Monday, August 31, 2009

A Cake of Cornbread


the recipe card for cornbread "mother's recipe" (that's Granny Ruth) that my mother and I have been using as long as I can remember.Props to Mom and Dad for taking this picture, so elegantly placed by the teapot lamp and antique china on the antique kitchen thingy in our home in Oak Ridge, NC

Nanny's cornbread is not something we can take lightly. It's probably the one thing that she can be most picky about, and probably enjoys the most. Her cornbread is pretty much fried in a cast iron skillet, crispy as can be on the outside and soft and moist as cake in the middle (but NEVER sweet). After baking she NEVER washes the skillet, instead just lets it cool in the oven and then places it back down with all the others.

There are 2 ways to prepare this recipe- one using self rising corn meal and the other, the recipe that Granny Ruth always prepared (if you've lost track, that's my great grandmother)

The plain truth of it is the cornmeal itself makes all the difference in the world. Nanny's cornmeal (Subert's) is delivered monthly from Lynn Dillingham's brother, in South Carolina, but if you don't have access to the "good stuff", she and I can both recommend using "Three Rivers" cornmeal, or any course ground meal (not corn flour) you have come across. If you have access to the Old Mill of Guilford Corn Meal(Nanny does not care for it, says it isn't not course enough) try that-- mom and I like it when we don't have access to the South Carolina treasure :)

Cornbread Recipe 1
(the cheater recipe, but this is what Nanny prepares these days)
**this recipe isn't so much a recipe at all, but more like a guideline :) **
For a 5" skillet

3/4 cup SELF RISING Corn Meal
pinch of salt
a little bit of sugar
1 egg
2 dollops of vegetable oil
buttermilk

Preheat oven AND skillet (with 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil) to 425-450 degrees (This is crucial because if the skillet isn't hot enough you won't get that good "crust"). Preheat before mixing the ingredients below because the corn meal will begin absorbing the liquid and ruin the consistency.

Mix corn meal, salt, sugar, egg, and vegetable oil. Then begin adding the buttermilk. The amount of buttermilk depends on the amount of meal you are using but a good rule of thumb is to mix enough buttermilk into the meal so that the batter is the texture of a thick chowder or the consistency of gravy. :)

Pour the batter into the very hot skillet and bake in the oven until dark brown.

Turn the cake out onto a plate before cutting or serving (upside down, as my significant other has so nobly pointed out to me)

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The following recipe is pretty special to me. While I don't make this recipe as often because the self rising does so well, it will always be so valuable to me because this is the exact recipe I grew up making with my mother in our own kitchen... Even today, we use the same recipe card that was given to my mother from Nanny, handwritten as "Mother's Recipe" (Granny Ruth)... it's discolored, torn, folded, and in a really delicate state (See picture above), but that's why I love it. It shows the love that this recipe has been shown for so long. I'm 25 now and I can't remember ever using another recipe card to make cornbread. It will forever be the best.

Cornbread Recipe 2 (Granny Ruth's Recipe)

3/4 cup plain cornmeal (not self rising)
3 tablespoons AP flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soda **see note
1 egg
3 tablespoons oil or bacon drippings
Buttermilk or plain milk
**if using buttermilk omit soda
We prepare this in a 8" skillet.

As with the above recipe, preheat oven and skillet (3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon drippings) to 425-450 degrees.

Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and soda (if using plain milk). Add egg, oil. Mix and then add enough milk or buttermilk until the texture is similar to gravy- (not too runny but not thick, either).

Add to the HOT skillet and bake until dark brown. Turn out onto a plate for serving :-)

Serve with butter (adding a bit of garlic salt to the butter adds a wonderful twist- something Nanny introduced to my mom and me and have loved ever since).

goodness... sounds so good I'm going to have some right now :) ...now if only I had some beans cooked with a ham hock....


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Eggplant Casserole


Years and years ago, when Nanny was a young girl, her family sent her to Washington D.C. to spend Christmas with her aunt and uncle's family. Nanny's story was great. She started by telling me all about the train ride and her arrival at what she deemed a grand home. Her aunt and uncle must have had some money because she said cooks actually prepared Christmas dinner for them. Of all the foods she could have told me about or taught me, she chose probably the ugliest most untastey-looking dish.. that was surprisingly WONDERFUL. She told me that on that Christmas the cook brought out this mushy-looking purple blob covered in cheese and Nanny refused to eat it. Over the years, she grew to love this casserole and now it's one of our favorites. The trick is to make sure that, after boiling, the eggplant must drain in a colander for as long as possible, before adding the rest of the ingredients and baking.

Eggplant Casserole
(serves 3-4 side dishes)

You will need:
Small eggplant
small yellow onion
2-3 tablespoons butter
AP Flour
1 egg
salt and pepper
sharp cheddar cheese
small casserole dish


Begin by choosing a relatively small eggplant. (If you are planning to serve a larger group-- get 2-3 small eggplants. Large eggplants have too many seeds which I think makes this dish hard to prepare AND eat.)
Cut the bottom and top off the eggplant and peel the skin off of the vegetable.
Dice the eggplant and onion. Add to a pot, cover with water, and add butter. Cook the eggplant and onions until completely tender. Drain well (this could be up to an hour? sometimes I try to move it along by stirring the mixture in the colander- don't worry too much because it will all get mashed up, later, anyway).
After draining, add flour, egg, salt and pepper and mix and mash well. Place in the greased casserole dish and cover with cheddar cheese (don't be stingy- throw it on there!)
Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbling.

It is probably the most unattractive casserole I could think it post on this blog but the taste is really great and worth the effort.

**Update, my boyfriend, a true California-boy from San Francisco, tried the casserole last night and thinks that this dish would also be really great at brunch-- not only a side at dinner. :)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Russell Family Peach Cobbler


It's the perfect time of year to make my grandmother's peach cobbler. The recipe does not have exact measurements and that's half the fun of the dish. Originally, my grandmother would have made homemade pie crust but today, in an attempt to shortcut the recipe and save time, I recommend purchasing a roll out pie dough like Pillsbury Pie Crusts. If I had my grandmother's pie dough recipe I would share it- perhaps it will surface sometime soon. The best part of this recipe are the dumplings of leftover pie crust found in the middle of the cobbler.

You'll need the following:
deep casserole dish that is approximately 6 inches wide
1 pie crust, chilled, rolled out to desired width.
a little bit less than 1 cup of sugar
1 - 1 1/2 cups water
Roughly 1 heaping tablespoon of all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter (we always use salted butter in our family)
ground nutmeg
3-4 cups peeled, sliced, and seeded Free-stone peaches

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (375 works too).

Start by cooking peaches and butter in the water (the water should just barely cover the peaches) over medium heat on the stove top. While the butter melts and the peaches cook, mix the flour with the sugar. Add the flour/sugar mixture to the peach mixture and continue cooking until the peaches are soft. After about 15-20 minutes check the consistency. The peaches should be soft but not falling apart. Check the sugary sauce. If it's too sour for your taste you'll want to add a little bit more sugar- but it's your preference.

Set aside to cool. Coat a deep casserole dish with butter (or Pam works). Cut the pie dough to fit the casserole dish but save the leftover pieces of dough for the dumplings. Put half of the peach mixture into the casserole dish, place the scraps of dough over the peach mixture and repeat with the other half of the peach mixture. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top layer of peach mixture. Lastly, top the cobbler with the pie crust and cut slits into the top for ventilation.

Bake until the top crust is golden brown. Cook for at least 45 minutes.

The cobbler is best when still warm but not hot. My family can't decide if it's better with or without homemade vanilla ice cream. I am a purist. I like the cobbler "as-is."


I received a ton of overly ripe peaches from my favorite produce stand in Weaverville, NC. In an attempt to cook them before they all spoiled I made two cobblers and plan to take one to a friend (hence the disposable tins). A good tip, especially by the end of August, talk to your produce man about the possibility of free or discounted overly ripe peaches. Don't be afraid to cut off the overly ripe parts of the peach flesh. These will actually make a much sweeter cobbler.

Inspiration



my grandmother in her element, the kitchen, with her family at Thanksgiving


I decided to start this blog as a dedication to my grandmother, Nancy Russell Parker. A native of Western, North Carolina with a family history in this area that dates back to at least the 1850s (this is as far back as I've gone so far), she has lived her life with a reputation as the finest southern cook. For the last 25 years I have heard compliment after compliment from friends, family, and local establishments like Givens Estates Retirement Community where my grandmother volunteered and prepared meals for the patients. Most of her recipes are not written down as they were passed on from her grandmother, Granny Best, and her mother, Granny Ruth (as I knew her).

My grandmother's father was the tax collector in Canton, NC during the 1930s and was murdered in 1933. The killers were never caught and her mother, in an attempt to maintain their comfortable way of life, moved to Washington, D.C. to find work. My grandmother did not want to leave the Mountains and it was at that time she began living in an old farmhouse in Canton with her mother's parents. Her grandfather worked for the paper mill that is still in operation today and her grandmother cooked on a wood burning stove, they got their water from an outside well, and heated their home with coal. My grandmother still cooks with the cast iron skillets that belonged to my Great Great Granny Best, and Great Granny Ruth. Her knives are just as old- sharp as can be and a trophy to the women cooks of our family.

There are so many stories that I have been told about my grandmother's childhood. She had such an exciting life but more than anything, she learned to cook. She was taught the ways of the old mountain people, her ancestors, Scottish, and her way of life, simple.

This blog will focus on her cooking and her techniques. My mother and I have adopted many of my grandmother's skills and recipes but, just as my grandmother, I have learned these recipes from watching and helping in the kitchen... there are no written recipes. Every once and a while it occurs to me that I don't remember how she did everything- I don't prepare all my meals with bacon drippings, or fry every piece of meat under the sun-- and as a result I am fearful that I will not be able to pass along the craft. SO, this blog will do just that... pass along my grandmother's craft of southern cooking.

In an effort to make things easier for anyone who might want to try these recipes, I will try to provide two recipes, when applicable. The first, recipes she's told me; the second, how she prepares the recipes today because sometimes her recipes have changed over time. There is no rhyme or reason to this blog- and most often I'll probably just blog when something comes to mind. Many of the recipes are tumbled around in my head so hopefully they will eventually resurface. I hope, that by recording these recipes her legacy as a true mountain cook will continue, and the greatest cook in these hills will live on forever.