[OT] Tally Ho! or, Sarah Eat Your Heart Out

Angliophiles!

Beautiful photos, you have a good eye. But a fox hunt? Where is PETA when you need them?

Peter
http://www.free-inside.com

Are those real foxhounds? Beautiful dogs!

Yoicks and away!

While you were in your fancy pants with a champagne buzz, the real men in Kentucky (plus my 9-year old son) were out in the woods in camo to shoot some organic meat for dinner!
And I enjoyed a long bike ride while the roads were blessedly free of bubbas with attitudes.

Lovely pictures… My daughter has an iTouch and she gets great pictures also…I pray for PETA, every night. I pray that they may wake up and smell the roses; that they may some day find the peace and tranquility that is available to them. But, mostly, I pray that they (and several other cultists) will leave me alone so I can eat my beefsteak in peace while I wear my sheepskin slippers…

Woah - great dogs! Thanks for posting the pictures.

Breakfast was shrimp & grits, bacon, sausage, pork tenderloin, smoked salmon, biscuits, muffins, [and] bread pudding.

Were the organizers too tightfisted to serve you something substantial?

Greg

Tsk, tsk.  A southern gentleman should never tell a lady to ‘eat her heart out.’  He should bring her a cool drink while she sits on the porch in the evening breeze.

carl
Who is pretty sure shrimp isn’t a breakfast food, and is positive grits isn’t a food at all.

Haumph! No oatmeal porridge.

Is this true: A local friend told me that, during the heat of the day, the dogs and fox were walking with their tongues hanging out, and that the fox was in third place????

In faith, Dave
Viva Texas

Carl, I have not had shrimp for breakfast, but here on the MS coast you can get an omlette with fresh MS oysters.  And grits.

[12] Capt. Deacon Warren

[H]ere on the MS coast you can get an omlette with fresh MS oysters.

What!?  This is an outrage!  Elder Oyster shall here of this!

carl
who suddenly suspects that MS is inhabited by a collection of unscrupulous walruses

Silly Question:  Why is there a priest (I presume) with “choir robes” and a stole (or is that preaching scarf?) at the event?

I am a very proud member of PETA!
YBIC,
Phil Snyder

Umm,

That’s my own version - People Eating Tasty Animals!

I also like to call myself a “second order vegetarian.”  I eat things that eat vegetables.  I love “processed” vegetables - particularly those processed by cows, chickens, and pigs.

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

#14 - I want an answer as well. Did the dogs have Communion before the hunt, or was this an Orthodox Episcopal gathering?

1. I find it challenging to believe that these photos were taken with an iPhone.
2. A priest is ALWAYS present before a foxhunt. Looks like cassock, surplice, and tippet to me. The surplice is embarrassingly short.
3. Put on white riding breeches, eat a substantial breakfast, mount a horse, go out into the woods…a recipe for disaster, I think.
4. Foxhunting isn’t about hunting. It’s about having an excuse for guys to own hightop leather boots. It’s also about scaring the **** out of a defenseless creature. I think it’s banned in the UK. I believe it would be more sporting to hunt progressive bishops (with western tack, of course), but I’m not sure that all here would agree with that.

AndrewA,
If it is like what happens in my neck of the woods (Aiken S.C.), the priest is there to give the traditional blessing of the hounds prior to the start of the hunt.
Bye the bye, a former priest at my old church was giving this blessing one year & one of the less well trained hounds had the temerity to lift his leg on the good father!

What!?  This is an outrage!  Elder Oyster shall hear of this!

Hey, man.  What God has cleansed…

Ralph,

I’ll take #1 as a compliment, but it’s a fact. These pics were taken with a base-model iPhone.

johnd,

The priest was indeed there to bless the hunt.

carl,

If you ever find yourself in Jackson one crisp fall morning, remind me to fix you some shrimp and grits for breakfast. All will be revealed, and you will rue your past aspersions.

oscewicee,

Yes, those are real fox hounds, certified by whatever organization it is that certifies those things. The hunt itself is also officially sanctioned by whatever group it is that does those things. The hunt has its own web site here.

Phil Snyder,

Just remember that meat is murder. Tender, delicious murder.

Oh and Ralph… I didn’t eat a big breakfast and suit up and ride. I ate a big breakfast and rode the Tally Ho wagon to brunch.

Greg,
You forgot juicy.  Meat is tender, juicy, delicious murder.

RE: “Silly Question:  Why is there a priest (I presume) with “choir robes” and a stole (or is that preaching scarf?) at the event?”

Blessing of the Hounds.

RE: “If you ever find yourself in Jackson one crisp fall morning, remind me to fix you some shrimp and grits for breakfast. All will be revealed, and you will rue your past aspersions.”

And so, the creeping Anglicanisation of Carl will continue. 

RE: “I ate a big breakfast and rode the Tally Ho wagon to brunch.”

Oh brother.

Oh brother oh brother oh brother . . .

Bro. Phil, Please sign me up for your PETA in #16.  If God had not meant for people to eat animals, he would not have made them out of meat.

Oh I forgot to deal with Ralinda:

Gun season for whitetails in Mississippi doesn’t start until this Saturday, but guess where I’ll be.

Greg, I am all admiration for the hounds. But you rode the Tally Ho wagon to brunch??? Well, it was probably safer after that breakfast. Shrimp and grits is something outside my experience, though I am trying to imagine it.

Greg, #1 is most CERTAINLY a compliment. (Had I wanted to offend, I might have made a more direct remark about men who wear sissy English riding clothes and English tack. Or, something about keeping those leather boots “in the closet.” Of course, I wouldn’t do that.)

The photos are amazing. Your utter disregard and lack of support of the Blackberry platform made me toss mine into the lake, switch carriers, and get an iPhone. I have NOT been pleased by image quality, though Photoshop can work wonders. However, there’s no going back. The iPhone is awesome. Now, you have inspired me to take iPhone photography to another level. Seriously.

Folks, shrimp and grits is the modern version of quail and manna from heaven.

Folks,
Don’t call them “dogs”. Those are what the neighbor’s have; (also called “cur dogs”).

These fine specimins pictured are always called “hounds”.

The priest is generally a once a year event at the Blessing of the Hounds (generally in the fall). However, whiskey is required before, during and after all hunts, in order to increase the “courage” of the participants.

I hunted with Chula Homa a few times, along with Fr. Van, of all people!! Say hi to Keenan Garcia for us. They are a great bunch of folks.

Wish I was there.

PETA = “People Eating Tasty Animals.”

My apologies to the hounds.

RE: “However, whiskey is required before, during and after all hunts, in order to increase the “courage” of the participants.”

I’m confused.

My understanding from knowledgeable Episcopalians is that whiskey is actually required before, during and after most things, not simply a fox hunt.

Wherever there are two or three Episcopalians, there is usually a “fifth”....

Carl - until you have had true, properly prepared grits - you have no idea what you are missing.  Just ask my other (Yankee) half who has come to appreciate the dish.

These replys just totally crack me up!

Carl,
If you can’t stomach the idea of shrimp fo’ breakfast, just remember that somewhere in the world, it’s always dinnertime!

As for me, the iPhone pix, the hounds, and the breakfast spread merely prove that Southerners are God’s Chosen People!

oh, and the presence of Bourbon (I assume, not just any whiskey!), as proof as God’s undying love for us

Shrimp & Grits is an old recipe popular in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia, and in south Louisiana, up to the coastal region of Mississippi and well up into the Mississippi Delta. There are as many variations on it as there are cooks making it (and no doubt a few dozen know-it-alls here will inform me of what I’ve done wrong ), but here’s one that will give you a taste of what it’s all about.

For the grits:

2 cups water
2.5 cups fat-free half & half (substitute skim or heavy cream, depending on which direction you want to tilt)
1 cup grits (stone-ground if you can find them; if not, Aunt Jemima makes an “old fashioned” product that comes in a yellow bag. It can be hard to find, but it’s out there. The instant kind and the 1-minute kind will do in a pinch, but they’re pretty sad substitutes)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (jack also works well, and I suppose you could substitute cheese of similar texture. A lot of people add a little Parmesan in addition to whatever main cheese they use)
3 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter

Bring the water and milk to a boil, add grits, stir well and immediately bring to a very low simmer. After a few minutes when the grits have gone from dry-grits-in-liquid to a more-or-less soupy mixture, add cheese and salt, and stir. Continue simmering. When the grits are done they’ll be creamy and the consistency of (for you Yankees) cream of wheat. Remove from heat and stir in the butter.

For the shrimp

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 slices bacon (I like Wright’s, but steer clear of their maple-flavored stuff. With any luck they’ve stopped making that abomination. Just good-quality, thick-sliced, hickory-smoked bacon is what you want.)
3 scallions, chopped (or 1/4 regular onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt

Cook the bacon over medium heat until slightly crispy. Remove the bacon, crumble and set aside, but keep the fat in the pan.

Add the onions, celery and bell pepper to the pan and cook until tender, about 6-7 minutes. Add flour and shrimp and stir. Cook until shrimp just begin to turn pink all over, about 1-2 minutes. Add garlic, chicken broth and salt (less salt if your chicken broth is high in salt) and stir well. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-5 more minutes, or until the broth starts to thicken into a gravy. Keep some extra chicken broth handy if the gravy gets too thick before the shrimp are done.

Plate some grits and serve the shrimp over it, with crumbled bacon on top, and wonder how you went this long in life without ever having tasted this dish.

Haumph!No oatmeal porridge.—#10

No skim milk lattes, either.

Oh, Greg - I think I know what I’m making for my contribution to the family Thanksgiving meal!!!  Shrimp n’ grits will delight the southerners and befuddle the northerners… and perhaps teach them a thing or two about southern cooking to boot.  And I wouldn’t have thunk of it if’n you hadn’t brought it up!

Ow. I want some of that (grits and shrimp). How have I missed it all these years?

A sheer delight!

All right Griffith, now you’ve done it. What is going to happen if all the Yankee StandFirmers start eating grits all of a sudden? It may cause a shortage causing great distress below the Smith and Wesson Mason Dixon Line.

True story: On my first trip up north, I was ordering breakfast at a local diner. I asked the waitress what came with it and she said “hash browns and toast”. I immediately explained to her that “that wouldn’t do”. Proper breakfast had to have grits and biscuits. She looked at me blankly and asked, “What’s a grit?”

I highly recommend Shrimp and Grits to all but if you are ever in New Orleans and have the opportunity to do “Breakfast at Brennans”, do try the Grits and Grillades. They’ll make you slap your mama.

the snarkster™

Snarkster, you brought back memories of a wonderful 4+ hour breakfast at Brennans in New Orleans years ago. I have not since enjoyed a breakfast that comes close to matching that one. I am so glad to hear they are still carrying on the tradition!

The instant kind and the 1-minute kind will do in a pinch, but they’re pretty sad substitutes.

NO, NO, NO. Do not use instant grits. You will end up with slurp - not wonderful, soft, velvety grits.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/images/dt-shrimpwithbaconandgrits.JPG

snarkster, on a drive across the U.S., I discovered that there is a grits line. All the way across the southern part of the country, you get grits with breakfast. (Biscuits, sadly, don’t travel so well.) Even in California. Shrimp and Grits sounds like it could widen that belt (in more ways than one!).

Festivus,

Agreed, but I’m imagining some poor soul in Duluth or Schenectady, where the local supermarket’s grits section consists of two or three forlorn little boxes of Quaker instant.

Festivus, thanks for the visual.

Greg - that’s why we have Amazon’s grocery.
http://www.amazon.com/Julias-Pantry-Yellow-Corn-Grits/dp/B00158UTDY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1258665255&sr=1-5

Or for the 25# bag:
http://www.amazon.com/Bulk-Grains-Yellow-Grits-25-Pound/dp/B001SAWGNA/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1258665414&sr=1-25

I used to have a pair of young Blue Tick hounds and went hunting three nights a week with a friend who had a pair of seasoned Walker hounds. But I’m afraid chasing ‘coon and ‘possum up into the trees, shaking them out, and chasing them again is not quite as elegant as the event pictured here. Especially when you stumble through the poison oak in the dark of the night.

Reminds me of my early years with the Beaufort Hunt, I say, is that Lady Camilla in the back of that pick up truck?

Up here in Minnesota grits are what you put on the road in the winter for traction.

They aren’t hunting a real fox, are they?

Real fox.

So I had to see what Grits are.

Grits are made from kernels of corn that have been soaked in lye.

Sounds nummy.

carl

So are these guys! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1-kh6HbHQ

OK, as a good southerner, I’ve got to weigh in on the grits issue, since where I come from, a side of grits is just automatically :served whenever and wherever you order breakfast.

My favorite description of grace, in fact, is relevant here

“Grace is like grits.  You don’t ask for it, you don’t pay for it, it just comes…..”

oops, in #55 I wasn’t suggesting they’re nummy, but rather they’re hunting for a real fox.

As a product of the US Air Force (California, Alaska, Nebraska, South Carolina (3 months), Kansas, California, and Texas), I have to say that I can’t stand grits - even grits with cheese and even grits prepared by someone who knows what they are doing.  I much prefer hash browns - eithe shredded or cubed (with cubed being the preferred method).

Biscuits (and gravy), however, are the perfect compliment to any breakfast.  The best way to make the gravy is to crumble the sausage and cook until done - do NOT remove it.  Add flour and combine with a whisk (the volume of flour should be about the same as the volume of fat), being sure to scrape the “fond” (the sausage bits stuck to the pan) with a whisk.  After the roux (fat and flour mixture for you yankees) has cooked a bit, add the milk (or, if you prefer your heart attacks early in the day, add cream) and cook until thickened.  Spoon over the fresh biscuits. 

Sausage and Bacon are just two of the best things about being a member of PETA (See #16 above).

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

Hey, did you know that John Wayne once starred in a movie about authentic Southern cooking?  It was called “True Grits”

carl
certified comedic genius

Ralph [28] you should try a couple of the free photo tools for the iPhone if you want to do some experimenting. I have Mill Colour (photo grading app), and PanOLab (panoramic/collage shot stitcher) and they are both fun and refined to use. Both have professional for-pay versions as well but the freebees as very nice. I personally have missed being in Minnesota for the various hunting seasons. There is nothin as pleasing as the taste of venison pasty in the deep winter, wild goose at Christmas and pheasant anytime. As a “northerner” I fell in love with grits during my trips down on Spring Break to Daytona Beach. That and actual fresh squeezed Florida orange juice.

While I do prefer hash browns, I do love a “grits sundae”...grits with two over easy on top.

All kinds of hunting are the “Movable Feasts”  of Mississippi.  The food that follows is all part of the liturgy.  Boys are given their first gun on their first birthday. Girls get their later.  It’s a good life, and we have the BMI to prove it.

Putting milk in a decent roux, now are you Mr. Snyder?
Step away from the skillet.. Nice and slow, and nobody gets hurt.

One doesn’t cook milk.  Cream maybe, for one’s granny, if she’s feelin’ poorly and her stomach is troubling her….

Proper breakfast gravy is made with maters, even folks from north of Dothan know that!

Just an aside, noting the number of Yankess here, I thought this tid-bit might be of interest….

The reason corn is ‘soaked in lye’ (Nixtamalization)is that it prevents some dietary deficiency disease (Pellagra) that would present itself if the corn were simply dried and not properly prepared.

Hominy is for eating, Corn is for wiskey!

(58)

After the roux (fat and flour mixture for you yankees) has cooked a bit, add the milk

Ah yes - milk gravy.  I know it well.  Gramps (who grew up in a Southern part of the North - Southern Indiana) taught my Mom, who taught me.  The trick is to let it simmer long enough to thicken it (whilst stirring constantly), but not so long or it will be TOO thick.  If that happens, add more milk.  If you add a teaspoon more milk than you should have, then you need to add more flour.  Mostly, the whole thing turns into a game of add milk, stir, (too watery), add flour (too thick), stir, etc. 

Other dishes from Southern (rural) Indy:

- Cooking down a pound of bacon, taking out the bacon, then frying a couple pounds of potatoes in the bacon grease.  Actually, that was never made when I was growing up.  I think Mom knew by then how bad that is for you.
- Scrambled eggs mixed with spinach.

I’d talk about buterkoek, from the other part of my culinary heritage, but that would be OT. 

I remember at the start of freshman year at Wake Forest in NC, asking the cafeteria lady to serve out some of the Cream of Wheat for me and getting a blank stare in return.  I soon learned it was a big vat of grits, not Cream of Wheat. 

Is it true that Southerners are known for the quality of their Three-Part Hominy?

Cathy_Lou - that and boiled peanuts.

Boiled peanuts? 

carl

Grits for breakfast has always been available nationwide at Denny’s restaurants. However, it is true that the grits offered in some of these restaurants would be used in the South to slop the hogs.

carl, carl, carl.

I just yesterday finished off a 2-lb bag of boiled peanuts, bought from the back of a pickup truck on the side of the road by the train tracks somewhere waaaaay out in Rankin County.

They are terrible, by the way. Almost inedible, and they do not leave you craving more. In fact, there are a number of foods I should list here for the benefit of our Yankee brothers and sister, foods they should never, ever, ever try even once, so terrible are they:

boiled peanuts
fried catfish & hushpuppies
muscadines & scuppernongs
fried okra
crawfish
cornbread
blackeyed peas
turnip greens

Awful food, every one of them.

Please do no eat.

Boiled peanuts are the secret code by which Southerners identify themselves, Carl. You wouldn’t like them.

And let us not forget that southern staple, Sweet Tea.

the snarkster™

“Especially when you stumble through the poison oak in the dark of the night”. 

Brer Rabbit, don’t forget the chiggers.   

I’m a Yankee but married a Southerner, and even I believe that anything other than stone-ground grits is truly of the devil. 

Shrimp and grits is of God.  But then again, so is a huge pot of Brooklyn meatballs. 

The ONLY grits worth using for the superbe dish of Shrimp and Grits are the very coarsely ground grits (almost hominy) from right here in Tallahassee, FL, carefully ground and sold by the folks at Bradley’s Country Store. http://www.bradleyscountrystore.com/ (they ship all over the world)

Compared to Bradley’s grits ALL other grits are inferior.  Moreover, it is even better to buy a bag of the white and the yellow and mix them half and half.  They provide a substantial Stand Firm foundation for the shrimp and sauce.  Bradley’s has excellent corn meal as well.

Do not under any circumstances us regular fine ground grits or (shudder) instant grits for this dish!!!  The gravy and shrimp will sink to the bottom and the grits will have no flavor at all ad whole dish will be ruined, wasted, not worth the cost of the shrimp.  Bah!!!

As I recall, Shrimp and Grits recipe originally came from a noted Savannah cook who had a restaurant…or it may have been Charleston.

Anyone remember?

My Grandma used to make scuppernong or muscadine pie.  Anyone ever had that?  The pulp is seeded, cooked with sugar and then the hulls are added before putting in the pie crust.  Not so pretty, but Yummm.

Floridian, thanks for that link. We get good stone-ground grits from Callaway Gardens on Pine Mountain. I’ve never had suppernong or muscadine, but also at Callaway Gardens you can get excellent muscadine preserves, made from muscadines grown in south Georgia vineyards. A little dab is great on ice cream. Does Bradley Country Store have a physical store? We go to Tallahassee at least once a year - in the glorious spring.

Dibs on the pot liquor.

Heart (#56)

“Grace is like grits.  You don’t ask for it, you don’t pay for it, it just comes…..”

That is SO true.

I was married in a small town in GA. The only “real” hotel in town was right next to one of the diners you see all over the South and my family stopped in for an early breakfast the morning of the wedding. Not being from the South myself (born in CT and lived in several places around the world) I’d never aquired a taste for grits (polenta I liked… but who knew???) and searched the menu for something that didn’t have grits in the photo so I wouldn’t offend my in-laws-to-be.

The waitress still brought me grits. I tried to dodge by politely mentioning that I hadn’t orderd them and she said “Honey… everything comes with grits”

It wasn’t until a dozen years later that I fell in love (with grits that is). Either Alton Brown or one of those “throwdown” cooking shows featured Joe Barnett’s multiple-award-winning shrimp and grits. Turns out Joe is from that same small town in GA so we had to watch it and, the next time we were in town, order it. Wow.

If only revisionists were as quick to convert when they’re wrong. Now the in-laws ask me to make it when they’re in town.

Oscewiccee,  Bradley’s Country store is way up north Centerville road, which is a beautiful drive up a canopy road and it’s well worth a visit.  Old frame building, rocking chairs on the front porch, large oak trees, and besides the great grits and meal, there are homemade sausages and you can have a sausage dog and an RC cola or CocaCola. I prefer Stripling’s (Cordele, GA) or Fason’s (Quincy, FL) sausage, or the no-name sausage made in Boston, GA, from a variety of home grown hogs, but I am as picky about sausage as I am about my grits.

(And hamburgers too…IMNSVHO, the only burgers worth eating are at Ted’s Montana Grill, either the bison or beef!)

Moot (#65)

Cooking down a pound of bacon, taking out the bacon, then frying a couple pounds of potatoes in the bacon grease.  Actually, that was never made when I was growing up.  I think Mom knew by then how bad that is for you.

I’m sorry… I don’t understand. Is it that the pan is too heavy or the potatoes to starchy or something?

It can’t possibly be the bacon grease that you’re talking about.

This Saturday is the country festival at Bradleys.
“Bradley’s Country Fun Day - This great event is held annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Please check back periodically for updates, till then view some of the fun from past years below.”  http://www.bradleyscountrystore.com

Ah, Stripling’s sausages, yes, indeed. And thanks so much for the info on Bradley’s. We’ll definitely go there next time we are down!! (You can get a great hamburger at Falmouth Crossing, close to Falmouth Spring, if you’re ever over that way.)

Burgers pish. The South will remain gastronomically impoverished until it has its own locations for In-N-Out burgers. Animal style is my favorite.

And Georgia may think it’s the peanut capital of the world, but even James Villas says that you can’t beat the noble goobers from Virginia. 

I’d agree…

[70] Greg Griffith
A few comments (excepting boiled peanuts which are just incomprehensible to me):

1.  Fried catfish & hushpuppies.  I am allergic to fish, so I have no experience.  But catfish are bottom-feeders, and you just have to wonder what they were eating before they were cooked.  To me a Hushpuppy is a shoe or maybe a donut.  Am I close?

2.  Muscadines & scuppernongs.  These sound like monsters in World of Warcraft.  Beyond that, I am not sure I want to know.

3.  Fried okra.  So this seems palatable.  Except okra sounds like something that would be served in a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco owned by someone named Susie Moonbeam.  But she would probably serve boiled okra instead.  It’s a managable problem.

4.  Crawfish.  Theoretically these are just small lobsters.  But I used to pull them out of the mud, and well .. there is that bottom-feeder issue again.  Maybe they could be disguised as shrimp? 

5.  Cornbread.  But this is not an exclusively southern dish.  All right-thinking people love cornbread. Especially with hot butter.

6.  Blackeyed peas.  Sounds edible.  No problem here.

7.  Turnip greens.  Also sounds edible.  Like a differnt kind of salad.  I like salad.

See, we Northerners can be reasonable. 

carl

Floridian, scuppernong and muscudines were best put in a churn with other stuff, I believelike sugar and placed in a dark kitchen closet.  Us kids were forbidden to look in it and after a while it would disappear.  I don’t think they ever let Yankees know about it.  I have been told that if they had Mississippi would have been over run like Napa Valley.  I think this had something to do with Baptist Deacons or something.

Carl, stick with theology.

Prophet M…my own Mama and her sister made something called ‘Cherry Bounce’ with wild cherries from a recipe got from Louisiana.  I was told it was as powerful as moonshine.  It caused ‘thunder, thunder, over Thunder Road…’

5.  Cornbread.  But this is not an exclusively southern dish.  All right-thinking people love cornbread. Especially with hot butter.

Yeah, but without sugar. (I haven’t figured out where the sugar line is for cornbread, but I am well south of it!)

And if you put turnip greens in your salad,I want to come watch. Better to cook them down and serve them up with hot pepper sauce.

4.  Crawfish.  Theoretically these are just small lobsters

Well yes… at least to the extent that lobsters are just large cockroaches.

Turn from the Dark Side carl.

And if you put turnip greens in your salad,I want to come watch.  Better to cook them down and serve them up with hot pepper sauce.

Remember, Carl is Latitudinally Challenged so we had better define “pepper sauce”. On my occasional forays to the northern latitudes, whenever I asked for pepper sauce, I either got Tabasco sauce or a blank stare. Of course, all Southerners know that “pepper sauce” is simply hot green peppers and vinegar. There is nothing better than a mess of field peas with pepper sauce and a side of cornbread.

the snarkster™

I should have made that clear, Snarkster. And I wish I had some field peas, pepper sauce and cornbread right now.

He who eats shellfish but does not eat catfish is defeating his purpose; all are scumsuckers. 

Carl, you might find you like hushpuppies if you dip them in that honey butter. 

I eat boiled okra, too; that’s called gumbo. 

I agree that cornbread is rather a universal…the Native American tribes in the Northeast made it all the time.  And then there’s Indian pudding; wouldn’t turn my nose up at that, either. 

I don’t think raw turnip greens would cut the mustard. 

Floridian, I would bet that shrimp and grits is “older” in the Gullah culture/South Carolina. 

Peanuts are fine, roasted or boiled; as long as they’re cooked.  If you get real lucky, they’re honey roasted or butter toasted. 

I admit, regardless of the region, muscadines and scuppernongs ranks up there with liver and onions in the palatable category—in other words, EEEEWWW…

Bon Appetit!

Did Will Faulkner make the hunt?

[91] snarkster

Carl is Latitudinally Challenged

Cool!  Is that an official disability under the ADA?  Do I qualify for some cushy gov’t entitlements as a result?

Latitudinally Challenged carl
where’s my moolah?

Yeah, but without sugar. (I haven’t figured out where the sugar line is for cornbread, but I am well south of it!)

Being in Northern Virginia I don’t consider myself a pure Southerner, but I’m definatly not a Yankee either.  A couple of years ago I was at Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh and had the misfortunate to try the sickly sweet stuff that passes for cornbread in the North.

As for the rest:  Hush puppies, catfish and most of the rest Greg lists are great, and to which (having been born a Texan) I would add pecan pie. 

However, when it comes to eating grits, oatmeal, and just about any other type of gruel, I’ll pass.

AndrewA, yes on the pecan pie!! And the pecans are being harvested now. Mmm.

Oscewicee, #89

I have live the majority of my life south of the Mason-Dixon line, west of the Mississippi and mostly south of the Red River and west of the Sabine.  My parents the same.  And on my mothers side there are roots in the Carolinas.  I have experienced every thing from non-sugar cornbread to some concoction that must’a been cornmeal cake being passed off for cornbread.  I have found, that just a little sugar, nor more ‘an a couple a tablespoons, in a batch of cornbread that will fill a 10 inch cast iron skillet brings forth the best in all of the other ingredients and is still hospitable to savory things such as field peas and ham-n-beans.  And if you make that cornbread with lard and/or bacon drippins it is oh so much better.

I remember when the mother and father of one of our school teachers came to visit her.  We invited them to go out with us for supper. (dinner is at noon.)  They were obviously patricians from Conn.  I remarked that we would take them to one of our well know catfish places and have great fried catfish and hush puppies, slaw, sweet tea.  The mother lifted her nose and sniffed that they did not eat scavengers.  Rather that explain to her that these were pond raised and fed on Purina Catfish Chow and came to the top when the feed truck came by, I suddenly felt a surge of power and without thinking proclaimed, “Well, this just proves that God has not lifted the curse on the Nawth for invading our beloved country and burning our homes.  He had confused their thoughts so that they would not be able to see or enjoy these delicate delicacies.  Furthermore He had made them make turkey dressing out of WHITE bread and stuff with oysters!”  The rest of the night was very stiff.

Re: Pepper sauce.

The light bulb suddenly goes on.  So that is what that stuff was. 

I just returned from a trip to Huntsville AL.  At one of the restaurants (The Blue Plate Cafe for those who might know Huntsville), there was a strange bottle on the table that contained an unidentified liquid & some peppers.  One of my compatriots thought he was supposed to remove the peppers and eat them, but was dissuaded by our hosts.  He didn’t quite get the top off the bottle.  We were never quite certain what the bottle contained, or what it was used for. 

carl

As a many generation Southerner from South Louisiana (the Anglo side of the Mississippi instead of the Cajun side), I do know good food (both regular Southern and the Cajun kind). A most fabulous supper was when my mama did red beans and rice with a side of mustard greens and her cornbread with a lot of butter and Steens cane syrup. No better meal.
I still live in Louisiana but have been working in South Carolina for the past 8 years. It is in SC that I was introduced to shrimp & grits. Being influenced heavily by Cajun cooking (married to a wonderful cajun lady) I can’t just do it without a Cajun touch. Add some andouille sausage to the shrimp and it will put the dish to a whole new level.
As for the CRAWFISH, there is not a better way to spend a nice Spring Saturday than firing up the burners and boilig a 100 lbs of those delicious critters. You cannot completely enjoy them without sucking the heads. Nothing like it.
Is there any other kind of freshwater fish than catfish fit to eat? For years I thought there was no other. Cock of the Walk in Natchez use to only serve catfish with a side of mustards and cornbread. Great meal.

I agree with AndrewA on the pecan pie, but would substitute Derby Pie—which is just like pecan pie, but with white/clear corn syrup instead of dark, plus chocolate chips…YUM!!!

True southerner here, born and raised in rural Florida, descendent of south Georgians and South Carolinians.  My two cents:

1.  Shrimp & grits is one of the most delectable dishes ever imagined.  Best bowl of it I ever had was in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the historic Charleston district.  Besides the usual, the chef had added thinly chopped scallions and sliced portabello mushrooms.  Oh, my word.  I am now salivating.
2.  Cornbread, done the southern GA way, is actually “hoe cake” or “griddle bread”.  It isn’t thick and tall like a cake; it’s flat bread fried on a griddle.  My great-grandmother, who was from Ashburn, GA, and lived to be nearly 101 God rest her soul, made THE BEST griddle bread EVER.  Put a little real butter on THAT and man, oh man, oh man.
3.  Boiled peanuts are a true southern delicacy, but the secret to GOOD boiled peanuts is making sure they are green when they go in the pot and add a lot of salt.  Rural Florida is nearly covered in roadside boiled peanut stands at certain times of year (which shall remain nameless so as to protect the availability of such for us locals).

[101] Posted by David Weller

As for the CRAWFISH, there is not a better way to spend a nice Spring Saturday than firing up the burners and boilig a 100 lbs of those delicious critters. You cannot completely enjoy them without sucking the heads. Nothing like it.

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He was just being provocative, right?  Someone tell me he was just being provocative.

carl

OK Carl, here goes again. Crawfish (also affectionately known as “mudbugs”) are cooked whole in highly spiced water. When they are eaten, the first thing you do is remove the head. Inside the head are a small piece of fat and some deliciously spicy liquid. You simply put the head to your mouth and and give it a quick suck. Voila, instant deliciousity. So no, we are not being provocative or gross, that is simply the way it is done way down yonder in the Bayou Country (and in Meridian, MS from whence I hail).

the snarkster™

Hey Carl.

Yosemite Sam fairly sums up my feelings about you Yankees (I gotta burn mah boots… they teched Yankee soil!)

I still remember the morning that my pappy nearly disowned me for committing a particularly egregious Yankee faux pas. We were at the breakfast table, and he caught me sprinkling sugar on my grits. Why, you’d have thought I had taken the name of General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard in vain (We’ll have none of that at this table, Suh!)

(My folks migrated from Memphis down to south Louisiana in the 50s where I was born and raised. Dear Lord, how I love my cane syrup, and my catfish and hush puppies, and my read beans and rice, and my hog head cheese, and my andouille gumbo, and my crawfish - with lots of onion and garlic cloves that you can squeeze out onto Ritz Crackers… mmmMM MMmmm!)

Land’s sake whatever y’all do, don’t tell Carl about Okra slime. 

And why have I not heard a peep about red eye gravy or the white sugar vs brown sugar in praline controversy or
about putting p’nuts in the cocola? 

And you borned and reared Southerners are not the only ones with a culinary heritage. Why I remember with great fondness the cooking of suburban NJ (I lived there till I was 12 then moved to Florida).  Some of the more popular dishes were:
Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Fluff on Wonder Bread.
Tuna Casserole, the fancy company is coming kind, with potatoe chips on top and made with read canned water chestnuts.
Taco Casserole AKA as Mexican Casserole AKA as Spicy Ground Beef Casserole.
Meatloaf with Tater Tots
and to complete the meal we had the wonders of Jello carnival of fun dessert selection.  Sometimes mom would go all out and put two different colors of jello in the glass and serve us up parfaits.  So French, doncha know?

Fotunately I am only 1/2 serious.  My mom was an excellent cook but I much preferred when she made meals based on recipes given to her by my Hungarian grandmother.  Chicken Paprikash yummmmmmmm.

Ah yes, hog’s head cheese (aka souse), sausage biscuits and/or sausage gravy and biscuits, a mess a’ mustards, collards, turnip greens, dirty rice and red beans, county fried steak and hamburger steak smotherd in gravy and unions, pot roast and new potatoes, egg plant, okra, ‘mater samiches and home made mayonaise, baked sweet potatoe and real butter,  sweet tea, and an occasional forway to Nawlens for binnetts and Cafe Du Mond coffee—-waw! ‘nuff to make your tongue slap you on the forehead.  Why do us Southerners get depressed over the Wahr of Northern Agression.  We can just rejoice that they don’t get to eat anything but tan food.  ‘bout to go Charismatic!!!!

My father grew up in the US Navy, and I assume at least one stint was in the south, as he liked okra.  I thought it was the most revolting thing I’d ever seen on a plate.  We had a St Bernard, and okra looked like sliced zucchini cooked in his slobber. 

I’m w/ Moses when it comes to bottom feeders - personally, I’ve never cared for seafood, despite eons in Baltimore and now surrounded by the ocean on all sides.  Nowadays, w/ all the toxins in fish, I don’t know how anyone goes near them….  well, yes, I do, becs it’s well known how toxic good ol’ “killer white” is, and it doesn’t stop me from eating candy. 

But okra?  No way.  (Carl - be on your watch!)

And as for foxhunting, did you know they imported the red fox from England, becs the US-grown grey fox can climb trees? The red fox doesn’t have that ability, so the hounds have a huge advantage. 

Hunting season here - deer - is on at the moment.  They’re pests, eating everyone’s gardens, etc.  Had an extension of the season a few yrs back to cull the herd more than a usual season - used to see them walk calmly across yards and the street in broad daylight.  Saw 3 out our study window a couple of wks back, 2 hidden in the trees, one looking like s/he had a death wish, it was so blatantly visible.  Bambi schmambi.

Maineiac, I like okra fried in corn batter.  My wife loves it boiled, but she is from Florida.  Fried Zuchani tasts like fried oysters.  Yes, the deer are the same way down here.  They eat up everything and jump in front of cars at night which usually totals the car.  However, many depend on them for meat.  My son stuffs his freezer with deer and all his children “get their deer” each year.  Now the foxes are another story.  I don’t think the hunters kill them—-especially if they have to be brought from England.  Farmers will kill them in the chicken house.  I think the foxes enjoy the hunt though.  I have heard stories of foxes stoping on a ridge line and looking back waiting on the dogs to catch up.  wiley foxes.

maineiac,
I grew up Cajun Cooking, but with a kosher paternal granny.
All the spice, none of the prohibited species (unless I actually wanted to eat them, so Bacon and Oyster made the list, no other varmits or bottom-feeders though).

Okra is best battered and fried.
With good batter and hot peanut oil, any vegetable can be made palatable.  Actually, with good batter and hot peanut oil one could probably make a stick taste pretty good….

I blessed those hounds for years, and rode to them as well…Thrilled for the pictures…I miss Whitty and Alex Payne, what a dear soul…Still have my coat and colors…Tally Ho…Miss a horse more then ever, thanks!

I can’t believe none of you sons of a biscuit eater has mentioned wilted lettuce as a definitely southern dish.

Marie (#114) - I thought “wilted lettuce” is what the Southern belles look like at the end of a steamy 90+, >90% July day? 

Where do mint juleps fit on the list of truly Southern fare?

Maineiac
here is a recipe:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1843,136180-232203,00.html

Closest thing I found in New England during the time I spent there was “warm field greens” at Charley’s Saloon in Worcester, MA.
You all have to understand that we southern folks will pour bacon grease on most anything.

Marie, you would love my Southern spouse—after a good episode of one of Paula Deen’s shows(I do love her), I said to him, “Is it ever possible to cook without six pounds of butter?” 

His reply, “Well, bacon grease is good”...

I give up. 

Good for you Greg.  I hope your sweet daughter was hunting.
Alas, for the first time in 11 years I didn’t hunt on our opening meet (the Woodford Hounds) the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but attended the blessing on foot due to an injured rotator cuff.  Still, it was as always a glorious occassion.  We had about 70 riders pretty evenly split between the first and second fields and even a small third field.  The blessing was given by Fr. Peter Matthews of St. Patrick’s Anglican (AMIA) Church in Lexington.

And Ralinda (#5)
Daylight on 14 November found me perched in a tree stand on our farm from which I shot a nice 8-point buck.  I cooked and served 6 of his roasts to the guests at our annual trap shoot the evening following the hunt’s opening meet.

#2
Around here, PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals.