Southern Supper tonight!

[electrolux137]

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We had a real Southern Supper tonight!

-- Breaded fried chicken breasts and drumsticks
-- Boiled Idaho potatoes
-- Buttermilk biscuits (home made, thank you!)
-- Country gravy
-- Oven-roasted asparagus and yellow squash, and ...
-- The grand finale ... Pineapple-lime gelled salad with pecans. This dessert surely "took me back to days of yore" -- at any Southern church potluck one of the dear ladies would always bring this salad. A couple of happy tears fell from my eyes when it came out so perfectly. Here's the recipe for anyone who may want it.

PINEAPPLE-LIME JELLO SALAD
Inspired by Phyllis Stokes
with adaptations by Chef Charles

6-ounce pack Lime Jello
1-1/2 cups boiling water
(2) 8 ounce packs of cream cheese at room temperature
1-1/2 cups ice water
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

Dissolve the  Jello in the boiling water. Stir for at least two minutes to make sure it completely dissolves.

Dump cream cheese into blender. Add the hot Jello mixture. Process on high until fully blended.

Pour into a mixing bowl and add the ice water.

Add the crushed pineapple and pecans and stir.

Lightly spray Jello mold with cooking spray.

Ladle mixture into mold, making sure to scoop deep and get the pineapple and pecans.

(There will be about two cups overage. Pour it into a separate, smaller dish.)

Cool until completely set.

Serve on bed of salad greens with pineapple chunks in the center.

 

[justjunque]

Chef Charles,

Beautiful meal!
And the Jell-o salad certainly does have a "days gone by" look to it.
Is that a Sunbeam percolator on the counter?
For some reason, I've had a longing lately to bring home a Sunbeam Coffeemaster.
Probably because I finally acquired a Mixmaster.

Barry

 

[electrolux137]

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That's a 12-cup Farberware perccolator that I got new on amazon.com. I really love it.

 

[fan-of-fans]

That looks really good! Like the biscuits and the jello salad especially.

 

[oldsuck]

OMG That Jell-0 Ring

Now THAT’S a time warp!
CANNED pineapple chunks. Ew, but points for authenticity.
And how have I never heard of anyone serving boiled potatoes? It’s like mashed potatoes, but you ran out of time.
Sounds pretty good though, tbh.
So hungry.

 

[human]

I don't mean to be speaking for Charles, the OP, but if I recall correctly, he's originally from Virginia. I've lived my whole life in the Carolinas and I can say with certainty that boiled potatoes are indeed a thing in this part of the country. Go to any barbecue restaurant in eastern North Carolina and they will be served as a side. In my family, they were frequently served mixed with green beans. It's best with the little new potatoes (skins on) but we Southerners are well known for making do, so if those aren't available, we just peel and cut up some regular potatoes instead.

 

[dysonman1]

Thank you Charles

For the recipe and the beautiful pictures of that amazing food. You and I and Hans Craig should write our recipes down for all to enjoy. It's so much better than just telling people about what you have prepared - at least you have pictures. We should just start a thread and every time we make something special, we should photograph it and add it to the thread. Heck, between the three of us, we could open a southern restaurant. We could call it "Betty's" after Betty Feezor.

When I was on my honeymoon in New Orleans, they served the small boiled potatoes instead of bread at almost every restaurant. They throw the potatoes into the Zatarain's seasoned water they use for the seafood. They serve them with butter and a knife - so good. We had no idea that it was Southern Decadence that weekend - we booked our room 8 months in advance. The city was crowded and we had the best time.

 

[human]

Southern Cookin' Thread..

Sounds like a cool idea. I haven't made it in a while, but I've developed a pretty good Brunswick Stew recipe. Living alone and being somewhat lazy, I gravitate toward foods that are simple to prepare and that I can eat on for a few days and/or freeze a portion for a later date. I'll occasionally buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco or somewhere and after I've eaten off of it for a day or two, I'm tired of it and I'm ready for it to disappear. Brunswick stew is a great way to make that happen. I'll try to remember to post photos the next time I make it.

Ingredients:
1 Rotisserie chicken carcass with at least half the meat remaining or a package of six chicken thighs, skinned*
12-ounce bag of frozen baby lima beans
1 large can (or 2 regular size cans) of crushed tomatoes**
1 can of diced potatoes
2 cans of corn
1 can of creamed corn
1/4 cup of Carolina Treet barbecue sauce***
2 tablespoons of ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon Black pepper (adjust to taste).

Dump all of the above ingredients, including the liquid from the cans, into a Crock Pot and cook on high for four to five hours. The chicken carcass will be falling apart by this time, so lift it out and separate the remaining meat from the bones. Dredge the stew in the Crock Pot with a large spoon to find and remove any remaining pieces of bone. Shred the meat you removed from the bones in a large bowl with a couple of forks. Return the meat to the Crock Pot, stir thoroughly and let cook another hour.

If you're using chicken thighs, total cooking time may be a little longer. if you're cooking from raw. Try grilling them first. Remove the bones and shred the meat after at least four hours and return the meat to the crock pot for an other hour or two.

*It is not necessary to skin a rotisserie chicken as the skin will break down and become part of the broth. Skin from raw chicken, not so much.

**If you want chunky bits of tomato in your stew, use one can of crushed tomato and one can of diced tomatoes.

***Carolina Treet is a savory barbecue sauce made in Wilmington, N.C. that contains no sugar. I have no idea if it's shipped nationwide but you can order it from Amazon or Walmart. And you haven't lived until you've grilled pork chops with it, just sayin'.

The beauty of this recipe is it's not very labor intensive. Prep time is maybe ten minutes, plus a few minutes at the end to separate the meat from the bones. It is inevitable that you will miss a few small ribs and vertebrae, but that's okay. Consider it evidence of the dish's authenticity.

 

[human]

Addendum to the above post...

I forgot to mention this recipe yields about three quarts of Brunswick stew.

 

[justinajax]

I’ve not mentioned in other posts but my occupation is actually chef! You showing your recipe for Brunswick stew made me think of a wedding we did earlier this year where they had a buffet with pulled pork, smoked brisket, traditional sides, hush puppies, etc. We were pulling pork and slicing brisket in front of the guests but of course you have to have Brunswick stew. I had made 8 gallons the day before - it’s one of those things that’s easy to make in large amounts. In addition to the chicken you mentioned I also use pulled pork in the stew itself. I like corn and baby limas like in your recipe and I’ve seen some people use green beans but I’m not a fan of that. 




 

 

[human]

I agree with you that green beans—and green peas, for that matter—have no place in Brunswick stew. I do like it with pulled pork in it but I usually don't have any available. I need to come up with a good recipe for that.

 

[justinajax]

Oh man I forgot about green peas. Those are the worst!

 

[dysonman1]

Thank you for the Brunswick Stew recipe. I'm going to make it according to your recipe this weekend.

 

[oldsuck]

Oh Snap!

Come to think of it, I do vaguely remember my grandmother occasionally serving a mix of boiled potatoes with green beans and just a few bits of bacon.
She was born & raised in Indiana, what my family would consider "southern".
She also served plain slices of tomato, which we all found odd, and cucumber slices soaked in vinegar/water with pepper & onions, which was snack-0-liscious!
We never knew if those were southern or from her European heritage.
Anyway, I’m certainly going to boil some potatoes soon, and DEFINITELY try it with Zatarans in the water!

 

[human]

OldSuck: I always thought of Indiana as being in the midwest, although it does border on Kentucky to the south.

So it's not a Crock Pot full, but I did thaw some Brunswick stew I had frozen and heated it up for lunch a little while ago. As promised, here's a photo:

 

[gottahaveahoove]

My late mother made a great Irish stew

It was one of my late brother's favorite meal.

My late father was from North Carolina. My mom learned how to make a lot of southern food. I'll still make things, for fun.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Chef Charles

Thanks for the Pineapple Lime Jello Salad recipe. I made it a couple days ago and brought it to a pot luck dinner and it was a hit! Everybody tried it and everybody loved it.None was left over for me to take back home to enjoy, guess I'll just have to make it again, thank you again. Billy