lunaticsinge.com - Southern Cuisine Basics

Pan Fried Chicken - (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 frying chicken (4 lbs.), cut up, or (thighs or drumsticks), loose skin removed

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Dora's Savannah Seasoning (recipes listed below)

1 quart buttermilk, or as needed

1 cup self-rising flour

1 1/2 lbs (6 cups) Crisco

1. Rinse the chicken well and leave it wet so the seasoning will stick to it. In a big bowl, sprinkle the Savannah seasoning over the chicken pieces and massage it in gently, using your hands. Pour on just enough buttermilk to coat the chicken well - you don't want any buttermilk in a puddle in the bottom of your bowl. Using your hands, turn the chicken pieces in the buttermilk so that every piece is well covered. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

2. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator when you're ready to fry it.

3. Out the flour in a clean paper bag and shake it up. Put the Crisco in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven - remember not to fill it more than halfway with fat - and set it over medium heat.

4. While the fat is heating, lift one piece of chicken at a time out of the bowl, shake it off, and drop it into the bag with flour. Close the top of the bag and shake. Check to be sure the chicken is well covered with flour all over, then put it on a large plate. When you have enough pieces floured to just fill your skillet (fry in batches to prevent overcrowding), check that the oil is 375 degrees F on a deep-fat thermometer. Starting with the dark pieces, carefully add the chicken to the hot oil, one piece at a time, skin side down. The oil should keep bubbling and the thermometer should ay around 375 degrees F. When the skillet is full, cover with a lid (glass lid is best so you can watch to be sure the oil is bubbling gently and isn't about to boil over and you can see how the chicken is browning).

5. Fry the chicken, turning each piece with tongs, until it's well browned on both sides, about 7 minutes per side for white meat and 9 minutes peri side for dark meat. Any really large pieces will take a few minutes longer at least. (if using a Dutch oven the cooking goes faster; cook the chicken 10 minutes altogether, turning it frequently so it browns evenly.) Chicken is done when it reads 165 degrees F. If well browned, but meat isn't cooked place in a 325 degree F oven , and test again in 5 minutes.

6. As soon as the chicken is done, remove it to paper towels to drain briefly. Between batches, scoop out any coating that's fallen off the chicken into the oil with a slotted spoon so it doesn't burn and ruin the taste of the frying fat.

7. Serve the chicken hot or at room temperature.

Buttermilk Cornbread - (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

4 fatty bacon slices, or more

2 cups white cornmeal

1 cup self-rising flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup water

2 large eggs

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, for glazing & serving

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust the racks to the upper and lower positions of the oven.

2. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is crisp and the fat is rendered. Set the bacon aside and pour the grease into a Pyrex measuring cup. You'll need about 1/3 cup grease; if you don't have enough, cook up some more bacon. Put the skillet in the oven.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, and sugar with a wooden spoon. Add the buttermilk and water and mix well. Crack the eggs into the bowl, and mix well.

4. When the skillet is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease and roll it around to cover the bottom and sides. Mix the remaining bacon grease into the cornbread batter. Add crumbled bacon, if using. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and place on the bottom rack of the oven to back until set, about 2 minutes.

5. When it's set, move the cornbread to the top rack to brown. When it's done, the top will be lightly brown with cracks - this will take just a few minutes, so watch it carefully.

6. Remove the cornbread from the oven and rub the top generously with butter. When the butter is melted, slice the cornbread in the skillet and serve right away. with more butter on the side if you like.

Country Collard Greens - (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 quarts water

1/2 lb. smoked pork neck bones and fresh pig tails or smoked turkey wings

1 tablespoon Dora's Savannah seasoning (recipe at bottom of page)

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons bacon grease

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter

1 large bunch collards

Pepper vinegar for serving

1. In a large pot, bring 3 quarts water to a boil. Add he neck-bones and pigs' tails or smoked turkey wings, the Savannah seasoning, red pepper, bacon grease, and butter, then reduce the heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.

2. Meantime, remove the heavy stem that runs down the center of the collard leaves by holding each leaf in one hand and stripping the leaf down with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Toss out the stems.

3. Stack 7 or 8 leaves on top of each other, roll them up tight lengthwise, and slice into 1/2 inch-wide pieces. Repeat until you've shredded all the leaves. Then wash the collards twice, shake them, and drain in a large colander.

4. When the pork stock is ready, add the collards to the pot, cover, and simmer until they are tender

In the summer you need to cook collards for 45 minutes to an hour, but during the winter they'll take only 30 to 45 minutes because the first frost tenderizes them. They are done when tender, but not mushy. Near the end of cooking, check the amount of liquid left in the pot. If there's to much, more than 1 cup, uncover the pot to cook down the liquid a little.

5. Serve the collards hot or warm (or save them for the next day), with pepper vinegar. You can put pieces of neck-bone or pigs' tail right on the plates or pull the meat from the bones and scatter over the greens.

*** NOTE: When using small cuts of fresh pork like neck bones or pigs' tails, the taste will be much better if you put them in a pot with 2 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of any kind of vinegar, bring them to a boil, and then drain and rinse them. You will see a lot of white scum rising to the surface of the boiling water and this is what you want to get rid of.

Shrimp & Grits - (Serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil3 bacon slices, sliced thin crosswise

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons shallot-and chive Boursin cheese

2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 lb. large (21 to 25 count) shrimp, peeled & deveined

Down-Home Country Grits, kept warm (recipe on breakfast page)

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until golden. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

2. Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet. Stir in the cream, Boursin, wine, chives, salt, and pepper and stir constantly over medium heat to make a slightly thickened sauce, a few minutes. Once the sauce is smooth, add the shrimp and cook until they're pink all over and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Spoon a serving of warm grits onto each plate and top with the shrimp in their sauce. Divide the bacon bits among the plates and serve immediately.

Mayonnaise Biscuits - (Makes 12 biscuits)

Ingredients:

3 cups self-rising flour

1 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup milk, or more if needed

Butter, for serving

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with baking spray.

2. Dump the flour and mayonnaise into a large bowl, then add the milk slowly, mixing it in with a wooden spoon. The dough needs to be loose enough to drop easily from the ice cream scoop - if it's not, add more milk, a tiny bit at a time, and mix it in until the dough will drop from the scoop. Flour your hands and knead the dough right in the bowl until it holds together, less than 10 minutes.

3. Flour and ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup, fill with dough, and drop the dough onto the baking sheet. Continue making biscuits, spacing them so that they're right next to each other. Flour the scoop again as needed.

4. Bake the biscuits until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot with plenty of butter.

*** NOTE: You can also pat the dough out 1-inch thick on a floured board and cut it into square biscuits.

Sprightly Biscuits - (Makes 9 biscuits)

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup Sprite or &-Up

2 tablespoons sugar

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, for serving

Cane syrup or molasses, for topping (optional)

1. Set the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the Bisquick, buttermilk, Sprite or 7-Up, and sugar with a wooden spoon. Gather the dough together into a ball and gently pat or roll it out 1 inch thick on a floured surface (or just use more Bisquick on the rolling surface).

3. Put the butter in a 9-inch round cake pan and set it in the oven to melt.

4. Meanwhile, using a biscuit cutter or he rim of a 3-inch wide drinking glass, cut out the biscuits, without twisting the cutter. (if you twist, they won't rise as high.)

5. When the butter's melted, remove the pan from the oven and, using a large spatula to life the biscuits, arrange them around the edge of the pan, setting them into the melted butter, placing one in the center. Bake the biscuits until golden on top, 8 to 10 minutes. The tops should spring back when touched.

6. Cover the pan with a plate, flip the biscuits over onto it, and serve immediately, with more butter on the side and, if you like , cane syrups or molasses to drizzle over the top.

Fried Green Tomatoes - (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Salt & ground black pepper to taste

3 fat green tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons Dora's Savannah Seasoning (recipe on Basics page)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/4 cup frying oil, such as bacon grease, fried chicken grease, or 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter

1. Have ready a baking rack set over a baking sheet for draining the fried tomatoes.

2. Salt and pepper the tomato slices. Mix together the flour, cornmeal, and seasoning in a shallow bowl.

3. Beat the buttermilk and egg together in a shallow bowl with a fork. If the egg and buttermilk mixture seems too thick for dipping the tomato slices, add a little water to thin it.

4. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and when it's hot, add the frying oil, or melt the butter. When the oil is hot, dip a tomato slice in the flour mixture, then in the buttermilk and egg, and then in the flour again, shaking of any excess. Slide the tomato slice into the skillet and repeat until the skillet is full. Turn the slices when they're golden brown on the first side, about 2 minutes, and cook on the second side until golden brown. Remove the tomato slices to the rack to drain. Repeat with the remaining tomato slices. Serve immediately.

Dora's Savannah Seasoning - (Makes 2/3 cup)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1/4 cup salt

2 tablespoons granulated garlic or garlic powder

1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl, mix everything together very thoroughly. Store the seasoning in a tightly sealed glass jar. It will keep for up to 3 months.