Newspaper Page Text
10A
i —FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1985
Southern cooking is heritage
There is an art to true southern
cooking which sometimes escapes
those not native to the South.
Southern vegetable favorites in
clude green beans, turnip and collard
greens, com, mashed potatoes,
blackeyed peas, butter beans, pinto
beans, okra, squash and tomatoes.
Some country cooking restaurants
proudly offer a platter of nothing but
three or four of these vegetables.
Southerners do have meat favor
ites, too, though. These include the
legendary Southern fried chicken,
country fried steak, ham and fried
fish, especially catfish. Those whose
families raised and butchered their
own hogs also mention a fondness for
pork roast, sausage and liver.
Out of a country heritage shared by
countless Southerners has come the
enduring appetite for these meats
they were raised with.
One of the most distinguishing
characteristics of Southern country
cooking is the strong preference for
biscuits and combread over any
other bread.
In some Southern families, it sim
ply isn’t a meal unless biscuits oi
combread are served.
One critical ingredient for true
country biscuits is pork lard.
The pivotal ingredient in country
combread is self-rising flour, often
the only kind of flour in a Southern
household. Self-rising flour has salt
and leavening agents mixed in with
the flour.
Combread can take the form of
baked squares, muffins and sticks or
fried rounds.
Combread can be eaten plain with
butter or crumbled into a bowl with
buttermilk or “pot likker,” the fla
vorful, dark green juice left in the pot
after cooking turnip greens.
Southern country cooking encom
passes more than just what is cooked.
It also involves how it is cooked.
Take those favorite vegetables, for
example. One secret to cooking them
the Southern way is long hours of
cooking, according to many Southern
cooks.
Vegetables, whether fresh or
canned, are simmered for several
hours.
“Seasoning” to many Southern
oooks means putting a piece of salt
pork (usually called “fatback” or
“streak o’ lean”), salt and pepper in
the cooking water with the vegeta
bles. Sometimes a bit of butter is
added toward the end. The long,
gentle cooking allows time for the
cured salt pork to impart its hearty,
salty flavor to the vegetables.
When it comes to making com
bread and biscuits, the proper equip
ment is important.
Combread most often is baked in a
cast iron skillet. A bit of margarine or
bacon grease is put in the skillet, the
pan is heated in the oven until the fat
melts and then the batter is poured in
for baking.
The most valuable equipment for
mixing biscuit dough are the fingers.
Self-rising flour, lard and buttermilk
are squeezed through the fingers until
the mixture forms a ball. This proc
ess may take place in a wooden bread
tray (an oblong piece of flat wood
with a circular depression in the
middle for mixing) or a large wooden
bowl, if these items have been handed
down in the family.
For newcomers to the area, expo
sure to Southern food often comes
first at a country cooking restaurant.
The curious will have to jockey for a
seat among the many longtime resi
dents who regularly congregate at
these restaurants.
Beyond the food, there is an intan
gible element of utmost importance
in a Southern country cooking restau
rant neighborliness.
This feeling of friendliness brings
people back day after day to eat at
the same place. Not only is the food
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“homelike,” but so is the close, re
laxed atmosphere.
Besides a full parking lot and a big
clientele of “regulars,” there are a
few other clues to a good country
cooking restaurant.
If you would like to try some South
ern specialities at home, the follow
ing recipes will be valuable.
Chicken
and dumplings
1 (3 to 3M>-pound) fryer
1 tablespoon salt
3M to 4 quarts hot water
3% cups sifted self-rising flour
% cup shortening (or % cup lard)
s /4 cup buttermilk
V 4 cup water
In a 6-quart pot, place whole
chicken. Add salt and 4 quarts hot
water (or just enough water to cover
chicken). Cook on medium heat for 2
to 2% hours, until leg joint moves
easily and meat is tender. Remove
chicken from broth; set aside to cool.
Remove meat from bones. You
should have 6 cups broth for making
dumplings.
Place flour and shortening in mix
ing bowl. Combine buttermilk and V 4
cup water. Pour half of buttermilk
mixture into bowl with flour and
shortening. Work the ingredients with
hands, squeezing mixture through the
fingers. Add remaining buttermilk
mixture; work in well with fingers.
Dough will be a little stiff.
Wash hands. Rub cutting board and
hands with flour. Put dough on cut
ting board; sprinkle top of dough ball
with a little flour. Knead by pressing
back of palms in middle of dough;
pull outer edges of dough with fingers
to center and press down. Repeat,
going all the way around the dough
ball. Divide dough into three balls.
Rub board again with flour; place one
ball on board. Roll out with floured
rolling pin to a circle about 12 inches
in diameter. Do not work in too much
added flour because that will make
the dumplings Cough. Cut dough into
strips about 1% inches wide. Repeat
with other dough balls.
If desired, strain broth. Bring broth
to boil on medium heat. Hold a dough
strip in hand. Pull off pieces about 1%
inches long and drop into broth. Re
peat until all strips of dough are gone.
Put chicken meat back into broth
with dumplings. Stir only once,
lightly, using a knife. Sprinkle with
pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low.
Cook 15 to 20 minutes uncovered.
Serve.
Buttermilk biscuits
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
M cup lard
1 cup buttermilk
Grease Bxl2-inch metal baking pan
with lard on bottom and sides. Pre
heat oven to 450 to 475 degrees. Sift
self-rising flour; measure 3 cups into
small bowl, set aside. In large mixing
bowl or wooden bread tray put 2 cups
of the sifted flour, Vi cup lard and Ms
cup buttermilk. Work the mixture
with hands, squeezing it through the
fingers. Pour in remaining butter
milk. Work mixture until it begins to
form a ball.
Wash hands. Using remaining
flour, rub palms and fingers of hands
well with flour. Pick up some flour
with tips of five fingers and sprinkle
over dough ball in bowl. Knead by
pressing down with back palm in
middle of dough and pull outer edges
of dough with fingers to center, press
down. Repeat seven or eight times,
going around the ball. Rub hands with
flour when needed to prevent stick
ing, but be sure to brush off any
excess flour from hands. Pinch off a
piece of dough about the size of a
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medium lemon. Dip pinched end
lightly in flour. Place dough in palm
of floured hand. Press down; fold
outer edges back to center and press
down in the center with fingers to
create smooth edge. Roll dough
around in palm until it forms ball.
Place in greased pan. Flour the ends
of your fingers. Press ball of biscuit
dough with fingers to Mi-inch thick
ness. Line up biscuits three across,
filling pan with 12 biscuits. Place in
well preheated oven. Cook 10-15 min
utes until just light brown. Rub a little
lard on tops. Using just one rack in
the center of the oven, turn to “broil”
and cook biscuits just until medium
brown. Watch closely to prevent bur
ning.
Note: If biscuits get too brown,
cover them immediately with a
kitchen towel. This will keep them
from becoming hard.
Pie crust
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup shortening
V 4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water
Place flour and shortening in mix
ing bowl. Add half of the water. Work
by hand, squeezing the mixture
through the fingers for 1 minute. Add
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remaining water and work by hand
for 2 to 3 minutes or until dough forms
a ball. Place dough on large cutting
board that has been rubbed with
flour. Sprinkle a little flour on the ball
of dough. Knead until smooth with
floured hands, pressing into center of
dough ball with back of hand, pulling
outer edges up and bringing them
back into the center until you have
gone all the way around the ball.
Dough should feell smooth by then.
Pinch ball in half. Rub board again
with flour. Place dough ball on board.
Roll with floured rolling pin to a
circle about 12 inches in diameter.
This will fit a 10-inch pie pan. Trim
excess dough from around the rim by
dipping a knife in flour and cutting
around the outer side of the pan. To
flute edge, go around with index
finger of left hand pushing into the
edge of the dough and pinching with
the thumb and index finger of the
right hand. If you use the second ball
of dough for a top crust, create steam
vents by pricking a fork over the top
in decorative “V” shapes and a
flower shape in the center. When two
crust pie comes out of the oven rub
top crust with margarine.
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