The Savannah Style cookbook’s recipe looks like a wonderful way to fix chicken drumsticks. If not using a broiler, this would probably work great on an outdoor grill. Watch it, though, if grilling. Sugar burns easily. Serves 12.
Fried Catfish! Don’t you love it? We have a recipe from Southern Living’s All-Time Favorites for fried catfish. You need to be sure and have all your other side dishes ready and steaming on the table when you get the catfish out of the cooking oil and drained for serving. There is nothing much to recommend cold fish!
We have Amanda Henke’s Southern style cornbread that will perfectly complement the Fried Catfish! We thank Amanda, who is a long-time reader of our newspaper.
Emily Meggett says, “I always want you to cook with your own tastes in mind. This vegetable soup is a great chance to do just that. Though I list vegetables like bell peppers, tomatoes, butter beans, and carrots, you should feel free to use the vegetables you enjoy, and determine how many vegetables you need for the amount of soup you want. It’s very easy to change the measurements here, and this soup works best when you use vegetables that are seasonal and are the best in whichever region you live. I suggest serving this soup with my homemade biscuits, saltine crackers, or toast.”
From Betty Moss, we have Mississippi Mud Pie, a recipe she shared in Plains Pot Pourri, our friends in Plains, Georgia.
LEMON DRUMSTICKS
Recipe from Savannah Style, a
Cookbook by The Junior League of Savannah, Inc.
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons cracked pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cups oil
18 drumsticks
Bring vinegar, pepper, salt and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and oil. Marinate drumsticks several hours. Place on a rack over broiler pan and broil, basting with marinade, about 10 minutes on each side. Serve with soy sauce, if desired.
FRIED CATFISH
Recipe from Southern Living’s
All-Time Favorites
6 (4- to 6-ounce) catfish fillets
2 cups milk
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil
Garnish: lemon wedges
Place catfish fillets in a single layer in a shallow dish; cover with milk. Cover and chill 1 hour. Combine cornmeal and next four ingredients in a shallow dish. Remove catfish fillets from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Remove from milk, allowing excess to drip off. Sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon salt. Dredge catfish fillets in cornmeal mixture, shaking off excess. Pour oil to depth of 1-1/2 inches into a large skillet. Heat to 350 degrees. Fry fillets in batches about 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on wire racks over paper towels. Garnish, if desired. Makes 6 servings.
AMANDA HENKE’S
CORNBREAD, SOUTHERN STYLE
Recipe from Reader of
The Apopka Chief
and The Planter newspapers
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Dash* of garlic powder (*a dash
is defined as ‘less than 1/8 of
a teaspoon’ but I just do a
couple of shakes)
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon baking powder or… **see below for alternatives to
using baking powder
1 cup buttermilk (if you are out
of buttermilk, plain milk with
a teaspoon of vinegar will curdle the milk in five minutes and
you don’t need to run out for
buttermilk.)
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter or shortening…
to be melted and poured into
the batter… or, if you want to
do it the old-fashioned way,
use hot bacon grease instead! Daddy slowly pours while Mama quickly stirs it into the batter.
2 tablespoons butter for
greasing the skillet (plus a
tablespoon cooking oil to
increase the butter’s smoke point)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl: cornmeal, flour, salt, garlic, cayenne, and baking powder. Set aside.
Combine and mix buttermilk and milk with an egg. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Immediately pour this wet mixture into the dry cornmeal and flour mixture. Stir until well combined.
Melt the 1/4 cup of shortening and add to the batter slowly, mixing together until just combined.
Heat the skillet in hot oven or on top of the stove for a few minutes until hot. Add two tablespoons shortening or butter making sure it covers the surface of the hot pan. Pour the cornbread batter into the heated skillet. It will sizzle and make it a lovely crispy brown on the bottom and sides that smells so good. Carefully place the heavy skillet back into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until brown. Butter and serve immediately.
**For folks who can detect the bitter taste of baking powder in baked goods (as my family members can), in place of one tablespoon of baking powder, use 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (also called bicarbonate of soda) plus 1 tablespoon vinegar. The baking soda will neutralize the vinegar taste so it is virtually undetectable. Add the dry baking soda with the other dry ingredients in your recipe and add the vinegar with the liquid ingredients.
Alternatively, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar equals 1 tablespoon baking powder. This is what I use in this cornbread recipe in place of 1 tablespoon of baking powder. You can simply buy baking powder without sodium aluminum sulfate contained in some baking powders.
Actually, plain old buttermilk mixed with baking soda is a wonderful leavening agent for quick breads such as cornbread. The buttermilk itself provides the acid that reacts with the baking soda to make baked goods rise.
EMILY MEGGETT’S VEGETABLE SOUP
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett
10 large tomatoes quartered or
cut in half
1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
Seasoning salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Crushed red pepper
1 cup canned butter beans
2 cups chopped or sliced carrots
1 large potato, diced
1-1/2 cups corn kernels
2 cups green beans
1-1/2 cups sliced or diced
yellow squash
1-1/2 cups sliced or diced zucchini
1) In a large pot over medium heat, cook the tomatoes with the onion, bell pepper, basil, oregano, seasoning salt to taste, sugar, and crushed red pepper to taste for 20 minutes. 2) Add the butter beans, carrots, and potato. Cook for 5 minutes. 3) Add the corn, green beans, yellow squash, and zucchini. Cook for 5 more minutes. The total cooking time should be about 30 minutes, unless the vegetables are still too crunchy. If so, then cook for 5 minutes longer.
TIP: If the base of the soup is too thin, thicken by mixing 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1/3 cup water. Stir the mixture into the soup at the end of cooking and continue to cook for a few minutes longer to thicken.
BETTY MOSS’
MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE
Recipe from Food Favorites of
Plains, Georgia. Plains Pot Pourri
2 cups sugar
2 sticks margarine
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts
3 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 of a 10-ounce package
miniature marshmallows
Cream sugar and margarine. Add eggs. Sift flour, cocoa, and salt together. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan for 35 minutes at 300 degrees. Remove from oven. Pour marshmallows over top and return to 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Cool 1 hour, and then frost.
FROSTING:
1 box confectioners sugar
1 stick (1/4 pound) margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 to 1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup nuts
Mix well and spread on cake.
