Just when you think there’s not much left to say about Southern food, along comes “Seasoned in the South,” by Bill Smith (Algonquin Books, $19.95), and you discover there really was more to be said.
Smith, the chef of much-heralded Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, N.C., adopted the South a decade ago, or maybe the South adopted him.
Certainly he brings a sensitivity to cooking below the Mason-Dixon line that is as distinctive as Dr Pepper and Moon Pie. Call it Southern with a French twist. Fried green tomatoes are there, but so is fried fish with green tomato relish.
And now that the “R” months are back, there’s nothing like an oyster stew to kick off a simple steak dinner. For dessert, consider a persimmon pudding since the fruits are now available at specialty grocers.
Within the book’s pages lies a wonderful spread of ideas from anchovies and roasted peppers to veal sweetbreads. Some of the recipes might sound French, but a glimpse at the ingredients let you know they were definitely seasoned in the South.
– Ellen Sweets
RECIPES
Fried Fish with Green Tomato Relish
From “Seasoned in the South” by Bill Smith
My friend Leslie Jackson gave me this recipe for this relish years ago, so many years ago that it probably bears no resemblance to the original now. She got it from her mother in Baton Rouge. The only thing I remember are these instructions: “Bring back to the boil. Stir from the bottom up with a long spoon. Cook for fifteen minutes only!” I always do this.
I used to use this relish as a garnish for white beans or any kind of bean soup, but lately discovered it to be a splendid sauce for fried fish, fillets. I am partial to bluefish, which has two seasons on the North Carolina coast. You may use any kind of fish you like.
Season the flour with salt and pepper. Dredge the fillets in the flour and shake off the excess. Heat the butter or oil in a medium skillet until it sizzles if you sprinkle a little flour into it. Add the fish, being careful not to crowd it. Cook, turning once, 2-3 minutes per side depending on the thickness and type of the fish. Bluefish tends to be moist and dense and will take the full 3 minutes, whereas something like flounder, which is thin a dry, will require less time per side. When the fish is done, remove it to a serving platter and pour off the grease, saving any brown bits that might be in the pan. Add the relish to the pan and bring to a boil. Allow the liquid in the relish to reduce a tiny bit, about 2 minutes to thicken the sauce. Pour over the fish and serve at once.
Green Tomato Relish
Green tomatoes are available at different times for different reasons. If you have a late crop and frost threatens, you may have to pick everything on one night. Some people like to thin their tomato crop by picking some while green so that the remaining ones will be larger and better. The tomatoes one finds in the grocery store in winter might as well be green. From Seasoned in the South, makes 10 cups.
Ingredients
Directions
In a large nonreactive stainless steel or enamel pot, bring the apple cider vinegar to a boil. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Then add the allspice berries, celery seeds, bay leaves, bell peppers, and onions. Bring back to the boil and cook for 15 minutes. Finally, add the tomato wedges and cook for 15 minutes only. This relish may be put up in Mason jars, but it keeps very well in the refrigerator for as long as two months.
Hi’s Oyster Stew
From “Seasoned in the South” by Bill Smith
My Aunt Hi (nee Ensel Highsmith) was married to my father’s only brother. She came from the coast of Georgia and was a wonderful cook. For many years I would go to her house for Sunday dinner (as lunch was called in those days). You were expected to eat yourself into a stupor. Hi beamed as you took seconds and thirds of everything. It was often necessary to lie down after one of these meals. Remarkably, I was a very skinny child. My mother tells me, although I don’t remember, that when I was little I would help Hi when she baked pies. Perhaps that was the beginning of my trek to the professional kitchen. I associate this oyster stew recipe with Hi, but it is widely used all over eastern North Carolina. It can be a soup, a main course, and is very often used as food for the sick room.
Ingredients
Directions
Bring the milk to a boil over medium-high heat in a large nonreactive pan. Add the oysters and their liquor, and bring back to a low simmer. The oysters should barely begin to curl around the edges to be done, a minute at most. Season with salt and pepper. Put the butter in the bottom of each bowl and fill with the hot soup. This is a simple soup and it needn’t be tampered, but some people will float chopped scallions on top. Serve at once with crackers.
Persimmon Pudding From Crook’s Corner
From “Seasoned in the South” by Bill Smith
My editor suggested that I include at least one recipe from Crook’s Corner that was not my own. I chose this pudding, which is my very favorite recipe from my inherited repertoire. Most people would expect me to choose shrimp and grits because it has become so famous, but I think that this is one of the best recipes from Bill’s books. I was glad to do this because it gives me an opportunity to talk about something that comes up all the time: Do I have a problem following in the footsteps of such a famous chef? Chefs’ egos are legendary, and many people suppose I might resent the shadow. No, I don’t. This could be a problem for someone who is unpleasantly ambitious, but I’ve always seen it as an advantage. What if I had to come up with something else to replace all these wonderful recipes every day. I can barely finish all my work as it is.
When I first came to Crook’s Corner, I would have been quite lost without the four little clear plastic boxes of recipe cards that still sit on a shelf by the back door. They contain the backbone of this restaurant’s reputation, and I would never dream of altering a one of them. The slaw, the hush puppies, and indeed the shrimp and grits need no improvement.
For years I’ve been getting wild persimmons from my friend Mary Andrews. They grow around one of her pastures. I have to compete with the deer for them, but usually there are enough for all of us. Get these if you can. They grow all over the eastern part of the United States. Remember that these are weeds, not gourmet items, and they needn’t cost a fortune. Cultivars in the grocery store often cost a dollar a piece, thus rendering the pudding unaffordable.
Bear in mind that between its original version and this page this recipe has been quadrupled, adapted to mass production, translated in to Spanish and then back into English, and finally cut back down for home use.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 4x8x12-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of butter. Puree the persimmons, which will reduce them from 3 cups to 2 cups (I prefer to use an old-fashioned food mill such as Mulinex, but they may be pressed through a sieve or cone strainer.) Combine the puree with the buttermilk. Beat the stick of butter and the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Put the batter into the baking pan, and place the pan in a larger pan and fill halfway up with warm water. Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/4 hours, or until the pudding is firm at the center, has pulled away from the sides of its pan, and a paring knife inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean.
Serve hot with fresh whipped cream. This keeps well in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days and reheats beautifully in the oven or microwave.
