Date I made this recipe:
February 25, 2017 – Black History Month
Soul Food – Classic
Cuisine From the Deep South by Sheila
Ferguson
Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1-55584-420-0; copyright 1989
Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC
Recipe: Cheese and Sausage Grits Casserole – p. 61
So February was Black History Month and even though I had
the entire month to make a recipe from a related cookbook, please note that I
snuck this one in under the wire. Of
course, getting it posted in the month of February was another matter all
together.
While I don't necessarily keep a list of cookbooks to
purchase, I was on the lookout for this after reading about the book and its
author a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) and finally found it two years
ago at one of my favorite cookbook bookstores, Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in NYC.
As per usual, when I shop at Bonnie's, I find the coolest books and this
was one of them.
This cookbook, written in 1989, is full of yummy recipes and
great stories submitted by Sheila and her relatives. And sure, there were a
fair amount of "no-go" recipes like "Pig's Feet,"
"Chit'lins," and lordy, lordy, "Braised Squirrel," but I
was prepared to overlook that because of the breadth of her other offerings.
As a "for instance," "Roland's Home
Fries" (p. 41) was in the running for a long time but when I realized that
my recent breakfasts out with friends were heavy on the home fries, I
passed. Still, I would love to make it
sometime because it sounded easy and fabulous.
On pages 60 and 61 you'll find four recipes for all kinds of
grits including one for a "Sweet Grits Soufflé." Today's recipe, Cheese and Sausage Grits Casserole, was found on page 61. I like a book that has four grit offerings
for every flavor palate out there.
Also in the running was "Aunt Odessa's Macaroni and
Tuna Bake Casserole," (p. 122) and I also pondered that long and hard
before going back to the grits. I love
mac and cheese, and I love tuna casserole so this likely would have been a hit
even though it was missing my favorite tuna casserole ingredients – peas.
And then I considered two salads, one, a classic macaroni
salad, the other, a potato salad, (both on p. 132) but these are more summer
than winter dishes and Black History Month waited for no one!
See what I mean? And
those were just a few of the options from this cookbook a cookbook that covers
soul food recipes from A-Z, as evidenced by the following categories:
- The High and Mighty Breakfast
- Down-Home Breads
- Grits, Grits, Grits
- Fine Feathered Fowl
- Critters That Swim ("Critters?" that "Swim?" Happily, she mostly means fish. Mostly.)
- The Almighty Pig
- If You See It, Shoot It (I almost spit my coffee just now!)
- Beans 'n' Rice
- Kissin' Cousins (a variety of recipes from people who are not kin but should be)
- Soulful Salads
- God's Green Acres
- That Glorious Sweet Potato
- Sweet Thangs
- Cakes and Cookies
- Pickles and Drinks (Huh. I don't know as I'd ever put these two together in one chapter, but I suppose she was getting to the end of things and had to wrap it all up. )
Also included in this book is a chapter called "So What
Is Soul Food," "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing! The
Black Way
of Talking," and a "Future Reading" page. Books in the "Future Reading"
section aren't necessarily African-American but most have to do with southern
cooking or southern specialties.
Now although it's not necessarily a requirement that a
cookbook author have some cooking cred, I was surprised to see that author
Sheila Ferguson is a singer first, cook, second. Her dust jacket bio says she was lead singer
of the legendary pop group The Three
Degrees ("When Will I See You Again?"); these days, it looks like
she is enjoying a solo career. So the
fact that she pulled together a really good cookbook is amazing – kudos!
Before I head on to the easy and tasty recipe, I have to
tell you that my friend, Ann, will likely not touch a drop of this recipe and
that's a damned shame. Years ago, she
spent some time at Florida State
University and our northern gal of Scandinavian descent did not cotton to
grits at all. Can't say as I blame her
as the few times I had grits while down south during childhood family vacations
were not fond food memories for me, either. I n fact, I thought they were
awful. But over the years, I've really
taken to them which is a good thing as I am able to leave my horrible
grit-eating past behind me and embrace the suckers. That said, it should be noted that there are
"grit" grits which I like, and that are a lot like polenta, and then
there are hominy grits which I loathe. I
make it a point never, ever to order the latter.
Although this is an easy dish, there is one adjustment that
I made and that is to the sausage. The
recipe directs you to use a ready-made (read:
already-seasoned) product like Jimmy
Dean sausage but I just could not, not only because of the preservatives
and other additives, but because a roll of that stuff was way more than I
needed. So I Googled to see what sausage
seasonings closely approximated Jimmy Dean's
and added them to the ground sausage I purchased (in the quantity I needed, no
more, no less). I'm including the sausage spices below.
This was a very good dish and a great way to close out Black
History Month. As an FYI, about a year
ago, I purchased a fabulous and fascinating book called The Jemima Code by Toni Tipton-Martin. This book (not a cookbook per se) explores
two centuries of African-American cookbooks and Soul Food – Classic Cuisine From the Deep South is one of the
included books. I am currently going
through my collection list to see which cookbooks from The Jemima Code I already own and which ones I need to
acquire. It's a process to be sure but
meanwhile, enjoy this casserole!
Cheese and Sausage
Grits Casserole – p. 61
1 lb ready-made sausage meat (Ann's Note: I suggest you
skip that and add the spice mix below to make your own sausage.)
1 cup uncooked grits
4 cups lightly salted water
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup butter
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 small clove garlic, minced
Ann's home-made
sausage spice (*These are for a half pound of sausage; double the
ingredients for a full pound). Add the
following mixture to your ground sausage:
¼ teaspoon parsley
1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon salt
*If you want it hot, add some red pepper
Form the sausage meat into patties and fry it up crisp and
golden brown. Be sure you pour off all
the excess fat as you're frying. Drain your patties on paper towels, then
crumble them up in a bowl. Preheat your
oven to 350.
While you're doing all this your grits can be cooking. You've got to boil them up in the salted
water for about 5 minutes, exactly as it states on the box. When they thicken up to the consistency of
porridge, remove them from the heat and stir in grated cheese. Cover and let
them stand for a couple of minutes. Now
stir in your butter, eggs, milk, and garlic until well blended. Stir in your sausage meat. Taste and adjust your seasonings.
Pour into a well-buttered 1 ½ quart baking dish and bake in
your oven for 1 hour or until lightly browned and bubbling.
No comments:
Post a Comment