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