A Love Affair with Southern Cooking (11 page)

2 tablespoons butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1 small celery rib, trimmed and finely chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups (1 quart) milk

1 cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

½ pound lump or backfin crabmeat, bits of shell and cartilage removed

½ cup crab roe or 2 large hard-cooked egg yolks, coarsely sieved or crumbled (see Note above)

2 tablespoons Amontillado sherry, or to taste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1.
  Melt the butter in a medium-size, heavy, nonreactive saucepan over moderate heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until soft but not brown.
  
• 2.
  Add the flour and stir until the vegetables are evenly coated. Gradually mix in the milk, cream, salt, and pepper. Bring just to a boil, stirring constantly, then adjust the heat so the mixture barely simmers and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  
• 3.
  Add the crabmeat, roe (if using hard-cooked yolks, add to the bowls just before serving), sherry, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until the flavors meld, stirring as little as possible. Taste for sherry, salt, and pepper and adjust as needed.
  
• 4.
  Divide the soup among four heated soup bowls (top with hard-cooked yolks, if using) and serve.
  

CHESAPEAKE CRAB CHOWDER

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

A most unusual soup that begins with slow-simmering veal bones, onions, celery, potatoes, carrots, and bell pepper and ends with a last-minute addition of snowy lumps of crabmeat. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve forgotten the name of the funky little café in the Fell’s Point section of Baltimore where I enjoyed this soup more than twenty-five years ago; perhaps it no longer exists. But I have not forgotten the soup I ordered there one blustery day. This is my approximation of it. Note:
Because this soup must chill overnight, begin it the day before you intend to serve it.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter

2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped

3 medium celery ribs, coarsely chopped (include a few leaves)

2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped

1 large whole bay leaf

½ teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne), or to taste

1 pound veal or beef knuckle bones

4 medium redskin potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice

3½ cups beef stock or broth

3 cups water

¹
/
₃
cup medium pearl barley

One 15-or 16-ounce can crushed tomatoes with their liquid

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell and cartilage

¼ cup freshly chopped parsley

• 1.
  Melt the butter in a large, heavy kettle over moderate heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and bell pepper and cook, stirring now and then, for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the bay leaf, thyme, and black and cayenne pepper, and cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
  
• 2.
  Add the veal knuckle bones and potatoes, and cook and stir for 3 minutes. Pour in the beef stock and 2 cups of the water. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so that the liquid barely bubbles, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
  
• 3.
  Add the barley and the remaining 1 cup water, cover, and simmer 2 hours more or until the flavors mellow and marry.
  
• 4.
  Discard the bones and bay leaf, then mix in the tomatoes and salt. Cool the soup to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
  
• 5.
  When ready to proceed, skim off any fat that has congealed on top of the soup. Set the soup over low heat and as soon as it steams, add the crabmeat and parsley. Heat for 3 to 5 minutes only, stirring as little as possible so that the lumps of crabmeat remain intact. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
  
• 6.
  Ladle into heated soup bowls and serve as the main course of a casual lunch or supper.
  

SHRIMP SOUP

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

In the South Carolina Lowcountry, where this soup has been popular since plantation days, cooks insist that it cannot be made without the tiny local “crick” shrimp. It can, of course, but soup made with brinier ocean shrimp will never have the same sweet delicacy. Note:
This recipe calls for finely ground cooked shrimp—a snap with a food processor. Ten quick pulses should do the job. You can also processor-chop the onion and celery in tandem before you “grind” the shrimp.

3 tablespoons butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1 small celery rib, trimmed and finely chopped

12 ounces shelled and deveined cooked shrimp (preferably Lowcountry creek shrimp), finely ground (see Note on Chapter 2)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

3½ cups milk

½ cup milk blended with 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (slurry)

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons Amontillado sherry or medium-dry Madeira (Sercial), or to taste

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

• 1.
  Melt the butter in a large, heavy nonreactive pan over low heat, mix in the onion and celery, then cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until very soft.
  
• 2.
  Add the shrimp and pepper, stir well, then cook uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the milk, then while stirring vigorously, add the slurry in a slow, steady stream. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly thickened.
  
• 3.
  Mix in the cream, reduce the heat to its lowest point, and cook uncovered, stirring now and then, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the flavors meld. If necessary to keep the soup from boiling, slide a diffuser underneath the pan; if the soup should boil, it may curdle. Season to taste with sherry and salt, then heat 2 to 3 minutes more.
  
• 4.
  Ladle into large heated soup bowls and serve.
  Note:
  I also like this soup well chilled.
  

LITTLE BAY OYSTER STEW

MAKES
4
TO
6
SERVINGS

One summer at our cottage on an inlet of Chesapeake Bay I made a deadly (well, almost) discovery. I was allergic to oysters. Here we were in the land of Chincoteagues and I couldn’t touch them. Old Farmer Johnson, the caretaker for our little cottage, taught my mother the Virginia way to make oyster stew. Everyone says it’s delicious.

1 pint freshly shucked oysters, drained and their liquor reserved

Oyster liquor plus enough cold water to total 1 cup

4 cups (1 quart) milk or 2 cups each milk and half-and-half

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, cut into pats

¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1 cup coarsely crushed soda crackers

• 1.
  Place the oysters and the oyster liquor mixture in a large, heavy, nonreactive saucepan, set over low heat, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or just until the oyster skirts ruffle.
  
• 2.
  Add the milk, butter, salt, and pepper and without stirring, slowly bring to a simmer. Do not allow the stew to boil or it will curdle. Add the crackers, again without stirring, set the pan at the back of the stove—off direct heat—and let the stew stand uncovered for 20 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
  
• 3.
  Ladle the oyster stew into heated soup plates and serve at the start of a full-course dinner or as the main course of a light lunch or supper.
  

HATTERAS CLAM CHOWDER

MAKES
6
TO
8
SERVINGS

Every state within the sound of the surf has a clam chowder, and this one, plumped with potatoes, carrots, and celery, belongs to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It’s a good basic chowder—an easy one, too. Some Banker cooks use a half-and-half mix of oysters and clams in their chowders, but I prefer this one. Note:
If you’re unable to buy shucked clams, my Chapel Hill fishmonger, Tom Robinson, suggests that you buy clams in the shell and freeze them; this makes them easier to shuck. You may also get a little more clam juice. Robinson, who makes mid-weekly trips to the coast with his refrigerated truck, is open only at week’s end, ensuring that his seafood is fresh, fresh, fresh.

1 pint shucked clams, drained and liquid reserved (about 4 dozen clams)

4 ounces salt pork, finely diced

1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 large celery ribs, trimmed and moderately finely diced

4 small carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, then each half cut into ¼-inch slices

3 medium red-skin potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice (about 1¼ pounds)

Reserved clam liquid plus enough bottled clam juice (about 2½ cups) to total 3 cups

2 cups water

2 large whole bay leaves, preferably fresh

¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce, or to taste

• 1.
  Pick over the clams, discarding any bits of shell. Coarsely chop the clams and reserve.
  
• 2.
  Brown the salt pork lightly in a large, deep, heavy saucepan over moderate heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until most of the fat renders out and only crisp brown bits remain. Scoop the browned bits to paper toweling and reserve.
  
• 3.
  Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the drippings and sauté, stirring often, over moderate heat for 5 to 8 minutes or until limp and golden.
  
• 4.
  Add the potatoes, clam liquid, water, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and hot red pepper sauce. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture barely bubbles and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
  
• 5.
  Add the reserved salt pork, the clams and any accumulated juices, and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes or just until the clams are done; do not boil or you will toughen them. Taste the chowder for salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce and adjust as needed. Also remove and discard the bay leaves.
  
• 6.
  Ladle the chowder into heated soup bowls and serve with crackers or Hush Puppies.