Mess of Greens

full bellies | warm welcomes

winter

Buttermilk Dutch Baby

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My mama has a foolproof dutch baby recipe from an old friend of hers…it’s probably 30 years old and is in her recipe folder titled “Marmalade Pancake.” I’ve made it several times and it just works like a charm if you want a lovely, puffy, golden brown dutch baby on a Sunday morning (or a Tuesday morning…the morning just doesn’t matter one bit.) I’d recently watched this fun little Southern Foodways Alliance short documentary about a buttermilk maker in Eastern Tennessee, which got me thinking… could I make a dutch baby with it? I worried a bit that the buttermilk would be too thick and would weigh the batter down, although it’s known for reacting beautifully with baking soda in biscuits to create fluffy masterpieces. I decided to give it a go for our weekend family brunch, but added a taste of water to thin the batter out just slightly, PLUS I blended all the ingredients using an emulsion blender, which I think helped ensure things turned out just right. I was so excited that the thing puffed up that I forgot to dust it with powdered sugar…. the pictures may have suffered, but the taste didn’t. I’m not sure that I’ll go back to regular old milk in my baked goods ever again.

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What to drink before the parade: Le Roi Cafe’

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I LOVE Mardi Gras. I just love it. It turns out that I went a bit overboard this Mardi Gras season…buying King Cake Flavored vodka, and King Cake Flavored coffee… I drew the line at King Cake Flavored soda, but it’s a pretty thin line. But then I realized that most of the drinks people are making with King Cake vodka are just plain terrible and honestly I’m not sure that anyone but 21 year old tourists in New Orleans for the first time ever would drink them. King Cake coffee is pretty delicious, but maybe just a bit too much for everyday consumption.

So what do I do? I make a pre-parade slash post dinner party coffee cocktail (AND a virgin version for festive non-drinkers.) As a nod to KING Cake, I named it Le Roi Cafe.` You’ve had Irish Coffee, right? Well, this just might be better.

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The Seat Heater

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Are y’all watching the National Football Championship?!?
ermm.. probably not if you’re reading MoG, but YOU SHOULD BE if you’re a real southerner. I mean Clemson AND Alabama? C’mon.

As a born-and-raised Mississippi girl, I’ve gotta cheer for the SEC tonight (ROLL TIDE!) but my honey is a ACC guy all the way. Tonight would probably be contentious except I really only watch football as a social thing. (I am like 90% sure that a bunch of other southerners feel the same way but are too scared of the super intense football fans to say so. But I’ll say it. “Meh.”)

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Greens with Spicy Pot Likkor and Cornmeal Dumplings

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 It’s the time of year when greens are ubiquitous down here. It’s winter, the farms and gardens are full of them, and y’all, I just can’t resist them. The leafy beauty and the promise of steamy pot likker and spicy flavor just beckons me. I had a big bunch and started thinking about my grandmother and leafed through the cookbook my cousin Amy made with all her recipes, and settled on trying out her turnip greens with cornmeal dumplings. I’d never made them before, but the idea of greens with some version of cornmeal as dumplings made my mouth water. What followed was a three week crusade to figure out how to create dumplings that didn’t melt into nothingness but instead were chewy, comforting and wonderful. What ended was a series of phone calls to my aunt and cousins about our lovely grandmother and her recipe, lots of sort-of-ok dumplings,  and then finally, a darn good recipe that DEINITELY was worth sharing with all of you lovely folks.
BUT, before I get to that, I wanted to live up to my New Year’s blog resolution to “give credit where credit is due.” I’ll spare you the sermon, but I can’t cook greens and pot likker without remembering that SO MUCH of the south’s incredible culinary heritage came from former enslaved Americans, and this dish almost certainly originated when black cooks, trying to feed their families, reserved the deliciousness and nutrient-rich broth after cooking the greens for their masters. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I do want to, as an Atlantic writer wrote in an article, raise “a shot glass of [pot likker] in a respectful toast to the slave cooks who did the unglamorous work. They developed the roots of African-American eating the rest of us get to enjoy today.” If you want to know more, DEFINITELY check out Michael Twiddy’s blog about southern food and it’s roots Afroculinaria. It’s full of history, and food, and connections that are important and sometimes hard to hear. His work is so integral to our southern culture, he should be a Macarthur Genius Fellow, in my humble opinion.

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G-Nut and Special Sauce… Sweet Potatoes, Peanuts, and Cultural Appropriation

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this amazing modified Ugandan recipe over the past nine years. I used to have a roommate whose boyfriend (now husband), Jared, would cook with us three nights a week. We’d trade off and make sure there was a hot, homecooked meal on the table. It was a genius plan, and since the BF was vegetarian and we lived in a village (popluation 500) in the middle of the Mississippi Delta, it was also kind of necesary if he was going to eat anything other than french fries or mushroom quesadillas.
Anyway, this recipe came out of his Best of Vegetarian Times cookbook, and it was AMAZING. Super filling, pretty healthy, and gorgeous. I can’t believe it took me so long to share it with you since the basis of the recipe is sweet potatoes and the magic comes from a special peanut-sauce.
And this brings me to something else…something we haven’t discussed in a little while on the blog (though a lot in real life). Thanks to some articles (#1,#2, #3) floating around FB, I’ve been thinking about cultural appropriation a lot this week. Food Historian Michael Twitty has some pretty important things to say about it, and if you haven’t read or heard his thoughts on the importance of giving respect and credit (and more importantly, actual compensation) to those women (and men) who played HUGE ENORMOUS roles in the creation of the rich, diverse, amalgam that is southern food today, then  you should.

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Classic Red Beans and Rice

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OH. MY. STARS. it’s been too long.i’ve had three posts raring to go since late January and then things got busy and the last thing I’ve wanted to do when I got home was turn on my computer…and then I got into Game Of Thrones on Amazon… but it’s time. I miss blogging about food, and taking pictures of food, and just generally talking about food. (plus… my pretty friend Fancy flattered me by asking when I was going to post something new. Fancy, here you go!)
This recipe was supposed to come out around the time of Mardi Gras, since what’s more Louisiana that Red Beans and Rice? Even if the weather has gotten a little warmer (but not much! what’s up with the freaskishly cold weather??) and the confetti and beads are long gone from Beale Street, this recipe still tastes divine. It’s a combination of my grandmother’s classic Louisiana recipe, the Cook’s Illustrated test kitchen version, and the one from the River Road Recipes Cookbook.  Read on.
What you Need:
To cook:
Andoille Sausage (1 package, or a 1.5 lbs)
1 tablespoon of oil
2 onions
5 garlic cloves
1 green pepper
2 ribs of celery
1 cup of Camellia brand dried red beans (washed, dried, and soaked)
2 table spoons beef stock
3-5 cups of water
2 squirts of ketchup
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
 
To Serve
1 bunch green onions
Hot sauce
1/2 cup of rice per serving
What to Do:
Obviously, begin by rinsing and soaking the beans (overnight is best, but 6 hours will do in a pinch. Basically, you want them full of water and tender.)
Dice the garlic, green pepper, onion, and celery. In a large stock pot, sautee’ the onion in the oil until translucent then add in the other three ingredients to release the flavor, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
At the same time, boil the sausage, pricking after a 5-7 minutes to release the oil. I think this makes it just a little bit healther since it gets rid of the excess fat. Once the sausage is parboiled, cut it into 1/2″ or 1″ rounds and brown in a skillet.
Remove from the heat and put it aside to add in later.

 

Add the Stock and liquid to the large stock pot with the vegetables. Add in the bay leaf, the red beans, the red vinegar, the squeezes of ketchup for good measure, and the sausage. Simmer on low heat for 2- 2.5 hours. The longer and slower this cooks, the more flavorful and creamier the red beans will be.

Once the liquid has cooked down somewhat and the beans are soft, take about 2 cups of the beans and liquid and using a food processor or blender, puree’ that amount. Add the pureed beans back into the pot with the rest of the beans. This makes them even creamier and smooth.

Serve with hot sauce, vinegar, green onions, and white rice.

 

 

 

THE tailgate cocktail: bourbon and ginger

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before we get started, a little confession: i’m really, truly, honestly not into college football. at all. not even a little bit.
now, i love a tailgate, and i love high school football (LOVE IT. there’s just something about cold weather, local pride, and a marching band that just tugs at my heartstrings) but i went to D3 schools for undergrad and grad school, and my folks just never were that crazy about it, so I just don’t really get the obsessive, soul-consuming passion so many southerners have about the college version. sorry, y’all.
really, i’ve tried to love it. boone is crazy about his alma mater’s team (the Demon Deacons) and my best friend katie sat next to me at an Ole Miss game a few years ago and talked me through every single play by play, thinking that if I knew what was going on, i’d enjoy it a little more…but nope. Now, I can sit still for 3 hours and cheer when I’m supposed to, but really I only want to watch games that I go to in person, and really only want to go to a game once or twice a year. oops. i hope this doesn’t ruin our relationship, y’all. even if I’m not crazy about the game, my love of social gatherings and reasons to cook and share food means i really, really love a tailgate. and who doesn’t have a delicious drink or two at a tailgate, am i right? it turns out that my favorite autumn and winter cocktail is a balance of warm bourbon and sweet, fizzy, spicy ginger ale. i’d been looking for a way to “fancy” it up a little bit this tailgate season (mostly for when i try to be supportive and watch wake forest on ESPN or the computer) when i found this garden & gun recipe for a homemade version of ginger ale and edited it a bit for my tastes. see if it hits your spot this football season.
Ginger Syrup for Bourbon and Homemade Ginger Soda
Makes approximately 15 drinks worth.
What you need for the syrup:
 2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 lb ginger root about 1/2 of one big piece you get from the store, peeled
1 tsp green or black peppercorns
For the cocktail
ice
bourbon
club soda
lemon
 
What to do:
after you’ve peeled the ginger, grate it using a cheese grater or microplaner. bring the sugar, water, and ginger to a boil in a small sauce pot. once it comes to a boil, and let it cook down until it is a little thicker (you’ll know if when you put a spoon into the pot if the liquid slides off slowly and leaves a residue, but you’re not looking for the consistency of glue or anything) this takes somewhere 5-10 minutes. remove the pot from the heat, add the peppercorns, and let the ginger steep and cool for about 30 minutes to an hour (if you’re in a rush, throw it into the fridge for a little bit.) strain the syrup and throw away the ginger, and store the syrup in an airtight container up to 4 weeks.

once you’re ready to enjoy your creation, fill a glass with ice and pour 2-3 tablespoons of the syrup with 1-2 oz bourbon. top with the club soda and a lemon or lime wedge and enjoy. you’ll find that this is significantly less sweet than a regular bourbon & ginger, and that the spiciness and flavor of the ginger comes through pretty clearly. it can also be served over ice cream or with pears, peaches, or apples. yeaaaah.

new years day pickled peas!

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 southerners have a tradition of eating lucky foods on new year’s day to set us up for success in the coming months. there are lots of different kinds of lucky foods, but the most common in the south is black eyed peas in some form or fashion. turnip greens or cabbage are also pretty standard in the south since they look like money, which means you’ll have better finances in the new year.
so it turns out that boone (my honey) doesn’t really like the flavor of black eyed peas, but there is no way someone married to me is going to start off a brand new year on the wrong foot, so i insist that he eats at least one little pea.
lots of people like hoppin’ john, a recipe from south carolina or texas or something. our first NYday as a married couple we made it with black eyed pea and turnip green soup, which i liked just fine, but boone thought the peas tasted like an ashtray. ew.
last year, i made pickled peas or what my mom calls “redneck caviar” (see above) and it was a big hit because it was tart, juicy, and really so delishy. so much so that i made it again this year to take with us to austin, tx… and i just thought i’d share the recipe because i just can’t stand the thought that YOU might not have luck next year without it. 🙂 happy new year! ps: please remember that i’m absolutely not a professional photographer. keep this in mind if you feel compelled to judge my snapshots.

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the king of cakes…

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IMG_3816

so tomorrow is ash wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent. i’m not sure what’s gotten into me, but i’ve decided to give up sweets for all forty days. God help me.

in my own “last hurrah” to all things delicious (and as a tip of my hat to one of my favorite southern cities, new orleans), i decided to make two giant king cakes this weekend for our church’s mardi gras celebration. this way, i could use up my excess butter/sugar/eggs AND store up as many calories as possible. good idea? i think so. anyway, this is absolutely the most authentic recipe i’ve found (and growing up so close to new orleans, i know my king cake) so it’s totally worth the time and caloric intake. it’s just perfect.


well, it’s perfect if you think that using nearly a pound of butter and enough sugar to give anyone diabetes is ok…


i wish you could taste this over the interweb…


if you like what you see, leave a comment and i’ll email you my new recipe plus a few tweaks I added from other king cake versions i’ve tried. It’s sooo good..the dough has a lovely depth of flavor and stays moist for a relatively long time.

can you read this? I think if you click on it and open it in another window it should get bigger…
if not, leave me your email address below and I’ll send a bigger file to you! it’s so long and involved that it would take days to type out.
also, make a note to add lemon zest to the dough (1 1/2 tablespoons) and use brown sugar instead of white sugar in the filling to make it extra delicious. In case you’re wondering where i got it, I think this came from USA Today or something like it…enjoy friends!

The Flying Biscuit’s Vegetable Cobbler

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everyone in Atlanta loves the Flying Biscuit… the food and feel of the place in Candler park is somewhere in the mix of a hippie meeting somebody’s grandma. very new-south. 😉

anyway, since it’s fall i’m going to start with southern cool weather staples. it turns out that i really like this place’s vegetarian take on the southern classic “pot pie” recipe. it’s warm, filling, and super cheap to make. basically this recipe is same as the one from FB, but i leave out the turnip and add more carrots. Also, you can use store-bought pie crust if you’re in a rush.

For filling: 3 Tbs butter, divided
1 lg onion
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 lbs red potatoes cut in half
3 lg carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 cups frozen peas
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup chives
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
1 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
1 Tbs all purpose-flour
In a heavy stock pot, melt 2 Tbs butter over med. heat. Add onion and celery and saute until tender and golden. Add potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, chives and seasonings. Stir well. Add vegetable broth and water and bring to a strong simmer. cover and cook until everything is tender (15 minutes or so). Stir in cream and add peas.
Mix remaining butter and flour into a small bowl and blend. stir into stew and simmer until it thickens slightly. Ladle stew into ramekins or large corningware dish.

For Cobbler crust:
2 cups flour
1 Tbs double acting baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 Tbs chilled butter cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 lg eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
preheat oven to 425 degrees. sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. add butter and rub it in with fingertips until mixture resembles a course meal. Add eggs and milk and stir until soft moint dough forms.
Turn dough out onto generously floured surface. knead gently just to combine. Place an equal amount on top of each of your containers with the vegetable mixture and press down. Bake until topping is golden (18-25 minutes).

note: ugh. not my image but i can’t remember where i got it.