Monday, May 30, 2011

Food with Soul: SSC's Southern Hospitality Edition

There's something to be said for good old fashioned home cooking. Its simple, fun to make and always delicious. So when we were looking to stray a bit from our fancy shit (with a twist!) we knew just who to look to. My roommate and fellow Supper Clubber Arlan!





Arlan's family is originally from the Alabama and Gerorgia, so she's got a plethora of fantastic Southern family recipes to choose from. As promised everything tasted fantastic, and in true Southern tradition, most of it was fried. Hell yes!

On a more sobering note (...and you know how we all hate being sober), this was one of our resident wine experts/writers last dinners with us. Rachel just moved back to California, to pursue what is sure to be an awesome career in the wine industry, so we definitely had to make this Supper Club count! We'll miss you Rachel! Believe me, we're all eternally jealous that you'll actually be living somewhere that has more than of a month of nice weather. Good luck!


Corn Bread
We decided to take a short cut this time but with the
addition of corn and bacon, it's just as delicious!

3 boxes of Jiffy corn bread mix
1 bag frozen sweet corn
10 strips of bacon
Butter





Prep

Follow Jiffy corn bread mix recipe. (3 boxes makes about 2 loaves of cornbread)

To Add Bacon & Corn

Chop 10 strips of bacon. Fry bacon bits in a skillet. Use leftover bacon grease to grease pan.
Add fried bacon bits to prepared corn bread mix. Add 1 bag of frozen sweet corn. (To make veggie friendly, just leave out the bacon and use butter to grease pans.) Pour batter into 2 pans.

Bake in oven between 30 and 40 minutes.



Hoppin’ John
3 cups of Uncle Ben’s White Rice
6 cups of water (per 3 cups of rice)
1 ½ cans of Black Eye Peas
1 package of bacon
½ a yellow onion
Salt and Pepper



Prep

Boil rice for 15 to 20 minutes. Chop onion. Drain water from canned peas.
Chop up bacon and fry until crispy. Sauté chopped onions in bacon grease until golden brown. Add sautéed onions w/ grease to cooked rice. Add black eyed peas and fried bacon bits to rice, season w/ salt and pepper and serve.



Salmon Croquettes
Corn oil
4 cans of Red Salmon (there are 7 patties per can)
1 egg per can of salmon (if using 4 cans, use 5 eggs)
3 Yellow Onions
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
Salt and Pepper






Prep

Chop onions. Drain water from canned salmon. Mash canned salmon in bowl with a fork.
Beat eggs. Mix in chopped onions, beaten eggs, and flour in salmon with a fork.
Season with salt and pepper.

Roll salmon into a tight ball. Place salmon balls into a hot skillet and gently press
down on them. Fry salmon patties in skillet until golden brown.

Serve with fresh lemon juice and Franks Red Hot.



Fried Chicken
Corn oil
1 pound of chicken wings
Poultry seasoning
Old Bay & Adobo seasonings
Salt & Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Flour
Franks Red Hot

Prep
Season Chicken w/ poultry, old bay, adobo, salt and pepper seasonings and hot
sauce.

Mix pepper and cayenne pepper into flour. Coat chicken wings in flour mixture. Fry chicken wings in deep cast-iron skillet or deep fryer until they are fully cooked.


Jamie's Sweet Tea

Relax kids, this one's easy.

tea bags
hot water
sugar

Steep tea. Add sugar to taste. Chill. Serve.



Christa's Stuffed Red Velvet Cupcakes
Making stuffed cupcakes is a lot easier that it sounds. These cupcakes are stuffed with an awesome strawberry cream filling,
but just plain strawberry jelly works great as a filling as well.

Cake
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup oil
2 large eggs

Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Strawberry cream

1/2 of the frosting
1/3 cup strawberry jam
1/2 cup strawberries

Topping

chopped pecans
strawberries


For cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put cupcake papers in cupcake tins.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small separate bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add oil. Beat in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk mixture.

Poor batter into cupcake tins. Bake about 18-20 minutes. Cool completely.












Cut a hole in the top of each cupcake, leaving about 1/8-1/4 of an inch around the top edge. Remove top and set aside. Fill with strawberry cream or jelly. Replace top of cupcake. Frost the top of the cupcake with frosting. Top with chopped pecans and 1 strawberry.

For frosting
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla.
Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.












For strawberry cream
Take 1/2 of the frosting you made and put in a separate bowl. Mix in strawberry jelly until well blended. Chop strawberries into small pieces. Gently mix in. Strawberry cream should be light pink.



Booze Pairings

Sweet Tea Vodka
Sweet tea vodka on the rocks, Rocks! You can also add it to a non-alcohlic sweet tea like Jamie's, a traditional Southern favorite.
Not surprisingly, like many American traditions, this one has been
vastly improved by the addition of alcohol.

The booze combined with the tannins in the tea creates a refreshing mixture that’s tailor-made for sitting on a porch on a hot day as beads of condensation drip down the rim of a tall, icy glass. Perfect as just a simple cordial with some ice, sweet tea vodka hits it big on the cocktail scene.


This particular night we just added some of Jamie's home made sweet tea, a bit of lemon and we were a GO! If you're feeling fancy, you can even frost the rim of your glass with some sugar, while leaving the rest of tea unsweetened. Delish!


Beer: Longtrail Summer Survival/various other things!
Grab something light and refreshing like a lager, pilsner, and maybe a wheat or something with fruit, like a blueberry beer. We recommend you pick up a Longtrail Summer Survival back from your local packie, if they don't carry it, tell them they are nuts and then promptly march your ass out of that awful store.

American Chardonnay, Pali $21.99 at the Wine Gallery
Fried chicken, bacon cornbread, beans and rice just beg for an oaky creamy
chardonnay. Pali Chardonnay is heavy, bold, and lightly fruity, a perfect
combination to compliment your salty sweet and buttery meal. If you can't find
this particular brand ask your wine retailer for something bold and buttery.
















Arlan fries up a storm; Sarah helps with the cornbread; Rachel receives her going away gifts. (For the record, that wine glass is literally big enough to hold an entire bottle. Hell yes!)










Phoebe fries in Jamie's labcoat (Yay nutritional science!); We all take a bite; No dog's were harmed in the production of this Supper Club (Seriously, we are not gonna waste good wine on a dog.)





Cheers!
Christa, Rachel, Phoebe & Arlan





About Arlan
This was not only Arlan’s first attempt at cooking for the Supper Sanity Club
(admittedly due to postponing), but it was also her first attempt at cooking
for a large group. Arlan is a mental health outreach worker for a nonprofit in Boston and is headed to graduate school in the Fall for her MSW.

Born in Northern Jersey and now living in Massachusetts, Arlan credits
her innate ability to cook Soul Food to her parents who were raised in
Alabama and Georgia and her relatives in Boston who also have roots in the
South. All these dishes are loosely based on family recipes and have been enjoyed by her family for generations.

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