I had a choice last Sunday afternoon on my only day off till the 27th of July. My choices as I saw it were; clean the house, take a nap on the porch, read on the porch, write for awhile, go shopping with my daughter, garden or cook for the afternoon-in my new kitchen. If I didn’t make a choice quick my afternoon would soon be over and all I would have accomplished would be an afternoon thinking about what I should do. Giving myself a good shake to snap out of my tired stupper as time was running out; I chose.

What I wanted to do more than anything was to cook in my new kitchen, something I had not done since we moved in a week ago, and to write about it.  I have not eaten out every night for the last week, though it may appear so, with my lack of posts. We have eaten at home, but the cooking was quick, nothing special, grab a sandwich, a salad, certainly nothing to write home about or to you for that matter-and certainly nothing substantially Southern.

Cooking Southern is far from second nature yet, this is something I truly hope to aspire to. Despite the wait gain from the buttery-creamy-food, Southerners traditionally ate, I love everything about the cooking and preparation of their food. Frankly, I am hooked and already planning to stay the course when my year is up.

Saying that I am cooking what Southerners traditionally ate, is not an understatement, as I fear a good bit of their heritage is losing it’s place in the home due to fast lives, fast food, fast everything. Fast and Southern do not go together and for good reason. Thank God we have some great Southern cooks and chefs doing their part in keeping Southern cooking alive.

The kitchen is where a good deal of my nesting and grounding happen and breaking it in needed to be done. A good home cooked meal would be one of the benefits not only for me, but the husband. It was a play date and I was going to have fun, jump right in, putting my ingredients on the butcher block with the tools to whip up a Sunday supper to remember.

My butcher block island had just finished drying from the seal that will allow me to chop, dice, roll, knead and anything else that I want to do. Even though cooks for years have been using their butcher block islands in this way, I could not bring myself to potentially leave a scratch or stain it -with food, so I chickened out and opted to use the cutting board.

My neat/new/don’t scratch/keep clean little  big quirck got in the way. Not that it matters, but my dear readers I must confess that I failed fingerpainting in pre-school. Most likely I responded to my teachers with a; What if I get dirty or messy? What then?

Well somewhere in the pre-school/kindergarten experience they must have let me slide or I flat out failed, because I never got over it. Give me a box of fingerpaints and it will sit on my shelf and I will look at it, longing to give it a go, but not having the courage to open the package; because as much fun as it looks, I just can’t get past the fact of how messy it is. 

My husband can attest to my failure in finger painting as I shudder every time he wants to read the paper in bed, while laying the unread sections on top of the white duvet or coverlet. He did not fail fingerpainting, in fact he must have aced it. He most likely was first in his class, as he painted his friends, the teacher, the chairs and anything else he could get his hands on. In fact he is still good at this. I merely balance him out.

So, even though I chickened-out with the butcher block  chopping. I fired up my new gas-top stove and double oven and set about to make a good meal; a vegetable plate. Well, kinda a vegetable plate. More like a starch, high fat plate. But don’t let that stop you from making any one of these dishes. In fact one alone is enough, with a salad or as a side to your meal, I promise you will not be disappointed.

This is very Southern to eat a plate of vegetables, and you will often if not always find a list of veggie sides at restaurants in the South that include a plate of three or four. I always order the three as the four is too much food and seems like an odd combination on a plate. This is the first of a series of three veggies that I will be writing about this summer while they are in abundance.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did, my daughter included- who came by for leftovers the next night and was heart-broken she wasn’t included in the first serving. Reminding her that I was breaking in the kitchen, and that I was merely “finger-painting” for the afternoon. She understood and, all was forgiven by the time she was half way through the plate of good Southern veggies. If I had to pick a favorite of the plate, I would be hard pressed as each was wonderful and an interesting dish filled with the fresh tastes of summer. Oh, how I love the South.

Fried Green Corn

Scott Peacock & Edna Lewis, The Gift of Summer Cooking

5 ears of fresh corn on the cob

3 Tablespoons unsweetened butter

Salt to taste

• Shuck the corn, and carefully remove all of the silks.
• Using a sharp knife, cut the corn kernels from the cob.
• Put the corn and butter into a heavy skillet tossing the corn so that it is covered with butter.
• Cook for 5-7 minutes till the corn is tender.

Macaroni & Cheese

Scott Peacock & Edna Lewis; The Gift of Southern Cooking

8 oz elbow macaroni

1 1/4 cups (5 oz) extra-sharp cheddar cheese cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon black ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayeene pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2/3 cup sour cream

2 eggs, beaten lightly

1/3 cup grated onion

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 2/3 cups (6 oz) grated extra-sharp cheese

• Cook the macaroni in a large pot of boiled salted water until just tender. Drain well, and transfer to a buttered 9×13x2 inch baking dish. I prepared two baking dishes half the size, so I could freeze one for later use.
• Mix in the cubed cheese.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Put the flour, and the remainder dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and blend well.
• Add the sour cream, followed by the eggs, and whisk till well blended.
• Whisk in the onion, both creams and Worcestershire sauce until blended.
• Pour the custard over the macaroni and cubed cheese.
• Sprinkle the top with the grated sharp cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the custard is set around the edges of the baking dish but still loose a bit in the center, about 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, and cool for 10 minutes to allow the custard to thicken.

Baked Eggplant with Peanuts

Scott Peacock & Edna Lewis, The Gift of Southern Cooking

2 medium to large eggplants

4 tablespoons rendered bacon fat or unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely diced

3 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 -1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons natural peanut butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

 1 tablespoon unsalted butter for greasing the casserole

The Topping

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

1 tablespoon finely snipped parsley

1 tablespoon finely snipped chives

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Prick the eggplants with a fork and set them on a foiled lined baking sheet, and bake in the oven for 1 hour, or until the skin of the eggplant is shriveled and the flesh is soft to the touch.
• Remove from the oven, let cool enough to handle. Peel the eggplants, and chop the flesh into 1/3 inch pieces.
• Heat the bacon fat or butter in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet.
• Add the finely diced onion, and stir well to coat with the fat.
• Cook, stirring often, oven medium heat until the onion becomes translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic, optional red pepper, salt, pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the chopped eggplant, and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the peanut butter until well blended, followed by the cream.
• Simmer gently for 3-5 minutes.
• Taste carefully for seasoning, add more salt and pepper if needed.
• Set aside while making the crumb topping.

Crumb Topping

• Put the bread crumbs, chopped peanuts, parsley, chives, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl, and toss well to mix.
• Pour over the melted butter, and toss again to distribute the butter.
• Butter a shallow baking casserole or pie plate that will just hold the eggplant. Spoon the eggplant mixture in the dish, and spread the topping evenly over the surface.
• Bake in the until till the bread crumbs are golden brown and the eggplant is hot and bubbly at the side. About 20 minutes.
• Serve hot or at room temperature.