Southern Cooking

Saturday night we had friends for dinner.  They both really love good food, and are very good cooks.  We have had fabulous food at their home.  I wanted to give them the taste treat they had given us.

We changed the menu several times.  I kept coming back to wanting to make spoon bread and Marty wanted fried corn.  Not just anything goes with that.  So we decided to go whole hog Southern.

The menu: 

Appetizers

Benedictine spread, fancy cheeses, duck  pate with truffles, and mushrooms stuffed with country ham sausage.

Salad course

Avocado and shrimp with a remoulade sauce

Main Course

Grilled asparagus, Fried Corn, Spoon Bread, Tri-tip wrapped in country ham sausage

Dessert Course

Creme Brulee

Champagne and various wines served

The table is ready for the guests.

                                             

Country ham stuffed mushrooms ready to go in the oven.

Some of the ingredients for spoon bread: Cornmeal imported from Kentucky, separated eggs.

                                                    

The cornmeal is added to milk and cooked to a thick mush.  This takes a lot of stirring or it will burn on the bottom.  The yolks are added, other ingredients, then butter and whipped egg whites are folded in.  This all goes in the oven to be baked.

 

Corn kernels are cut off the cob and cooked in bacon grease and butter.  Cream is added at the end with salt and pepper.  Notice it is cooked in a cast iron skillet.

Marinated shrimp and avocado, parts of the salad.

Torn lettuce waiting for the shrimp salad.

                                         

The tri-tip is resting before it is sliced.  The sausage has been moved to the right side.

Marty had made the creme brulee and it is waiting to be torched.  His blowtorch has been tested and ready to go.  When he was ready to torch the topping, nothing happened. The blowtorch would not stay lit.  He had to brown the sugar topping under the broiler.  It doesn’t change the taste, but you don’t get that hard shell top.

It was a lovely dinner.  One of our guests was excited to have spoon bread.  He had eaten it years ago on a trip to Kentucky.  And as for the fried corn, there was nothing left.  Someone had three helpings.  Happy guests=happy hosts.