A winner in your house might be The Chalupa Dinner Bowl from Southern Living’s 2009 All Time Favorites.
We have Mrs. Meggett’s Chicken Liver with Onions from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking. She says, “This is what I call easy cookin’. You sizzle some liver on both sides and make a quick gravy, and you’ve got yourself a good meal.”
Pan-Fried Catfish from Marvin Woods’ The New Low-Country Cooking book calls for nice big catfish fillets and buttermilk, sherry and two kinds of vinegar, along with sundry other ingredients. Marvin Woods says, “Catfish are bottom-dwellers, so they pick up a distinctive earthy flavor. Today, most catfish are farm-raised, which means they are bred in pretty clear water and are fed wheat and corn pellets. This makes the fish a lot sweeter and more subtle in flavor. This fish can be eaten with just a squeeze of lemon.
Charleston Receipts shares Hush Puppies from Mrs. Taft Walker. This will go very well with the catfish recipe, above.
For Mrs. Meggett’s Chocolate Cream Pie, she says, “The chocolate lovers in your life will adore this pie. This light filling benefits from a night in the fridge, which will allow the filling to fully firm up. The whipped cream topping adds another layer of sweetness; it also helps to balance some of the chocolaty taste.”
CHALUPA DINNER BOWL
SOUTHERN LIVING’S
ALL TIME FAVORITES, 2009
1 pound dried pinto beans
1 3-1/2 pound bone-in pork loin roast
2 4-ounce cans chopped green chiles
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 32-ounce container chicken broth
1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles with lime juice and cilantro
8 taco salad shells
1 small head iceberg lettuce,
shredded
Toppings: shredded Monterey
Jack cheese, pickled jalapeno
slices, halved grape tomatoes, sour cream, chopped avocado
1) Rinse and sort beans according to package directions. 2) Place pinto beans in a 6-quart slow cooker; add roast and next 6 ingredients. Pour chicken broth evenly over top of roast. 3) Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; reduce to LOW and cook 9 hours. Or, cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours. Remove bones and fat from roast; pull roast into large pieces with two forks. Stir in diced tomatoes and green chiles. Cook, uncovered, on HIGH 1 more hour or until liquid is slightly thickened. 4) Heat taco salad shells according to package directions; place shredded lettuce evenly into shells. Spoon about 1 cup pork-and-bean mixture into each shell using a slotted spoon. Serve with desired toppings. Makes 8 servings.
Note:
For testing purposes only, we used RO-TEL Mexican Festival tomatoes and a Rival Recipe Smart Pot slow cooker. Times may vary depending on the slow cooker used.
EMILY MEGGETT’S
CHICKEN LIVER WITH ONIONS
Recipe from Gullah Geechee
Home Cooking by Emily Meggett
4 to 6 pieces chicken liver
1-1/2 tablespoons seasoning salt, preferably Gold Medal
1/4 cup olive oil, bacon drippings, or vegetable oil
1/4 pound salt pork, sliced into 1-inch chunks
1 onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
2 heaping tablespoons
all-purpose flour
About 3 cups water, plus
more as needed
Cooked long-grain white rice,
for serving
1) Wash the liver, pat dry with paper towels, and season with seasoning salt. 2) In a 12-inch skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, reduce the heat to medium and add the liver. Cook the liver on one side until done, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Until it’s a chocolate brown color on the outside and the center of the meat is no longer bloody. Once the liver is done, remove the liver from the skillet and place it on a paper towel. Set aside. 3) Pour off the grease from the skillet, and add the salt pork to the skillet. Fry the salt pork over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion and bell pepper, and saute with the salt pork until softened. Slowly add the flour, using a spoon to combine it with the sautéed pork and vegetables. Once all the flour is added, use a spoon to mix the ingredients together. Stir constantly while slowly adding water as needed and creating a gravy, cooking for about 10 minutes. 4) Turn the stove off. Put the liver back in the skillet. Put the gravy on top of the liver, and be careful not to let the gravy boil or cook. Serve with rice.
PAN-FRIED CATFISH
The New Low-Country Cooking
by Marvin Woods
Six 8- to 10-ounce catfish fillets (preferably farm-raised)
SHERRIED BUTTERMILK
MARINADE:
3 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar plus
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons celery seeds
1-1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
BREADING:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon freshly ground
black pepper
1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
1) In a large bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Place the catfish in a large shallow dish. Pour the marinade over the fish, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours. 2) In a shallow bowl or pie plate, combine all the breading ingredients. Remove the catfish from the marinade, letting excess run back into the dish. Dredge the fillets in the breading mixture to lightly coat both sides; shake off any excess. 3) In a large skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, about 350 degrees Fahrenheit, carefully lower the fillets into the pan. Cook until the fillets are lightly browned and the flesh is opaque throughout when flaked with a fork, 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Use a slotted spatula to remove the fish to a warmed serving plate.
MRS. TAFT WALKER (MARY TAFT) HUSH PUPPIES
Recipe from Charleston Receipts, America’s Oldest Junior League Cookbook in Print,
a Cookbook by The Junior League of Charleston, Inc.
2 cups corn meal
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Red pepper, to taste
6 tablespoons chopped onion
1 egg
2 cups buttermilk
Mix all dry ingredients, add chopped onion; then milk and egg, beaten together. Drop by small spoonfuls into boiling deep fat. They will float when done. Drain on brown paper. Serves 8.
EMILY MEGGETT’S
CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett
3 ounces Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups milk, whole or 2%
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 baked (9-inch) pie crust
Sweetened whipped cream
1) Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. 2) In a mixing bowl, whisk 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, and salt together with 1/2 cup of the milk until smooth. Add the egg yolks and the remaining 2 cups milk. Add this mixture to the melted chocolate, whisking well. 3) Stir constantly and cook over medium heat until thick and smooth, about 10 minutes. Add the butter and vanilla, stir until melted, then pour into the pie shell. 4) Let cool, then cover loosely and refrigerate the pie overnight to chill. 5) Spread the whipped cream over the chocolate.
