4 posts tagged “southern”

This morning I was making biscuits when my daughter announced that she wanted chocolate for breakfast. Hey, the gal is smart. Even at the tender age of three, she knows what she needs. As I mixed up my biscuit dough, I had one of those light bulb moments - chocolate gravy. Its one of those things that old people in the south expound about, recalling with wistful smiles normally reserved for Christmas morning. Still, having been a southerner all of my life, I had never actually tried it. I admit, it did sound a bit odd to me and always has.
    Today, with biscuits going in the oven and Katy requesting chocolate, fate pointed me in the direction of the recipe and with all ingredients on hand, I had to give it a shot. :)
    In days of old, with flour in abundance and other resources scarce, biscuits made a great breakfast and filling snack any time of day. Sweets were not a regular occurrence and so waking up in the morning to find fresh biscuits and a boat of chocolate gravy was a wondrous treat. It was poured over the buttered biscuits, then the tender bread soaks it up and as I found out today - you are then on your way to heaven no matter what the day has in store for you.
    Here is the recipe I used, Don't try this unless you want the flavor to linger in your mind for the rest of your life. It was purely divine.
               
   Chocolate Gravy
 (pour over biscuits - the scone like bread, not a cookie)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 T flour
  
• 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon butter

Combine everything except butter in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Once boiling, cut the heat down and stir for a minute more (it will get pretty thick rather suddenly). Take off eye and stir in butter. Pour over biscuits. I tear my biscuit up in a bowl first and then pour it over.
You can die happy now. :)

       I LOVE and adore banana pudding, real banana pudding. By real I mean the kind where you make the pudding from scratch and pour it warm over a bowl of yummy Nilla wafers and fresh cut bananas. That stuff with boxed pudding mix cannot even come close to how this tastes. If you think you've had banana pudding before and it involved a boxed pudding mix...THAT was not banana pudding! THIS is Banana Pudding!

Puddingingredients

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Put a layer of Nilla wafers in the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Slice a banana over the top. Repeat these layers until you've used up all your nilla wafers and bananas. It really is important that you put Nilla wafers first, by the way. These are going to soak up all the yummy pudding that settles at the bottom of your bowl. I use a mixing bowl because thats what my mother always used. She had this Corning green glass mixing bowl, it was enormous. She must have made at least two recipes of banana pudding each time she made it. Seeing that bowl on the counter was always a welcome sight!

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Crack your three eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Since we aren't making a meringue, we won't be using the whites. You can save them for another use or throw them away (which I did because....I just care about my banana pudding right now.)

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Place 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar (or splenda), and a dash of salt in a saucepan. You can use a double broiler for this and not have to fret over it so much, but I just like living on the edge. Muhahaha! My trick for substituting splenda for sugar in this is to always use just a wee bit less than the recipe calls for. If it calls for a cup of sugar, I might do a cup minus two tablespoons of splenda. To me, that keeps it from tasting artificial.

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Put this on the stovetop on medium low heat and stir it really well with a whisk. You can also just use a spoon for this.

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When you are done stirring it up well, it will look something like this.

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Now settle in and BE PATIENT. You need to stir the pot constantly, scraping the bottom so none of it gets a chance to stick and scorch. This will take about fifteen minutes so I usually get something to read while I stand there and stir because I don't think I've ever "just" done one thing for fifteen minutes straight.
    Today I read a few articles from the new issue of PopSci. I love that magazine. This one shows you how you can turn your iPod or even iPhone into a projector that will project movies onto your wall up to 5' x 7'! All you need are a small cosmetic mirror, a cardboard box, some tape, and a lense from an old slide projector. I actually want to do this. Anyone have an old slide projector? ~grins~
    Seriously, be patient, keep stirring, don't turn the heat up past four. This is going to take a long time and do nothing, but then ALL OF A SUDDEN it will be thicker.
Yes, I need to clean my stove. I started to photoshop that out but then decided....."eh".

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Now, your pudding isn't going to get super thick, but after about fifteen minutes of stirring, it will suddenly get thicker. The consistency will be about what that boxed pudding is right after you mix it before it sets well. TAKE IT OFF THE EYE! Quick! we don't want it to scorch or keep getting thicker. Now if you end up with scorched pudding or lumpy pudding, just use it anyway and pay attention to me when I tell you to slow down next time!

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Add a teaspoon of vanilla and stir.

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Immediately pour over your bananas and wafers.

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    Back to beloved southern foods! This is the prime time of year for fried green tomatoes. All of our grocery stores sell green ones alongside the red for this very purpose (green tomatoes are like rocks so I can't imagine them being used for anything else). Another weird cultural thing, but I imagine it stemmed from the whole "dang yankees trying to starve us" issue back in the days of old.
    Did you know why turnip greens and field peas (black eyed peas) are so revered in the south? During the civil war, yankee troops confiscated anything that could possibly be used to feed their men as they traveled through the south. However, greens and field peas were considered only fit for animal fodder, so they were left. Being the food lovers that we are, those foods became something of delicacies for us and are absolutely required at every family table on New Years Day in order to bring luck and wealth in the new year.
    Dumplings and biscuits came into play because even with money low, most families had flour. Flour was purchased in twenty five pound sacks, five times the normal sized bag we all get today. Therefore, it was usually about the only thing available to make a meal stretch. You can take a scrawny chicken, shred it and cook in broth with a big batch of dumplings and easily stretch the meal to feed even a large family. Biscuits are quick and easy to make and also very filling. Each of these meals would require little or no meat and leave the family full until the next mealtime.
    Alright, enough of my cultural foods lesson, lets get on to tomatoes :).

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What you'll need: A little flour (self rising or plain, doesn't matter), corn meal, season all, and green tomatoes.Also oil for frying and a little milk for dredging. (White Lily makes corn meal too!)

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Then take a picture of them with your fancy new tomato slicing knife that your mama got you for Christymas. (I meant to put the Y in there).

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I used about a cup and a half of corn meal. This isn't one of those things that has to be precise but I'm estimating for those of you who really want measurements.

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Add a little flour to it. This will act as sort of a "glue" to help hold it all together. I used a really large spoon although it looks normal sized in the pick. This was about four tablespoons of flour.

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Add enough season all to color your mixture.I used about two tablespoons. I know it seems like a lot but ....well just do it. If you don't have season all you can season your meal by adding salt and pepper.

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Dip both sides of each slice into milk.

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Then dip into your meal mixture. Press down and coat both sides well.

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So it looks something like this :)

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I used regular vegetable oil. You want it to come up about half way or so on the slices. Make sure you heat your oil well before you add the tomatoes. The key to having things that aren't "greasy" is to heat the oil really well. That way, when you drop your food into it, the food is seared right off and then cooks from there. If your oil isn't hot enough to do that, you basically end up soaking your breading in oil for a few minutes and it gets soggy and blah.

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My oil is just colored by the cornmeal in it at this point. It was clear to begin with. Brown each side well. I cook these on medium to medium high heat. Try not to turn them but once or twice as the coating is somewhat delicate and you don't want that to come off.

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Drain your tomatoes on a paper towel lined plate. I even take another paper towel and blot the tops or turn them over onto it. Then you're ready to go! These are delicious! They have a twang to them that ripened tomatoes don't have.
What is sad is, my kids don't actually eat fried green tomatoes. So I ate one slice of these and they will sit on my counter until they get cold and then I'll finally throw the rest away. ~le sigh~

I told my mother I was going to do a blog tutorial on how to make buttermilk biscuits, a staple in the south. She said "Oh, you HAVE to do those from Southern Living!". Now, admittedly, they are awfully good. So good, in fact, that my mother has abandoned the long taught family method in lieu of this one. The finished product is lighter and more tender than our usual biscuit and it is worth the effort, but I'm worried that some of you might not try making biscuits if I make it out as if they *must* be this complicated.

~sighs~ the guilt. Alright, I'll go on with the pretentious biscuit tutorial and then later on tell you the easy way (but these truly aren't that hard).

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The cast! Featuring milk from Piggly Wiggly and WHITE LILY FLOUR. White Lily is essential if you live below the Mason Dixon line. Bakers around the country have gone wild for it as well. Its a super fine flour made from soft winter wheat, rather than the usual hard winter wheat. The texture of the flour and the baked goods it produces is remarkable.
So basically, you need butter or margarine, millk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added (because I never have buttermilk in the house so this is a homemade concoction), and self rising flour. Thats it! (The actual recipe is at the bottom of this page)

For those of you who have no idea what self rising flour is....

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You'll also need salt and baking powder to make your biscuits rise :). This is only IF you don't have self rising flour available where you live. White Lily is also available in all purpose :)

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Put your flour in a bowl (With the salt and baking powder stirred into it if you don't have self rising) and toss in the margarine. Now you need a pastry cutter or fork with long tines , which is what I use.

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Begin by simply cutting the butter into the flour. Sit down and turn on the tv, this will take a few minutes (make sure your butter is cold).

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when it looks like this and you can't find any lumps of butter, you're good to go :). Stick this bowl in the fridge for ten to fifteen minutes. If this is your first time making biscuits with this method, I recommend fifteen. The colder it is, the easier the next step is going to be.

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Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to your milk before you go get your bowl out of the fridge. Stir it around and let it sit a minute or two.

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Pour milk into flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

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This is a lot looser than your typical biscuit dough, but it should look something like this.

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Flour a surface. I like to roll out waxed paper or do this on a large baking sheet so I don't have such a hassle with the counter top. Most folks just use the counter top though. Be generous with the flour, you're going to need it.

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Dump out your dough onto the floured surface and sprinkle more flour on top of it.

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Brush some flour on your hands and then wipe down your rolling pin really well. This is a family heirloom. My great grandmother bought it with green stamps for my mother when she was twelve. Once you have flour on your dough and on your hands, knead the dough with your hands two or three times. Don't over knead your dough!

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Roll it out until it is about 3/4 of an inch. Then lightly square it off with your hands. It should be about 9x5 inches at this point. you are going to have to stop after rolling it the first time and wipe down your rolling pin with flour again, as well as sprinkle some more on the dough to keep it from sticking.

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Here is where these little suckers take on a bit of arrogance in my book. Normally, you would just roll it out and cut them, but in this recipe we want tender little pillowy biscuits, so we're going to put a little more effort in them. Take one side of your dough and roll it over to the middle. Repeat with the next side until you have something like this.

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Now pat or roll that out with your hands back to the original 3/4 inch and gently shape it back into a rectangle.
Repeat this process of folding over and patting out two more times. Don't be afraid to dust your surface and your dough  with a little more flour if need be. Oh, and you didn't really have to use the rolling pin, you could have just patted it out all along with your hands, but I wanted to show you my heirloom rolling pin!

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Now we're ready to cut our biscuits. Most folks would use a biscuit cutter for this, but diehard southerners know the only way to do it is to use a swanky swig! Tin can is also acceptable as is a drinking glass. I used a smaller mouthed swanky swig because I prefer a bit smaller biscuits. I have small people in my house. :)

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Cut out your biscuits by pushing straight down with your glass, don't twist it. I didn't really waste all of this dough but I was trying to make it look a little more uniform for the picture. Normally, we cut them suckers one right on top of the other, then wad up the leftovers, pat it out, and cut again.

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Place these on a well greased baking sheet and make sure the sides touch, This helps them rise evenly and higher.

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Bake at 450 for thirteen to fifteen minutes.

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Until they look like this.

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and this....

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While still hot, brush with melted butter.

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Now you're done!

Alrighty, here is the actual recipe and I promise I will put an easier one up on my blog but after doing all of this work to get the tutorial posted, I'm thinking these aren't that pretentious after all.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
2 1/4 c self rising soft wheat flour
1 1/4 c buttermilk (or whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added)
flour for dusting
melted butter for brushing baked biscuits
*To make your own self rising flour, simply add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for EACH cup of all purpose flour.

1. Cut butter with a sharp knife or pastry blender into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle butter slices over flour in a large bowl. Toss butter with flour. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over onto itself in 3 sections, starting with 1 short end. (Fold dough rectangle as if folding a letter-size piece of paper.) Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches).

3. Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased jelly-roll pan. (Dough rounds should touch.)

4. Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.

VOILA!! I'm done!!!!
Tomorrow, fried green tomatoes!