Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

To complement the shrimp and grits, I whipped up a quick batch of biscuits with cheddar and jalapeño. A cheesy, spicy take on White Lily cream biscuits, fast and simple. This recipe made 5 biscuits.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. all purpose flour (White Lily isn't sold in the UK.)
• 1 1/3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 c. heavy cream
• 1/4 mature cheddar cheese, grated
• a few pickled jalapeño peppers, diced
• butter

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 220ºC. Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour in the heavy cream, grated cheese and chopped jalapeños, and combine with a wooden spoon. The dough will be sticky and wet. (If you have a feel for biscuit dough, this will be a little more sticky than usual. Add some flour if you think it needs it.)
2. Put the dough onto a floured work surface. Tear off balls about 2 inches in diameter and space them on a baking tray.
3. Bake about 12 minutes until the tops are golden brown. When they come out of the oven, put a small pat of butter onto the top of each one. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Fried Okra

Another classic Southern summer side: fried okra. This plant in the mallow family originally came from West Africa. I imagine that it ventured into the regional diet through the African influences of slave culture in the Southern colonies. For a vegetarian lunch, they're great with creamed corn, a few slices of ripe tomato, and fresh peas. You'll see plenty of places that will egg batter and deep-fry their okra, but I prefer a simple coating of cornmeal. It's quick, easy, and relatively healthy for items in the 'fried food group.' They can be expensive in major supermarkets like Tesco; look for them in Indian shops or farmers' markets. Mine came from the latter at £1.75/lb. In the US, they're much cheaper and usually easier to find.

Ingredients

• 750g okra
• 1c. cornmeal
• 1/4c. vegetable oil
• salt

1. Rinse the okra and slice into one centimetre pieces and discard the tops. 
2. In a large bowl, toss the okra in the cornmeal. (There's nothing special needed here to make the cornmeal stick. Anyone who's ever had boiled okra will know that the inside of the fruit is mucilaginous and this will make the cornmeal adhere.)
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and then poor in your okra. Let it sit for a few minutes until you start to stir occasionally. You may need to sprinkle in a little extra cornmeal to keep the okra coated--just be on the lookout. 
4. In about 10-15 minutes, the okra should become soft and slightly sweet--the cornmeal should have darkened with a few spots cooked until their brown. Season with salt and serve immediately.

Fried Cornbread

Last week I bought a couple of kilos of cornmeal and have been looking for something to do with it. Yesterday afternoon, I thought about another distinctly Southern dish from my childhood: fried cornbread. They're super simple.

Ingredients

• 1 c. cornmeal
• 1/2 c. self-rising flour (add 1/2 tsp salt if you are in the UK)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• milk
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced or one finely chopped Scotch bonnet (optional)
• diced onions, shallots or scallions (optional)
• 50g grated cheddar cheese

1. Combine cornmeal, flour, egg, and vegetable oil in a bowl. Add enough milk to make a batter. (Just mix in a little bit at a time and pay attention to the consistency.) Stir in your jalapeños and onions.
2. Heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat.
3. Using a 1/4 c. measure (or thereabouts), spoon out the batter into the skillet.
4. When the cornbread starts to look dry around the edges, they're ready to flip.

These are great with something that has a broth with them (beans, etc.) We often have them around New Years with black-eyed peas and collard greens.

Ham Hock and Lima Beans

This dish has no pretensions to beauty. It doesn't go out to parties. It won't be seen in restaurants. It wouldn't even invite friends over. But what it lacks in appearance and social skills it makes up for in warmth and down-home goodness. For me, fewer sensations epitomize the feeling of home like the smell of a slowly cooking pot of ham hock and lima beans. If one did have to dress this up for presentation, I'd like to think of it as the poor Southerner's cassoulet:

Ingredients:

1 smoked ham hock (smoked gammon knuckle if you are in the UK)
1 lb of butter beans*
1 small onion, diced and lightly sautéed
2 bay leaves

1. Soak the dried lima beans overnight.
2. Simmer the gammon knuckle on low heat for about 2 hours.
3. Remove the ham bone from the broth and separate the meat from the fat and bone. Discard the latter.
4. Add the limas, onions and bay leave to the pot and cook gently for 30-45 minutes.
5. Return the meat to the pot and cook with the beans for an additional 15 minutes--this allows the flavours 'to marry.'
6. Pepper to taste and serve hot. Reheats well.

*A note on butter beans versus lima beans: 'In the Southern United States the Sieva type are traditionally called butter beans, also otherwise known as the Dixie or Henderson type. In that area, lima beans and butter beans are seen as two distinct types of beans.' [Wiki]