This is one of those recipes that caused a great deal of excitement in my kitchen. Not only did it give me license to buy more than my share of “pie” pumpkins- but it also gave me license to use pumpkin as an ingredient in Southern cooking.

It seems my beliefs that pumpkins are a Yankee creation and only used in Yankee cooking except the alloted pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving was wrong. This is one of those times that I valued being wrong. So, armed with this new information, I set out to make my first Southern dish using pumpkins- Pumpkin Soup.

Since fall is my favorite time of year, it only reasons that fall foods are my favorite foods. Pumpkins, butternut and acorn squashes could be eaten daily and my body seems to crave them any way I can get them. Soup is warm and comforting any time of the year, and this soup can be adapted in a multitude of ways to suit a multitude of tastes and weight conscious scenarios.

This is not the first time that I have made pumpkin soup, but it is the first time that I have made pumkin soup as a way to express Southern cooking. Clearly the addition of thyme is one ingredient that separates the North and the South. The fact that I served this with Southern Cornmeal Muffins is the other.

So, follow these simple steps and take some creative license and you will be comforted with a warm bowl of Pumpkin Soup while savoring warm bites of moist Southern Cornmeal Muffins. Life at it’s simplest is pretty good, I must say.

Cook the pumpkins as directed as well as the vegetables. From that point on, let your tastes dictate how you will finish off the recipe. I chose to omit the sherry, and add the cream. In retrospect, I think the sherry would enhance the flavor immensely, but I don’t drink or pour so did not make this flavor correction. Next time that I make this, I will omit the cream going for a healthier version and hopefully a stronger pumpkin flavor.

In my haste to get in as much on my day off as possible, I pureed the bay leave in error. Don’t forget to take it out before pureeing the soup mixture. If you want to get real fancy and I have done this-gotten real fancy.  Buy some extra pumpkins which you will roast in the oven for a little while and serve your soup in the pumpkin.

The best part of serving Pumpkin Soup in a pumpkin is not only the presentation, but the soft fleshly pieces of pumpkin you get to scoop off the edges when your soup is finished. Since my daughter’s beau is gluten-intolerant we made my Southern cornmeal muffins gluten free.

Gluten-free or not, I am going to make them this way again. They had a custardy texture in the center and the stone ground cornmeal gave it a great authernitic flavor. Moist savory little mounds that almost-manage to fit in my mouth to be enjoyed as a one bite treat-almost. I will talk more about cornmeal muffins once again and show you some other options, but for now visit the originial story on cornmeal muffins (use the Southern Cornmeal Muffin recipe) and totally omit the little flour that is required and replace with cornmea. Your batter will seperate with the milk floating on top when poured into muffin tins, don’t worry-all is well.

Pumpkin Soup

Adapted; Scott Peacock & Edna Lewis-The Gift of Southern Cooking

2 small pumpkin (about 4 lbs) or canned pumpkin

6 slices bacon

1 large sweet onion

2 small shallots

1 clove garlic

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

6 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup sherry

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Split the pumpkins in half and remove the seeds and fiber from them. Place them on a parchment lined roasting side, cut side down and add 1 cup water to pan.
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the skin is a nice deep color and the flesh is tender when pierced with a knife.
• Remove from the oven and let cool enough to handle.
• Peel off the skin, or alternately scoop out the flesh and set aside in a bowl.
• While the pumpkin is baking prepare your other ingredients.
• Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook in a heavy soup pot over medium-low heat till nice and brown. When done, remove bacon pieces and set aside.
• Keeping the bacon fat in the pot add your onions, shallots, leeks and garlic and saute over medium-high heat, stirring often so that the mixture doesn’t burn, for about 5 minutes.
• Add your thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, nutmeg and pumpkin. Stir the pumpkin well with the other ingredients and saute for about 5 minutes longer. Be careful that your vegetables do not burn.
• Add your chicken stock, bring the mixture to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes longer.
• Remove the bay leaf from the pot, and carefully pour the mixture into a food processor or blender in batches and puree till smooth.
• Return the mixture to the soup pot or dutch oven and bring the soup to a simmer again.
• Add the sherry, and simmer gently for 3-5 minutes. Add the cream if desired and taste for seasoning as you might need more salt, pepper and or nutmeg.
• Serve with fresh grated nutmeg and the browned bacon bits on top.

This was our last meal together while on holiday. I think of this as a Northern meal when in fact we spent summers clamming in North Carolina. Of course, I saved the best meal for last. I think clams might be my favorite food if I had to choose; though I hope I never have to choose a favorite food since there really are so many.

Our last evening together, I enlisted the help of my mom and dad to prepare the meal. My dad did the shucking of clams, 15 pounds in all. My mom made the chowder and helped with the Clams Casino while I prepared the Clam Fritters. Everyone else waited in anticipation as to the meal ahead while feeding the kids, dogs, fish and guinea pigs.

Clams bring back memories of summers vacationing at Ocracoke Island. Ocracoke is off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We would rent a home on the bay and arrive armed with our trusty clam rakes, buckets and rafts for the kids to assist in gathering our meals. The girls would each have a designated bucket, one for steamers, one for clams casino, and finally the bucket to hold the large clams for chowder.

Their dad and I would rake chest deep in water, raking hard for our clams as we fought the currents. When our rakes hit a clam bed we would call out to the girls. Holding up the clams, the girls would then paddle to us to gather the catch. They would each grab clams depending on their size and call out “casino, steamers, or chowder” in excitement. Then the clams would drop into the bucket tied to the raft and they would paddle waiting for the next group that was to be harvested.

We clammed as much as 2-3 hours a day for our meals. I would prepare the feast in the kitchen, while they rested and napped. When they awoke they would rush to the kitchen to see what “Mom’s Clam Bar” had cooking. It was a fun ritual and the meal was most appreciated. Of course clams fresh from the waters can’t be beat. Nor can the memories that go with an experience like this.

We began our evening with Clams Casino. This almost didn’t happen, but my daughter Lindsey who doesn’t take a no lightly persisted in her request for these. This is one time I am glad she didn’t take no for an answer despite how tired we were getting. Our version of Casino consisted of of sauteed red sweet peppers and onion which was sauteed lightly in bacon fat. The bacon fat was leftover from partially cooking strips of bacon before cutting them into perfect clam size bites. After the peppers and onions were cooked for just a few minutes to soften them, we added homemade bread crumbs to the pan. In addition, I added a little butter when no one was looking.

The clams were then covered generously with the mixture and then topped with a piece of bacon before being put into the oven to broil till the bacon was crisp and the clams were hot. The broiling only took 2-3 minutes. I normally make these with green peppers but am now sold on red peppers. We were tired at the end of the day, so cheated big time by using clams that we steamed rather than shucking raw clams. They were still fantastic and this worked out rather well.

Our next course was the Clam Fritters. My knees go wobbly just thinking about how good these were. My mom and I jockeyed to see whose recipe we would use and I won. Let me tell you I was nervous having never made Clam Fritters before. Half of the clams were going into this recipe and if they didn’t turn out; well a disappointed crowd would not have been fun. But as it turned out- a standing ovation was given to the cooks in the kitchen. We devoured these, which is why you don’t see an image of an inside of a fritter. I had all I could do to take a shot of them before they were gone.

I did change the recipe some by adding more cornmeal and flour to make the right consistency. The recipe made about 12-16 more fritters than it predicted. I also was short an egg, this worked out just fine. The only thing I would change when making these again, is that I would make sure that my stomach was empty -so I could eat more. If you don’t like clams and frankly I couldn’t begin to understand if that were the case, I imagine you could use fish, shrimp or crab in making these. In fact if you don’t like clams give these a try and you surely will be a convert.

We served these with a simple Cocktail Sauce of ketchup and horseradish along with a Tarter Sauce of mayonnaise and chopped pickles. I fried them in batches of 6 serving- 3 a person and they were polished off with some serious oohs and ahas from the family.

The last course was a Clam Chowder made with potatoes, celery, onions, clam broth, cream, and chopped clams. We waited an hour or so following the first two courses before enjoying a warm bowl while sitting outside watching the sun go down. It was the perfect finish to our last evening together.

We all left the same time with one daughter and grandson returning to Alaska and another to Arizona. My other daughter and I drove home to Charleston safely arriving a few hours ago. Scout accompanied us and had his last swim before drying off to get in the car. He had a good time being a dog, and was grateful we weren’t going to leave him behind. A wonderful trip with wonderful memories shared with family, I miss them all already.

Clam Fritters

Adapted- James White; 50 Chowders

4 pounds of small quahogs or large cherry-stone clams

1/2 cup water

1 cup clam broth from steamed clams

2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups stone ground cornmeal

1 tablespoon homemade baking powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

6 scallions sliced thinly

Corn or canola oil for frying

Kosher or Sea Salt

• Thoroughly wash clams, rinsing when done.
• Add water to a 4 quart pot, cover and bring to a boil. Add the clams and cover tightly.
• After 5 minutes, uncover and stir the clams. Quickly cover the pot again and cook another 5 minutes or until most of the clams have opened.
• As soon as you can remove the clams from the heat, carefully pour off the broth into a small container. Let the broth sit for 10 minutes, then carefully pour through a fine sieve.
• You should have 1 cup in all.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and pepper, stir and mix well.
• In a 1 quart saucepan, combine the milk, clam broth and butter and heat over low heat till the butter has melted and the mixture is almost hot. Do not let it boil.
• Stir the liquid into the flour mixture, and a soon as it is fairly blended, add the eggs.
• Continue to mix until the batter is almost smooth, then add the clams and scallions and mix thoroughly. Do not over-mix.
• Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat an oven to 200 degrees, covering a sheet or oven proof platter with paper towel.
• The mixture should be firm enough that you can scoop it with an ice cream scoop and it will drop into the fat keeping it’s shape somewhat. Notice my fritters are somewhat round but not completely. If the batter is runny add a little more flour.
• Heat the oil to 350 degrees and when hot drop 5 to 6 scoops of the batter into the oil. keep turning to prevent browning if need be. It should take 3-4 minutes to cook each fritter all the way through if you use a medium size scoop. They should be a nice rich golden brown.
• Each fritter was about 2 inches in diameter so they are a nice size. If you want to make smaller ones, adjust the cooking time accordingly.
• Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
• These do not reheat well though you can save the batter for the next day to make again if need be.
• Also, the original recipe called for 4 eggs, so if you want to halve this do so using 2 eggs per half.

I have been planning on making my favorite Brunswick Stew for a while now and knew my dad would help with the barbecuing. First off, this is not a dish for the impatient as it takes a good 9 hours to make. Is it worth it? You bet.

On the other hand is this post worth the 9 hours it took to create it? God, I hope so. You see living out in the country, high speed Internet is not an option. I have had to tweak my sister’s computer to have all the gear and gadgets I need to create a post. Finally, a quiet moment presents itself, and I sit down to finish my writing. This opportunity lasted all but 2 minutes when the computer shut down and wouldn’t let me back on. Not back on the Internet or your site for that matter; it just wouldn’t let me get back on my site.

Trying to fix the problem while sitting a foot away from two guinea pigs playing around in their cage, loudly munching on their food was hard enough when suddenly my sister’s dogs came in the room to wrestle. This is a sight and a sound as Kyle is a 100-pound retriever with a head as big as a moose and Princess is a 10-pound daschund. They are wrestling over a stuffed toy fox, and Kyle seems to be winning while Princess’s feet are a mere 1-2 feet off the ground and she is being spun in a circle going from airborne to ground and back again. She won’t give in and this romping goes from my room to the hall and back again around my chair as they bump into me.

These are just the noises and disruptions from the animal kingdom. I am not even going to mention the human disruption and noise. The animals can’t read, but the humans can. I will say no more.

So, all in all this dish is so worth it, which is why I am not pushing the delete post button that is tempting me at the present moment. I am persevering to deliver to you the real McCoy of Brunswick Stews. A fewq months back I wrote “Is there a squirrel in my Brunswick Stew?”, you can read this humorous post if you want to learn of another simpler version. This is how much I care and want to share this gem as I know a few of you have 9 hours to prepare a meal. The redeeming factor is that this recipe yields 12 quarts – enough to make it worthwhile.

And of course, my joking about the squirrel in the Brunswick Stew finally caught up with me. It seems that the family, spear-headed by my Salmon- bonking daughter D, have been conspiring to surprise me since Saturday’s arrival.

The story goes like this. They were in search of a squirrel to deliver to me for the feast on Wednesday. My daughter D texted my sister H today and said, “the squirrel is en route.” My sister came home from work with a brown paper sack and said, “I brought you a surprise from Walt’s butcher shop. I stopped to get something for dad and you won’t believe what they had for $6.95 a pound. They had one left and it was a pound and a half-er!”

“What did you get me,” I asked?

“Open it and see.”

Well the trusting mom and sister that I am, I began to open the bag when I felt something was not right.

I screamed and ran away from the table, saying “did you really buy this or was it road kill?”

This brought hysterical laughter which brought on my spastic squirrel dance. The spastic squirrel dance is similar to my spastic snake dance. My feet and arms uncontrollably thrash and flail in the air while I try to get far away from the thing that is causing me to freak out. Not only did they laugh at my reaction, my daughter M took a series of photos of my movements. “Too funny!” they say. “Put those on the post.”

Now, I wouldn’t mind you seeing the spastic feet in the air episode of my squirrel dance if I were thinner. But, seeing that I am a woman with her priorities in order, I’ll leave you to your own imagination, which actually in hindsight could be worse than the real deal.

Enough of their pranks. Let’s get to the heart of the matter – Brunswick Stew and not just any Brunswick Stew. This recipe is the real McCoy in my book. Pretty bold for a Yankee to say, especially one who hasn’t eaten her way up and down the Southern states in search of the real thing. But some things you just know. Like when a meal or dish can’t get any better. This is one of those.

This version of Brunswick Stew is a lot of work and requires a big pot, as it makes 12 quarts. Yes, this is not a typo error. Don’t halve it as it needs to be made when you have a big group. The balance freezes well and you will be grateful for leftovers. Serve this with my cornmeal muffins and some coleslaw and you will have a crew of happy campers at your table. This is one of those meals where you force yourself to have seconds when you know there is no room.

For some reason I was craving some good old fashioned homemade baked beans to go with this stew. I will post the recipe for the best baked beans I have ever made. The recipe I chose is an adaption of Julia Child’s baked bean recipe. It was a perfect match and even though 100% Yankee food, it was a match made in Heaven.

I have had this photocopied recipe for over 20 years. My copy has the word Atlanta at the bottom of the page, so I am thinking it must be from the Atlanta Journal/Constitution or Atlanta Magazine. Researching proved unsuccessful as to the source of the recipe. This is an adaption of the original recipe and for someone who is not a big saver, I have had this tucked away for safe keeping knowing that I will return to it again and again. Now that I have had my grilling lesson from Dad, I feel confident to fix the pork roast.

Brunswick Stew

1 baking hen 2-3 pounds

1 4-6 pork butt

3 tablespoons of Spice Rub

3 pounds lean ground beef

chicken stock (from hen)

4-5 cups cut corn from the cob

1 46-oz tomato juice

12 oz ketchup

4 oz white vinegar

2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 oz Worcestershire sauce

4 oz soy sauce

1 heaping tablespoon dry mustard

1 heaping tablespoon chili powder

1 heaping teaspoon thyme

8 dashes Tabasco or hot sauce

• Boil a baking hen and its giblets in 2 quarts water, until quite done (2-3 hours,) reserving the stock for later. When done, set aside to cool and remove meat from bones. Grind in a food processor and grind to a coarse consistency.
• Pre-heat your grill outside and set to slow coals to about 250-275.
• Cut diagonal slashes criss-crossing the pork butt and rub the Spice mixture over it.
• Set the pork butt in a cast iron pan or another pan that will withstand the heat for at least 6 hours. Roast for 2 hours then begin to brush with the barbecue sauce (see recipe below), basting every 1/2 hour till the last hour. At this point you will add equal amounts of ketchup to the barbecue sauce and baste 3-4 times for the last hour. You want the meat to fall off the bone. Set aside to cool. Pull meat off of bones, and grind in a food processor to a coarse consistency.
• Mince the garlic and chop the onion.
• Brown the ground beef in a large pot and when almost done, add the garlic and onions till they soften.
• Then add the remainder of the ingredients and enough chicken stock to make a stew like consistency. (It will be thick so don’t worry.)
• Save the chicken stock to add to it if needed.
• I added 1 cup of the leftover barbecue sauce to this on a whim and it worked out.
• Simmer for 2-3 hours till the flavors have a chance to develop.
• Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Barbecue Sauce

8 oz soy sauce

8 oz Worcestershire Sauce

6 oz vinegar

2 oz lemon juice

6 oz orange juice concentrate

1 heaping teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping teaspoon black pepper

2 heaping tablespoon brown sugar

1 heaping tablespoon dry mustard

8 dashes Tabasco or hot sauce.

• Combine and mix thoroughly.
• Use this to baste the meat about 2 hours into cooking.
• Keep basting every 30 minutes or so.
• When meat is almost done about the last hour, add equal amounts of ketchup to the sauce and baste every 20 minutes.
• Don’t add the ketchup sooner or it will burn.

This rusty cook needs a notebook, armed with a good pot of Southern coffee and the fortitude to do a little research before charging ahead in the kitchen. I also woke up this morning feeling like I need a mentor. A Southern cook who has the time and patience to teach me along with sharing a few good stories would be perfect. Being a good listener, an outstanding dish washer and you don’t need to tell me what to do, because I see what needs to be done cleaner-upper. Perhaps I can find my way into a Southern kitchen.

Having the ability to grasp a big chunk of this new way is the most I can expect starting this late in life. I need help, and frankly I am not sure that I want to do this one alone. What this Yankee needs is a Nancy; a woman who will teach me how to cook Southern in lieu of my washing the clothes by hand. My learning has always been by touch and feel, this is how it comes naturally for me. A process that for me is far easier than staring at a cookbook trying to memorize the instructions. When trying a new recipe, I have to reread it 3 or 4 times. Show me though, and I pick it up right away.

In meantime while I wait for a possible mentor, my calling and other important things, I move ahead in the kitchen. The main ingredient of this soup is Cope’s dried sweet corn, an ingredient I did not have on hand. I wanted the soup anyway and improvised. It turned out good but I do believe this soup made with the Cope’s dried corn would run circles around the batch I made. I placed my mail order for the Cope’s today and will certainly try this again as soon as it arrives.

I also did not have wild mushrooms,still unable to locate them. By the time my Cope’s corn arrives in the mail, I am determined to have found my source for the wild mushrooms. In-spite of the changes and make do required to make this soup it still was unbelievable.

You will notice that a shrimp and wild mushroom mixture is made placing in a shallow soup bowl, then pouring the cream of corn soup around it. Then a dollop of creme fraiche is added with fresh chopped chives. The original version is entirely pureed, my make shift version has pieces of corn in it.

Cream of Cope’s Corn Soup with Shrimp & Wild Mushrooms is getting a new name in my house. It is now being called The Soup that earned a big compliment during the 2008 Masters Tournament. I know that is a terribly long name for a soup; especially one that does not offer a description of the food ingredients. But this cook got such an emotion filled compliment that I believe my new name is appropriate under the circumstances.

I almost thought I saw the husband giving careful consideration as to whether he should leap from the chair to tell me how good it was. But, no he stayed put. Not because the soup didn’t deserve the chair raising. I do believe that Tiger Woods was about to putt or do whatever guys do when they are holding a golf club, this prevented the leap. Close call on that one. A huge this is absolutely wonderful- wow this is good that I did receive in the middle of the tournament versus waiting till a commericial was appreciated by me. Yes, the Master’s Tournament was pretty good this year as it was celebrated with a winner on the course and a winner in the kitchen.

Speaking of golf, this brings me to the first and only time I played on a golf course with the husband, or anyone else for that matter. He gets an A+ for patience and he is a good teacher to boot. I want to make sure I get this information correct as I don’t like saying I’m sorry, anymore than is required of me.

Anyway, we were on the course and mind you I was using a borrowed kiddy club from the pro-shop as no woman’s clubs were to be had. We started at the first Tee and the husband gave me a dirty beat-up golf ball. I was crushed, as this must have meant he did not think I had a chance in getting the golf ball over the body of water that was before me. Especially since the woman’s starting point was on the other side of the water.

Well with my ball in hand, and my kiddie club the husband instructed me to give a swing. I looked at him with the expression, yeah right. He said, I will give you $100 if you get the ball to the other side. Well, the first hit brought my ball about 10 feet in front of me. I was given a second chance, took a swing and the ball made it to the other side. Must have been my deluxe kiddie club and good luck on this shot. He was shocked. I was shocked. I am not a jumper, but I jumped with excitement.

Moving right along to the take our second shot, I gave it a go again. Well I whacked that ball and was at the edge of the green with 2 shots for a distance of 340. If you play golf you are well aware this is good for a woman. This is excellent for a woman who has never played and super-excellent for a woman who has never played and is using a kiddie club. If you don’t play golf, well let’s just say I should have bet $1000 on this one. The husband flipped, never saw him so excited before.

I am sure you are wondering how the day ended. Unfortuneatly, the chance at golf stardom was too much for me and it took me about 15 shots to get the ball into the hole that was right in front of me. Golf went downhill from there. 18 holes later; well let’s just say neither one of us could count that high. They went over my head, into the woods and I almost clipped the husband a few times. But that’s okay, I will never forget my first two shots.

This cook had the top score in the kitchen Sunday. This soup requires patience and a little time to make, but you will be glad you made it. you can find the recipe at Gourmet Magazine, January issue. The Cope’s corn can be mail ordered.

Now I am sure it is quite obvious by now that the husband and I have a little communication problem. We seem to enjoy rather large periods of silence interspersed with talking in a different language, especially when it come to the kitchen. Like the pudding incident, I asked my husband if he wanted me to make him some Tomato soup and he said, yes. He assumed that this would involve a can-opener and a can of soup. He also assumed that because I stepped away from the kitchen for a moment he would be heating the soup.

This is why I found my husband in the kitchen about three feet from taking a can-opener to a can of tomato soup when I walked in the room, horrified at the site. Opting not to say anything as I was sure he had a fever of sorts that rendered him delirious. It was obvious that he didn’t have a clue who’s kitchen he was in, so I quickly came to the rescue. In two seconds he was disarmed from the can-opener and the can of soup was put on the top shelf waiting to expire.

He asked, what are you doing?

Well dear, I am saving you from a ho hum meal.

He replied, I’ve been eating soup from a can for years, I don’t mind.

Well I do, and it would be my pleasure to make some homemade tomato soup for you.

But you are cooking Southern and tomato soup isn’t Southern. How are you going to manage this?

Tomato soup certainly is Southern and I have a recipe or two to prove it.

He caved, If you want to go to the trouble, that’s fine by me.

Really, I am almost as baffled to his reaction to my cooking as I am to the squirrel in Brunswick stew. It just doen’t make sense. Why have a can of soup when you can have homemade soup?

So, along with the tomato soup I thought a cornmeal muffin would fit the bill. Little did I know that it was not that simple? Without thinking I grabbed a recipe. Then I began to bake using a recipe I might add that yielded a dozen great muffins. They just weren’t Southern cornmeal muffins. They were a muffin and they had cormeal, but they weren’t Southern. How can this be, I wondered? A little research better late than never, and I learned something new.

What I first discovered was that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1989 declared in Section 28, that the corn muffin shall be the official muffin of the commonwealth. Being shocked and having searched high and low I cannot find the recipe that went with this bill. How can you pass a bill for an official muffin without a recipe? How would I know if I were eating an official versus an unofficial corn muffin? My curiosity has gotten the best of me. I am going to do a little research to see who introduced this, and ask them for the official recipe, surely they must have it?

This also got me to thinking. What if the Southerners have been claiming fame to their muffin when this is the rightful claim of the North? Everyone knows that corn muffins are Southern, right. Wrong, corn muffins are not Southern. Cornmeal muffins made a certain way are Southern. There is a distinct difference.

Cornmeal muffins are made with little or no flour unlike their Yankee counterpart. They also do not have sugar added to the recipe. Southern cornmeal muffins are rich in taste and savory, often cooked in a cast iron pan with or without buttermilk. As a Yankee in the Southern kitchen, I feel caught in the middle but I dare say I am leaning this side of the Mason-Dixon line on this one, especially since Section 28 does not include the recipe.

Simple, savory rich buttery cornmeal muffins let me know that I am eating a Southern Cornmeal Muffin. A muffin I might add that was eaten the same way hundreds of years ago. It is authentic and in this busy world who doesn’t need authentic. Mind you, it is going to take some time for my taste buds to develop to my new way of cooking. I think in the long run it will be worth it. The closer we eat to the earth, the better the food my friend and the better the earth. Armed with my new discovery I went back to the kitchen to whip up a batch of good ole Southern cornmeal muffins, and am that much happier for it.

Tomato-Basil Soup

Adapted from: Scott Peacock & Edna Lewis, The Gift of Southern Cooking

5 Tablespoons butter

1 medium onion

1 cup carrots

1 cup celery leaves and all

2 teaspoons kosher salt

29 oz can good quality tomatoes, if fresh not available

3 tablespoons sugar

4 cups water

1/2 cup fresh basil

15 oz can evaporated milk and or cream

• Heat the butter in a nonreactive pot adding the chopped onions, chopped carrots and chopped celery.
• Stir well for about 5 minutes to lightly wilted.
• Add tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper.
• Cook for about 5 more minutes and then add the water.
• Cook for another 15- 30 minutes till vegtables are tender and cooked.
• Add basil, and remove soup from heat allowing to sit for 10 minutes.
• In small batches puree in the blender, returning to the saucepan.
• At this point you can do 1 of 2 things, serve soup as is hot or cold. Or you can add a combination of evaporated milk and or heavy cream to pot.

Corniest Corn Muffins

Dorie Greenspan, Baking from my home to yours

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal-stone ground

6 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons corn oil

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup corn kernels (I used Cope’s since it is not corn season yet)

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
• Butter 12 regular size muffin tins.
• In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
• In a large glass measuring cup mix wet ingredients until well blended.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about the lumps they should be there.
• Stir in corn kernels.
• Divide batter evenly amoungst tins.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until tops are golden and a think knife comes out clean.
• Transfer pan to a rack and cool 5 minutes.
• Then remove muffins from tin, being carefull.

Southern Cornmeal Muffin

Scott Peacock & Edna Lewis, The Gift of Southern Cooking

1 3/4 cups stone ground cornmeal

1/3 cup all-purpose flour (White Lily if available)

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of homemade baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

Lard or unsalted butter to grease tins.

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Generously grease 12 muffin tins.
• Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well blended.
• Using your fingers work till butter resembles fine cornmeal mixture.
• In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients until mixed.
• Add wet to dry ingredients mixing just until batter is smooth and free of lumps.
• FIll each tin with 1/2 cup batter.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crusty.
• Cool on rack for 2 minutes before turning out to serve with lots of butter.
• If needed use a thin knife to release the muffins if some are a little stubborn and want to stick.

Cook’s Note: The Southern Cornmeal muffin I have been talking about; well it seems that the cold the husband had founds it’s way to me, so sorry no pictures folks of the Southern cornmeal muffins. I have been feeling under the weather and haven’t been thinking clearly. Batteries are being recharged and just as soon as I am feeling better, I am planning on posting a good picture of the Southern version. Why a good picture I am sure you are asking? Guess who got a macro lense in the mail yesterday?

]]> http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/04/10/tomato-basil-soup-a-corn-muffin-bake-off/feed/ 10 http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/04/04/is-there-a-squirrel-in-my-brunswick-stew/ http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/04/04/is-there-a-squirrel-in-my-brunswick-stew/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:19:45 +0000 Kim Morgan http://goodfoodjustgotbetter.wordpress.com/?p=229 It appears that there are three Southern towns that swear they are the home of the original Brunswick Stew. This is no small matter to joke about either. Brunswick Stew is serious business in the South. And can you blame them? If your home town was famous for cooking a stew made with squirrels and the recipe lived to be famous and beloved by many for over a century. Wouldn’t you want your home town to fight for that honor? I know I would.

Here is the little that I know about this tasty stew that is considered to be a traditional side dish when serving a barbecue. In fact, should you attend a barbecue and your hosts are not serving a small bowl of Brunswick Stew to go with it; be suspicious. Most likely you have not been invited to the home of a true Southerner. True Southerners know better. Anthony Bourdain knows better. I am sure that Anthony not only has eaten Brunswick Stew at all the barbecues he has attended; I would be willing to bet he ate Brunswick Stew made with squirrel.

More bad news. If you didn’t get Brunswick Stew with your barbecue. You not only were deprived of dining at a real Southern home, you weren’t at a real barbecue. This means you can forget bragging about your culinary experience when you return home from your trip. Someone will catch on, especially when they ask, was there a squirrel in your Brunswick Stew?

I know you are dying to hear about the squirrel, aren’t you? Did she dare cook this stew originally made with squirrel, with a squirrel? Nope! I must say not because I didn’t try. My failure was not because I couldn’t find a squirrel. If you look out my back yard or front yard, in fact you can see tons of squirrels. But this stew was cooked without a squirrel because my dog Scout couldn’t catch one. This fast and mighty Springer Spaniel has gained too much weight because of my cooking and he is slow, slow, slow…… I almost hate to mention it. Scout is shamelessly lying with his head in the corner out of defeat. It is quite obvious that he is devastated. It seems only a year or so ago that he was in tip top shape and was this close…….. to catching one of those little buggers. Even the old ones out ran him yesterday. It was just awful. And of course, I was of no help to Scout. I can’t run for beans. It seems like only yesterday that I too, was in tip top shape.

So here is the longover due quick history lesson. The only location with official written documentation to prove they made this stew first. Goes to……………..Richmond, Virginia! Yes, Uncle Jimmy Matthews first prepared this stew in Brunswick County to feed a large hunting party. The main ingredient: squirrel. I am not kidding either. Those wealthy farmers were out hunting for game of all sorts, and after a long hard day in the woods, they come home to a stew made with squirrel in it-lots of squirrels. They either had no sense or were lousy hunters.

Next town in the stew argument; Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick swears they are the hometown of this stew. On July 4th in 1898 they made an official claim saying so. They even have the original pot mounted at the Welcome Center to prove it. You can smell the stew for miles. Of course we can’t have a good argument without the Tar-heels, can we? They say that Brunswick County, North Carolina is the official hometown of this stew. Their reasoning? They created barbecue. Any respectable barbecue has Brunswick Stew served with it. They say it makes sense that they would have created the stew to serve with the barbecue. Now my question to them is the following: If in fact this stew originated with you as a side to accompany the big juicy large pig roasts that make a fabulous barbecue, then why would you make a stew with scrawny squirrels? If this recipe did originate with you. I dare say, you have no sense or some cook was playing a joke on you and you too them seriously.

Now that the history lesson is out of the way, let us move on to cooking a good Brunswick Stew. First question, how am I going to cook my stew without a squirrel? Well, being smart and able to read a current recipe, I substituted chicken. In fact at the turn of the century (not 2000, the century before,) someone had the sense to leave out the squirrels included in the original recipe, and thank goodness. I am still flabbergasted at the thought of squirrels in my Brunswick Stew. Squirrels are all tail. Just look at my squirrel pictures I’ve posted. They only eat nuts. How could anyone think they would make a stew tasty?

Having secretly kept it under lock and key for over 20 years now, I have the killer of all Southern Brunswick Stew recipes in my possession. My recipe is tattered and torn, with lots of smudge marks. The marks of a treasured recipe. Not bad for a Yankee, huh? But, it is not the stew I made yesterday, for two good reasons. The first being, my recipe includes a whole pork rump cooked on the grill and my grill is kaput. The second reason is that my recipe requires a whole bottle of ketchup. I did not have it in me to cook with ketchup. This is light of the crushing blow I spoke about two days earlier. For those that haven’t read my ham post, my mother informed me that she puts ketchup in my beloved ham spread. Cooking with ketchup is to traumatic for me.

Here is a recipe for the runner up Brunswick Stew. This recipe is courtesy of James Villas, The Glory of Southern Cooking. James is a Southerner. He thinks this is the best stew he has ever eaten. Apparently he has eaten a lot of stew. He is most confident that his stew is the best. Well, wait till he tries my stew. One taste and I am positive that he will get the appropriate papers signed that will make me an official Southerner. Just as soon as my grill is up and running.

Brunswick Stew

James Villas; The Glory of Southern Cooking

1/2 cup vegetable oil

One 4-pound chicken(preferably a hen), quartered

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery (leaves included)

1 medium ham hock

3 large ripe tomatoes

1 small red chili pepper, seeded and minced

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

paprika to taste

2 1/2 quarts water

1 1/2 cups each corn kernels, sliced okra, Lima beans (fresh or frozen)

1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

• In a large stock pot, heat 1/4 cup oil over moderate heat and brown the chicken.
• Transfer to a large plate.
• Heat the remaining oil and over moderate heat, add the onions, celery and cook about 2 minutes.
• Add the browned chicken, ham hock, tomatoes, chili pepper, salt and pepper, paprika and water.
• Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 1 hour.
• Remove the chicken from the pot with a slotted spoon, and simmer the mixture 1 hour longer.
• When the chicken is cool, skin, bone and shred the meat, set aside.
• Bring the mixture in the pot to a boil, add the corn, okra and lima beans , reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Stir from time to time so it doesn’t stick.
• Remove the ham hock and shred the meat.
• Put shredded chicken and ham hock back in the pot along with the mashed cooked potatoes.
• Simmer for about 15 minutes till nicely thickened.
• Serve with biscuits or cornbread alone or as a side dish with barbecue.

Cooks Note: James says, he hasn’t seen a squirrel used to make this stew since he was a child. Even though it appears modern day cooks are not cooking with squirrels anymore. If I were you, I would take precautions. When served this wonderful hearty stew. I would ask, is there a squirrel in my Brunswick Stew?

]]> http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/04/04/is-there-a-squirrel-in-my-brunswick-stew/feed/ 9 http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/02/06/homemade-chicken-noodle-soup/ http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/02/06/homemade-chicken-noodle-soup/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:49:04 +0000 Kim Morgan http://goodfoodjustgotbetter.wordpress.com/?p=17 Well my intentions were good, in fact they were great, but I woke up with a bad cold. I still had to go to work and came home tired.  I had hoped in-spite of this to make something fabulous for dinner, but too worn out to make a proper dinner.  All was not lost, what I really needed was Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, and the ingredients were at hand.

Here is my quick version, I just finished it and it was what the doctor ordered.

 I always keep homemade stock in the freezer, but should you be out of this or find such a thing foreign to you, buy a good organic chicken stock at the grocery store. I happened to already have two roasted chicken breasts already cooked, so I diced them up. Then I sliced  a bunch of baby carrots and grabbed some egg noodles. I heated the stock in a pot till boiling, dropped in the carrots and a couple  handfuls of the noodles. Partially covered,  cooked for about 7-8 minutes over medium high heat.  When almost done I tossed in the chicken to heat.  Final step I added a few tbsp. of fresh chopped parsley,  along with a touch or two of ground pepper.  This took all of 15 minutes.

Honestly it takes no time, this is so much better than the canned and  sure to help any illness go away, I’m already feeling better.

I figure if I am going to do this food blog right I need to take photos, which might be a task in itself.   It would be foolish of me to imagine anyone cheering me on without seeing what I had made!

I also tend to cook in generalities without exact quantities, forgive me for this, I will start taking notes, though some things like the soup above don’t need all the fancy measurements.

A British gal does my hair, we talk about food and she has given me a few tips about making Yorkshire pudding or as we Americans say “Popovers”.  I saw a recipe for chive popovers, they looked light and fluffy with crisp edges. I plan on making them to go with my leftover soup as I expect to be recuperating tomorrow as well.  Perhaps I will get the camera ready and take a stab at photographing them. Stop by and take a look if you have time.