A Love Affair with Southern Cooking (18 page)

SAUSAGE AND BLACK-EYED PEA ÉTOUFFÉE

MAKES
8
SERVINGS

After an intensive round of recipe testing that left me with a fridge and freezer full of unused ingredients, I did what frugal southern cooks have done forever. I bubbled them into a “catchall,” in this case a Cajun-inspired though inauthentic étouffée. Serve as is or ladle over rice. It’s good either way.

1 pound pork sausage links, sliced ½ inch thick

1 very large Vidalia onion (about 1 pound), coarsely chopped

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

1 bunch of scallions, trimmed and coarsely chopped (include some green tops)

2 large celery ribs, trimmed and coarsely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

Two 16-ounce packages solidly frozen black-eyed peas

3 cups chicken broth

2 large whole bay leaves, preferably fresh

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon crumbled leaf thyme

½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

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

One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in tomato sauce

½ cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley

2½ cups converted rice, cooked by package directions (optional)

• 1.
  Set a large, heavy Dutch oven over moderately high heat for 1 minute, add the sausage, and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until most of the drippings cook out. Pour off the drippings, then spoon 2 tablespoons of them back into the Dutch oven.
  
• 2.
  Add the onion, bell pepper, scallions, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring often, over moderately high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until limp and touched with brown.
  
• 3.
  Add the black-eyed peas, chicken broth, bay leaves, salt, thyme, black pepper, and cayenne and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until the peas are tender.
  
• 4.
  Mix in the tomatoes, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the flavors mellow. Taste for salt, black pepper, and cayenne and adjust as needed. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the parsley and cook uncovered for 5 minutes more.
  
• 5.
  Ladle into heated soup bowls and serve or, if you prefer, scoop about ¾ cup rice into each bowl, then top with the étouffée.
  

There’s a lot of nourishment in an acre of corn.

—
WILLIAM FAULKNER

BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

MAKES
4
TO
6
SERVINGS

Sausage and eggs are as classic down south as bacon and eggs are elsewhere. This rib-sticking brunch staple combines the two with onion, sharp Cheddar, eggs, and cream. Some hostesses prepare the casserole the night before and bake it the next morning. I don’t recommend that in this Age of Salmonella. Note:
Any grits will do for this recipe but I prefer coarse, stone-ground yellow grits (see Sources, backmatter).

1 pound bulk sausage meat

1 medium yellow onion, moderately coarsely chopped

1¼ cups coarsely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup grits, cooked by package directions but not seasoned (see Note at left)

2 tablespoons butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup half-and-half

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

• 1.
  Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly spritz an 8 × 8 × 2-inch ovenproof glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
  
• 2.
  Cook the sausage and onion in a medium-size heavy skillet over moderately high heat, breaking up large sausage clumps, for 10 to 12 minutes or until the sausage is nicely browned. Drain on paper toweling, then spread over the bottom of the baking dish.
  
• 3.
  Add the cheese to the hot grits, then the butter, and stir until both melt. Mix in the eggs, half-and-half, milk, salt, and pepper, stirring until well blended.
  
• 4.
  Pour over the sausage in the baking dish and spread to the corners. Slide onto the middle oven shelf and bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes or until set like custard.
  
• 5.
  Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
  

SAWMILL GRAVY WITH CATHEAD BISCUITS

MAKES
4
SERVINGS

An old farm woman, newly come to town, lived around the corner from us in Raleigh and I used to fly over there after school to hear about life on the farm but mostly to sample Mrs. Franklin’s homespun cooking. Sawmill gravy was a specialty of hers and a favorite of mine. She told me that it was a “country-folk” dish—equally good for breakfast, dinner, or supper. As for the recipe’s unusual name, it’s said that this gravy was first rustled up in a lumber camp: Bits of sausage left in the skillet were turned into a milk gravy thickened with flour or more likely, with cornmeal. I sometimes add chopped parsley just before serving; Mrs. Franklin would be appalled!

1 pound bulk sausage meat

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2½ cups milk or water

Salt as needed to taste

¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley (optional)

4 Cathead Biscuits or 8 standard biscuits, either leftover or freshly made, split in two

• 1.
  Place the sausage in a large, heavy skillet and break into small pieces with a spoon. Set over moderately high heat and brown for 8 to 10 minutes, continuing to break up the sausage; it should be very crumbly. If there are many drippings (not likely these days with pork so lean), scoop the browned sausage onto a plate. Pour off all drippings, then spoon 2 tablespoons of them back into the skillet. Also return the sausage to the skillet.
  
• 2.
  Reduce the heat to low, sprinkle the flour evenly over the sausage, and stir to mix. Add the milk and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened. Turn the heat down low and simmer the gravy, stirring now and then, for 5 minutes. Taste for salt and add as needed. Mix in the parsley, if you like—far from traditional but delicious.
  
• 3.
  Ladle the sawmill gravy over the split biscuits and serve.
  

BACON AND CARAMELIZED VIDALIA QUICHE

MAKES
6
SERVINGS

I have always been partial to quiche and thought that a perfectly delicious one could be made by teaming Georgia’s sweet Vidalia onions with a good smoky bacon: two southern classics in an easy lunch or supper main dish. This has become a brunch favorite for me and for my friends, who sometimes ask when invited, “Are you doing that Vidalia quiche?” Note:
If the filling is to be properly creamy, you must choose a cheese that melts smoothly without “stringing,” a well-aged Emmentaler, for example, or a fontina.

5 slices richly smoked bacon, cut crosswise into strips ¼ inch wide

2 medium Vidalia onions, halved lengthwise, then each half thinly sliced (1 to 1¼ pounds)

4 ounces fontina or well-aged Emmentaler cheese, coarsely shredded (see Note at left)

One 9-inch unbaked pie shell (see About Pie Crusts, frontmatter)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup light cream

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1.
  Place a large, heavy baking sheet on a shelf in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400° F. This will help crisp the bottom of the pie shell.
  
• 2.
  Fry the bacon in a large, heavy skillet over moderate heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until the drippings cook out and only crisp brown bits remain. Using a slotted spoon, lift the bacon to paper toweling and reserve. Also pour off all drippings, then spoon 2 tablespoons of them back into the skillet.
  
• 3.
  Add the onions to the skillet drippings and sauté for 12 to 15 minutes or until limp and lightly browned. Remove the skillet from the heat and cool the onions for 10 minutes.
  
• 4.
  Meanwhile, scatter the reserved bacon and the cheese evenly over the bottom of the pie shell. When the onions have cooled, scoop them on top of the bacon and cheese, spreading to the edge of the pie shell; do not pack.
  Whisk the eggs, cream, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together until smooth and pour slowly and evenly over the onions.
  
• 5.
  Slide the quiche onto the baking sheet in the lower third of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325° F. and continue baking uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes or until the quiche is set like custard.
  
• 6.
  Remove the quiche from the oven and from the baking sheet, set on a baking rack, and cool for 25 minutes.
  
• 7.
  Cut into wedges and serve. This quiche needs nothing more to accompany it than a tartly dressed green salad.
  

BAKED VIRGINIA HAM

MAKES
12
TO
14
SERVINGS

In Virginia, indeed over much of the South, baked ham means Smithfield ham (see box, Chapter 3) or one of the other good regional hams, mahogany-hued and country-cured. It never means the pink packing-house hams so popular elsewhere. In “The Representative Ham,” a
New Yorker
short story by North Carolina writer Frances Gray Patton, the author tells how a transplanted Yankee, in a burst of cost-cutting, served a “pink ham” at a church-supper fund-raiser. The dismay of one parishioner speaks for all: “‘We know which things are Representative…And my dear friends’—here her voice rose an octave—‘pink ham does not represent St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church and, by God’s grace, pink ham never shall!’” Tip:
Before buying a country ham, measure the pot in which you intend to cook it. If the ham is too large to fit, have the butcher remove the hock. Or, if you have a hack saw, do the job yourself. It’s easy.

One 10-to 12-pound uncooked Virginia ham (see Tip at left)

1¼ cups fairly fine soft white bread crumbs

1¼ cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted (about)

2 tablespoons whole cloves (about)

• 1.
  Place the ham in the sink, cover with warm water, then, using a stiff brush, scrub off the ash, salt, and mold (this, by the way, is harmless). You’ll have to change the water several times as you scrub.
  
• 2.
  Rinse the ham well, then place in a large oval kettle, sawing off the hock if it won’t fit into the kettle. Cover the ham with cold water and soak overnight, changing the water two or three times. Next day, scrub the ham again and rinse well. Also wash the kettle.
  
• 3.
  Return the ham to the kettle, cover with cold water, set over moderate heat, and bring to a simmer. Drain the ham and rinse both it and the kettle.
  
• 4.
  Once again, place the ham in the kettle and cover with cold water. Set over moderate heat and bring to a simmer. Adjust the heat so the water barely trembles, cover the kettle, and cook the ham for 5 to 5½ hours or until fork-tender. To minimize the ham’s saltiness,
  change the cooking water every hour or so. Drain the ham well and chill overnight.
  
• 5.
  When ready to proceed, preheat the oven to 350° F. Remove the ham rind, then trim the outer layer of fat until no more than ¼ inch thick. If you have not sawed off the ham hock, do so now.
  
• 6.
  Combine the bread crumbs, brown sugar, corn syrup, and ground cloves in a large mixing bowl, then add the melted butter, mixing as you go, until the mixture holds together when pinched.
  
• 7.
  Pat the crumb mixture thickly and firmly over the ham, then, using a sharp knife, score in a diamond pattern, spacing the cuts about 1½ inches apart. Stud the center of each diamond with a whole clove.
  
• 8.
  Ease the ham into a large, shallow baking pan, and bake uncovered in the lower third of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until the crumb crust is golden brown.
  
• 9.
  Remove the ham from the oven and cool to room temperature. Carve into slices as thin as onion skin and serve.
  Note:
  This is the ham to slip into biscuits. Bite-size “ham biscuits” are routinely served at southern teas, open houses, and cocktail parties. Always at room temperature.