Category: Southern Cooking

2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons canola oil or olive oil
1½ teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt *

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel the sweet potatoes, if desired, and cut them into slabs, batons, wedges, coins, half-moons, whatever your heart desires. They can be any size, really, as long as they are not less than ¼ inch and not more than 1 inch thick.

Place them in a large bowl and drizzle with the oil. Season with salt and your choice of spices *, if using, and toss to coat. (Use about 1½ teaspoons salt if you’re not using additional seasoning; adjust salt content depending on your preferred spice mix.)

Add the sweet potatoes onto the baking sheet, scraping out any seasoning or fat clinging to the bowl, and arrange them in a single layer.

Roast, turning once if their bottoms darken quickly, until tender and browned, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on size.

* Try adding a teaspoon or two of any of your favorite seasonings. Got some herbes de Provence? Toss it in there. Spanish paprika? Definitely. Za’atar, curry powder Cajun seasonings, Old Bay?  Why not.

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1 cup hard apple cider
½ cup sorghum
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 bunches baby carrots (about 1 pound)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the cider, sorghum, lemon juice, orange juice, and butter in a skillet. Bring to a simmer, then add the carrots in a single layer. You may need to cook them in batches, depending on the size of your pan.

Lightly season the carrots with salt and pepper and cook until tender, approximately 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and continue to simmer the sauce until it is reduced to a thin glaze.

Before serving, put the carrots back in the pan and reheat them in the glaze.

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4 cups spring or filtered water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup coarse stone-ground white grits, not instant or quick

1 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the water, 1 tablespoon of butter, and the salt to a boil. Add the grits gradually, stirring constantly. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the water is absorbed and the grits are thickened, about 15 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of the milk and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, partially covered, stirring occasionally to prevent the grits from sticking. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup milk and continue to simmer until all the liquid is absorbed and the grits are tender and thick, about 40 minutes. Stir in the pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Adjust the seasonings as desired.

Note: The better the quality of grits the better the finished dish. Here is a time an heirloom product would be the right choice such as Anson Mills grits.

This is honestly one of my favorite accompaniments to a fried chicken dinner. Try it once and you’ll fall in love with the combination.

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups fresh peas
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water

Add the milk, sugar, salt, and pepper in a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat to warm the milk, but do not simmer. If the milk boils it will likely separate. Whisk to dissolve the sugar.

Add the butter and let it melt, then add the peas.  Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes for fresh peas.  Again watch to keep below a simmer.

While the peas are cooking, whisk the flour into the water in a small bowl to make a slurry.

The peas should be soft but not mushy, and the fresh peas should still have a little pop when you bite into them. Add the flour mixture to the peas and gently stir. Raise the heat just slightly so the milk bubbles around the edges of the pan, and stir constantly until the mixture thickens to a sauce consistency you desire.

Serve immediately.

1 pound collard greens, washed
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Ground hot red pepper

Stem the collards and remove the veins. Chiffonade the greens into 1/8-inch-wide. Spread out on paper towels to dry. Dry very well.

Pour enough oil to reach the halfway mark into a heavy skillet and heat to 350 degrees. When hot add the dry greens by the handful, the fat will boil up considerably. Fry until crisp, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove all the greens with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Continue to fry in batches until all the greens are cooked. Just before serving, season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot red pepper.  Salting early will cause the greens to wilt.

• 2 cups fresh butter beans
• 4 ears corn
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup chopped green onions
• ¼ cup Reserved cooking water or milk

Place the beans in a saucepan, add water to cover them by about 1 inch, and bring to a boil. Partially cover the pot and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook until done, depending on the size and the freshness of the beans it can be anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes. You may need to add more water as they cook.

While the beans are cooking, shuck and “milk” the corn (When you’ve cut the kernels off, take a spoon and scrape the remaining corn pulp and milk from the cob.) and set aside.

When the beans are done, drain off any excess cooking water.  Lightly salt the warm beans.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the green onions and cook, stirring, until they just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the corn, its milk and the cooked beans. Add ¼ cup of reserved cooking water from the beans or milk. Cook, stirring gently, for about 10 minutes, until the corn is just tender. Salt and pepper liberally.

Serve immediately.

Cornmeal Fried Okra

Fried okra is served everywhere in the South, but that doesn’t mean it’s always good. Same goes for stewed Okra and Tomatoes.

2 pounds fresh okra, smallest size preferred, washed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 quarts good frying oil
2 cups extra-fine cornmeal
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

Trim the tops off the okra and slice the okra in half. Place the trimmed okra in a dish and pour 1 cup water over it, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Agitate the okra in the water and let it sit 10 to 15 minutes. While the okra is soaking, using a frying thermometer, slowly heat the oil to 350°F.

In a bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, cornstarch, and sea salt. Pull a handful of okra from the dish and allow it to drain in your fingers a few seconds, then drop the okra slices into the cornmeal mixture. A metal skimmer works well.  Toss to coat well, remove the okra from the dredge and sift the excess dredge away, being careful not to knock off too much coating. Repeat the dredging process until all the okra is coated and ready to fry. Working in batches, drop the coated okra into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden, around 5 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pot. Transfer the hot okra to paper towels to drain, and sprinkle with more fine sea salt.

Serve immediately.

“Asparagus is one of the most recognizable symbols of spring. Its season is fleeting, with an average healthy patch yielding for only six to eight weeks. These tender shoots are one of the first things to emerge from the ground as the sun rises earlier each day. But it’s not just the warmth that brings these springtime treasures from their underground dwellings. This perennial, related to the lily, needs a cold winter to thrive. If the ground doesn’t freeze, it is difficult for the plant to go dormant and regenerate. Asparagus takes three to four years to begin producing from seed, but it can regenerate itself for fifteen years or more. It’s an old joke among homeowners who garden that a productive asparagus bed is a good reason to renovate rather than move.”

~Steven Satterfield

Purchasing: When purchasing asparagus ahead of time, keep the stem ends moist by standing upright in about a half-inch of water in the refrigerator or lying on the refrigerator shelf in a plastic bag with the ends wrapped in wet paper towels.

Traditionally, and according to Emily Post, asparagus is a finger food. Cooked properly rather than overcooked, it is still crisp and difficult to cut, shooting across the table if attempted.

Grilled Asparagus

1 pound asparagus
2 to 4 tablespoons oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the grill to approximately 450 degrees.  Toss asparagus with oil, and spread them into a single layer on a grill. They are best if browned slightly, but you’re the cook.

Smothered Country-Style Green Beans

½ cup bacon grease or 4 strips of bacon cut into lardons
2 cups thinly sliced shallots or sweet onions
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds green beans, strings removed, snapped into 1½-inch pieces and well rinsed
1 quart chicken stock

Melt the bacon grease over medium heat. Add the shallots, stirring to coat. Sprinkle with salt. Cook until almost translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the beans and stock, making sure that the stock covers the beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the stock is almost completely evaporated.  Add salt and lots of pepper to taste and serve hot.