Unread postby ScarlettP » 17 Feb 2008, 04:32
They are actually pretty good. Sort of Tart. Like ocra, you just wash 'em, slice 'em, dip 'em in corn meal and toss 'em in an iron skillet with about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep shortening in it... flip 'em over once and take 'em up. If you like a lot of batter, you can dip the slices in a mix of egg, water and salt before rolling the slices in the corn meal.
The thing about Southern cooking is that none of it is fancy. Nothing ever has a lot of ingredients. Most things include lard or shortening of some sort pig fat. Even if it's not fried, the fat is still hiding in there. Biscuits MUST be made with lard and buttermilk. Pinto Beans are inedible if they don't have a chunk of fat back or streak of lean tossed in. Collards are better with a little bacon & onion. And the iron skillet is part of it. It actually ads to the flavor of whatever is cooked in it.
The thing that people don't realize is that Southern people were poor, dirt farmers. Our 'cuisine' is based on food that can be grown easily on the farm, Corn, Ocra, Greens, Beans, Tomatoes, Potatoes & Onions produce a lot of edible food on small bits of land that does not have to be very fertile. Chicken & Pigs are cheap to raise because they'll eat anything. Farm work is difficult and requires a lot of energy... which we got from eating those pigs and using their fat to flavor everything else.
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