A Southern delicacy....

[Michael Stafford]

I love this time of year when three of my favorite things are available fresh from the garden...tomatoes, corn and okra. Now, I don't like fresh tomatoes because they disagree with me but I love them cooked. There is nothing better to me than a corn, tomato and okra soup/stew. Corn cut fresh off the cob, thin slices of okra and chopped tomatoes cooked together make a wonderful soup. Combine that with some biscuits, not those things out of a can, but some self-rising flour, Crisco and buttermilk expertly hand mixed and patted into shape by hand; no biscuit cutters allowed. Throw in a strip of fat with a streak of lean, i.e. side meat or fat back and you have a meal fit for a king, a Southern king but a king nonetheless.

[Karl Laustrup]

Sounds good to me. So when's supper Big Mike???? ;)

Karl

[skip coyne]

leave my corn on the cob

stew my tomaotoes

fry my okra .......:rolleyes:

[tod evans]

mike, chuck a few chilis into that pot and i`m in....tod

[Joe Pelonio]

That sounds good Mike, and I didn't read it until after lunch because I was expecting something about road kill. You could also put some of that corn in some hush puppies and fry up some catfish to go with the soup. I'm not from the South, but like southern cooking too (as well as most other kinds).

[Andy Hoyt]

Sorry to disagree with you like a tomato, Mike.

But sweet corn is best enjoyed still on the cob, still on the stalk, and still hitched to the field.

How else can it be considered fresh?

Mmm mmmm goood.

[Michael Stafford]

Karl, supper is when you show up. Guarantee you a bowl when you show up.

Skip, fried okra is also a Southern delicacy....Been eating it all my life.

Joe, had hushpuppies made with corn and onions for lunch with my wife. Around here cornbread in one form or another is a staple of home cooking restaurants.

[Brad Thompson]

Michael,
CMT broadcast a Hee Haw marathon this weekend - DAMHIKT.

Your description reminded me of the Grandpa Jones "Grandpa, what's for supper?" routine.

Man, my age is showing worse than a bad haircut.

It did make my taste buds water thou,
Brad

[Michael Stafford]

Andrew, corn on the cob is a wonderful thing. I eat it nearly every night when I can get it fresh. It all starts with Ambrosia, a wonderfully sweet yellow and white hybrid and progresses through many other varieties. Currently we are feasting on Silver Queen for the next few weeks. But someone of your epicurean tastes, that of a bona fide Moxie drinker brings nothing to the table about Southern gourmet cuisine...:p

Brad, in my family a lot of the things that Grandpa Jones described were family favorites and certainly were on the menu at one time or another. Hee Haw!!!

[Joe Tonich]

Big Mike......ya always scare me with posts like this. ;) :p

I opened it up expectin sumthin about Mountain Oysters and find ya done got civil.. :eek: :p :p

WASSUPWITDAT????????????;)

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

For me....................

Bread and Fry the Okra.

Roast my corn, still in the husk. (HMMMMMMMHMMMMMMMM GOOD!)

Bread and fry my Tomatoes GREEN (Mine NEVER make it to the table!)

and make the biscuits EXACTLY as you stated. (My DAD was a nationally recognized master baker and that sounds like his recipe!)

Now, you have made a meal from HEAVEN!

Bruce;)

[Curt Fuller]

Set another place at the table Mike. I'll be right there!

[Ken Garlock]

Just finished some corn on the cob, great stuff. The tomatoes where the little marble size, but they taste good with a little salt. No okra, but it is good stuff either deep fried or in gumbo.

Did I see someone mention Moxie? You mean the EPA or FDA hasn't band that stuff as a dangerous chemical.:rolleyes: Last I heard it was made from the sludge leftover from the Love Canal.:eek: :D

[Doug Shepard]

That sounds good Mike, and I didn't read it until after lunch because I was expecting something about road kill. You could also put some of that corn in some hush puppies and fry up some catfish to go with the soup. I'm not from the South, but like southern cooking too (as well as most other kinds).

You are reading my mind. My favorites from vacations down south are hush puppies and catfish.

[John Kain]

I'm a Yankee living in the south for just a short-time. However, I really, really have enjoyed the esteemed "low-country boil" in my time in Confederate country. I haven't tried your idea, but I like the thoughts of it.........and I'm hungry.

[skip coyne]

Skip, fried okra is also a Southern delicacy....Been eating it all my life.
one of my favorites , wifey does fried okra and fried catfish that are fantastic ...

I could eat it every night .

no crops down this way untill fall , last tomaotos came in april did get a few strawberrys untill mid may . now evan the herbs are dying off

[Michael Stafford]

With all the heat we have been having normally the corn would have burned off and not produced but we have been having a lot of rain, first from Tropical Storm Alberto and then by almost daily widespread thunderstorms that have kept the crops hydrated.

We don't eat so much catfish even though it is farmed all around the area but some of the same side dishes work just fine with fried shrimp, flounder and etc. We had the fried shrimp and flounder for lunch today. Of course you need a bowl of my wife's cole slaw to make that a complete meal....Another Southern delicacy....

[Dennis Peacock]

Need to toss in a big pot of Pinto Beans, fresh green onions and a hot pawn of cornbread and then we'll REALLY be eatin' in "high cotton". :cool: :D

[Joe Pelonio]

no crops down this way untill fall , last tomaotos came in april did get a few strawberrys untill mid may . now evan the herbs are dying off
That seems so funny. I'm waiting to pick my first tomatoes, ripe any day, we can't plant them until mid-late May. Lots of strawberries and raspberries, zuccini, and the cucumbers and beans just starting to ripen.

[skip coyne]

while where eating southernese dont forget the sweet tea :D


(sweetned with splenda these days off course )

[tod evans]

while where eating southernese dont forget the sweet tea :D


(sweetned with splenda these days off course )


real sugar in the tea i`m drinking now! no fake stuff here....tod

[Dennis Peacock]

Oh yea, don't fergit the fried taters, fried green tomatoes, fresh green beans, and a couple of large porkchops. ;)

[Michael Stafford]

real sugar in the tea i`m drinking now! no fake stuff here....tod


Tod I love sweet tea sweetened with real sugar but since I was a little feller we have always sweetened our tea with saccharin. I know it causes cancer but I like my tea the way it is. I drink it with sugar in the restaurants.

If you want a real treat try boiling yourself a mess of collard greens, potatoes, ham hock and chicken parts all in the same pot. Guaranteed to stink up the house for a week but man, oh, man that is some fine eating. Most Yankees cannot abide the smell of collards cooking. Whenever some move in nearby we cook up a washpot of collards and within a week the "For Sale" sign will go up. Need a big pone of Dennis' cornbread to push that around on your plate and wash it down with a icy glass of tea....

[Tyler Howell]

Picked my first HGT of the season yesterday.:D :D
"Only 2 things money can't buy, That's true love and Home Grown Tomatos (HGT)".

[john whittaker]

Man...that sounds goooooood.

I've got relatives living all around Gaston Lake. I can round-em all up and be down to Rocky Mount about 8 ish.:D

[Frank Fusco]

Y'all are killin' me. I'm going out to a rubber chicken dinner with a politician tonight. Not looking forward to the dinner, I just happen to like this particular politician. For you Arkansans, it is Asa Hutchinson who is running for Governor. Fine guy, I've known him almost 30 years.

[Michael Stafford]

Well Frank, unless my memory is failing me you should be able to get some turkey fries in Arkansas...Seems everywhere I used to eat out there had turkey fries on the menu either as an appetizer or as a main course....Asa eat turkey fries? Rubber chicken, huh, I have had a few of those dinners myself...Expensive, cold and not particularly palatable....

[Joe Pelonio]

All this talk is reminding me of my old favorite TV cooking show,
Justin Wilson's Louisianna Cooking. Anyone remember him? He passed
away just a few years ago. He told the greatest stories. I have 2-3
of his books. I remember one show where he was doing a special on
BBQ and it was pouring rain. Instead of doing something else he went
ahead and got wet, sat on a wet picnic table, it was great.

I GARONTEE !!!!!!!

[Michael Stafford]

Joe, I remember Justin Wilson. I faithfully watched his show. He used to crack me up. I learned a lot from him since he was a safety man, i.e. wore a belt and suspenders. Many funny episodes.....I'll never forget the episode when he was cooking spaghetti sauce and was cooking the pasta. He said it needed to be "al dente" (not sure of the spelling). He went on to say that meant the pasta would stick to the wall when you flung it against it. He proceeded to get a strand of spaghetti out of the pot and threw it at the cabinets on the set and missed. He nearly fell down laughing, saying, "I missed the whole damn wall" He had been seasoning the sauce and himself with a little bit too much wine....;) :D

[Joe Pelonio]

I remember that epsiode, and it's a constant source of dismay to my wife because I have since always used that method to test my pasta. She makes me wipe off the wall. He did have a habit of drinking more wine than he put into the sauce.

Besides cook books he had books of stories and even humorous albums.
His writing, even in the cookbooks had to be a nightmare for the editors because they are written the way he talks.

He would say, "People always wanna know, Joos-tain, w'at kinna wine (http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=wine) go wit w'at? Well, Ah say, da kinna wine you like!"

http://www.justinwilson.com/audio/cemetery.mp3

[Michael Cody]

Don't know 'bout you southern boys, my dad was from Harlan County, KY.. but up here we are eating fresh green beans w/bacon, red potatoes, fresh sweet corn, cukes, tomatoes (all from the garden) and fresh blueberries for desert.... that's good eats.. Some pork chops w/it are on the menu for tonight, fresh off the grill! Next week or 3 it's moving to fresh pears & peaches then into apples right off the tree.. ya'all know SW Michigan -- orchards are our thing up here!

Have to admit I don't like okra all that well, but the rest sounded real good. Okra in soup is fine though, and I love fried catfish & hush puppies...

[Bob Childress]

Shoot. I tried to stay off this thread, but can't. Last night I fried some okra right form our garden along with chicken-fried steak. A heart attack on a plate!:eek: But was it good. The tomatoes are coming so fast now that we are making sauces and freezing them for winter. Same with squash casseroles. And corn on the cob. Will be nice to have when the colder weather sets in.:)

[Michael Stafford]

Michael, I bet you would find fried okra fairly easy to swallow. The boiled and stewed variety is not my cup of tea either. Looks like green mucilage with seeds in it....Feels worse in the mouth.

Those foods you described are all fine fare. I am very fond of my wife's green beans that she has doctored up with some sauteed bacon and onions. Mighty fine!!! Some folks around here will top off their green beans/string beans with chow chow a hot pepper and onion relish that is also an acquired taste.

Bob, the corn, tomato and okra soup freezes wonderfully and makes a delicious lunch in the cold Winter months. It is really good.....;)

[Russ Filtz]

(My DAD was a nationally recognized "master baker "
Bruce;)

Bruce, you can't say that in a public forum! :D

[Al Willits]

"""""""
fried okra is also a Southern delicacy....Been eating it all my life.
""""""""

Kinda like Lutefisk huh??? :)
Me thinks its another one of them, Ya gotta develop a taste for, things, like grits too...:)

Wilson was great to watch, made the mistake of making some of his gumbo once, and putting the required amount of hot sauce in it....whew!
Tasted great but it took 2 weeks for the insides to heal...:)

Buried the remaining gumbo next to the buried Lutefisk from X-mas of 1965, I'm sure they'll be happy together...

Al

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wife learned to make hush puppies while we lived in Mississippi for 4 years. Youngest son was born in MS. While we were in Brunswick GA, the yard of our apartment building had 2 pecan trees. The LOML learned to make scratch pecan pie. Yumm! Now those nice folks in MS tried 100 and 1 ways of fixing boiled okra in trying to get me to like the stuff. Yuck! Finally aboard a ship in Charleston, SC I got introduced to fried okra! Yumm! Then the last 24 years here in Idaho...my next door neighbor is from LA/AR. He learned to cook from his mom. Well....he fixes some cajun dishes that have boiled okra in them......Yumm! Night before last the wife fixed homemade fried corn fritters for supper. Yumm!

The LOML did do something kind of funny however. Last year, our neighbors both retired school teachers, took their 5th wheel trailer and were touring the east coast with some friends. Ron, from LA/AR often plants okra. The LOML comes in.....they're gone and I hate to see that okra go to waste.......I replied.....I don't remember Ron planting any this year......She said OH yeah! and they'res a lot of it and we are expecting frost tonight. I hate to see it go to waste. I said....Show me......Folks my neighbors HAD planted 8 different kinds of peppers. Some of them extremely hot! My wife doesn't know the difference between peppers and okra! My wife had picked all of those pepper plants. I told her....You'd better call Ron and Betty on their cell-phone and see how you fix that okra. She called....I could hear our neighbors laughing across the room and I'm nearly deaf! You don't want my wife fixing your boiled OKRA!

[Mike Wilkins]

Will you adopt me??
My mouth was watering just reading your post. I have not had a meal like that in years.

[Michael Cody]

You know this thread needs Pic's to do it right. This is a quickie but it represents the summer fair here in MI (3-4 night a week anyway)!! I didn't get the fresh cukes & tomatoes -- sorry. But it's all from the garden I keep @ my mom's... (I live in a walnut grove so nothing grows here to well!)

[Michael Stafford]

"""""""
fried okra is also a Southern delicacy....Been eating it all my life.
""""""""

Kinda like Lutefisk huh??? :)
Me thinks its another one of them, Ya gotta develop a taste for, things, like grits too...:)

Wilson was great to watch, made the mistake of making some of his gumbo once, and putting the required amount of hot sauce in it....whew!
Tasted great but it took 2 weeks for the insides to heal...:)

Buried the remaining gumbo next to the buried Lutefisk from X-mas of 1965, I'm sure they'll be happy together...

Al

Be careful how you talk about grits. Them is fightin' words. Andy had grits at the ParrBQ and now I hear he is having someone ship him a 5 pound bag weekly he became so enamored with the butter and salt you put on them. See Al you don't eat grits because of how the grits taste. You eat grits because of the other stuff you put on them. The best grits have red eye gravy on them. What is red eye gravy you ask? A wonderfully delicious concoction of coffee and fried country ham leavings and grease...Guaranteed to raise your bad cholesterol by 30 or 40 points. A lot of folks eat grits with butter and salt and pepper. A few Yankees that have been relocated to the South eat grits with milk and sugar, they mistakenly think it is cream of wheat or oatmeal. We just shake our head and say pass the butter.

Of course one of the real delicacies is fried grits. You cook your grits as usual, let them get good and thick on you and pour them into a buttered casserole dish. Let them set up real good in the refrigerator overnight. Then cut them into squares like you were cutting brownies or something. Then dredge them in some batter of your choosing and deep fry the whole thing. Good stuff and low calorie I hear....:p :rolleyes:

Oh, come on Al, lutefisk is something the possums will not eat....Lutefisk makes roadkill palatable....

Now you have to be careful with hot sauce particularly if you are taking your cues from some of those Cajun and Southwestern boys. They make sauces that are so hot that they are dangerous. Some of those hot sauces from Texas are better paint removers than Moxie... And that is a true story...

[Andy Hoyt]

Sorry Mike, but it would appear I've finally caught in an untruth.

You're correct when you say that the only true purpose for grits to exist is to serve as a delivery vehicle for butter and salt. But the only point on that vehicle's route map is the garbage can. Them things is nasteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:D

[Joe Pelonio]

:eek: Whoooaa, now let's slow down a minute. I'm no southern boy, born in San Francisco, now in the Northwest, but we eat grits often. My wife cooks them with smoked cheddar cheese and garlic in them. Mmmmm. I have not tried deep frying in batter but do cut up and fry the leftovers, if any, in the skillet to crisp up the edges and get the cheese crusty.

[skip coyne]

Sorry Mike, but it would appear I've finally caught in an untruth.

You're correct when you say that the only true purpose for grits to exist is to serve as a delivery vehicle for butter and salt. But the only point on that vehicle's route map is the garbage can. Them things is nasteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:D

maybe youve only had instant ..which I agree are nasty .

cooked grits the real thing ..are great , personally I dont put much on them just eat the grits ...

grits along with homemade biscuits (the eatin kind , not ther wood joionin kind :p) smothered with sausage in milk gravy ...thats a breakfast ...

[Michael Stafford]

Sorry Mike, but it would appear I've finally caught in an untruth.

You're correct when you say that the only true purpose for grits to exist is to serve as a delivery vehicle for butter and salt. But the only point on that vehicle's route map is the garbage can. Them things is nasteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:D


All I have to say is that I was sitting across the table from Andy when he had his first bite of grits....The look on his face was equivalent to the look on one's face when having their first colonoscopy....I held the menu in front of my face to protect from potential blowback....

Joe, you are very correct, there are many folks who make cheesy grits as you described and they are delicious. Thanks for the reminder.

[Andy Hoyt]

Yup you were there. So tell me, were those good grits or bad grits?

As for whether charboiled, deepfried, boiled. or microwaved grits are best - well, I'll just let Joe Pesci determine that.

[Michael Stafford]

Yup you were there. So tell me, were those good grits or bad grits?

As for whether charboiled, deepfried, boiled. or microwaved grits are best - well, I'll just let Joe Pesci determine that.


Andy, those were average grits. Not the best I have had and not the worst... I guess they have to grow on you....:p :D

[Bob Childress]

Now Michael, some folks might not understand what a Country Ham is. But we order ours direct from Smithfield several times a year. Take the wrapper off, scrape off the mold and crud, soak it for 24 hours, simmer it for 6 or 8 hours, and slice it as thin as an LV wood shaving. Now that's good! :D

You can't kill a country ham. They are cured a year or more. We ordered one once and they shipped it to California by mistake. They sent us another one of course, but the California one showed up a week or two later (no refrigeration mind you) and was perfectly fine.:eek: Got the shelf life of a fruitcake until its cooked.

Country ham biscuits, grits with red-eye gravy, more red-eye gravy for dipppin'. Um um.:)

[Michael Stafford]

Bob, I see you know what I am talking about....Real country ham is a true Southern delicacy.

My father used to be in charge of curing the hams and shoulders when I was a kid for the entire family. He cured the shoulders just like he cured the hams. Curing consisted of making a mixture of salt and salt peter and injecting it into the veins of the meat. Then a dry mix of salt, salt peter and black pepper was rubbed onto the exterior until the meat would hold no more. Then the ham/shoulder was placed into two heavily starched pillow cases and hung in a cool dry place for a year. My dad alway knew when the meat was ready. And yes, the mold and crud was always there but underneath was the darkest richest, sweetest meat you ever saw. And when it was cooking you could smell it for miles. Slap that between the two halves of a homemade biscuit and you were "might nigh to heaven...." (Cholesterol and salt in that meat would get you a little closer for sure.)

The smell of it cooking has been known to kill Yankees...:p :rolleyes: :D

[Wolf Kiessling]

I just read this entire thread and I find one thing missing.....

First, however, I want to say that I DO love fried okra (won't eat it boiled unless it's in gumbo where it's a NECESSITY and ABSOLUTELY mandantory). Of course, much as I like it, it's not as good as fried green 'maters.....

However, here is a question. Doesn't anyone eat pickled okra anymore? I saw no mention of it anywhere. It's about as good as fried okra...........

[Andy Hoyt]

Bob, I see you know what I am talking about....Real country ham is a true Southern delicacy.

The smell of it cooking has been known to kill Yankees...:p :rolleyes: :D Hmm. I could have fun with both of those assertions. But since it being a Thursday and all, I'll take on just one.

Not any more it don't, bud - we've enjoyed the recuperative powers and benefits of Moxie for well over a hundred years. Point of fact, W.T. Sherman was said to have ascribed to an early variant during his March to the Sea.

[Michael Stafford]

Wolf, yes, people do continue to eat pickled okra. It is hard to find though. I don't know many people who "put it up". Not one of my favorites but several of my great aunts loved it.

Andy, the consumption of Moxie and its variants is not something to discuss in polite conversation on a family oriented forum....Distillation of equine urine into a consumable drink is not something I wish to contemplate....

[Mark Cothren]

However, here is a question. Doesn't anyone eat pickled okra anymore? I saw no mention of it anywhere. It's about as good as fried okra...........


By the gallon down here in Arkyville... my son could be the world champion if they had a contest for eatin' that stuff.

You big sissies who can't take boiled okry need to tuff up just a little... that stuff is as good as it gets. You just gotta remember - don't chew, just swaller it on down all in one strand....:D

[Al Willits]

Ah....ya mean ya don't put brown sugar, butter and milk on grits and have it for breakfast instead of maltomeal???
Might explain my dislike for the breakfast food...hummm

I do feel a bit slighted as lutefisk really isn't all that bad....er....kinda....well least ya don't have to scrape mold off it first, nothing grows on that stuff...

You guys down south have some strange eating habits...arg...I bet ya don't even put peanut butter on your hamburgers, or if ya do, its probably creamy and not chunky...ewwwww!!

Heck I ain't even heard any body mention goulash yet...ya all don't know what your missing...well...maybe ya do...:D

Al who actually has eaten lutefisk and lived....but still has the seizures..:)

[Tom Sherman]

My first wife used to cut up okra with onions peppers bean sprouts and cabbage and stir fry it with a bit of soy sauce and various seasonings it was good stuff, specially served with rice(she is from Okinawa). Fried okra is the cat's meow with briefly steamed okra running a close second. Never tried Lutefish, but tried Carp once never again that was over 10 years ago and I still have a bad tase in my mouth, believe I'ld rather try that distilled equine urine.:eek:

[Andy Hoyt]

Anybody that'll try Moxie is AOK.

Hey! We haven't heard from Pennslyvania (and neighbors) yet.

Who's up for scrapple?

MMMmmmm gooood.

[Don Baer]

Although I like some down home dishs like collard green and ham hocks and beans you guys don't know what your missing til you've had some good mexican Posolle and if you have a hangover nothing beats it like menudo....yummm yumm. Althogh I'm a gringo, my duaghter in law who is 1/2 mexican says my posolle is better then her gandmtother who is from old Mexico, now that good eat'n
Take a some garlic, and onions and saute em in a skillet, add a few lbs of pork butt cubbed , salt and pepper and brown the meat. While meat is browning purie 3 or 4 chipolee peppers in foor processor until they are a paste. Add water water until meat is covered and pueried peppers and 1/2 small can of tomato paste. Let cook until meat is tender . Add a large can of chicken broth and the super large can of hominy. Cook on low until the hominy is done. Serve in bowls with corn tortillas, lime slices, chopped onions on the side.
Menudo is the same except instead on pork butt use tripe...;)

good stuff. This is a southern (although southwestern treat)

[Tom Sherman]

Hey Big Mike, I just had a thought (it didn't hurt too much) when you let Grits cool down and cut them up for fryin ain't that called Polenta? That aint half bad stuff either.

Andy I believe I'll pass on the Scrapple BTDT not my thing. I can get into some good KimChee on occasion.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I grew up with a Texan father in New Mexico, so I ate all the "southern" stuff, and also all the "southwestern" stuff. I remember my dad butchering hogs and making country hams, I've suffered through my share of grits, and had more collard greens than you could shake a tongue at. Some southern-style foods have become my own favorite things to eat (like green beans with bacon, and slow-cooked barbeque), but I'm partial to the southwestern foods, but in particular, New Mexico-style "Mexican" food. The food from Mexico (and Arizona, sorry Don :) ) is nowhere near as good IMHO as the food by the same name, but with more Spanish roots, that's from New Mexico, particularly the northern Rio Grande valley. (Sorry, no canned hominy in my posole. :p) New Mexican "Mexican" food is different from all the rest. I'll bet a few NM Creekers would back me up on that. ;)

And fresh home grown tomatos are indeed manna from Heaven. :D

- Vaughn

[Michael Stafford]

Don, can't say I am familiar with posolle but all of the ingredients sound good so I am betting I would like it. You say it contains hominy, well, hominy is what grits are ground from.... I have learned to like Southwestern, Mexican, Spanish cooking although I am sure what I am able to get in this part of the country is not as flavorful as where you live. When I used to travel the country I always looked forward to the food in the Southwest.

Tom, I am not sure but isn't polenta a corn meal mush. Same family as grits but slightly different in the texture. I am sure you did not prepare the carp correctly or you would not still have the bad taste in your mouth. To properly prepare carp you must scale and gut the fish being careful to clean the body cavity thoroughly. No need to remove the head. Next find a pine board slightly longer and wider than your fish. Carefully nail the fish's head and tail to the board. Find fresh road apples and stuff the body cavity until it is full. Slice onions and garlic and pile on top of fish. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 hours or until tender. Remove the fish from the oven. Place the onions, garlic and road apples in a bowl. Throw the pine board, nails and carp away. :p ;)

And Mark, "You big sissies who can't take boiled okry need to tuff up just a little... that stuff is as good as it gets. You just gotta remember - don't chew, just swaller it on down all in one strand...." That is why I don't like boiled okra. Eating boiled okra is sorta like swallowing hot slugs.....:p :D

Al, no peanut butter on our hamburgers but peanut butter stuffed in our celery and then topped with raisins is a delicacy we feed our children. We call that "turtles on a log". I have eaten goulash and find it to be delicious.

[Mark Cothren]

Peanut butter on a hamburger??? Surely you jest...??? :eek:

Peanut butter on celery w/ raisins??? Surely you jest...??? :eek:

And man, I ain't eatin' no guts outta nuthin'...

Grits R Groceries here in Arkysaw... everybody eats grits here... a little butter, a little salt'n pepper... good to go.

So how many of y'all suck the heads outta your mudbugs?

[skip coyne]

anybody else like mayo on hotdogs ?

how about boiled goober peas ?

Peanut butter on celery w/ raisins? ..my kids grew up on that , we still often take it for snacks when we go out for the day.

got to admit Ive never heard of PB on hamburger

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Okay guys......I have a little "hillbilly" in me...........When's the last time you ate fried squirrel?.....And how long did the argument go as to who got to eat the brains?.........My 2 oldest children still refer to my paternal grandmother as "Grandma who smoked a pipe".... She and all of her sisters smoked pipes. Grandma Fitzgerald liked to make cracklin' bread.....homemade mincemeat.......

[Mark Cothren]

When's the last time you ate fried squirrel?

Last fall... deer, duck, turkey and dove, too.



"Grandma who smoked a pipe"....


Grandma didn't smoke, but her and my aunt used snuff. The kind that they'd take a pinch of and sniff. Also kept a pinch in their cheek. Always had a spit can around the house.



Grandma Fitzgerald liked to make cracklin' bread.....

I haven't had any in a while, but always had it at the grandparents house. My grandpa butchered all his own meat and rendered his own lard. When I was a kid I just thought everybody did this.

[Al Willits]

I have to admit, after two years in Brownsville that we here in Minn are a bit lacking in "good" mexican food, but I'll pass on the Menudo thank you....:)

Mark, I haven't sucked the head out of anything...leastwises when I was sober, and I'm pained you haven't had peanut butter with anything other than bread...next time you have a burger, smear a little chunky Skippy over it, maybe a tomatoe, little bacon, lettuce and you'll die a happy man....er..hopefully not from the burger...

Al who after reading all this is going out for pizza....no, I don't put PB on pizza...yet..:)

[Russ Filtz]

Mmmm, ants on a log. (the celerey raisin thing for those that don't know! Like PBJ's with celerey, no bread!

[Vaughn McMillan]

...Al who after reading all this is going out for pizza....no, I don't put PB on pizza...yet..:)
My MIL's "secret" ingredient in spagetti sauce is chunky Skippy peanut butter. Not endorsing the idea...just sayin'. :rolleyes: ;) :D

- Vaughn

[Joe Pelonio]

I'm convinced that some people on this forum like to cook up whatever fresh roadkill is available, but I don't know if that's a southern thing or not.

I have eaten chocolate covered ants before, and also some crackers that had ants in them. They're not bad. I have to pass on opposum though.

[Bob Childress]

Well, Joe, the only time I ever ate ants in a cracker was when I reached in an old box without looking first. :eek: As for the other, seems like a waste of perfectly good chocolate.

I know you're thinking "But Southerners are a bunch of hicks." That may have been true at one time, but we are much more sophisticated nowadays. For instance, when it come to eating fresh roadkill . . . today's Southerners are fairly picky about that. Polecats, for example, are a non-starter. But squirrel and possum are still possibilities. Anyway, define fresh. If it's been laying there more than two days, we don't touch it. :D :D

[Mark Cothren]

Sorry Mike, but it would appear I've finally caught in an untruth.

You're correct when you say that the only true purpose for grits to exist is to serve as a delivery vehicle for butter and salt. But the only point on that vehicle's route map is the garbage can. Them things is nasteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:D


Andy is in denial. I was an eyewitness. He was buried up to both elbows in a bowl full of grits and all you could hear was growlin' and slobberin' as he woofed 'em down.

And I'm here to tell you one and all, THAT is a true story. If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'...:D

[Michael Stafford]

Joe, roadkill is not the special of the day around here. If it were possums would be feeding everyone because they are splattered all over the road around here. One truth of life that I can positively attest to is that the more you run over a possum, the flatter he gets! See attached photo for full appreciation of how flat a possum can get and how lazy a road paint crew can be.

Mark, Mark, Mark from Ark, you and I have had this discussion before and you know I am not particularly fond of wild game although I commend those who hunt and eat their kill. I figure that is why some folks use so much hottern hades fiery gut busting paint removing hot sauce on everything they eat. They have had their taste buds neutered by roadkill and things they hunt and eat....:D

And yes, I too had great aunt who partook of snuff. Thank goodness that sport went by the wayside. Can you imagine Frenching a woman with a pinch of snuff in her cheek? Bleagh-h-h-h-h!!!!

Ken, cracklin corn bread is another Southern delicacy. I helped my Dad and Grandfather render the lard and of course we saved the cracklins for Grandma to include in some corn bread. Good stuff!

And mincemeat pies are something I still have a taste for. My wife and son more or less turn up their nose when I get the urge to bake one. Usually around the winter holidays I will decide it is time for a mincemeat pie. I bake 'em and eat 'em and enjoy 'em.:D

[Rob Bourgeois]

Man I am disappointed...No mention of black eyes peas with salt pork or mustard greens with salt pork( or in my case tasso-Cajun spicey salt pork).

One year to screw with my inlaws( Maryland-ers)...I Cajunized/Southernized Thanksgiving. Cajun Fried Trukey, Mustard greens with tasso; tomatoes(homegrown canned), corn and okra; and black eye peas, in addition to otehr normal things cranberries. First they looked at me and my wife(Recovering Marylander/Honorary Cajun***) with shock and disdain. They had to be wheeled from the table, then my father inlaw went buy a turkey fryer the next day....however he doesn eat okra. Figures he was from outside of Boston..a true Yankee..doesnt even drink coffee.


*** My wifes honorary Cajun status is due to the fact that she can out eat most people with boiled crawfish.
Also the fact that she cooks better Crawfish ettouffe than my dad or myself. Now any one that can out cook 2 Cajuns who know their ancestry back to the orginal Acadians has to be a Honorary Cajun. IF you were to add an x on the end of her last name..it would be Cajun. So who knows.

[Don Baer]

The food from Mexico (and Arizona, sorry Don :) ) is nowhere near as good IMHO as the food by the same name, but with more Spanish roots, that's from New Mexico, particularly the northern Rio Grande valley. (Sorry, no canned hominy in my posole. :p) New Mexican "Mexican" food is different from all the rest. I'll bet a few NM Creekers would back me up on that. ;)

And fresh home grown tomatos are indeed manna from Heaven. :D

- Vaughn

Vaughn,
I do enjoy New Mexico style food also. Nothing better then Hatch Chili's I got a ristra of em hanging in the kitchen now. My Posole recipe came from a meixcan women at church who was from Guadlahara Mexico, don't knock it if you haven't tried it..:D

[Andy Hoyt]

I do not like them,
Hoyt-I-am.
I do not like
them grits with ham.

Would you like them
Here or there?

I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like
them grits with ham.
I do not like them,
Hoyt-I-am

[Michael Stafford]

Horton hears a Hoyt!!!:D

[Joe Pelonio]

Michael, that's a great picture. I see the same thing every morning but they are on top of the yellow stripes. If you want fresh squirrels I can let you pop off a few in my yard, they steal birdseed and recently ate my entire crop of bok choy.

Rob,

Every year we have a "theme" for Christmas dinner. The extended family all come over to our house and each is assigned on dish, we make the rest. Two years ago it was southern. We made catfish, hushpuppies,
mustard greens, black eye peas, grits, and for desert I made a sweet potato pie, my daughter made a pecan pie...we couldn't get a volunteer to make the okra.

[Dennis Peacock]

Fried squirrel, squirrel stew, rabbit stew, baked dove, quail, turkey, goat, and the list continues on. Still like it all from time to time, but the LOML won't fix it for me no-mo. :rolleyes:

All my grandparents, great grandparents all dipped Red Top Snuff and they brushed their teeth with a twig from a sweet gum tree and I often times got my behind whooped with a switch off the local peach tree.:eek:

Turnip greens with ham-hock, black-eyed peas, fried ham and great big ol' "Cathead biscuits" smothered in sawmill gravey!!!! Yum-YUM!!!!!!!

I gotta break for sumpin to eat now. ;)

[Art Davis]

As an expatriate southerner, I just gotta' add my $0.02. You guys never even mentioned pink eye purple hull field peas. When I ask them here in Oregon about field peas, they give me a fishy-eyed look and point at those little round green things. Stew up a bunch of field peas, with a few pods of "okry" added toward the end, and sop up the juice with a few biscuits---and I'm in seventh heaven. Along with a side of speckled butterbeans. Fried okra is fine, but you gotta have that slimey stuff to get the real flavor.

On the subject of grits, my wife (who is a dyed-in-the-wool Detroit Yankee) was so surprised when we ordered breakfast in a little cafe on our first trip down to my home in Louisiana and they brought her grits along with her eggs. "But---I didn't order them," she complained. "Honey," I told her, "When you order eggs down south, you ARE ordering grits." Just thinking of grits and eggs makes my mouth water.

Why is good food always flavored with lots of calories and cholesterol?

As a kid, we had chittlins', hogs head cheese, and stewed squirrels along with their brains fried with scrambled eggs. Now I don't miss those things. But does anyone remember peanut patties? As a snack, they're great.

[Michael Cody]

Art, even here in Michigan I can buy purple hull field peas in the can anyway... My old hillbillie dad had me eating them & black eye peas since I was first on solid food. One of my favorites. Never cared much for chitlin's or hogs head, but I've ate many a plate of Tree Rat .. got so many of them when I was a boy, I quit using my old .410 and switched to .22 single shot for the sport. Odd thing though, never even put a dent in the population.

[Art Davis]

Man I am disappointed...No mention of black eyes peas with salt pork or mustard greens with salt pork( or in my case tasso-Cajun spicey salt pork).

One year to screw with my inlaws( Maryland-ers)...I Cajunized/Southernized Thanksgiving. Cajun Fried Trukey, Mustard greens with tasso; tomatoes(homegrown canned), corn and okra; and black eye peas, in addition to otehr normal things cranberries. First they looked at me and my wife(Recovering Marylander/Honorary Cajun***) with shock and disdain. They had to be wheeled from the table, then my father inlaw went buy a turkey fryer the next day....however he doesn eat okra. Figures he was from outside of Boston..a true Yankee..doesnt even drink coffee.


*** My wifes honorary Cajun status is due to the fact that she can out eat most people with boiled crawfish.
Also the fact that she cooks better Crawfish ettouffe than my dad or myself. Now any one that can out cook 2 Cajuns who know their ancestry back to the orginal Acadians has to be a Honorary Cajun. IF you were to add an x on the end of her last name..it would be Cajun. So who knows.

Rob,

How long since you had a Jax beer? Remember the commercials with Hank and his horse sitting on the bar stools? When the bartender refused to serve Jax to the horse and Hank apologized to the horse, the horse turns to Hank and says, "Oh, that's okay, Hank, I was driving anyway!"

I still cook up a good Cajun gumbo recipe that I acquired from a relative, Sue Vidrine of Mamou---and Creole red beans and rice, which (naturally) start off with a roux!

[Dennis Peacock]

Rob,
I still cook up a good Cajun gumbo recipe that I acquired from a relative, Sue Vidrine of Mamou---and Creole red beans and rice, which (naturally) start off with a roux!

OK Art.....that does it.....when do I show up for some-o-dat???!!!!! :D

[Don Baer]

I still cook up a good Cajun gumbo recipe that I acquired from a relative, Sue Vidrine of Mamou---and Creole red beans and rice, which (naturally) start off with a roux!

Red beens and rice with andoue (sp) sausage hmmmmmmmmm now that eat'n
I also like a big ole plate of crawfish etufee...:D