I have been searching through my grandmother’s recipes, look for some family heirlooms. It just so happens our friend Ashley over at Ice Milk Aprons has us looking for something special (Project: Preserve The Blog). During my search, not only did I discovered my Great Grandfather’s Cafe Chicken & Dumpling recipe but also this month’s Yankee Challenge. It’s time to pass down a soulful family Southern dish to our favorite Yankee cook.
Filed under Food, Southern Food, Southern Kitchen, Southern Recipes, Yankee Challenge
Have you ever noticed how, in the South, you’re never more than a mile from something resembling a fried chicken restaurant? There is one on practically every corner. We Southerners have a love affair with our fried chicken. With an abundance of lard and a steady supply of cast iron cooking utensils, Southerners have always been a little fry happy. Locally raised chickens have been abundantly available to all, who have lived in the South, (since before the Civil War) and frying them up is part of our Southern food heritage. As part of that heritage, we graciously attribute African plantation workers for the contribution of the signature Southern spices, associated with modern fried chicken recipes. With all that said, it’s time for the “Yankee” to tackle the challenge of the quintessential Southern food, Southern Fried Chicken.
Filed under Cooking, Cooking Tutorial, Food, Southern Food, Yankee Challenge
It’s no secret that The Hungry Southerner is partial to Southern Creole/Cajun cuisine. Most Cajun dishes follow a pattern that consists of 3 culinary traditions: the trinity (bell pepper, onion, celery) , a roux, and some Gulf Coast Seafood. These base ingredients mixed with a heavy dose of cajun seasoning, file powder, a little andouille sausage and a large mound of rice can be reworked in 10 dozen different combinations. This challenge is to throw you in to the deep end, and teach you how to swim in the Bayou. This month’s Yankee Challenge is Shrimp Etouffee with a side of Beignets.
Filed under Cooking, Food, Southern Recipes, Yankee Challenge
Caitlin "The Yankee"
We would like everyone to welcome Caitlin, “The Yankee”, from Mrs. Bear’s Tasty Fare . She has sacrificed herself at the alter of Southern Culture and decided to take up The Hungry Southerner’s “Yankee Challenge“. Once a month Caitlin is going to be challenged to cook a classic southern dish, with authentic ingredients and using our favorite family recipes. Caitlin doesn’t know this yet but she’s really going to learn to appreciate the experience of cooking with real butter, and the muscle building exercise of wielding a cast iron skillet. Caitlin’s going to be writing about her experiences with the ingredients, the challenges of slow cooking, or the easy surprises of preparing real southern comfort food. The Hungry Southerner is all about growing southern culture and connecting with each other through food, so this will be a great opportunity for us to all experience the wonder of learning southern cuisine. We would love for our readers to get involved, so leave us a recipe suggestion, ingredient or seasoning for Caitlin to try in a comment below, twitter to us @HungrySouthernr, or join our fan page on Facebook just search for TheHungrySoutherner. We will will post out the monthly challenge early, we would really enjoy hearing what your experiences are with the recipes and ingredients as well. Caitlin is getting ready for the first challenge, which will involve learning her way around her first cast iron skillet, seasoning it and cooking a classic southern breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, and stone ground grits. Visit Caitlin’s blog and send her an email to give her some tips for success, and don’t forget to remind her the number one rule of cooking with cast iron (never,never,never use soap and water).
-The Hungry Southerner
Filed under Food, Southern Recipes, Yankee Challenge
The Hungry Southerner 