A Love Affair with Southern Cooking (37 page)

4 tablespoons bacon drippings

1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

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

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

4 cups fresh or solidly frozen sweet corn kernels

½ cup water

3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored, and chopped or one 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in sauce

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

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

• 1.
  Heat the drippings in a large, heavy nonreactive skillet over moderately high heat for 1 minute. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes more or until limp and lightly browned.
  
• 2.
  Add the corn and water, stirring until the mixture boils. Adjust the heat so the liquid bubbles gently, cover, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the corn no longer tastes raw.
  
• 3.
  Mix in all remaining ingredients and cook uncovered, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the flavors mellow. Taste for salt, black pepper, and cayenne and adjust as needed.
  
• 4.
  Ladle into a heated vegetable dish and serve as an accompaniment to roast chicken or turkey, roast pork, or baked ham. Good, too, with boiled or grilled shrimp.
  

BUTTERMILK CORN CAKES

MAKES
4
SERVINGS

These are popular in many parts of the South both as breakfast food and as a potato substitute. If served at the start of the day, they’re accompanied by sausage, country ham, or bacon and topped with sorghum molasses or maple syrup. If served as a lunch or dinner “side,” they’re more apt to come with melted butter or gravy. Note:
Small corn kernels work best here; I use either canned or frozen whole-kernel sweet corn.
Tip:
The best implement to use for apportioning the batter is a spring-loaded ice cream scoop. Mine holds a scant one-fourth cup and it’s perfect.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¾ cup buttermilk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons corn oil, melted butter, or bacon drippings

1¼ cups canned or thawed, frozen whole-kernel corn, well drained (see Note above)

• 1.
  Spritz a griddle or large heavy skillet well with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
  
• 2.
  Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
  
• 3.
  Whisk the buttermilk, egg, and oil in a small bowl until frothy and mix in the corn. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients and stir only enough to mix; the batter should be lumpy.
  
• 4.
  Set the griddle over moderately high heat for about 1 minute or until a drop of the batter sizzles. Using a scant ¼ cup of batter for each corn cake (see Tip above), drop onto the griddle, spacing the cakes about 2 inches apart and spreading each until about 4 inches in diameter (an offset spatula spritzed with nonstick cooking spray is the gadget to use here).
  
• 5.
  Cook the corn cakes for about 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface and these begin to break. Using a pancake turner that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray, turn the pancakes and brown the flip sides for 2 to 2½ minutes. As the corn cakes brown, transfer them to a heated plate.
  
• 6.
  Serve for breakfast with maple syrup, sorghum molasses, or, if having country ham, with red-eye gravy. Or serve in place of potatoes and pass a little bowl of melted butter or gravy (pork and chicken gravy are best) so that everyone can help themselves.
  

To this day, my favorite meal is fried chicken, field peas, green beans cooked all day with ham, fried okra, and corn bread.

—
DEBORAH NORVILLE
,
GEORGIA NATIVE

GRITS CASSEROLE

MAKES
6
TO
8
SERVINGS

Few non-Southerners can understand the Southerner’s passion for grits. And I must confess that when I first tasted grits in my grammar school cafeteria, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. The little puddle of gruel spooned onto my plate tasted like nothing at all until a classmate told me to mix in some butter, salt, and pepper. Unfortunately, boiled grits is (yes, “grits” IS singular) the introduction most of us get, usually at breakfast where it’s the classic accompaniment to eggs, country ham, and red-eye gravy. However, there are dozens of other ways to prepare grits, among them this superb casserole. Serve hot as a potato substitute with baked ham or roast pork, chicken, or turkey. Or serve as the main course of a light lunch or supper accompanied by a tartly dressed green salad and perhaps some sliced heirloom tomatoes.

4 cups (1 quart) milk

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne)

1 cup grits (not instant)

¹
/
₃
cup butter, melted

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup finely grated sharp Cheddar cheese

¼ teaspoon sweet paprika

• 1.
  Butter a 9 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish well and set aside.
  
• 2.
  Bring the milk, butter, salt, and cayenne to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Reduce the heat slightly, then add the grits very slowly, whisking hard.
  
• 3.
  Reduce the heat to its lowest point and continue whisking until the mixture is thick and smooth. Cover and simmer slowly for 20 minutes, stirring now and then to keep the grits from sticking to the pan and sliding a diffuser underneath the pan, if necessary.
  
• 4.
  Set off the heat and beat hard with a hand electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes. Scoop the grits into the baking dish, spreading to the corners and smoothing the top. Chill for several hours until firm.
  
• 5.
  When ready to proceed, preheat the oven to 350° F. Also, butter a second 9 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish well and set aside.
  
• 6.
  Cut the hardened grits into strips ½ inch wide, dipping your knife frequently into tepid water to keep the grits from sticking. Now divide each strip into 4 dominos of equal size.
  
• 7.
  Arrange the dominos in rows in the baking dish, standing them on end and at an angle, domino-style—the rows will fit snugly in the pan. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over all, sprinkle with the Parmesan, then the Cheddar, and finally the paprika.
  
• 8.
  Bake uncovered on the middle oven shelf for 40 to 45 minutes or until bubbling and touched with brown. Serve at once.
  

Only a Southerner knows that grits is singular.

—
ANONYMOUS

CREAMY GRITS WITH TASSO

MAKES
4
TO
6
SERVINGS

This is my adaptation of a delightful side dish dreamed up by John Fleer, the gifted chef at the Inn at Blackberry Farm in the Tennessee foothills. As a matter of fact, Fleer characterizes his elegant Appalachian cooking as “Foothills Cuisine.” I featured him in an article I wrote some years ago for
Gourmet
and among Fleer’s recipes that accompanied the article was a somewhat different version of these grits. Note:
This recipe calls for two distinctly southern specialties: stone-ground grits and tasso (richly spiced, cold-smoked, cured, pickled pork or beef). Neither is widely available but both can be ordered online (see Sources, backmatter).

1 tablespoon butter

4 medium scallions, trimmed and finely chopped (include some green tops)

1½ cups chicken broth

½ cup stone-ground grits, preferably white (see Note above)

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

½ cup water (about)

2 ounces tasso, cut into ¼-inch dice (see Note above)

¼ cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper

¼ cup coarsely chopped green bell pepper

2 tablespoons light cream or half-and-half

• 1.
  Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over moderate heat, add the scallions, and cook, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes or until limp. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
  
• 2.
  Whisking constantly, add the grits, then the salt and pepper. Adjust the heat so the broth barely bubbles and cook the grits uncovered for 35 minutes, adding ¼ cup water each time the mixture threatens to cook dry.
  
• 3.
  While the grits cooks, brown the tasso in a small, heavy skillet over moderate heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the red and green bell peppers and cook for about 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Set off the heat and reserve.
  
• 4.
  When the grits mixture is thick, blend in the cream and cook, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes or until steaming. Fold in the reserved tasso mixture.
  
• 5.
  Serve hot as an accompaniment to grilled or roast chicken, turkey, or pork. Good, too, with fried catfish.
  

GARLICKY CHEESE GRITS

MAKES
4
SERVINGS

This is my twist on an old southern classic. I’ve substituted quick-cooking grits for old-fashioned, added garlic (which few southern traditionalists would ever do), and substituted cayenne pepper for black because I like its bite. This dish partners well with roast chicken and grilled shrimp but to my mind, is too rich for anything fried. It can also be served as the centerpiece of
a casual lunch or supper and needs nothing more than a green salad to accompany it.

2½ cups water mixed with ½ teaspoon salt (salted water)

²
/
₃
cup quick-cooking grits

2 cups coarsely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)

1 medium garlic clove, crushed

¼ cup light cream

1 tablespoon butter

¹
/
₈
to ¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne), depending upon how “hot” you like things

• 1.
  Bring the salted water to a boil in a medium-size heavy saucepan over high heat. Slowly add the grits, whisking all the while.
  
• 2.
  When the mixture returns to a boil, reduce the heat to moderately low and cook uncovered, whisking often, for 8 to 10 minutes or until thick. Mix in the cheese and garlic along with all remaining ingredients and cook 1 to 2 minutes, whisking now and then, or just until the cheese melts.
  
• 3.
  Dish up and serve.
  

A respectable Georgia breakfast means fish roe and grits or at least eggs or maybe country sausage.

—
CARSON M
C
CULLERS
,
ON HER GEORGIA CHILDHOOD

HOMINY SOUFFLÉ

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

Only a Southerner can understand the subtle semantics of grits and hominy and, to be perfectly honest, some Southerners are on shaky ground here. To me, hominy was always “big hominy,” whole corn kernels puffed in a lye bath (in Mexico and the Southwest, it’s known as
posole
).
Yet in South Carolina, especially the Lowcountry, grits becomes hominy when cooked. This explains the recipe title above. My good friend Anne Mead, who grew up in Dillon, South Carolina, used to serve this lovely soufflé for Sunday brunch with fried country ham or sausage. I called it grits soufflé until Anne cor
rected me. “It’s
hominy
soufflé,” she said. “I
cook
the grits
before
I make the soufflé.” What follows is my spin on Anne’s recipe; it appears in
Please Kiss the Cook,
a little collection of family favorites that she printed some years ago. Note:
For this recipe, I prefer coarse, stone-ground yellow grits, never quick-cooking (see Sources, backmatter). There’s an old-fashioned country mill one county over and that’s where I head whenever I’m out of stone-ground grits or cornmeal. I buy by the gunny sack and share with friends.
Tip:
My method of cooking grits is unorthodox, but it works for me. Instead of whisking the grits gradually into boiling water, I whisk a slow stream of boiling water into the grits.