A Love Affair with Southern Cooking (35 page)

GREEN BEANS WITH BROWNED BUTTER AND PECANS

MAKES
4
SERVINGS

Fairly new as southern recipes go, this one’s more popular with the younger generation than the boiled-to-death beans of their grandmother’s day. Because they cook quickly in a minimum of water, these beans retain most of their nutrients. They complement every kind of red meat, also fish and fowl. Note:
It may take half an hour for the butter to brown, so begin there. If you try to rush things by revving up the burner heat, you’ll burn the butter in no time.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter

1 cup water mixed with 1 teaspoon salt

1 pound tender young green beans, tipped and snapped in two if large

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

½ cup lightly toasted coarsely chopped pecans (8 to 10 minutes in a 350° F. oven)

• 1.
  Place the butter in a small, heavy saucepan and set over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, swirling the pan often, until a rich topaz brown (see Note above).
  
• 2.
  Meanwhile, bring the salted water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan over moderately high heat. Add the beans and return to the boil. Adjust the heat so the water ripples gently, cover, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or just until the beans are crisp-tender. Watch carefully and if the beans threaten to boil dry, add a bit more water.
  
• 3.
  When the beans are done, drain well, return to the pan, add the pepper, and shake over moderate heat to drive off excess moisture. Add the nuts and browned butter, toss well, and heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
  
• 4.
  Transfer to a heated vegetable dish and serve.
  

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH SMOKED HAM HOCK

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

On New Year’s Day, Southerners feast upon black-eyed peas (for good luck), collard greens (for prosperity), and hog jowl or other cut of pork (for robust health). It’s an old and convivial custom. Being the daughter of Midwesterners, I joined the festivities only after I was allowed to drive the family car. I’d meet friends at the Sir Walter Hotel in downtown Raleigh for the ritual New Year’s meal. It may not have improved my health, luck, or fortune, but it did make me feel truly southern. It still does. Note:
Now that hog jowl is hard to come by, many Southerners substitute fatback or side meat. Others prefer a ham hock because of the smokiness it imparts.

One 16-ounce bag dried black-eyed peas, washed and sorted but not soaked

One 10-to 12-ounce smoked ham hock

6 cups cold water (about)

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1.
  Place the black-eyed peas and ham hock in a large, heavy saucepan, then add just enough cold water to cover by 1½ inches. Stir in the salt and pepper, set over moderately high heat, and bring to a boil.
  
• 2.
  Adjust the heat so that the water bubbles gently, set the pan lid on askew (to minimize “boilovers”), and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 45 minutes or until the beans are soft, almost all the water has boiled away, and the mixture has a porridge-y consistency.
  Note:
  If at any point the beans threaten to boil dry as they cook, add a little additional cold water.
  
• 3.
  Drain off any excess cooking water (there should be little, if any), then remove the ham hock, strip off the meat (there won’t be much), and cut into small pieces. Stir the meat back into the black-eyed peas.
  
• 4.
  Serve hot with roast pork, Classic Collards, and corn bread fresh from the oven.
  

LITTLE HAVANA BLACK BEANS AND RICE

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

Some years ago a Columbia J-School classmate who was working in Miami took me to “Little Havana,” the city’s Cuban quarter, and to an authentic restaurant there. We ordered everything from fried plantains to
menudo
(tripe) to Cuban bread to black beans prepared this way. Florida cooking has always had a Spanish accent, first because Spaniards discovered and colonized it, second because waves of Cubans arrived—originally to Tampa in 1886 to make cigars, then to Miami in a massive mid-twentieth-century migration to escape the Castro regime.

1 pound dried black beans, washed and sorted

6 cups water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

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

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

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 large whole bay leaf, preferably fresh

1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, crumbled

½ teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1½ teaspoons salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or to taste, crushed

2½ cups converted rice, cooked by package directions

• 1.
  Place the beans in a large, heavy kettle, add just enough cold water to cover them by 1 inch, and soak overnight.
  
• 2.
  Next day, drain the beans well, rinse, and return to the kettle. Add the 6 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat until the water bubbles gently and cook uncovered for 1 to 1½ hours until the beans
  are tender. If the mixture seems “soupy,” scoop up 1 cup of the beans, mash, and return to the kettle. Keep the beans warm over lowest heat while you proceed with the recipe.
  
• 3.
  Pour the oil into a large, heavy skillet and set over moderately high heat for 2 minutes or until ripples appear on the pan bottom. Add the onion, bell peppers, garlic, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, cumin, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes, and sauté, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until limp and golden.
  
• 4.
  Stir the skillet mixture into the beans, cover, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes or just until the flavors marry. Discard the bay leaf. Taste for salt and red pepper and adjust as needed.
  
• 5.
  To serve, divide the rice among six heated dinner plates and ladle the beans on top.
  

I viewed with pleasure this gentleman’s exemplary improvements in agriculture; particularly in the growth of rice, and in his machines for shelling that valuable grain…

—
WILLIAM BARTRAM
,
TRAVELS OF WILLIAM BARTRAM
,
ON A VISIT IN
1773
TO THE HONORABLE H
.
ANDREWS
,
ESQUIRE
,
OF CHARLESTON
,
SOUTH CAROLINA

BARBECUED BEANS

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

You might call these the southern “Boston-Baked.” Many barbecue joints offer them as a side for pulled pork or ribs. But I like them as a main course with hefty helpings of sweet slaw. Note:
An old-fashioned bean pot is best for baking the beans, but if you have none, choose a deep casserole with a snugly fitting lid.
Like many casseroles, these beans will be more flavorful if baked one day and served the next. Take them from the fridge and let stand at room temperature for half an hour, then reheat by setting in a 350° F. oven for about 30 minutes.

1 pound dried navy or pea beans, washed and sorted

2 large yellow onions, moderately finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons bacon, ham, or pork drippings

¾ cup tomato ketchup

½ cup cider vinegar

¹
/
₃
cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons prepared spicy brown mustard

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne)

5 cups boiling water (about)

• 1.
  Place the beans in a large, heavy kettle, add just enough cold water to cover them by 1 inch, and soak overnight.
  
• 2.
  When ready to proceed, preheat the oven to 350° F. Drain the beans well, rinse, and place in an ungreased 3-quart bean pot or deep casserole. Mix in all remaining ingredients.
  
• 3.
  Lay a small sheet of aluminum foil (not heavy-duty) over the top of the bean pot, then press the lid into place. It’s important that the pot be completely sealed.
  
• 4.
  Bake the beans in the lower third of the oven for 4 to 5 hours or until tender.
  Note:
  Check the pot after 3 hours and if it seems to be cooking dry, add a little additional boiling water. Reseal the bean pot and continue baking.
  
• 5.
  Serve as an accompaniment to pulled pork, barbecued ribs, roast pork, pork chops, baked ham, grilled hot dogs, or chicken. Or make these beans the main course of a casual supper for family and friends.
  

SCALLOPED CABBAGE

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

Time and again, I find recipes for creamed or scalloped vegetables in early southern cookbooks. Running throughout the vegetable chapter of Sarah Rutledge’s
Carolina Housewife
(1847) is this directive: “Make a good sauce, with a pint of milk, butter, flour, and salt; put [the vegetable] in, let it have a boil up, and serve.” Elsewhere, creamed vegetables are taken a step further: They’re put into a casserole, topped with crumbs, and baked—an excellent way to cook cabbage. This recipe is especially good with baked ham (a buffet favorite) or roast pork, turkey, or chicken. Note:
You can prepare Scalloped Cabbage ahead of time through Step 5; cover and refrigerate until about an hour before serving. When baking, increase the oven time by 10 to 15 minutes.

5 tablespoons butter

1 medium yellow onion, halved lengthwise and each half thinly sliced

1 large cabbage (about 3 pounds), trimmed, quartered, cored, and each quarter sliced ½ inch thick (remove overly coarse leaf veins)

1½ cups chicken broth

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup half-and-half or milk

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

2 cups soft white bread crumbs tossed with 2½ tablespoons butter, melted (topping)