Mark F. Sohn wrote Hearty Country Cooking.
This book is full of wonderful recipes of Appalachian foods. And, while not Florida recipes, they are foods that many of us love using because they contain basic, healthful ingredients that most of us enjoy and find valuable in our everyday living.
The introduction says, “The recipes and stories here are a synthesis of those loving, creative, and resourceful Appalachian cooks of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s who would not let you leave the kitchen until you had eaten. They are the recipes of a gregarious people who have lived in, by, and under the tight mountains and narrow valleys that form the spine of this region. Now you can recreate authentic, home cooked mountain food.”
The first recipe is for Summer Garden Vegetable Soup. “Once you have gathered the ingredients and chopped the vegetables, this ten-ingredient soup is a snap. I rate the recipe moderate in difficulty,” says Mark Sohn.
By mid-July, in most parts of the central and southern Appalachian mountains, you’ll find tomatoes, beans, corn, squash, and bell peppers ripe in our gardens. A good garden will produce for many months, and the rest of the year you’ll find these common vegetables in the market. During the winter, many country cooks have the tomatoes, beans, and corn stored in their can house, and they will use them to make Winter Vegetable Soup.
From Hearty Country Cooking, by Mark F. Sohn, here is Buttermilk Corn Bread (Skillet Corn Bread). He rates this recipe as easy, with only five ingredients. This corn bread tastes of buttermilk, a constant favorite of mountain cooks. We either bake skillet corn bread in the oven, as I direct below, or fry it on the stovetop. If you fry it on the stove, divide the recipe between two skillets so it won’t be too thick.
Again, from Mark F. Sohn’s book Hearty Country Cooking, we have Fried Okra. This vegetable, according to Sohn, is a late summer vegetable and a large tall plant that is related to cotton and hibiscus. The pointed, finger-shaped fruit is hairy and a bit slimy. Three- to four-inch yellow flowers with red centers make a showy ornament, and the pods, which develop to ten inches in length, make beautiful additions to dried flower arrangements.
Here is a recipe titled Fried Raw Potatoes, with additional directions for Allegheny Home Fries (Country-Fried Potatoes). These recipes also come from Hearty Country Cooking by Mark Sohn. He says, “To make Fried Raw Potatoes, we use peeled, diced potatoes. I like to fry them in a little oil over low heat. You can make fried raw potatoes with finely diced (1/4-inch cubes), medium-diced (1/2-inch cubes), or coarsely diced (3/4-inch cubes) potatoes. With larger cubes, more potatoes will fit in a single layer in the skillet, but they will need to cook longer. Allow 1/3-teaspoon salt and 1/3-cup diced onions for each cup of diced potatoes, but do not crowd the pan – these are not hashed browns.
MARK SOHN’S SUMMER
GARDEN VEGETABLE SOUP
Hearty Country Cooking
2 cups elbow macaroni or
small shells
2 pounds fresh tomatoes,
cooked, skin removed
1 cup water
2 cups fresh pole beans, cut in
1/2-inch pieces
2 cups fresh kernel corn
1 pound (3 cups) diced summer
squash, yellow or zucchini
1 cup diced onion
1 cup green or red bell pepper
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1) Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain, rinse, cover, and keep warm. Boil the tomatoes in the water for 10 minutes. Pull the skins off. 2) In a large pot over medium heat, bring the tomatoes and water to a boil. Add the beans, and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the corn, squash, and onion. Simmer another 8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, salt, and pepper. Stir well, remove from heat. 3) Serve hot or cold, and topped with the macaroni. We serve this soup with Skillet Corn Bread or saltine crackers and a slice of raw sweet onion.
Note: Healthy choice alternative: Except for the salt, which you can omit if you have to, this soup is just what the doctor ordered.
BUTTERMILK CORN BREAD
(SKILLET CORN BREAD)
Hearty Country Cooking
2 tablespoons stoneground
cornmeal
2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 cups buttermilk
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a heavy 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Sprinkle the stone-ground cornmeal on the bottom and place the pan in the oven. 2) In a large mixing bowl, combine the self-rising cornmeal and the salt. Make a well in the center and whisk in the egg and the buttermilk. Pour the batter into the hot skillet. 3) Bake for 30 minutes, and brown the top under the broiler for 1 minute. Remove from the oven and turn the corn bread out of the skillet onto a wire rack to cool. Cut into wedges and serve.
Note: As a healthy choice, omit the salt. The self-rising cornmeal contains salt. In place of bacon grease (if you have chosen to use it on your skillet), use nonstick cooking spray. Notice that the recipe does not have any added oil.
SKILLET CORN BREAD:
To the above recipe, add 1-1/4 cups cracklings. Bake as muffins, sticks, or a pone* and adjust the baking time according to your pan size.
*A pone is “a loaf or oval-shaped cake of any type of bread, especially corn bread.
MARK SOHN’S
FRIED OKRA
Hearty Country Cooking
1/2 pound fresh or a pint of okra
4 ounces bacon
2 tablespoons self-rising
cornmeal mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1) Slice the okra into 1/4-inch slices. In a large, heavy skillet, fry the bacon until it is crisp. Remove the bacon and drain it on paper towels. Lower the heat. 2) Combine 1 tablespoon of the cornmeal with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle this over the okra, and stir. Add as much of the remaining cornmeal as will stick to the okra. 3) Add the okra to the bacon grease, and fry it over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the okra starts to brown on both sides. While you might cook this from beginning to end at low-medium, I use medium or high-medium heat first, and then when the okra starts to brown, I reduce the heat – okra burns easily. Add more oil, if necessary. 4) The goal is to cook the okra until it is brown, crunchy to the center, and about half its original size. 5) If the grease has not been absorbed, drain the okra on paper towels, and serve with the bacon, either crumbled or in strips.
Note: Healthy choice alternative: Replace the bacon with canola oil. Serve as a snack or vegetable.
Note 2: I learned something new about okra with Sohn’s information that it can be grown to use in decorative arrangements.
MARK SOHN’S
FRIED RAW POTATOES
Hearty Country Cooking
1 tablespoon butter, olive oil, or
bacon grease (just enough to
barely cover the bottom of
the pan)
3 cups medium-diced firm
new potatoes
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 cup diced onions (optional)
1) Wash the potatoes and remove any brown spots. If you dice the potatoes ahead, store them in the refrigerator in a bowl of water. 2) In a heavy-bottomed frying pan over low-medium heat, melt the butter and add the potatoes. Cover and fry 10 to 15 minutes. 3) Turn the potatoes, and if they are cooked through to the center, remove the lid, add the onions, and increase the heat to medium. 4) Cook another 10 to 15 minutes, turning them every 5 minutes, or until they have browned on all sides. Serve. Yield: 3 servings.
Note: Healthy choice alternative: You can fry potatoes in little or even no oil. In this recipe, I have already reduced the butter to one quarter tablespoon per serving, but you can further reduce it by using nonstick cooking spray. Omit the salt and offer it at the table.
Serve these potatoes with green beans, corn bread, and pork chops, or for breakfast with fresh fruit, Buttermilk Biscuits, Country Ham and Red-Eye Gravy, White Sausage Gravy, or Potato Gravy.
MARK SOHN’S
ALLEGHENY HOME FRIES
(COUNTRY-FRIED POTATOES)
Hearty Country Cooking
Home Fries are not fried potatoes. To make home fries, double the above recipe. The onions are NOT optional. Cut the potatoes in half and then slice them. Slice the onions. Layer the sliced potatoes and onions in a frying pan. Cook, covered, over low heat for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Cook uncovered an additional 15 minutes. With low heat and so many potatoes in the pan, these fries will be steamed and soft, but tasty. Yield:6 servings
