Smith County Watermelon Stack
E and L Barbecue, Jackson, Mississippi
Honduran Hoe Cakes
While researching the history of Mexican cornbread (the U.S. version,), I discovered our “Southern” cornbread in several Mexican cookbooks. Called–somewhat unsurprisingly–pan de maiz, this recipe seems to have found a place on tables in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
One recipe I found on a Mexican website claims to have come by way of Maine and even employs buttermilk. While such things aren’t inconceivable, I suddenly felt as if the Culinary Improbability Drive had been activated, and I’d turned into an enormous zucchini hush puppy and about to plunge into a roiling intergalactic catfish fryer.
I felt much the same way about Malaysian grits.
The origins of what passes as Mexican cornbread in the U.S. are obscured in a cloud of “women’s magazine” articles and speculation. The dish has all sorts of atrocious variations; extreme examples include any number of beans and meats, cacti, seeds, flowers, and a California aberration with blue tofu that also ranks high on my Improbability Algorithm.
For my part, I’ve devised a recipe very close to Ur-meal bread. Add whole kernel corn, peppers and queso in equal proportions to a good stiff cornbread batter. I use thin-walled mild peppers 1:1 with thinly-sliced jalapeno. Drop by spoonfuls into a well-oiled skillet, brown on both sides, and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a low oven to crisp. Top with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole.
Do tomatoes ripen off the vine?
Yes, they do. Tomatoes are a climacteric fruit (tomatoes are berries, stupid).
Climacteric fruit produce ethylene, which triggers and promotes ripening, a complex process that softens and–more importantly—sweetens.
Others are apples, bananas, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, avocados, nectarines, and blueberries.
Citruses, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries, grapes, pineapples, melons, and pomegranates are non-climacteric.
Fry green tomatoes, but you can ripen half-green tomatoes in a sunny window with the stem end down.
Stuffed Tomato Salad
Ladies of leisure assemble ostensibly for cards or tiles, but in fact for drinks, talking about who isn’t there and one who is.
Even the food is fussy: lavishly garnished congealed salad, trimmed sandwiches, and the obligatory stuffed tomato salad.
Slice the top quarter off a tomato, score the flesh and scoop it out; save for salsa. Drain rind and dust with salt and pepper. Stuff with chicken, shrimp, or tuna salad.
Cheese will run.
Friendship Cake
For the starter, combine a package of dry yeast with a cup of sugar and 2 cups of sliced peaches, and 2 cups water in a glass gallon jar. Cover loosely, set aside, and stir with a wooden spoon for ten days.
On the tenth day, add 2 12-oz. cans of chunk pineapple with liquid. Stir daily for 10 more days. On the 20th day, add 1 12-oz. can fruit cocktail with liquid. Let this work for 10 more days, stirring daily. On the 30th day, drain juice off, and set fruit aside. The liquid is your pass-along starter; give a pint to 6 friends along with the following recipe. You’ll have enough drained fruit for 2 Bundt or 9×13 pan cakes.
For a cake, add 1 pint of the starter to 1 cup nuts, chopped, 1 (18 ounce) yellow cake mix, 1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding, 4 eggs, and 2/3 cup oil. Mix well. Stir in 2 teaspoons cinnamon, chopped apples, raisins/cherries, and nuts. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at 350 for about an hour.
Remove from the oven, cool, and heave a great sigh of relief.
Shrimp and Grits
In 1985, Craig Claiborne visited Bill Neal’s restaurant, Crook’s Corner, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and after sampling many dishes, asked Neal to prepare shrimp and grits for him in his kitchen the next morning.
Claiborne soon published the recipe in the New York Times, and the national craze for shrimp and grits was on. While the recipe has been replicated—usually with disappointing results—in restaurants across the country, this is Neale’s original:
6 cups cooked grits with cheese (I use a white cheddar)
Tabasco sauce
Freshly grated nutmeg
White pepper
1 pound (454 g) fresh shrimp
6 slices bacon
Peanut oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup finely sliced scallions
1 large garlic clove, peeled
4 teaspoons lemon juice
Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons fresh, chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Season grits to taste, but lightly, with Tabasco, a very little nutmeg, and white pepper. Hold in a warm place or in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Peel the shrimp, rinse, and pat dry. Dice the bacon and sauté lightly in the skillet. The edges of the bacon should brown, but the bacon should not become crisp. Add enough peanut oil to the bacon fat in the skillet to make a layer of fat about a quarter of an inch deep. When quite hot, add the shrimp in an even layer. Turn the shrimp as they start to color, add the mushrooms, and sauté about 4 minutes. Turn occasionally and add the scallions. Add the garlic through a press and stir around. Then season with lemon juice, a dash or two of Tabasco, and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide the grits among four plates. Spoon the shrimp over and serve immediately.
Moon Cheese
Use cheddar of any type, Edam, Gouda, Colby, “Swiss,” or Monterey Jack. Cut into cubes of less than in inch, and arrange on an ungreased baking sheet.
Here’s where I tell you not to crowd the cheese bits, but it seems no matter how meticulous I am, I usually end up having to break them apart. Place in the upper rack of a low (250) oven until it’s thin, crisp, bubbly, and greasy. Cool completely before removing with a thin spatula to drain.
You shouldn’t have to salt these, but some people like paprika or cayenne. I don’t. Eat immediately; they’re too fragile to keep.
Egg foo young
In my (unpublished) book, weekends are occasions for egg dishes–quiches, omelets, Benedicts and their ilk–which in general are light, versatile, and easily prepared. This old fusion dish fits the bill.
For each serving, beat two large eggs, pour into a pool of hot oil and–working quickly with a fork–add ingredients, and pull the eggs apart as they cook. I like shrimp and bean sprouts, but others like ham, chicken, cabbage, and mushrooms. Scallions seem requisite, and garlic chives are a nice touch.
When eggs are firm, flip, and brown. Serve with a light beef gravy.
Egg in a Basket
Use sturdy bread and a sharp cutter. Lightly brown bread on both sides in a hot oiled pan, add a pat of butter in the center, and crack an egg into it. If you’re feeding several people, you can cook these on a sheet pan in a hot oven. Keep the seasonings simple: salt and black pepper. Toast the hole, top with jam, and serve as a side.
