Delta Dinning

We recently went to the Delta for a conference sponsored by the National Trust’s Main Street Program.  I went to visit Greenwood, the home of Viking Ranges and the Alluvian, a great old hotel that has been renovated across the street from Viking—“a cosmopolitan boutique hotel” as they describe it. I want to go back and do a session at the Viking Cooking School one of these days. The hotel was constructed in 1917 but closed in the 1980’s.  It was resurrected in 2003 by the Viking Range Corporation.

We had dinner at Giardino’s (pronounced Gardenia’s like the flower) in the Alluvian, begun in 1936.  They still have the curtained alcoves dating from prohibition! A bit different and something I have never seen before. Another restaurant in Greenwood, Lusco’s also has the curtained booths dating to 1933. There is no longer prohibition so we had cocktails, then we shared oysters Giardino which were roasted with a slice of Benton’s bacon on top. Oysters and Benton’s---how can they go wrong. The main course for my husband was a catfish cake (apropos since Belzoni, the catfish capital is nearby) topped by comeback sauce, another Delta specialty although it may have begun in Jackson. I had a great pasta dish with a creamy basil pecan pesto, with Grana cheese and chicken.

Our finale meal was the next evening in Greenville, about 40 miles away. Doe’s Eat Place began in 1941.  It’s a dive!  One enters through the kitchen.  There is no menu.  We had been told to order tamales which we did; then their green salad which is served with a fantastic lemon/oil dressing.  The reason to go to Doe’s, however, is steak.  We were told to share one which we did.  Out came this enormous T-bone—a couple of pounds—covering the whole plate.  The side of fries had to come on another plate.  No way I could eat one on my own, and even sharing we needed a doggie bag, and the dog had steak for 3 days.

So for something after the Thanksgiving leftovers try some catfish cakes with comeback sauce. A green salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice would go just fine with the meal.

 

Catfish Cakes

Makes 10 3oz. cakes

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 lbs. boneless skinless catfish fillets, cut into 1 inch cube

½ cup finely chopped red onion

1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced

¼ cup finely diced red bell pepper

2 teaspoons minced garlic

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup finely sliced chives

½ cup cilantro leaf

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 ½ cups white bread crumbs (fresh or dried)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon lime zest

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1 ½ cups peanut oil

½ cup flour

 

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the catfish, onion, jalapeño and garlic.

Sauté until the vegetables are wilted and the catfish is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked fish and vegetables, mayonnaise, chives, cilantro, mustard, crumbs, eggs, zest, salt and pepper.

Form the mixture into 10 3-oz. patties; pack them fairly tight so it will stay together while cooking. Set these aside on a plate.

Heat the peanut oil in a pan until smoking slightly. Dust each cake with flour and gently slip into the hot oil.

Fry the cakes for approximately 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown. Do not crowd the cakes but cook in batches.

Remove the cakes and drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

 

This in a basic recipe for Mississippi Comeback Sauce.

Mississippi Comback  Sauce

¼ cup of olive oil

¼ cup of chili sauce

¼ cup of ketchup

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon of spice mustard

1 cup of mayonnaise

¼ teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper

Couple dashes of hot sauce

¼ teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste

½ teaspoon of onion powder

½ teaspoon of garlic powder

The juice of ½ of a lemon

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and process until well mixed. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Store in fridge. Use on everything!

The First Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate every November began in 1863 with a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln but was not made into law until 1941.

 

The first American Thanksgiving was not in Massachusetts in 1620, but in 1619 at Berkeley Plantation on the James River. On December 4, 1619, Captain John Woodlief, a former Jamestown colonist, came ashore with thirty-seven new, English settlers to develop the Berkeley Hundred, an 8,000 acre site named for its sponsor, Sir Richard Berkeley. Asking the settlers to kneel, Woodlief began reading Berkeley’s proclamation, “ Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”

 

 

This, insist members of the Virginia First Thanksgiving Festival, Inc., which reenacts the event every November at Berkeley Plantation, was the first Thanksgiving. No Indians and probably no food, although bacon, peas, cornmeal cakes, and cinnamon water have been mentioned.

The irony here is that for 300 years nobody remembered, let alone celebrated, that first Thanksgiving. Then one day in 1931, the Berkeley Company documents surfaced in, of all places, the New York Public Library, among them a record of the 1619 ceremony.

In 1958 a group of determined believers formed the Virginia First Thanksgiving Festival, Inc., “to gain appropriate recognition for Virginia’s documented claim to the first official Thanksgiving in America.” And then in 1962 came a mea culpa from President John F. Kennedy via his special assistant, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. “You are quite right,” he wrote, corroborating the Virginia Festival’s claim, “and I can only plead an unconquerable New England bias.”

We got to see Berkeley Plantation while on the Virginia garden tour this past April. It was very exciting to see where the first Thanksgiving took place and to wonder what they really ate. The Berkeley date is December 4, 1619 (from the old calendar) and people from all parts of the state flock to the celebration. Tables are spread on the lawn, chairs are pushed near tall green boxwood, and a feast is prepared of turkey, ham, Virginia oysters, candied sweet potatoes, and carrots and parsley potatoes. The dining room at Berkeley has a handsome sideboard filled with all kinds of desserts such as wine jelly, ambrosia, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and a pineapple garnished with strawberries, pineapple, and melon balls on bamboo skewers.

In honor or Berkeley and my own Thanksgiving feast I prepared the recipe for pecan pie from The James River Plantations’ Cookbook, which I had purchased on my visit in April. I also researched the best pie dough I could find and think you will find the one I have here is just the best. Lots of butter but really flaky.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and hope all of those pies turn out well!

From The James River Plantations’ Cookbook, ‘A Glimpse into the Homes and Kitchens of Old Virginia.’

Berkeley Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

Pinch Cinnamon

1/8  teaspoon salt

½-1 cup pecans pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

9-inch unbaked pie shell

Mix the ingredients, adding the nuts last.  Pour into pie shell. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° and bake until filling is firm.  (Old timers shook the pie slightly and when its center remained still, the pie was cooked.) Baking time is about 50 minutes.  When done, the top will be firm and crusty with the pecans showing.

From the 2013 November issue of ‘Saveur’ magazine, I found this great pie dough recipe. It makes enough for two crusts and you can freeze it for a month. Believe me it is delicious.

Flaky Butter Pie Dough

For all types of pies including fruit, nut, and custard pies.

2 ¼ cups flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

6 tbsp. ice-cold water

Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a dough blender, two forks, or your fingers, cut butter into flour mixture, forming pea-size crumbles.  Add water, work dough until smooth but with visible flecks of butter. (Alternatively, pulse ingredients in a food processor.) Divide dough in half and flatten into disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap; chill 1 hour before using.

Remember for a good dough let it rest before rolling out. Use high fat content at least 83 percent butter for a flaky crust. I use Kerrygold unsalted butter from grass-fed cows but there are some other European brands that work well also. Butter your pan before putting the dough in to keep from sticking. To avoid soggy bottom crusts add about one tablespoon each of flour and sugar over the crust before filling.

Oysters Madeleine Pan Roast

I always do scalloped oysters for my Thanksgiving feast from an old recipe handed down from the housekeeper of my husband’s grandmother, but I read an article in the October/November issue of ‘Garden and Gun’ that made me rethink my recipe.

John Currence is a great chef and restaurant owner in Oxford, Mississippi and I have eaten at two of his restaurants and they are terrific. His article in ‘Garden and Gun’ referenced the original Madeleine recipe first published in the Baton Rouge Junior League cookbook in 1959; the book was called River Road Recipes and it is still in print. The dish is a Louisiana classic built around processed cheese and jalapeños. I did an article about the Spinach Madeleine several months ago. Mr. Currence decided to use spinach cooked in bacon fat and add oysters and reinvent this famous dish.

This article was of interest to me since I have gotten to know the real Madeleine and go to church where she attends. She is there most Sundays. Her husband died this year and she is somewhat in decline but still has a kind word to say to everyone.

This recipe has perhaps a hint of Oysters Rockefeller but is not as rich. Red pepper flakes gives it a little kick, but nothing really fierce. The roux made with bacon fat is the key to the flavor. We all have our Thanksgiving favorite like creamed onions and peanuts (my husband’s) and scalloped oysters (my son’s), but this recipe may be added to the list of favorites. Give it a try and I think you will like it!

Recipe from the October/November 2013 issue of ‘Garden and Gun’ magazine.

Oyster Madeleine Pan Roast

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

3 tbsp. butter

2 lbs. fresh spinach

3 tbsp. bacon fat

3 tbsp. flour

½ cup yellow onion, small diced

1 ½ tbsp. garlic, minced

¼ cup celery

3 tbsp. heavy cream

½ tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

1 ½ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ tsp. crushed toasted fennel seed

½ cup plus 3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

2 dozen shucked medium oysters

½ cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

Preparation

Melt butter in a medium soup pot over low heat; add spinach, raise heat to medium, and stir, turning until just wilted. Remove from pan, turn into a colander, and press water out as much as possible, reserving spinach liquor. Allow spinach to cool, then chop roughly.

In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, melt bacon fat and whisk in flour. Continue whisking until roux just begins to turn golden and smell nutty. Add onion, garlic, and celery, and stir until vegetables soften. Stir in ¾ cup of reserved spinach liquor, cream, lemon juice, thyme, red pepper flakes, and fennel seed, and continue stirring until mixture thickens.

Blend in ½ cup Parmesan cheese and stir in chopped spinach. Combine well. Season lightly with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool briefly.

Stir in oysters gently and pour mix into a large pie tin rubbed with butter. Combine remaining Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and lemon zest; sprinkle over casserole and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until breadcrumbs toast.

 

 

James Farmer, Southern Living Editor, and Cornbread Dressing

I attended the 25^th Southern Garden Symposium in St. Francisville, Louisiana last week.  I had never attended before because my husband is primarily the gardener but I decided to attend and had a great two days and got lots of ideas.

I spent two hours learning about flower arranging from John Grady Burns, who has worked at the White House and has a design shop in Atlanta. He said the work in arranging these days is “organic”. I guess organic is not just for food! He means using anything in nature such as interesting branches, fig vines, banana stalks, and logs with resurrection ferns growing on them. In other words, you do not have to have anything perfect to make an interesting arrangement! This lecture was outdoors in the fabulous Afton Villa Gardens, a restored plantation garden augmented with plantings in the ruins of the old villa. Mrs. Trimble, the owner, noted in her welcome that her gardener, Ivy, came to help them for two weeks and has remained for 40 years.

The highlight was the afternoon speaker, James Farmer, whose talk was farm to table. He has the perfect name, doesn’t he? He is one of the three Editors-At-Large for ‘Southern Living’ along with Jenna Bush Hagar, and Kimberly Whitman. He has written 5 books and has a design studio in Perry, Georgia where he was born. He is an Auburn graduate and there he got his interest in farming and food. When I got my November issue of ‘Southern Living’ there was an article on a Georgia Christmas by James Farmer. He talked at the symposium and in the article about his grandmother Mimi, and the influence she had on his life. She passed away this year. He gives the recipes for his Thanksgiving meal in honor of Mimi. I did her cornbread dressing in preparation for my Thanksgiving feast. I wanted to do a trial run and I wanted a picture for my readers. It was very good and easy and actually reminded me of my grandmother’s dressing which was always done with simply cornbread (which she baked from scratch) and vegetables. And its dressing here in the South, not stuffing.

Get the November 2013 issue of ‘Southern Living.’ It not only has an article on a Georgia Thanksgiving but an Alabama one as well.

 

From the November 2013 issue of ‘Southern Living’ magazine.

Mimi’s Cornbread Dressing

Makes 8-10 servings

2 Tbsp. canola oil, divided

2 cups self-rising white cornmeal mix

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1 cup self-rising flour

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

5 to 6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

¾ cup butter, divided

3 cups chopped sweet onion (about 1 large)

2 cups chopped celery

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cups chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage

2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400°. Coat bottom and sides of a 10-inch cast iron skilled with 1 Tbsp. oil; heat on oven 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together cornmeal mix, next three ingredients, and remaining 1 Tbsp. oil. Pour batter into hot skillet.

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven to a wire rack; cool 15 minutes. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Stir 5 cups broth into crumbled cornbread until moistened, adding more broth, 1 Tbsp. at a time, if necessary. (Mixture should resemble wet sand.)

Melt ¼ cup butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and celery and sauté 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Add onion mixture to cornbread mixture.

Microwave remaining ½ cup butter in a small microwave safe bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until melted. Stir melted butter, eggs, and remaining ingredients into cornbread mixture; spoon into a lightly greased 13-x9-inch baking dish.

Bake at 400° for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

We had this for lunch served over a slice of turkey and added a little Tabasco.