Tag: holiday dishes

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Egg Plates

Stuffed eggs are a necessary appurtenance to any holiday table in the Mid-South, so having an egg plate is a requirement in one’s arsenal of tableware.

Egg plates come in all sizes and shapes–they’re even making disposable ones now–and their selection for a given occasion provides a telling clue to the character of the bearer. If you bring a ceramic plate to a funeral, you’re going to be labeled white trash behind your back; if you if you bring a cut glass plate to a keg party, you’re going to be called a fucking idiot to your face.

The number of spaces most often found for egg halves remains a mystery to me. Given that eggs are sold by the dozen or in multiples or fractions thereof, you’d think that egg plates would adhere to that standard, but such is not the case. Of the two egg plates I own, the one of ceramic has twelve depressions, the other of glass has fifteen This gives me reason to believe that my glass plate is older than the egg industry, which makes me smile when I’m loading it for the table.

Such are the modest rewards of petty pride.

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Stuffed Pork Loin

Remove sinews and fat from a whole loin of pork, butterfly, and brush with corn oil seasoned with black pepper, salt, and freshly-minced garlic.

For the stuffing, use day-old cornbread moistened with butter and chicken stock seasoned with fresh rosemary (not too much!), thyme, basil, salt and pepper, along with finely-minced onions.

Stuff loin, roll, truss, brush again with seasoned oil, and roast on medium heat (300) about an hour for a ten pound loin.

Serve with Jezebel sauce.

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Cream Soup

Cream soups add a warm touch to any cool-weather occasion. These soups involve many of the same procedures and ingredients as others: aromatics, broth, vegetables, or seafood, but with an enrichment of cream.

In my experience, a bisque (“twice cooked”) usually refers to a cream soup containing seafood such as shrimp, crawfish, or lobster, though some tomato cream soups fall into the category.

If you happen to be a domestic deity and have homemade stock on hand, then by all means use it; if not, use a quart of store-bought. Add a cup of diced onion, celery, and carrot along with a few pinches of thyme and parsley. Let it sweat on a low heat for about an hour or so. Strain and set aside.

Make a light roux with a ½  stick of butter and a quarter cup of plain flour. Drizzle into the stock and mix with a whip until it begins to thicken. Add a cup of whole cream and about two cups of your choice of prepared meats or vegetables.

Let soup rest off heat before serving with a little swirl of butter. This recipe makes about about six 12-oz. servings.