian Grandmother cooked collards. It is now my recipe.





AF

Thanks, AF.
Sounds good, this is what I was looking for.

 

[Helysoune]

I'm one of the "throw stuff in as you go" cooks, but I'll see what I can come up with.

I grow my own collards, yes, even up here in PA, and I don't take them until mid-Novemeber. When I do them, I bake a ham and, after cleaning and trimming the greens, I just cook them right in the big roaster pan in the oven. I baste my ham with a rather complicated mix of molasses and honey and some spices, and that just makes the greens positively delicious. Add in a pinch or two of cayenne to the roaster and maybe a drizzle of hot sauce on the plate - fabulous! I am going to give them a whirl with the cabbage, though, because that sounds interesting.

Oh, gravy. When I make sausage gravy for biscuits, I cook up the sausage (regular Jimmy Dean or something works fine, though I take the kind the local butcher makes if I can get it) in a pot and just sprinkle the flour over the meat and drippings, a little at a time. Stir that in with a wooden spoon, then grab a whisk when you're ready to pour in the milk. I've never had lumpy gravy yet. Season it up to your liking with salt, pepper and garlic and onion powders, and you've got one heckuva breakfast. I use the same method to make gravy when I fry chicken, too, but take out a lot of the fry oil.

I've got my aunt's recipe for red cake at home, and it's the best in the world, I swear. I'll pass it along later, plus I know I've got more things that I just need to think of. I LOVE Southern food.

 

[KittyT]

Oh, gravy. When I make sausage gravy for biscuits, I cook up the sausage (regular Jimmy Dean or something works fine, though I take the kind the local butcher makes if I can get it) in a pot and just sprinkle the flour over the meat and drippings, a little at a time. Stir that in with a wooden spoon, then grab a whisk when you're ready to pour in the milk. I've never had lumpy gravy yet. Season it up to your liking with salt, pepper and garlic and onion powders, and you've got one heckuva breakfast. I use the same method to make gravy when I fry chicken, too, but take out a lot of the fry oil.

I used an entire package of Jimmy Dean to get enough grease. I started with a small amount and was left with very little grease in the bottom of my cast iron skillet when I was done. My mom told me to make sure that the flour was well-browned, or else the gravy would taste flour-y, and I did this, but it still tasted floury. I think my problem is that I used too much flour and maybe not enough milk. I know it's not an exact science and that I'll just have to try it again.

I'm trying to come up with a great meal to make tomorrow for a certain Southern fella, and have found a ton of great looking recipes at http://www.cookinglouisiana.com. The only problem is that I don't want to try a recipe for the first time when I'm having a guest (what if I screw up???) and I'm not comfortable trying something like tenderloin or brisket that I've never made before. I would love a great, basic chicken recipe of some sort that I can serve with greens and mashed potatoes or biscuits.

 

[rumblefish]

I grow my own collards, yes, even up here in PA, and I don't take them until mid-Novemeber.

Interesting.
I pick mine all year long, and the bitterness doesn't really bother me. Maybe because it's a younger leaf? Or maybe the variety I'm growing isn't authentic-southern...the type I grow are Vates Collards. They are noticeably sweeter after a frost, same with the kale. But to me, and my children for that matter, they're reeeeeaaaal good right now.

I like the sound of your recipe too. Thanks!

 

[JupitersDarling]

I was taught cooking mostly by my yankee-transplant mother's family, but I grew up on my dad's family's Southern dishes, so I've had to experiment to get similar results. I'll certainly be trying out the chocolate gravy and red velvet cake ideas from this thread!

To get biscuits to rise high, one of the things that sometimes works for me is layering. I gently roll out the dough once to 1" thickness or so, cut in half, put one half over the other, roll out again, repeat once or twice, and cut out the rounds. Nothing better than a hot biscuit with honey (or molasses) & butter!

Glad to see there's some folks that know sugar goes in the iced tea and not the corn bread around here! While it's still warm crumble some up in a bowl and pour milk over it!

Oh yeah! I missed real cornbread soo badly the 4 years I was in eastern Massachusetts for college. The sweet stuff served there has no business sharing the term "cornbread," as it's more suitable for a dessert than a meal. (yep, I include Jiffy mix in the "not real southern cornbread" camp. Entirely too sweet!)

 

[hotrodmama0201]

I've been making this baked mac-n-cheese for years, it's never let me down!


Kosher salt
2 cups elbow macaroni
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated sharp cheddar (recommended: Cracker Barrel)
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup bread crumbs or panko
Additional paprika

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally until it is al-dente, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed, beat the eggs with the milk, 1/4 cup melted butter, the cayenne pepper and paprika, and the teaspoon of salt. Gradually add the cream cheese until smooth.

Put half the macaroni into a casserole sprayed lightly with cooking spray and top with half the cheddar cheese. Repeat. Pour the milk mixture over the macaroni and cheese.

In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs with some additonal paprika and the remaining butter. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the macaroni and bake until the top is crispy and it's bubbling, about 45 minutes. Wait 20 min before serving.

 

[KittyT]

Thanks for the recipe! I love homemade mac and cheese and always figured that using gouda was the trick to getting it creamy. Mixing gouda and cheddar has always worked well for me.

 

[RedPop4]

I'm from New Orleans, which is located near the southern coast of the United States, but isn't really "the South." We're more the northernmost city of the Caribbean, than "the South" although we go through the South whenever we leave.

To clarify an earlier post, there are TWO styles of Louisiana cooking, the Cajun (Acadian) as was mentioned. The Cajuns will cook and eat anything that doesn't eat them first. They do a fair bit of slow cooking UNDER heat, in an invention something like a caja china or Chinese Box that the Cubans use to cook pig. Same here.

Then there's the Creole style, which is based here in New Orleans and is a melding of classical French cooking with time-honored sauces (Hollandaise, Bernaise, and other things) with local ingredients (shell fish, fish, rice) and African influences including beans, okra (gumbo is derived from an African word "quingonbo" which means okra,) Creole tomatoes, etc.

A good example of the difference is the dish jambalaya. It's roots are varied, it's similar to a paella. "Country" style jambalaya is more Cajun with andouille, chicken, sausage, and maybe some shrimp. It's a brown jambalaya. "City" or "River Road" style, named for the plantations and other more refined styles along the Mississippi River which had contact with New Orleans and the world, the jambalaya is red, with tomatoes or tomato sauce, more shrimp.

Personally, I prefer the brown to the red, but there we are.

As for biscuits, one day I'll learn to make them from scratch. I use Pioneer Biscuit and Pancake Mix to make mine, as well as pancakes and biscuits. Since we don't drink buttermilk, we use the Lactaid I have to buy for my older son, but I add in a handful or so of grated cheddar.

 

[hotrodmama0201]

Thanks for the recipe! I love homemade mac and cheese and always figured that using gouda was the trick to getting it creamy. Mixing gouda and cheddar has always worked well for me.

Ooh, wow! I've never tried that. I think I'm gonna have to give it a shot!

 

[KittyT]

I made fried green tomatoes last night. They were divine. I've discovered that the trick is to let them sit for awhile at room temperature before frying and to make sure the grease (bacon preferably) is plenty hot when you put them in. I've also discovered that if I use a fork to turn them rather than a spatula, more of the breading stays on.

 

[KittyT]

To clarify an earlier post, there are TWO styles of Louisiana cooking,

Thanks for the information! There are some interesting articles on Wikipedia, actually, about the difference between Cajun and Creole cooking.

Do you have a good jambalaya recipe you can post here?

 

[dahliaoleander]

The recipe from "Baking With Julia" is THE ONE. They are perfect. I'll post it later when I get home.

I'd like to see that recipe as well. I miss Julia. Used to ee her every time she was on as a child.