THOUGHTS: SAVE THE RECIPES!

"In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together."

On Wednesday, over 25,000 people saw, shared, printed, or looked at my mom's pound cake recipe as a result of my posts on social media for National Pound Cake Day. I saw your comments about a mom, an aunt, or even a granddaddy's recipe that you make and even though you lost them, the recipe is like having a little piece of them still with you. All these years later, I still remember the food my mother made for us and the times I spent with her in the kitchen. That pound cake brings back so many memories and I'm so thankful to have the recipe. It was almost lost forever... read the story about how I got it back. It's a good one. GET THE RECIPE...

My mom made a pound cake about once a week. The cake was so dense, I can remember mom testing it with a piece of uncooked spaghetti instead of a toothpick to see if it was done.

I've mentioned many times how heartbroken I am that I do not have more of my mom's recipes down on paper. The few I do have in her handwriting are so prized, so cherished.

So now, I'm going to get on my soapbox. If your mom is a "pinch of this" cook who rarely writes down her recipes... this is for you.

Please take the time to have her show you how to make your favorite recipes. Have her write the recipes out in her handwriting if she still can, and talk you through them. Video her, if she's willing because often, the technique is as important as the ingredients themselves. It has taken me years to recreate some of my mother's dishes and have them taste the same.... Her pot roast took me almost 10 years to master, even though I was using the exact same Dutch oven. I was leaving out the bay leaf and that one little thing made all the difference.

Sunday Pot Roast after church was a standard at our house but my mom never wrote down the recipe. It took me 10 years after she passed away to recreate it and have it taste exactly the same as I remember.

Every bite of that pot roast reminds me of Sunday dinner after church and how my mom always had a plate warming on the stove (and a slice of lemon icebox pie hidden away in the refrigerator) for me if I was late. There will be a time when it is too late to get your cherished recipes down and you will never regret the time you spent with them in the kitchen.

FYI- Copy your originals because ink will fade. I pressed mine in a book with archival paper. I plan to frame large copies one of these days for my studio.

Much love,

Martie xo

RECIPE: TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

People usually associate Southern cooking with three things: Biscuits, BBQ, and Fried Chicken. I probably need to get my passport revoked because I have not until today, put up a single blog post or recipe on fried chicken. Fried chicken is a lot like BBQ sauce or potato salad. Every Southern cook has their own version and usually, a couple of good stories to go with it. Here's mine...

My mom grew up in a children's home in Troy, Alabama during very hard times. The kids all had to have a job and my mom always preferred to be in the kitchen. Once a week there would be fried chicken and they would have to go out in the yard and catch the chicken, kill it, clean it and then help cook it. Ugh. Hard to imagine. Mom taught me how to cut up a whole chicken and her techniques for frying. The big secret is the buttermilk. Don't skip that step... makes the chicken so juicy.  Here is my mom's recipe. I still use her cast iron skillet when I make it.

I don't often make fried chicken these days but when I do, it is always the star of the party.

TRADITIONAL BUTTERMILK SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken with skin, cut up (about 3 pounds)

2 cups buttermilk

1 tablespoon kosher salt + 1 teaspoon

1 teaspoon black pepper + ½ teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon paprika

3 cups self-rising flour

6-8 cups Canola oil for frying based on the size of your skillet or Dutch oven

Special equipment: Thermometer for frying and a meat thermometer

DIRECTIONS:

Put the chicken pieces in a large zip top bag. Pour the buttermilk over it and close. Toss to coat all of the chicken. Put the bag in a bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours to soak, turning the bag occasionally.

When you are ready to fry, fit a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven with a thermometer. Pour in the oil about 1 ½ to 2’ deep. Over medium high heat, bring the oil up to 360 degrees. You want to try to keep the oil at 360 during frying process. It will drop as you put in the chicken but let it come back to 360 degrees before adding more.

Combine the 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, cayenne, and paprika. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and discard the buttermilk. Season the chicken liberally with the spice mixture on all sides.  

Put the flour plus 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a zip top bag. (Back in the day, we used a brown paper bag.) Take the chicken, one or two pieces at a time and put into the flour mixture. Shake well to coat. Lightly shake off excess. Put on the baking rack after you have coated each piece.

When the oil is up to temperature, use the tongs to carefully put the coated pieces of chicken into the hot oil. Do this in batches, taking care not to overcrowd or put too many pieces in the pan at one time. You will lower the oil temperature and the skin will not be crispy. Cook the chicken for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally until the chicken is deep golden brown and delicious. Remove one piece of chicken and check the temperature with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the breast or thigh but away from the bone. Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees F. Drain on a rack covered with a brown paper bag. You may want to lightly sprinkle the hot chicken with a little salt. That’s how my mom did it. Hope you like it as much as I love remembering those days standing by the stove with my mom, on chicken duty.

SUNDAY POT ROAST WITH ONIONS, CARROTS, AND POTATOES

My mom made a pot roast every other Sunday. On the alternate Sundays we had fried chicken, or a rump roast. I don’t know how she did it- getting four kids ready for church and then minutes after we arrived home, she’d whip up some cornbread and take the pot roast out of the oven. She did not even have to call us in from the yard. We were already at the table. I helped my mom make this dish a hundred times. I wish I’d written down exactly how she did it. She cooked it in her big cast iron Dutch oven- what I always called the “chicken pot” because she used it to fry chicken. Even though I still have that same Dutch oven, it has taken me ten years of trying different options to get the flavor just right. I finally discovered I was leaving out the bay leaf… that was the missing ingredient. Make this recipe for your family. You can be assured that 40 years later, your kids will still remember the taste and the times gathered around the table when you served it.

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SUNDAY POT ROAST WITH ONIONS, CARROTS AND POTATOES

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1-(3 pound) chuck roast, trimmed (boneless or bone-in, if you prefer)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 small yellow onions, quartered

3 cups beef broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

2 bay leaves

3 thyme sprigs

6 carrots, peeled and halved

6 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered into wedges

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° F. 

Remove the roast from the fridge. While it is still cold, trim any excess fat from the sides of the cut. In a small bowl, combine the salt and pepper. Season each side of the roast liberally with it. Allow it to sit out for 15 minutes on the counter.

Next, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over each side of the roast, patting it into the top, bottom, and sides.

In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil and pan are hot, add the roast and sear it well on all sides; approximately 3 minutes for the top and bottom and a minute or so for the sides.

Remove the roast to a plate. Set aside. Add the beef broth a little at a time, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the Worcestershire. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the onion, bay leaves, and thyme to the pan. Add the roast on top. Cover with the lid and put into the oven at 350° F for 1 ½ hours.

Add the carrots and potatoes. Cook for another hour or until the vegetables are tender (not mushy) and the roast pulls apart easily.

Remove the roast to a plate and shred it. Serve with potatoes, carrots, onion, and a bit of the cooking liquid as gravy.

Note: If you want a thicker gravy, you can make a slurry with flour. Remove the roast and the vegetables to a platter or bowl. Discard the thyme and bay leaves. Add 3 tablespoons of the hot liquid to 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour and whisk until smooth. Turn up the heat under the pan to medium high. Whisk the flour mixture into the cooking liquid and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes more so you cook out the raw flour taste. If the gravy is too thick, you can add more beef broth as desired. Before serving, check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to taste.