A Colorado reader writes:
I'm cooking a feast this Saturday for my 35th b-day celebration--I told my wife that all I want is to cook all day and feed friends that night. Traditionally, on my birthday I make a mess o' fried chicken, drop biscuits, greens, and mashed potatoes, followed by cherry pie...my favorite comfort food and a shout-out to my Tennessee childhood and my Mississippi mom.But I want to elevate Saturday's meal a bit, serving it in courses and coming up with decent drink pairings. So please help me: Is there any way to elevate fried chicken? Oven-fried with Panko, perhaps? Any ideas for relevant courses?
I'd love to hear about any recipes or strange ideas you might have. Doesn't need to be fancy--just very, very tasty, fun to eat, and pair-able with various libations.
Hit it, people. I've not tried Regina Charboneau's cornbread pudding stuffed with greens yet, but they sound great. Don't be askin' David Varnado, though; he'll tell you to roast a beaver, and serve it with a brawny Cotes du Rhone.
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For a fancy occasion or speical guests, mymother would gussy up fried chicken by making what she called "Fink Chicken"- it is battered with crushed potato chips.
Delicious.
Mark Bittman just put 101 holiday recipe-like (many are short on measurements/temps but he advocates winging it) items on his blog.
I'm going to dry five or six of them for Thanksgiving. Will start over this weekend. It's not Southern, most of it, but it's food. :)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/dining/18mini.html
Actually, David Varnado has moved on to the next level. Miss Maggie's Baked Coon is now the plat de resistance. In a general sense, it involves boiled the dressed coon in a tabasco-spiced water until tender, then surrounding it with sweet potatoes and baking until done. If anyone seriously wants to serve this, let me know and I'll give you the specific recipe. Otherwise, I'll keep it to myself. Pearls before swine and all, don't you know
I like to start southern meals off with oyster or oyster and sausage turnovers, but only if I know a good chunk of my guests appreciate oysters. A fish course I like is the simple and cayenne-spicy cajun shrimp cooked in beer and tomatoes, with or without rice. I make bread pudding with a classic whiskey sauce for dessert - you don't need a wine pairing because you get plowed from the course itself. There are recipes for all of these online, but I can dig mine out and post it if anything particularly interests you.
I cook my collard greens with ham hocks, a bit of salt pork, and dried red pepper.
Making cook at the day of Sunday is good and we can also learn from that how to we can cook by the help of wives.We can also make at that day cooking feast for friends by making food for them.
r4i kort
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