A Southern Gallimaufry
Add two cups potato flakes and a cup of flour to one pound of ground beef. Mix in a quarter cup each of salt and pepper. Use your hands and mix very, very well. Form into patties, on the thin side. Some people—me included—dust the patties with flour before deep-frying in canola oil. Serve on a bun with mustard, pickles, onion. This recipe makes 8-10 burgers.
Crisp three slices thick bacon in an 8-in. skillet. Remove, drain and crumble. Beat four eggs very well, add a half dozen shucked, drained oysters with chopped onions and mild peppers. Helps to stir it a bit. Reheat skillet and add another tablespoon or two of oil to the bacon drippings. When hot, pour in egg/oyster mix and pop into a hot oven until lightly browned. Top with bacon, chopped scallions, and grated hard cheese. Serve with sourdough toast.
This dish is a magical, grilly-fresh single serving for an outdoor evening, Rinse bird with salt water and pat dry. Remove wing tips and backbone with shears. Turn the hen breast side up, spread it open, and whack it a time or two with your fist to flatten it out. Tuck the wings under the hen, slather with oil, and season with pepper and a dusting of sage. Place rosemary, garlic and sweet peppers in the bottom of a skillet, lay the bird over them, and pop onto the top rack of a hot oven (350) until legs wiggle lose.
Lay three slices of rye bread out on a cutting board. Smear two of them with a tablespoon each of yellow mustard. Smear the last one with mayonnaise. Top one of the mustard smeared slices of rye bread with 4 slices deli ham, 2 slices American cheese, 2 leaves of iceberg lettuce, and four slices bologna. Top the second mustard-smeared slice of rye with 4 slices salami, a half dozen pickle chips, 3 tomato slices, 4 slices turkey, 2 slices Swiss cheese, and the third slice of rye bread, mayonnaise side down. Stack this unit on top of the first mustard smeared slice. Secure the sandwich with wooden skewers with jumbo pimento-stuffed green olives.
This simple, hearty recipe is a perfect side for pork. The Irish call it calcannon, but you don’t have to.
Use two large starchy potatoes to a packed cup of raw, chopped kale. Cut potatoes into chunks, boil vigorously until soft through, and whip with milk and butter., salt and white pepper. These don’t have to be perfectly smooth; in fact, they’re better a little lumpy, if you ask me (and I know you didn’t).
Stew greens, drain, and toss with a melted butter. Mix potatoes and kale, adjust salt and pepper. Some people cook onions with the kale, but they’re better as a garnish.
I use a Mornay made with a hard mild cheese for a base, and add mild peppers and onion in addition to the mandatory spinach. Ladle over steamed asparagus and brown in a hot oven.
