Smoked Sausage and Black-Eyed Peas

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity. This one-pot dish is super easy to prepare and so tasty—delicious Southern comfort food! Basically, it's just a matter of throwing everything in the pot and letting it simmer for 1 ½ hours, until the beans are tender. What a great meal on such a cold and lazy New Year's Day!

Source: Smoked Sausage and Black-Eyed Peas, Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients
1 pound smoked sausage
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne
4 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 bay leaves
3 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
8 cups chicken stock
1 pound black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cornbread muffins
1 tablespoon chopped green onions

Directions
In a large pot, over medium heat, render the sausage for 5 minutes. Stir in the onions, salt, cayenne, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onions are wilted. Stir in the chicken stock, peas and garlic. Bring the liquid up to a simmer and cook for 1 ½ hours, or until the peas are tender. Spoon the peas and sausage in the center of a shallow bowl. Garnish with green onions. Serve with cornbread muffins.

Sweet Potato Pie

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday—it’s a holiday based completely around a feast of food, family, and friends. McHubby and I are going to our families’ dinner tables for Thanksgiving this year. I must admit that it’s hard to see all the wonderful seasonal produce in the grocery store and great traditional recipes when I’m not going to be cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. I couldn’t help myself, so I simply had to make a few things.

In my last CSA bag, I received several plump sweet potatoes, which meant that a southern sweet potato pie was in order! This dessert possesses a flavor of fall, with a sweet and fluffy puree filling topped with a cloud of meringue.

Source: Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie, Paula Deen

Ingredients
2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ stick melted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup milk
9-inch unbaked pie crust
3 egg whites

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.

For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 1 cup of the sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pie on a rack and cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.

For the meringue, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in the remaining ¼ cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and stiff, but not dry. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue onto the pie, forming peaks. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around. Sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until delicately browned. Cool and serve.

Cajun Tempura Okra with Scallion Dipping Sauce

I have to admit that I’ve never eaten okra except as an ingredient in a dish, such as gumbo. But when we received a bag of fresh okra in our CSA share, I was excited to try it in a classic Southern fried dish. I used my candy thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature of the oil as I was cooking. The batter coated okra had a tendency of sticking together while cooking, so you need to work to separate them and not overcrowd the pot.

This was a pretty tasty dish. The tempura batter fried up quite nicely and maintained a good flavor, thanks to the Cajun seasoning. The dipping sauce was a nice cooling element to the hot okra, with a little bit of spice and sweetness.

Source: Cajun Tempura Okra with Scallion Dipping Sauce, Paula Deen

Ingredients
For the Tempura Batter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
16 ounces soda water

For the Okra
Peanut oil, for frying
2 pound fresh okra stem removed and halved
3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt, for seasoning

Scallion Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Directions
Whisk tempura ingredients together and let chill.

Heat peanut oil in deep-fryer or a large Dutch oven to 375 degree F.

In a shallow pie plate, add flour and 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning and mix well.

Season okra with 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning. Dip okra in seasoned flour and then in tempura batter and place in oil, 1 at a time and fry until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined sheet tray. Season with salt.

Serve with Scallion Dipping Sauce.

Scallion Dipping Sauce
16 ounces sour cream
1 cup chopped scallions
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all ingredients.

Green Tomato and Vidalia Onion Gratin

Since we received Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomatoes in our CSA bag, I wanted to do something special with them. I knew this recipe was what I was looking for. As I assembled the baking dish, layering the sliced green tomatoes with the caramelized onion stacks, crumbling the bacon, sprinkling the cheddar cheese, and finally topping with the bacon-dripping laced bread crumbs, I could not wait to taste this indulging concoction!

The gratin was beautifully browned and bubbling when I pulled it from the oven. When I cut into it, though, there was a fair amount of liquid, likely due to my very large, ripe green tomatoes. Luckily, the flavors were all there—absolutely delicious. Next time, I’ll try to draw out some of the liquid in the tomatoes beforehand.

Source: Green Tomato and Vidalia Onion Gratin, Claire Robinson

Ingredients
¼ pound bacon
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 large Vidalia onions, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
4 large green tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
6 ounces sharp white Cheddar, grated, about 1 ½ cups

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Render bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Add the bread crumbs to a small bowl. Remove 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the skillet and stir into the bread crumbs. Add the onion rounds to the skillet in batches and cook, without breaking the round slices apart, until there is some golden color, about 5 to 6 minutes per side.

To assemble the gratin, overlap the green tomato slices in 1 row in a large baking dish, about 9 by 11 inches. Next, make a row slightly overlapping of the partially cooked onion rounds, being careful to keep the slices intact. Repeat steps until all tomatoes and onions are used. Season tomatoes and onions lightly with salt and heavily with pepper. Crumble the bacon over the vegetables; sprinkle the grated Cheddar over the top followed by the bread crumbs. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 30 to 45 minutes. If the top is getting too brown, loosely cover with foil.

Shrimp and Grits

I love love love Southern shrimp and grits! This dish is such a lovely comfort food with the creamy, warm, cheesy grits and saucy shrimp. This recipe produces a roux-stock mixture in which the shrimp are poached so that they are bathed in a light, spicy sauce. So yummy!

Adapted from: Ultimate Shrimp and Grits, Tyler Florence; Bar Americain’s Gulf Shrimp and Grits, Bobby Flay

Ingredients
For the Grits:
4 to 5 cups water or chicken stock

Kosher salt
1 cup yellow stone ground cornmeal
1 cup grated white Cheddar
Freshly ground black pepper
3 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

For the Shrimp:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound andouille or spicy Italian spicy sausage, cut in chunks
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
2 to 3 bay leaves
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
Pinch cayenne pepper, adjust to personal preference
½ lemon, juiced
Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 green onions, sliced

Directions
To prepare the grits:
Bring 4 cups of the water and 2 teaspoons of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Slowly whisk in the grits and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the grits are soft and have lost their gritty texture, whisking every few minutes, 15 to 20 minutes. If the mixture becomes too thick, add remaining water and continue cooking until absorbed. Add the cheese and whisk until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

To prepare the shrimp:
Place a deep skillet over medium heat and coat with the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic; sauté for 2 minutes to soften. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until there is a fair amount of fat in the pan and the sausage is brown. Sprinkle in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to create a roux. Slowly pour in the chicken stock and continue to stir to avoid lumps. Toss in the bay leaves. When the liquid comes to a simmer, add the shrimp. Poach the shrimp in the stock for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are firm and pink and the gravy is smooth and thick. Add the cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper; stir in the parsley and green onion. 

Spoon the grits into a serving bowl. Add the shrimp mixture and mix well. Serve immediately.

Southern Fried Cabbage

Last week, I made Vegetable and Herb Coleslaw with the cabbage in our CSA bag. So when we received cabbage again this week, I wanted to make something different. When I found this recipe, it inspired a whole Southern dinner theme. I ended up serving this dish with shrimp and grits.

Both McHubby and I enjoyed the cabbage prepared this way. I was careful not to cook the cabbage too long to the point of sogginess; rather, it still had a bit of crunch to it, and the supporting flavors of the onions, garlic, and bacon came through. 

Adapted from: Southern Fried Cabbage

Ingredients
3 slices bacon, cut into ¼-inch strips
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 head cabbage, cored and sliced
1 white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pinch white sugar

Directions
Place the bacon into a large pot over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until bacon is crisp. Add cabbage, onion, garlic, vegetable oil, and sugar to the pot. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir continuously for 5 minutes, until tender.