FRIED GRITS!!!

In my last blog, I wrote about foods of the South. Well, today we experienced one of those foods thanks to my mom. She cooked us some fried grits. Boy were they good. I learned several things about making this dish. First, never use instant grits (and what self-respecting Southern would...a reference to the movie My Cousin Vinny) also make your grits the night before and let them set in the refrigerator...make sure to cover them. We always used left over grits from breakfast the day before. She fixed them 2 ways. One in squares and dipped in a beaten egg then fried (the most traditional way). The other way she mixed a beaten egg in with the grits and then fried it (this made like a pancake shape). They were both good. Make sure that you use lots of butter when you make your grits, and also fry in butter. Next time she is going to let Mark sample the Sunday School potatoes and chocolate gravy with a hoe cake...YUM!!! I can't wait for that time. Mark loved this family tradition of ours. I can't believe that we have been married for almost 18 years and we had never fixed this wonderful dish for him before now....UMMMM!!!

One of the squares of fried grits that mom made. They were super yummy!! You have to give this a try.

Frying a pan of grits up in the pancake style...notice the cast iron skillet. They cook things up so good.

Come And Get It!!!

There is one requirement on being from the South...you have to love to eat and appreciate good down home cooking. Boy, can my momma cook up so good old Southern food. There are several things that comes to my mind when southern cooking is mentioned. I think of fried chicken, fried okra, fried, squash, fried green tomatoes (as you can see we fry everything). Seasoning beans and greens with a big old ham hock (my dr would probably choke if he read this, but my cholesterol is low). Chicken broth is full of sodium, which does you harm so go get a ham hock and go for the gusto. I see sweet potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, crimson red slices of tomatoes and one of my favorites, beans (any kind of beans...butter beans, peas, pintos or navy...love them all) of course seasoned with a ham hock. But then there are foods that my family fix that just scream the South to me, but maybe not to you. There may be some you have never heard of, but there are probably some that is a tradition of your family as well.




One is Sunday School Potatoes. I was amazed by these as a child only to find that they were left over boiled potatoes deep fried (there we go again...fried). We always ate these on Sunday, hence the name Sunday School Potatoes. My favorite part about the potatoes was the chocolate gravy or sauce that my mom and grandma made to go with them. I dipped my potatoes in this sauce. Also, great to eat with biscuits.


CHOCOLATE GRAVY

1 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa
2 tbsp. flour
2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. butter

Sift sugar, flour, and cocoa together in saucepan, add milk. On medium heat stir until gravy thickens to desired consistency. Remove from heat add butter and vanilla. Great over hot biscuits.



I am causing myself to starve writing this. Then there is flour bread or hoe cake. A giant biscuit made in a cast iron skillet. Mix some molasses and peanut butter or chocolate gravy and sop that bread in it....whew!! That's some good eating. Sop, that is not a word you hear a lot of people use now days, except here in the South. I think that might be more of a rural Southern word.



Another favorite that my great grandma passed down to my mom is Eggs A LA Goldenrod. Strange now I know, and about the fanciest dish we do. You boil lots of eggs, then separate the whites and the yolks. You chop the whites up and make a white sauce to go with them. Then you sieve the yolks to make them fine, or just crumble them. Fix lots of pieces of toast, then pile on the white sauce on the toast and sprinkle with yolks. Man that stuff is good. My daddy especially loves this dish. Mom hates to peel all those boiled eggs, because she makes more than this recipe calls for. Imagine her delight when she found that she could buy boiled eggs at the grocery store.

EGG A LA GOLDENROD

1 stick butter

2 tbsp. flour

2 c. milk

6 eggs

6 slices toast

Melt butter and make paste with flour; add milk little at a time. Cook over medium heat until thick. Boil, peel, and separate eggs. Chop whites and add to sauce. Pour sauce mixture over toast. Press yolks through sieve and sprinkle over sauce.

Egg A LA Goldenrod...not the best looking dish, but it is delish!!!

One dish that we are planning on eating this weekend is fried grits. Yes, you heard right...FRIED GRITS. There we go again frying things. You take left over grits or make some and place them in a casserole dish and smooth them out. Put in refrigerator and let them get cold. Cut in squares and dip in a beaten egg, then fry. So good, and ever so fattening as well. Might I add that you fry them in REAL butter.


Last but not least, my mother in law taught me how to make potato pancakes (or fritters). You use left over mashed potatoes for these. Back in the day, they didn't throw anything away. Mark loves these and proved that one time when we first got married, and ate a whole platter that I made. Sorry to say, that they made him sick.


POTATO PANCAKES

2 c. leftover mashed potatoes
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. onion


Combine mashed potatoes, flour, milk, egg, onions and green peppers. Salt and pepper as desired. Form into 3 inch round patties and fry in butter or cooking oil. Brown on both sides. Drain and serve.

Potato Pancakes!!! Mark's little cousins, Margaret and Dianna, use to like to eat syrup on their's when they were little. Never tried that but might have to give it try.

The Southern way is to center everything around food. You make a 100 on your test, then momma makes your favorite cake. Have a baby or someone dies...we bring food. Y'all come over and eat with us sometime...how many times have I heard that in my life? It is the Southern way. By the way, I am now going to go a fix a southern country breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon, sausage and biscuits. So listen for the bell and me hollering "Come and get it!!"