A Southern Supper

Every so often I get the urge to forego fancy or new dishes for supper.  When that happens I go back to my small town Southern roots.  You just can't go wrong with the basics of Southern cooking.  To that end, we had a meal that any Southerner would appreciate.  Last night's supper was grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and mixed greens.  Oh my goodness it was good.  The only thing I didn't do that my grandmother would have done was make biscuits or cornbread to go with it.


I'll break down the how and why of this meal as I go along.  Now, on with the show.

A plate of good Southern cooking

Grilled pork chops should need no explanation.  After all, is there anything better than glorious pork?  I will say, I could have fried the pork chops but I didn't have enough space on the stove top.  If I hadn't had fried okra then I'd have fried the pork chops and been able to make gravy to go on the mashed potatoes.  Any way, pork is the meat of the South.  I am not big on over seasoning meat since I think the flavor of the meat should shine, so the pork chops got a simple treatment.  I sprinkled kosher salt and ground black pepper on the pork chops then splashed a little bourbon on them.  They sat on a pan until time to take out to the grill.  They were grilled until they reached 145F.  Beautiful juicy white meat with great flavor.


Mashed potatoes are one of those things that tend to get short changed.  It's hard to find a meal in the South without potatoes in some form.  Like pork, the potato is a versatile ingredient and can be used many ways.


Mashed Potatoes


4 russet potatoes
1 stick butter, sliced
buttermilk
salt
pepper
garlic powder


Cut the potatoes into cubes of similar size and place in a pot.  Fill the pot with water and rinse the potatoes then dump the water.  Repeat the process.  Fill  the pot with water until it just covers the potatoes then put over med-high heat.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just tender.  A fork should stick in without breaking the cube.  Drain the water.  Put the pot of potatoes back on the eye to evaporate any remaining water.  Add the butter slices in pot and stir.  Once the butter has melted start mashing.  Add buttermilk as you go till you get the consistency you want.  Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.  Serves 4.


Fried okra is all some people know of okra, or it's the only form of okra they'll eat.  Mention boiled okra to most people and they start talking about slime even if they've never had boiled okra.  In spite of my okra plants getting laid over thanks to the edge of hurricane Matthew that hit us, they are still producing well.  Okra pods that get too big to be tender boiled get sliced and fried.  Since I had built up a good collection of frying okra that's what I used.


Fried Okra


1/2 lb okra
flour
1 egg
1 cup milk
cornmeal mixture (cornmeal, corn starch, salt, garlic powder)
oil


Cut okra into 1/2 inch thick slices and put in flour.  Shake excess flour off the sliced okra and put into egg wash made with the egg and milk.  Drain the excess and put in a bowl with the cornmeal mixture and toss to coat.  Once well coated remove okra from the bowl and put on a plate until all the okra is done.  Heat a skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil in it.  Once it is hot put in the breaded okra.  Cook until brown on the bottom and turn the okra to cook the other side.  Alternatively, you can deep fry the okra and not have to worry about turning it.  Serve hot.

Fried Okra almost ready

Greens are another thing that get Southerners going.  Greens mean different things to different people.  Greens can be collard greens, mustard greens, or turnip greens most often.  There are also wild greens like poke salad, dandelions, and lamb's quarter.  For me growing up, greens meant either mustard or turnip greens.  I now prefer a mix of the two since they both have different flavor profiles and textures.  I've also been known to throw some wild greens into the mix from time to time.


Greens get boiled and slow simmered in the South, especially collard greens.  After all, you've got to give the smoked pork time to give its flavor to the greens.  I did a variation on this.  Our greens had been blanched prior to freezing so they were nearly done.  For the pork flavor, I heated the thawed greens in a skillet with some bacon grease in it. 

Bottle of homemade pepper sauce

I'll throw in one last tidbit about eating greens.  You have to have pepper sauce available.  No, I don't mean hot sauce.  Pepper sauce is vinegar with hot peppers in it.  You put it on your greens and you get a bit of the acid from the vinegar and a hint of heat and flavor from the peppers.  As you use up the pepper sauce, you simply add more vinegar.  The pepper sauce we use was made with Serrano peppers from our garden and apple cider vinegar.  Pepper sauce is widely available in stores, at least it is in the South but it is easy to make your own.  All  you need is a jar, some vinegar, and the hot peppers of your choice.  Pull the cap and stem off the peppers and put them in your jar then fill with vinegar.  Let it sit in the cabinet for a few weeks before using it.


There you have it, a good Southern supper.  Give it a try sometime.


Uncle T

Pork Loin and Fermented Green Tomato Relish

It probably won't be a surprise that I belong to several food related groups on Facebook.  Two of those groups deal with fermentation and the results thereof.  After all, there are many benefits to eating fermented food that I won't get into here.  Most times the conversations are about recipes/techniques to get a specific fermented item.  These are helpful and informative.  Then there are the discussions about eating fermented foods as they are or cooking with them.  These can get a bit contentious at times.  Obviously, I'm on the side of the "sometimes it's just about the flavor" group.  The idea for this supper came from someone posting a picture of a meal they had made using fermented salsa.  I don't have any fermented salsa but I do have the fermented green tomato relish.

Pork Loin on a  bed of sliced mushrooms with garlic

I had bought a couple of pork loins last week since the price was down a bit so when I processed them I kept two roasts.  Each roast is just a bit under 2 pounds which is enough for two meals for the good wife and me.  My plan when I cut this one last week was for it to be our Monday night supper.  I'm happy to say it was a success.

Pork Loin topped with Fermented Green Tomato Relish hot from the oven

Roasted Pork Loin


2 lb pork loin roast
1 quart fermented green tomato relish
1 lb mushrooms
1 head of garlic
olive oil
salt
1/2 cup white wine, optional

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of your roasting pan.  Slice the mushrooms and put in the roasting pan.  Set the pork loin roast on the bed of sliced mushrooms.  Season with salt.  Slice the garlic and put on top of the pork loin roast.  Cover the pork roast with the fermented green tomato relish.  Add the white wine if using.  Place in a 400F oven and cook with the lid on for 1.5 hours.  Check the temperature of the pork roast, if it is at least 135F put the lid back on and let set until ready to slice and serve.  Carry over will bring the internal temperature of the meat up past 145F.  Slice the pork loin into thick slices and serve with a side of the green tomato relish and mushroom mixture.

A nicely done Pork Loin

We had ours with rice though it would pair equally as well with either roasted or mashed potatoes.   Then again, serve what you want to with it.

Oh what a meal

I know not many people will go to the effort to ferment green tomato relish, all is not lost.  There are commercially produced varieties of green tomato relish as well as chutney and chow chow.  These won't have the tang of the fermented relish but they should work with this recipe.  Plus,  you could use the salsa of your choice and make it like the dish that inspired this one.  Heck, it would work with sauerkraut as well though I think you'd have to go with potatoes as the side rather than rice.

Give this lovely dish a try and let me know what you think.  I believe you'll like it.


Uncle T

Frog Leg Salad

Sadly, we live in the city so places I can easily get to for frog hunting are nonexistent.  Even though there are small lakes close to us, I've never heard a bull frog.  If I knew there were bull frogs there I would definitely take an evening ride along the shore.


Happily, we have a good international market close by, Grand Mart.  Yes, I know I've mentioned them before but it is a great store.  Some time back, I had gone to pick up a couple of things and I happened to spot frog legs in the freezer section.  I didn't hesitate.


We'd gotten in the habit of eating salads on Tuesday and Friday as part of the Fast Diet.  Even though we are not following that at the present, we still do salads on those days time to time.  After all, a salad is quick and easy to fix.


Frozen frog legs are much easier to work with than fresh frog legs.  Fresh frog legs still have nerve action remaining so the legs tend to kick and jerk while you fry them.  Freezing them eliminates that problem.


To make a frog leg salad, all you need is 3 - 4 pairs of frog legs per person and a salad for each person.  Any salad will work but we prefer a mix of greens rather than a single type.  The salad pictured is leaf lettuce and Romaine from the garden.  When we have them I also add beet greens and sometimes carrot greens.  I generally use a vinaigrette to dress the salad.  Once you have the salad all you have to do is fry the frog legs and dig in.


Fried Frog Legs


3 - 4 pairs per person
2 cups flour
2 Tbs salt
2 Tbs pepper
2 Tbs garlic powder
oil


Add the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to a bowl and mix well.  Work your way up to the measurements of the salt, pepper, and garlic powder to make sure you get the flavor you want.  Heat oil in a skillet, a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.  Once the oil is hot, dredge the frog legs in the flour mixture and place in the skillet.  Once you can see the flour is browned on the bottom turn them over to finish frying.  Once browned to your satisfaction, let drain on a rack or on paper towels.  Once all the frog legs are fried and drained, arrange them around the edge of the salad bowl and serve.

Frog Leg Salad

The left over flour mixture can be placed in a ziplock bag and be stored in the freezer until the next time you fry something.  It can also be used to make a seasoned roux for making gravy or a béchamel sauce for making macaroni and cheese.  I always have a bag in the freezer ready to use.


This salad can also be made with a nice fish fillet, I use tilapia and white bass, or a boneless chicken breast.  When we have the chicken breast I slice it thinly and lay on the edge of the salad bowl in its original shape.  Sliced thin the pieces can easily be cut with a fork to desired bite size.


Give this a go sometime to up your salad.  Let me know what you think about it once you've tried it.


Uncle T

Spaetzle and Sauerkraut Soup

What a way to combine some of our favorite things.  This came about because of a statement by the good wife.  After finding a container of leftover spaetzle in the refrigerator while putting up leftover spaetzle from supper she told me to make soup to use it up.  Her wish is my command.


I've been trying to use more of our fermented food as part of meals or in recipes.  Yes, I know cooking with them kills the probiotics but sometimes it's about the flavor.  Besides, the improved nutritional benefit is still there and that is good enough.  Since the weather is cooling and since sauerkraut and spaetzle go together well it seemed natural.


I started searching for recipes for soups containing these and couldn't find any with them together.  The spaetzle soups tended be chicken with spaetzle and the occasional recipe with pork or mushrooms.  All the sauerkraut soup recipes had either white beans, potatoes, or both along with a meat that was usually sausage.  So, as frequently happens, I went my own way and started planning.


In the end, this tasty soup ended up containing homemade spaetzle, home fermented sauerkraut, homemade pork broth, and homemade mettwurst.   I chose the mettwurst because it is a good spicy sausage that pairs well with sauerkraut on the plate and I figured it would do the same in the soup.  The soup was made in the electric pressure cooker using a combination of different settings.

A full pot of soup.  The pressure cooker has a 6 quart capacity.

OK, I know most people won't go to the extent of growing cabbage and making their own sauerkraut.  That's OK.  I would suggest buying kraut that comes in a bag in the cooler section of the store rather than the canned variety.  The bagged kraut has much better flavor and crunch


Spaetzle and Sauerkraut Soup


1 lb smoked sausage (mettwurst, kielbasa, etc)
3 - 4 cups cooked spaetzle
1.5 - 2 lbs sauerkraut, drained
1 cup diced carrots
2 cups diced potatoes
6 cups broth
1/2 - 1 Tbs salt*
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 Tbs garlic powder


Put the broth in a large pot and bring to a simmer.  Add the diced carrots and potatoes along with the spices and cook until tender.  I set the pressure cooker for 5 minutes.  Once they are tender, stir in the spaetzle and sauerkraut and let them get warm.  Slice the smoked sausage into 3/8 inch/1 cm pieces and add to the soup and stir.  Let the whole pot simmer for 30 minutes for the flavors to come together.  Serve with a good crusty bread.  Makes 6 servings.


*This will be variable depending on your broth.  My homemade broth didn't have any salt so both it and the potatoes need the salt.  Commercially produced broth has varying levels of salt so adjust to taste.  Don't forget the kraut will have some salt as well.

A bowl of filling tasty goodness

As with many soups and stews it was better the 2nd night and will probably be even better on the 3rd night.  This is a filling nutritious soups perfect for cooler weather.


If you make this soup let me know what you think.


Uncle T

A Different Sunday Dinner

Growing up, Sunday dinner tended to be predictable.  Momma would wrap a beef chuck roast in aluminum foil with some potatoes and carrots and put them in the oven just before we headed out the door to go to church.  After we got home, we ate roast, potatoes, and carrots to the enjoyment of all.  Every once in a while the menu would change but to the best of my recollection, this was the standard.


These days, the good wife and I usually just eat leftovers from Saturday's supper as our lunch on Sunday.  Some times I'll go ahead and cook something but that is usually because we have something we don't want to chance going bad by waiting another day or two.  This most recent Sunday, I cooked for that very reason.


Exotic fruits are some of the few food items we actually go to the store to get.  After all, most of them won't grow in Virginia.  A few days ago we bought some plantains because they had some good looking ones and the price was right.  I don't do the green plantain double frying thing.  I prefer to use one that is almost completely ripe.  Add a little salt after they are done to play against their sweetness and it is an excellent side dish.

Minimum ripeness of plantain I use

Fried Plantain


1 - 2 plantains, almost fully ripe
oil
salt


Cut the plantains in half then cut the two halves down the middle.  Remove the skin.  Lay each half on a cutting board and carefully cut into two slices of equal thicknesses.  Heat oil in a skillet and place the plantain slices in a single layer.  Fry until golden brown then turn them over.  Once the second side is done, remove them from the skillet and drain on a rack or paper towels.  Repeat the process if need be.  Sprinkle a little salt on the plantain slices and serve.


Along with the plantains, I grilled some pork chops and made some black beans in the pressure cooker. 


The pork chops were seasoned with salt, pepper, and ground roasted cumin then a little splash of Tequila for additional flavoring was added.  The pork chops were then grilled to 145F which is medium rare and leaves them tender, juicy, and with just a faint hint of pink inside.  I thought about making a pineapple salsa to top them with but decided that would be gilding the lily.  The flavor was so good I'll definitely be using this seasoning combination again.


The black beans turned out very well.  As usual, I used my Simply Ming electric pressure cooker.


Pressure Cooker Black Beans


1 cup dry black beans
3 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup salsa
3 oz fat back or bacon ends and pieces
2 - 3 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground roasted cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 - 3 bay leaves


Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker and stir to mix well.  Put on lid and turn valve so it will build pressure.  Select pressure cook and set timer for 50 minutes.  At the end of the time, allow pressure to naturally release.  If the liquid isn't thick enough for your liking, mix a little corn starch and water and add to the beans and stir.  Raise the heat for10 minutes then turn back to warm.  Stir and the broth should be thicker.

Fried Plantain, Black Beans, and grilled Pork Chop

As you can see, not a typical Sunday dinner for a good Southern boy at all.  One of the benefits of an Army career is traveling and being introduced to other food cultures.  Try those foods when you get the chance.  If you like them, make them yourself.  If you can't find the right ingredient use one that is close that you do have.  Some of those subtle changes yield excellent results.


Give these a try either together or as parts of different meals.  I think you'll enjoy them.  Let me know how they turn out.


Uncle T

Fermented Green Tomato Relish

Some time ago I wrote a post about green tomato relish and mentioned I may try fermenting it.  Well, I did it.  The results are outstanding if I do say so myself.


Toward the end of the season we were having lots of tomatoes getting chewed on.  I was thinking either birds or rodents even though the chewed spots didn't look like they were made by rodents.  Since we were still getting a few good size tomatoes for fresh eating I kept letting the plants go and put up with the damage.  When I finally pulled up the plants I found out it was some sort of caterpillar doing the damage.  That's what happens when you avoid spraying.


We were going to be going out of town in a couple of weeks so I decided to pull the plants and harvest every sound green tomato and make some relish to ferment.  I ended up with so many little green tomatoes my basket was creaking and I was worried it would break.


Since I had so many I decided on two changes to my plan, first I would clean a bunch of quart jars and second, would use the food processor to save time.


This will not be a recipe with specific quantities as much as it'll be a method to be adapted to what you have on hand.

Two batches of Green Tomato Relish ready to start fermenting

I ran the green tomatoes through the food processor with the julienne/french fry blade.  This cut them into long strips about 1/4 inch square.  I would drop in a red tomato every so often for the little splash of color.  I stopped when the food processor container was full.  Everything was then dumped in a large bowl and mixed well.  We had decided we wanted a bit of heat in the relish so I very finely minced a couple of red ripe jalapenos from the garden and added them.  I added some herbs to one batch but can't tell that they added anything to the flavor.  After everything is well mixed it is time for the salt.


For the salting I used the same process for making sauerkraut.  That means using roughly 3 Tbs for each 5 lbs of mix.  I say roughly because I tend not to measure but use my fingers and go by taste.  Using the 3:5 ratio will work fine though and be more precise if that helps you.  After the salt was sprinkled on everything was mixed and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.  At the end of the 30 minutes, stir the mixture well and put it in jars to ferment.


If you have a fermenting crock you can use that.  I use mason jars for most everything.   Make sure they are clean and well rinsed.  I typically don't bother sanitizing them.  Put some of the relish in the jar and press it down to squeeze out some brine.  Continue to do this until you are an inch or two from the top.  If  you've made a large batch, repeat the process until it is all used up.  Split the brine remaining in the bowl among all your jars.  Use whatever method you choose to keep the relish below the brine and cap the jars. 

Pretty and tasty.  You can see the size of the tomatoes after the food processor.

Once the jars are capped, put them in a pan to catch overflow and set them in an out of the way spot.  I use a corner to the right of our sink that is just a bit awkward to put something we use regularly in.  After 24 hours or so, you'll start to see some liquid in the pan.  This means the fermentation process is starting and the gasses formed are forcing things up.  Start checking the flavor after 3 or 4 days to see if it has reached the desired level of sour.  The first batch was good after 5 days and the 2nd batch took 7 days.  Once it has reached the sour level you want, put them in a refrigerator.  This greatly slows down the ferment.  The flavors will continue to develop until you've eaten it all.


So, like I said, more of a method than a specific quantity recipe.  This relish is good with many things, grilled pork chops and chicken, served with vegetables, or even eaten by itself as a side.  Besides the good wife and me, this has been eaten by the good wife's sister and her family and by a Soldier I work with and his family.  It has been well received by both groups.


I know that much has been written about the benefits of fermented foods for gut health.  I don't know if all this is true and I'm not really concerned with it.  Fermentation does things I know about and care about.  Fermentation makes some nutrients more readily available, lengthens shelf life of the product, and develops some great textures and flavors.  So, if eating all the things I ferment helps our gut health great but I'd be fermenting even if it didn't.


There are many resources online to get you started.  If there is an organic food store close to you chances are good that at least one person that works there knows fermentation.  The one closest to use even sells airlocks for mason jars to aid fermentation.  I've not read it, but several of the sites I've visited to get information have referenced a book by Sandor Ellix Katz called, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods.  It can be found here, Amazon. 


Give fermenting a go and see what you think.  It is basically a beneficial bacteria driven pickling process.  If you eat sauerkraut, kimchee, or any other commercially fermented product you'll be amazed at the difference between that and what you can make yourself.  If you give it a try let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T

Butternut Squash Two Ways and Pan Fried Salmon

A week or so ago we made the drive back to Tennessee to visit family.  We carried a couple of boxes of goodies for family members.  We took stuff from our garden that the good wife had canned, pickles, pinkeye purple hull peas, black berry preserves, etc.  I took some samples of my bacon and sausage.  This is a variation on my childhood memories.  It seems like every time we visited my maternal grandparents we ended up with jars of preserves or containers of frozen corn or peas.  Then, my grandparents had the most productive garden and now I seem to have the most productive garden.


We did bring some stuff back courtesy of the good wife's sister.  From her garden we had some butternut squash and some purple peppers.  The peppers were sweet with a nice fresh flavor.  I much prefer their flavor over green bell peppers.  They are excellent sliced thinly and added to a salad.  I need to try to find them for my garden next year.  We also brought home a loaf of homemade sour dough bread.  I must say, that is some most excellent bread and she has been making it as long as I can remember.

A nice purple bell pepper

For the butternut squash I was wanting to do something different.  I know, there is nothing wrong with roasted butternut squash but there has to be more variety.  An idea came to me while I was watching SEC football on Saturday afternoon.  A quick Google search didn't turn up anything like it so I had my dish.  What I came up with was butternut squash waffle fries.  That accounted for the solid neck portion of the squash and the rest was cubed up and saved for another meal.

Butternut squash waffle fries and Pan fried salmon

The two meals with the butternut squash also featured pan fried salmon.  I first came across this method 8 or 9 years ago while we were living in Texas.  I don't remember if I found it online or saw it on TV.  What I like about this method is it's quick, gives nice crispy salmon skin, and it's easy to get the salmon to your desired level of doneness.  As a bonus, if desired you can use the butter and salmon juices left in the skillet as the base for a pan sauce to pour over the salmon.


Pan Fried Salmon


1 skin on fillet per person
1 stick butter, softened
kosher salt
pepper

Make sure the scales are off the salmon skin.  Pat dry both the flesh side and the skin side of the fillets.  Leave skin side up.  Coat the skin with a layer of the softened butter. Sprinkle some kosher salt all over the butter coating then add a little pepper.  Lay the fillets in a hot skillet skin side down and sprinkle additional salt and pepper on the flesh side.  When the cooked line is about halfway up the fillet, gently flip it over.  The skin should me nicely browned and crisp.  When the cooked lines meet in the middle the salmon is done.  The salmon will be completely done and flaky but will still be moist.

To make a pan sauce to pour over, add 2 - 3 more tablespoons of butter to the skillet.  Once it has melted and is sizzling, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of bourbon to the skillet.  If you want to be dramatic and can safely do so, you can burn off the alcohol.  If you don't think you can safely do it then just let the mixture simmer for a couple of minutes.  Once the alcohol has burned off, add 1 Tbs of mustard and 1 1/2 tsp honey to the skillet.  Stir to combine and let simmer until reduced to the consistency you want.  Spoon over each fillet.

Fried butternut squash, pan fried salmon with pan sauce, fresh salad

Butternut Squash Waffle Fries


1 Butternut Squash neck, peeled
oil
salt


Using the waffle blade on a mandolin, cut the squash using the smallest thickness possible.  Once the squash is sliced, let is sit until the oil gets hot.  I used my outdoor fryer with peanut oil and got the oil to 375F.  Immerse the waffle cut squash in the oil and fry until browned.  Drain well and lightly sprinkle with salt.  Serve and enjoy.

Fried Butternut Squash


1 Butternut squash, cubed.  In this case I used just the seed end of the squash.
bacon grease
salt
pepper
roasted cumin


Season the cubed butternut squash with salt, pepper, and roasted cumin.  Heat bacon grease in a skillet, use 2 - 3 Tbs.  Once hot, add the squash and give it a good shake.  Let the squash cook until it starts to brown then toss the skillet to get the squash flipped.  Continue cooking until the desired level of brown is reached.  Serve and enjoy.


Both these ways of cooking butternut squash are tasty departures from the norm.  The waffle fries weren't even thickness due to the difficulty of getting it to cut smoothly.  As a result, many of them were crispy on one part and crispy with a soft inside at the other.  The little bit of salt was just enough to emphasize the sweetness of the squash.  The cubed squash had a similar texture all the way through but the addition of the cumin and the flavor imparted from the bacon grease made the flavor something else.  Both of these methods will be put to use again.  I don't usually grow winter squash but I may need to next year.


The salmon and butternut squash, either way, would be good accompanied by a salad.  The salmon and cubed squash was accompanied by a simple salad.  The salad was Romaine, Red Leaf lettuce, sliced onion, sliced purple sweet peppers, sliced carrots, tossed with apple cider vinegar salad dressing and topped with freshly fried bacon pieces.  Given the time of year, only the pepper was home grown.


Give this salmon and these butternut squash recipes a try in your kitchen.  I think you'll be pleased with the results.  If you do try them, let me know what you think.


Uncle T