Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends (12 page)
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Authors: Trisha Yearwood
Tags: #food.cookbooks
Pete holding a 45-pound flathead catfish that he caught in 2008, when he was eighty-seven years old! He was fishing in the Oconee River near his home in Greensboro, Georgia, with a rod and reel. He had to have a little help holding this one!
boil
The only thing I knew about
Low-Country Boil before I tried it for myself was a scene from the movie
Steel Magnolias,
where Dolly Parton is serving it up at a county fair to Julia Roberts. (I should just say, Truvy is serving Shelby. All true Southerners know this movie by heart.) My family has always loved the beach, and this recipe makes me look forward to going. Of course, you don’t have to have a beach to make it. The guys usually cook this outdoors over a gas flame, and by the time the crowd gathers, it’s ready to eat. Don’t expect any leftovers.
SERVES 15 TO 20
1 8-ounce bottle concentrated Louisiana-style shrimp and crab boil seasoning, like Zatarain’s Liquid
8 pounds medium red potatoes
5 medium sweet onions, such as Vidalia, peeled
5 pounds cured, smoked pork sausage links, cut into 3-inch pieces
16 8-inch ears of corn, cut in half
8 pounds raw medium shrimp
Fill a 10-gallon stockpot half full with water. Add the seasoning and bring to a rolling boil. Add the whole potatoes to the pot. Allow the water to return to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the onions and sausage. Bring the water back to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Add the corn, bring the water back to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. Add the shrimp, bring the water back to a boil, and cook until the shrimp turn pink, about 3 minutes. Drain through a colander, discard the liquid, and serve on a large platter or on newspaper.
It is easier to cook a large Low-Country Boil over a gas cooker outside.
FROM BETH:
Use whole potatoes. Cutting them before boiling will cause them to be mushy.
Obviously, I love to cook for my family and my friends.
At first, they would ask if they could bring a side for dinner, and I would say no. I didn’t want anybody else to have to spend time in the kitchen when I was more than happy to make the entire meal, top to bottom. I learned, though, that it feels good to bring something to the table. It brings everyone closer together if each has had a hand in preparing the meal. Now, if people ask if they can bring a side dish or if they can help in the kitchen, I say, “Yes!”
For example, I think our girls enjoy the
Asparagus Bundles
more if they have helped cut the spears and wrap the bacon themselves. They can be proud that they were a part of preparing the meal, and they are learning that most of these sides are very easy to make. I hope their participation will encourage them to cook more when they are grown and out on their own. In the meantime, I’ll tell you what’s for supper, and you can bring one of these delicious sides to go with it!
and tomatoes
If you only like okra fried, you may be surprised at this pretty combination dish. Choose small okra pods. They’re the most tender.
SERVES 6 TO 8
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon butter
⅓ cup ketchup
½ cup grated carrot
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 10-ounce can tomatoes with chiles, such as Rotel brand
3 cups sliced fresh okra, in ½-inch pieces
In a medium skillet, sauté the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in the butter until tender. Add the ketchup, carrot, basil, and fresh and canned tomatoes, then cook 10 to 15 minutes more. Add the okra and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, taking care not to overcook the okra. Serve over rice or as a side dish.
If you prefer a less spicy dish, dice 2 large, fresh tomatoes rather than the canned tomatoes with chiles.
slaw
My memories of meals in my hometown of Monticello, Georgia, involve a lot of Styrofoam containers—at chicken barbecues at horse shows, pork barbecue fund-raisers for the Boy Scouts, fish fries at our family friends the Hickeys’ farm, and lots more. Daddy cooked a lot of chicken, pork, and stew in those days and slaw was a required side dish on those plates. It was always a mayonnaise-based slaw, so I thought that was the only kind in existence. By the way, I’m sure there’s some law about having mayonnaise—and butter, for that matter—in every dish that comes out of the state of Georgia. If there isn’t, there should be! My sister, Beth, recently shared with me this tasty slaw recipe with lots of crunch and a sweet-and-sour dressing.
SERVES 10 TO 12
Salad
1 head green cabbage, finely chopped
8 green onions, finely chopped
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
2 3-ounce packages ramen noodles, flavor packets discarded
Dressing
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Mix the cabbage and green onions in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the almonds and sesame seeds in the butter.
Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Just before serving, add the sesame seeds, almonds, and crushed raw ramen noodles to the cabbage and green onions. Pour the dressing, a little at a time, over the salad mix, then toss.
casserole
My mama was a schoolteacher for twenty-five years. She even taught me in the third grade! My best friend in elementary school was
Julie Perry. Julie’s mom taught the second grade, and Julie had already had her mom as a teacher, so she showed me the ropes. People always ask me if it was weird having my mama for a teacher and I always say yes. I never knew whether to call her “Miss Yearwood” or “Mama”! Julie and I were friends from the first grade all the way through high school graduation. We spent lots of time at each other’s homes, working on school projects or having “spend the night” parties. I ate a lot of meals at Mr. Edwin and “Miss” Julianne’s house. This recipe came from Mrs. Perry.
SERVES 8 TO 10
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped broccoli, or 1 pound fresh broccoli florets
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup mayonnaise
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
4 tablespoons grated sweet onion
10 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 2½ cups)
Salt and pepper
½ cup bread crumbs, crushed regular potato chips, or cheese cracker crumbs
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 × 13 × 2-inch casserole dish.
Cook the broccoli in water, drain, and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, eggs, mayonnaise, soup, onion, and 2 cups of the grated cheese. Add salt and pepper and put into the prepared casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the casserole from the oven and sprinkle the surface with the cracker crumbs. Top with the remaining cheese. Return to the oven and bake until the crumbs brown slightly and the cheese melts, about 10 minutes.
