City girl needs to know how to make beans.....

[saddina]

He had a much loved Aunt who he lived with, sweet old thing from Texas, she passed within days of our wedding (we kept pushing the date back for a year, hoping she would pull thru, finally she told us to get married before the baby came). I think he misses the food because of his missing his auntie, so I want to get this right for him.

 

[insiderart]

Aww it's pretty simple when you know the tricks. We'll get you through it.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Take note of the wash well thing..i just had gritty Swiss Chard..

I thought i washed it well..

If you knew me..you'd know how much that made me want to puke..

 

[Judy]

Besides turnips and mustard, there are also collards. Actually you cook them much like the dried beans, except you don't pour off the water. Collards are best by themselves, turnips and mustard are best together. Rough chop the leaves after a thorough washing (I do 3 changes of water) and simmer for about 2 hours with a ham bone or piece of hog jowl or whatever in the pot. Also served with cornbread.

Several other greens are excellent, beet or chard or kohlrabi in particular, but you're not going to get good fresh ones unless you grow them, or at least I can't. Don't believe they take as long; haven't had any in years. Spinach of course takes only a couple of minutes to steam tender. Actually I also do mustard this way sometimes; it has a bit of bite this way. But spinach and mustard sauteed briefly like this are not traditional southern greens: turnip, mustard or collards are. And here, they are always served with a bottle of hot sauce, Texas Pete or the like. If they taste bitter to you, add a pinch or two of sugar.

I didn't grow up eating any of this, except spinach. My mother was shocked when I served her mustard greens; she thought they were poisonous.

A basic saw gravy: Brown maybe 1/4 lb. of bulk sausage, stirring it around, then spoon out a bunch of the grease, but do leave some. Whisk milk, flour, salt and pepper together in a bowl, maybe 2 Tbsp or less of flour to 1 cup of milk. Dump into pan with sausage and simmer a few minutes. See if he is talking about a sausage gravy. Great over biscuits. You can make a great chicken gravy much the same way with what is left in the pan, if you oven fry; just put the baking pan on a burner on medium low and start with a little water to scrape the bits off first, then add the flour/water etc. mix and simmer maybe 5 minutes.

If you've never made biscuits, it takes some practice; I never got good at it. I stay with the canned (the refrigerated, pop open cans) or frozen ones, mostly. Or you could buy Bisquick and do what the box says; probably a good way to start. Trick is to handle and mix the dough very little so it does not get tough.

You can do fried chicken with nothing but flour, salt, pepper, and enough oil (preferably peanut) to come halfway up the side of the chicken pieces. I like some seasoning in the flour, Lawry's, Montreal Chicken, whatever turns you on. Many use buttermilk or various batters, sort of a thin pancake batter, but I prefer less coating on it. As in, original vs. crispy KFC. You really need a fry pan with fairly high sides. Alternative is a dutch oven, but you can't do many pieces at a time. Poke it with a fork and fry til the juices run clear from the meat, and it pokes tender, or it won't be cooked through. Takes a while. Tricky to get it done without scorching. I do oven fried, myself, with flour with a seasoning mix. Tried pan frying the other day and wasn't impressed.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
That's just incredibly sweet.

I'm telling you south Georgia ways that also came to me through a beloved aunt of a friend of mine. Have no idea what the differences between Georgia and Texas might be.

I do hope you can come close enough to give him some pleasure and fond memories.

 

[saddina]

Few ingredients have me puzzled:

Bulk sasuage? Is this a bunch of finger sasuages in a big bow or the grease after browning kilbasa?

I've never seen greens in the market, spinach is there bagged for salads, the others seem to be lacking.

Peanut oil I have for thai sauces, but could someone explain chicken fried steak?

I do have a dutch oven and a countertop deep fryer, mostly used for the kid's nuggets.

 

[insiderart]

Sausage is like Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage. It's usually by the hotdogs or bacon, and is about 3 inches in diameter and 6 inches long. You cut it into rounds about 1/2 to 3/4 inches in diameter and fry it up. Or alternatively for gravy you can kind of cut off a few rounds and then scramble it up in the pan until it resembles ground beef like you would make for spaghetti or something. Then you scoop out the sausage (some people leave it in, doesn't matter) and add flour and make a roux. Brown the roux and then add sweet milk (add back the sausage now if you took it out). Stir over a medium to low medium heat until it thickens.

 

[saddina]

Sweet milk? Sweetened condensed milk?

 

[insiderart]

White milk. Whole milk is best, but you can get away with 2% or so.

 

[Judy]

I have a feeling they do not sell our fresh greens there, meaning collard, turnips, mustard. They are huge bunches, in produce, here; you would not miss them. Check the freezer. Not as good, but you don't have to cook them long, either, if you should find them. Even here, I can buy turnip greens in a box in the freezer.

Chicken fried steak, hmm? Just floured cubed steak. I don't do beef, but here is a good one:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Chicken-Fried-Steak-151732

They use crackers instead of flour; up to you. Southern Living's recipes are usually very good.

Recipezaar probably has any recipe you will need, if you can get the ingredients.