From Gullah Geechee Home Cooking, Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island, Emily Meggett, who says: Creamed Chicken is one of the meals from my day that you don’t see a lot anymore, but you SHOULD. In those days we needed meals that could sustain us. We all did laborious work, and these fast-food dinners they’ve got out here now just wouldn’t cut it. This dish here has substance. The mushroom and herb sauce turns this simple cooked chicken breast into a hearty, flavorful dish. Serving it over grits, toast, or rice will have you full for the evening. If you’d like to prepare this dish as a casserole, see my tip below.
Another recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking Recipes, from Emily Meggett, is Okra Gumbo. You can use fresh or frozen okra. She cooks on a wood stove, but you can use any kind of stove. She also puts a little sugar in the recipe and says it helps to cut the acid from the tomatoes. You can serve this gumbo alone or over a bed of white rice.
From our Zellwood friends, who published Pot-Pourri of Zellwood, we have a Corn Pudding dessert from Gladys Lunde that is prepared in your microwave.
We have a completely new (to me) recipe from Pot-Pourri of Zellwood. Baked mushrooms with nuts from Roberta Kluhsmeier.
I love Magic Cookie Bars. The recipe is printed on the Aldi company’s Baker’s Corner Sweetened Condensed Milk can. This is one of those recipes kids (and adults) love that they can do in the kitchen together. Kids are great at making crumbs from graham crackers. And they can measure ingredients. They may need a little help, but it can be fun to do together.
EMILY MEGGETT’S
CREAMED CHICKEN
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett
For the Creamed Chicken:
6 to 8 boneless, skinless
chicken breasts
4 ribs celery, roughly chopped
2 scallions
Seasoning salt to taste
1) Make the chicken: In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, bring 4 cups water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the chicken breasts, celery, scallions, and seasoning salt. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. To see if the chicken is done, insert a knife in the thickest part of one breast. If it’s still pink, continue to cook until you can see the cooked color of the meat all the way through the chicken. 2) Once the chicken is cooked, drain, reserving 1 cup of the broth with some celery and onion to use later for the sauce. Set the chicken aside, and allow the chicken to cool for 20 to 25 minutes. 3) Once the chicken has cooled, cut the chicken into small pieces. Set aside.
For the Cream Sauce:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, whole or 2%, or chicken broth from cooked chicken
1-1/2 cups white mushrooms, plus more if desired, cleaned
and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
4) Make the cream sauce: In a 12-inch skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Once melted, add the flour and stir to combine. Stirring the mixture constantly, add the milk or the reserved chicken broth. After thoroughly mixing, bring this mixture to a boil and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Carefully add the cooked chicken without breaking up the pieces. Add the desired amount of chopped mushrooms, stir gently, and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the parsley and chives.
TIP: This may also be served as a casserole. If preparing this as a casserole, pour the chicken and cream mixture into a greased 9- x 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle the top with parsley and breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling.
EMILY MEGGETT’S
OKRA GUMBO
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett
3/4 pound salt pork, cut into
1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed or
diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
3 pounds okra, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 2 pounds frozen
cut okra
Crushed red pepper
Gold Medal seasoning salt
1 tablespoon sugar, plus
more to taste
1 15-1/4 ounce can corn, drained, or kernels cut from 2 ears fresh corn
1-1/2 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional but
recommended)
1) In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, fry the salt pork over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté together for 5 to 7 minutes, until translucent. 2) Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Rinse out the tomato paste can and refill the can with water. Pour the water into the pot. Repeat this process two more times. Bring to a boil over high heat. 3) Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more water. Add the okra, crushed red pepper, seasoning salt to taste, and the sugar. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes. 4) Finally, add the corn and shrimp, stir, and cook the gumbo over low heat for about 10 more minutes. Serve with rice or eat plain.
GLADYS LUNDE’S
MICROWAVE CORN PUDDING
Recipe from Pot-Pourri of
Zellwood from the
Zellwood Community Center
2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup milk
2 cups cream style corn (fresh or canned, fresh is better)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup pimiento
Melt margarine in 1-1/2 quart casserole about 30 seconds on high. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cook uncovered on high for 9 minutes. Stir twice during cooking, pushing sides into center. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
ROBERTA KLUHSMEIER’S
BAKED MUSHROOMS WITH NUTS
Recipe from
Pot-Pourri of Zellwood from the Zellwood Community Center
1 medium onion, diced fine
1/4 cup butter
1 pound mushrooms
3/4 cup beef bouillon
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup cracker crumbs
1/2 pound ground nuts
Saute onion in butter until soft. Combine with mushrooms in large bowl with half-and-half, eggs, salt, pepper, and cracker crumbs. Mix well, turn into a buttered casserole. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 30 minutes. Sprinkle nuts on top, and bake additional 15 minutes.
MAGIC COOKIE BARS
Recipe from
BAKER’S CORNER SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1-2/3 cup Baker’s Corner
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter in 8-inch square pan, heat in oven until melted. Combine brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over melted butter. In layers, add chocolate chips, coconut and pecans. Put sweetened condensed milk over top. Bake 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
