Country Captain sounds like such an unusual name for a chicken dish, but once I learned the origins it made sense. A “country captain” was a captain of native troops paid by England in the colonial days, and it’s very likely that this dish or something very similar was introduced to England by a native officer. The dish spread to the American south which has claimed country captain chicken as its own….
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About two years ago, a researcher for Molly O’Neill contacted me about a pickled green tomatoes recipe that I had posted from my sister Angela. She liked the family twist on the recipe and interviewed both of us, but when we didn’t hear anything back we assumed that the recipe had not been selected for her upcoming book. So you can imagine my surprise when I received an email last fall announcing the arrival of One Big Table, and then my delight to learn that they had included the recipe (page 71)….
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This is a special post for The Kids Cook Monday because today is the launch of their new website, which has recipes and tips for cooking with kids, including some instructional videos to help you get started in the kitchen. Getting the whole family involved in preparing meals and eating together not only fosters good communication, it also is a chance to learn a valuable life skill. We garden and cook with our children because we want them to learn where food comes from and how to eat healthy, and because we feel doing those things together is the best way to show that we believe food is important. For more information on how to start cooking with your whole family, visit The Kids Cook Monday website….
If you asked me to choose my favorite pecan dessert, I would have a really difficult time because I love pecan pie, but these praline pecanss would be in the running. Crunchy pralines may technically be more authentic New Orleans style, but I can’t resist the creamy version. I use real cream—no evaporated milk—because I believe if you’re going to buy a candy thermometer and make praline pecans, they deserve real cream. And yes, I say “praw-leenz.”…
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We did it. I can’t believe it’s true, but we planted two pecan trees in our yard. We spotted them at Lowe’s in late September and selected a Sumner Pecan and a Stuart Pecan. We are slightly north of the growing zone for the Sumner, but our area has mild winters so it should do well. Pecan trees need another variety nearby to produce, and we planted these within 30 feet of each other. They got a little dry at one point and we were worried we might lose them, but it looks like they have taken to their new home. They don’t look like much right now, just a couple sticks about five feet (152 cm) tall since they lost their leaves, but they are full of promise, I can feel it. We have hopeful visions of harvesting pounds and pounds of pecans in about eight years. Yes it will be a long wait, but if the trees produce then my dream to grow our own pecans will be fulfilled….
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Ham bones are a traditional flavoring for beans, and I remember my mother making pinto or navy beans cooked with ham and onions and served with cornbread. It was simple, homey food that warmed the belly and was easy on the budget. We use ham bones in soups and beans, and save the large ham bones when we cook ham for Sunday dinner, I just store them in the freezer.
I like black beans with ham and spice them up with Mexican flavors. We enjoy these beans as a main dish with jalapeno cheddar cornbread or rice or as a side dish for Mexican foods.
[Updated July 2014.]…
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Cornbread is a staple of Southern cooking, and it made regular appearances at our family table when I was growing up. I don’t remember my mother ever diverting from her standard cornbread recipe; it was always the same warm, comforting bread we enjoyed with beans and other foods….
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Day 7 of our 12 Days of Cookies extravaganza thing, and the cookie of the day is pecan treats from Cloudt’s in Atlanta. Pecan bars are a Southern delicacy, kind of like eating pecan pie on a shortbread crust, and these are absolutely to die for. Michael kept mumbling “wow” with a mouthful of pecan bar and we understand why they are so popular….
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When I was growing up, turnip greens were regularly included in our meals, and I always remember the bowl of greens on the table with a vinegar cruet nearby. A typical Southern preparation includes bacon, onions, and some type of vinegar, and we would drizzle a little more vinegar on top when serving. Now that I have children of my own, I’ve discovered this is one green that I can actually get them to eat. Sometimes.
This particular dish is a variation on creamed spinach, a comfort food for an autumn day. The primary difference between the spinach and turnip greens version is the sauteing time. I can usually saute spinach for just a few minutes before baking, but even young turnip greens take up to 30 minutes before they are tender enough for baking. If your greens are fully grown and on the tough side, you may need to saute them longer before baking.
Turnip greens can be downright chewy and bitter if harvested late, so choose young tender leaves for the best texture and flavor. Some varieties are grown specifically for the tender greens, such as Seven Top and Topper. You can plant turnip greens twice a year, in early spring and late summer, and we have some growing in the garden now. Next spring we plan to have more raised beds so we can grow more of our own greens. …
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Mardi Gras king cakes make a festive centerpiece for any Mardi Gras celebration. The traditional cake is made from a soft yeast dough that is risen, rolled, and often filled with cream cheese, fruit, or a pecan praline mixture. Many people have fun celebrating Mardi Gras, even if they don’t go to New Orleans, but I’ve heard friends say that they want a cake that is easier to make. After mulling the idea for a bit I decided that I would make both a traditional rolled king cake and a simple pound cake and decorate both in the traditional Mardi Gras colors to show that a festive Mardi Gras cake can be easier to make. I knew that I wanted to have pecans in the cake in some way, perhaps like a streusel, so off I went in search of the perfect pound cake with pecans for my Mardi Gras cake. I stopped searching when I found this recipe from Southern Living.
The cream cheese makes the texture moist and rich, and the bourbon adds just a touch of flavor that makes it feel a little more decadent without being obvious. Actually I was worried about the bourbon since I don’t care for the flavor by itself, but once I had a taste of the batter, I felt we had a winner. Bourbon has a strong taste, but once mixed in with the rest of the ingredients, the strong flavor disappears and leaves behind a perfume that works nicely. To top it off, I added a simple cream cheese glaze and the Mardi Gras colored sugars….
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A name like Red Velvet suggests something decadent, luxurious, perhaps even a little naughty, such as a slinky red velvet party dress or a Red Velvet cocktail, and the classic Southern Red Velvet Cake is all of the above. The cake’s history is not entirely clear, though both Canada and the U.S. have laid claim to its origins. It has been the subject of an urban legend claiming that the recipe comes from the famous Waldorf-Astoria hotel and a customer was charged US$350 for the recipe. Another popular myth concerns the unnatural red color, thought to be caused by the reaction of the baking soda and chocolate, but it is actually achieved through copious amounts of food coloring.
Last year I did not have a birthday cake and instead enjoyed a slice of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory in Virginia Beach. We had just put our house on the market and of course we were trying to keep it as clean as possible, so the thought of the kitchen devastation I tend to wreak while baking and the ensuing clean up just didn’t thrill me. This year we said I would definitely have a cake, and when Michael asked me what kind of cake I wanted, I didn’t hesitate: I wanted to make one of the Daring Bakers cake challenges that they had done before I joined. There were four cakes to choose from, and initially I was drawn to the flourless chocolate cake, but I decided that I should make this one because I am from the South and (sheepish grin) I’ve never made one. Time to rectify that situation!
I had plenty of inspiration because at the time of the challenge in March 2007 the Daring Bakers were still a small group of just fifteen intrepid bakers and they had decided to let everyone use the red velvet cake recipe of their choice. I chose to try the recipe posted by Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms, though I was not as creative as she was with her adorable Daring Baker decorations!…
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Someday, I would like to have pecan trees in my yard. I say things like this all the time, whether it could actually happen or not….
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Some of my earliest memories are of drinking sweet iced tea. I come from a family of iced tea drinkers, and whether it’s hot or cold, no matter the season, I always have a pitcher of iced tea in my refrigerator. In fact, it’s my preferred summer beverage, even beating out fresh squeezed lemonade. My favorite is Southern sweet iced tea, which is about as Southern as you can get, ranking right up there with fried chicken, barbecue, and biscuits and gravy. I love the strong, sweet tea that my grandmother makes, and I’ve enjoyed many glasses of it over the years. Michael, my New York-born husband, had to adapt to many of my foibles when we got married and Southern iced tea was high on the list, but now he enjoys some iced tea occasionally….
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My husband isn’t fond of sweet potatoes because they are, well, too sweet. I can certainly understand his sentiment given the many sweet potato dishes incorporating sugar or marshmallows and taking on a noxiously sweet flavor. I don’t like that kind of sweet potato dish, either, but due to my Southern heritage I enjoy and sometimes crave a baked sweet potato with a tiny bit of butter and a pinch of salt on top….
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Banana Pudding is an old Southern treat. The basic recipe involves pudding, sliced bananas, vanilla wafers, and whipped cream stacked in layers. My mom’s version is a quick and easy recipe using instant pudding and whipped topping, although you can certainly use cooked pudding and make your own whipped cream. My mother often gets requests to bring this to dinner parties. It’s a light and fun treat that I really enjoy in the summertime….
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And now for the last in the Southern Country Breakfast series. We enjoy fried apples for breakfast, but they also make a great side dish for a holiday ham, or even a dessert—just add a scoop of french vanilla ice cream on top of warm apples. They are very simple to make—you just need apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, and a little butter….
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This is the next recipe in the Southern Country Breakfast series. Sausage gravy is a Southern tradition that my family has indulged in for many years. Now that we are all watching our waistlines, we only have it for family get-togethers, but it always tastes yummy and brings back wonderful memories of the big country breakfasts that my grandmothers used to serve. Enjoy this over biscuits.
[Updated April 20, 2011.]
Adapted from Germaine McClure.
Serves 4 to 6.
10-inch cast iron skillet
potato masher…
When I was growing up, I truly loved my grandmothers’ big Southern, country breakfasts. They would put out salty country ham, sausage gravy, bacon, eggs, biscuits, fried apples, sliced tomatoes, homemade apple butter, and just about anything else you could think of to put on a biscuit. My maternal grandmother made these pinch biscuits, which she learned from her mother, and my paternal grandmother made rolled biscuits. These next three posts will honor my favorite foods from both grandmothers’ big country breakfasts.
I was always mystified by how my grandmother made these biscuits. She never seemed to measure any ingredients, and she mixed them in a metal bowl using only her hands. She pinched off pieces of dough and shaped them in her hands, never using a cutter. I tried to emulate her technique many times and could never quite get it down. My mother makes wonderful pinch biscuits, and I was able to capture her at work for Easter morning breakfast. My mother doesn’t measure ingredients, either, so we’ve estimated as closely as possible.
Mom says that she doesn’t know why you are supposed to press knuckles into the biscuits, that’s just how all the women in her family have done it for generations. My great-grandmother raised 12 kids on a tobacco farm during the Depression. With so many mouths to feed you have to be thrifty, so she would sift any lumps out of the remaining flour and save it for the next time she made biscuits.
[Updated April 20, 2011.]
We love this cake for holidays and birthdays. The nearly 100-year-old recipe was handed down to my mother from my late paternal grandmother, who learned it from my great-aunt Gladys. My mother tried for years to get the recipe right because it’s my father’s favorite cake. When Mom finally made a coconut cake that tasted like Grandma’s, Grandpa proclaimed that she was now “a McClure.”
The boiled frosting is the most difficult part, but when done correctly it has a consistency very much like a soft marshmallow creme. It can be very temperamental based on humidity, so make sure your kitchen is cool and dry. Store the finished cake in the refrigerator, otherwise the frosting will drip and run….
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King cakes are a traditional Mardi Gras dessert, and according to legend the royal colors of purple, green and gold on the cake honor the three kings who visited the Christ child on Epiphany. But King Cakes can be made year-round for many festive occasions, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, weddings, birthdays, etc, just choose the colors of icing and sugars to match the occasion. There are many possibilities for fillings. You can crumble your favorite candy bars or mix your own concoction with various ingredients such as cream cheese, fruits, cinnamon, chocolate chips, pecans, Nutella….
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I grew up on my mother’s and grandmothers’ Southern buttermilk cornbread, and I’m devoted to it. Southern cornbread has no sugar and is cooked in a cast iron skillet, which renders a lovely crunchy crust. You can eat it by itself with butter or apple butter, or you can eat it with beans or chili and spoon either on top of a slice.
This is another recipe that I’ve played around with. Many cornbread recipes call for 1 cup cornmeal and 1 cup all-purpose flour. However, all that extra flour seems to detract from the corn flavor in my opinion. So I split the difference and I like the results….
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