Southern Comfort

Tonight I'm feeding Mr. Food Musings a southern summer supper. (In the South, dinner means lunch and supper means dinner. Got that?) I recently read Julia Reed's paean to the South, Queen of the Turtle Derby, and her chapter about southern food - juicy fried chicken, sweet potato pie, gumbo, cornbread with butter or honey dripping down - made my tummy growl. (Didn't know I was a southern girl, didja?) Tonight I'm feeding my homesick craving with red ripe tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper, corn on the cob (at my grandparents' house it was always Silver Queen, delivered in paper bags from neighbors' gardens) and fresh snap beans. Not green beans, snap beans, for the sound they made as my grandmother and great-aunt sat on my great-grandmother's front porch, snapping the ends off and tossing them into an empty bag. While they worked, I'd play Snake in the Gutter with Little Brother and Little Sister until the sun went down, street lights flickered on and mosquitoes came out in force. Though we aren't having any tonight, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, vegetable slaw, butter beans and turnip greens with onions and vinegar often graced my grandmother's table. Homemade peach ice cream or plain cake with butterscotch sauce was dessert. Mmmm...somebody's missing home tonight.

Sweet Potato Biscuits
Yield: 3 dozen small biscuits

Here's a recipe from my mom's friend Joan Helms. These biscuits are a holiday favorite in my family, and my mom can't seem to make enough to go around - people usually take three or four to start. They don't rise into fluffy biscuits so don't despair when you pull them out of the oven, flat as a flapjack. Just slice them in two and cram in as much butter as you can manage. Trust me on this one.

2 cups mashed hot sweet potatoes (Boil 2-3 sweet potatoes until done; peel & mash.)
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 450. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, shortening and salt. Let cool.
2. Add flour, sugar, & baking powder. If the mixture is too sticky to work with easily, add a little more flour.
3. Roll out on floured surface to about 1/2-inch thickness and cut with a glass or cookie cutter.
4. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Comments

[Mom]

Takes me back! By the way--it was Snake in the Gutter, remember?

[Nosheteria]

Yum, those biscuits sound superb. I must try and make a batch soon.