Happy New Year, everyone! We hope you are all going to have a terrific celebration of LIVING along with your friends and family, and in this regard, we offer the following recipes for you to enjoy.
From our wonderful Savannah Style book of recipes, we have Dugger’s Hoppin’ John. As you may know, Hoppin’ John is a traditional dish that originated in the southern United States. It is meant to invite good fortune into your life in the new year.
For those of you who find “hog jowl” a little out of your dietary comfort zone, you can instead use ham hocks or bacon or a smoked turkey leg. Your dish will be just as wonderful!
You need cornbread and collards to accompany your dish of black-eyed peas which are simply a type of field peas.
Collards from Southern Living is a recipe I’ve used and loved for years. This method will work for turnip greens, mustard greens, etc.
And, to complete the ensemble, we have Amanda Henke’s Southern style cornbread. We thank Amanda, who is a long-time reader of our newspaper.
Also from Savannah Style, there is Orange Cheesecake. It looks scrumptious.
From the Stay at Home Chef, we have Old Fashioned Homemade Eggnog from Rachel Farnsworth. This is a real treat for me because I remember as a new bride, celebrating at my Grannie’s house, she served a very thick and creamy eggnog. That eggnog is the “nonpareil” by which I judge all others. And, of course, they never measure up to Grannie’s eggnog. I sincerely hope Ms. Farnsworth’s eggnog will prove to be its equal.
HOPPIN’ JOHN
Recipe from Savannah Style,
a Cookbook by
The Junior League of Savannah, Inc
1-1/2 cups dried cow peas (or black- eyed peas), soaked overnight
1 cup celery, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
3/4 pound hog jowl, chopped
very fine (or ham hocks, bacon …)
Rice
Combine all ingredients except rice in heavy pot and cook in plenty of water until peas are done, approximately 2 to 3 hours.
Fold in raw rice, the amount depending on amount of liquid in pot. Use 1 cup rice to 2 cups liquid. Cook until rice is done.
SOUTHERN LIVING’S
COLLARD GREENS
12 hickory-smoked bacon slices, finely chopped
2 medium-size sweet onions, finely chopped
3/4 pound smoked ham, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 (32-ounce) containers chicken broth
3 pounds fresh collard greens, washed and trimmed
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
Cook bacon in a 10-quart stockpot over medium heat 10 to 12 minutes or until almost crisp. Add onion, and saute 8 minutes; add ham and garlic, and saute 1 minute. Stir in broth and remaining ingredients. Cook 2 hours or to desired degree of tenderness.
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 de fined 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 but termilk, 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-fash ioned way, use hot bacon grease in stead! 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 and 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.
ORANGE CHEESECAKE
Recipe from Savannah Style,
a Cookbook by
The Junior League of Savannah, Inc.
1 cup flour, sifted
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon orange rind, grated
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Orange sections for garnish
Mint sprigs for garnish
Combine flour, sugar and rind. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and vanilla and blend well. Pat 1/3 of the dough onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool. Pat remaining dough evenly around sides of pan to 1/2 inch from top.
Pour orange cheese filling (see below) into pan. Place aluminum foil under pan on oven rack and bake in hot oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 to 10 minutes until the crust browns slightly. Reduce heat to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes longer. Remove and cool slowly, then refrigerate.
Serve garnished with orange segments and mint sprigs.
ORANGE CHEESE FILLING
Recipe from Savannah Style,
a Cookbook by
The Junior League of Savannah, Inc.
5 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon orange rind, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup frozen orange juice
concentrate, thawed and undiluted
Combine cheese, sugar, flour, orange rind, salt and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at low speed until smooth. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in orange juice. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
RACHEL FARNSWORTH’S OLD
FASHIONED HOMEMADE EGGNOG
Recipe from the Stay at Home Chef
by Rachel Farnsworth
2-1/2 cups milk
4 whole cinnamon sticks
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
2 cups heavy cream or half and half
for a light version
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1) Put the milk, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla into a large saucepan. Put it over the lowest heat setting on your stove for 5 minutes. 2) In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar for 1 minute. 3) Turn the heat under the milk up to medium-high heat. Remove the cinnamon sticks. 4) Slowly whisk in about 1/4 of the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture. Then pour all of the egg/sugar mixture back into the sucepan and whisk it all together. Put it over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes. It will thicken a bit. 5) Pour the hot eggnog into a large bowl or beverage container and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Add cinnamon sticks back in (optional). 6) After 1 hour, stir in the heavy cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and nutmeg. Store in the fridge and allow to cool for at least 4 hours before serving.
Note: Ms. Farnsworth says that it can be made uncooked as it is traditionally with raw eggs. To keep it safe for everyone, she has written the recipe as cooked. For an uncooked version, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cloves, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Replace the cinnamon sticks with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and whisk in with the egg yolks. Slowly pour in milk, cream and vanilla extract, whisk until thoroughly combined.
Alcohol can be added if you wish: dark rum, cognac, bourbon.
