Great Southern Culinary Moments

Food is at the core of Southern culture, and many of our notable Southern specialties are based on ingredients indigenous to the region. One of the South’s most delicious home grown favorites is the pecan (you say pee-can, we say pa-kahn). Enjoy them salted, roasted or honey glazed, and of course as the star in pie (here’s a great history of pecan pie). Spectacular seafood from grouper and mahi to shrimp and oysters are the freshest catches you can find and a staple of southern coastal cuisine. The South is also known for its long history of delicious recipes with black-eyed peas that are good for the soul.

Learn how to cook these Southern comforts at home from Jackson’s Chef Irv Miller on Wednesday, February 24, 2010.  For only $40 per person, you will learn the secrets from our own top chef along with food tastings and wine pairings. Chef Irv will walk you through perfecting Southern specialties while sharing locally available and seafood favorites from the waters of our own Gulf of Mexico. He will also demonstrate how to prepare some of his favorite regional recipes including pecan-crusted Mississippi wild redfish with Louisiana meunière sauce, country fried chicken and Chef Edna Lewis biscuits. For more information and to make reservations, please call 850-217-2347.  In the meantime, you can practice at home with some Chef Irv’s exclusive recipes.  Here’s one to get you started –Baked Oysters with Hot Peppered Collards and Andouille Cream and Cornbread Crust! (”Read More” for the recipe)

Share with us! What are some of your favorite traditional Southern recipes?  Where did the recipe come from? 

Baked Oysters with Hot Peppered Collards and Andouille Cream and Corn Bread Crust

Makes 24 oysters

Hot Peppered Collards

 1 bunch fresh collard greens
3 gallons water
2 ham hocks
2 cups onions, rough cut
1 cup celery, rough cut
1 carrot
Pinch sugar (if bitter after cooking)
To taste Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 bay leaves
15 black peppercorns

In a deep soup pot combine water, ham hocks, onions, celery, carrot, bay leaves and peppercorns. Place pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a slow simmer. Simmer 1½ hours. Strain and discard bones and vegetables. When ham hocks have cooled, remove the meat from the bones, chop, and set aside.

Remove stems from collard greens. Discard stems and cut collards into 1-inch squares. Plunge greens into the simmering stock and cook 30-40 minutes. If greens are slightly bitter, add a pinch of sugar. Add cut up ham hock meat. Add hot sauce to taste. Strain into colander to remove cooked greens, and reserve liquid. Let greens cool down so they are easier handle, chop them small, and put them in a bowl.

 Andouille Cream

1 link andouille sausage, rough chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1/8 cup brandy or sherry
1 pint heavy whipping cream
To taste kosher salt
To taste fresh-cracked black pepper

Put chopped sausage, garlic and shallots into a food processor. Pulse until ground. Heat thick-bottomed saucepot to medium-high and add processed mixture. Stir for 2 minutes, then add brandy and let simmer an additional 2 minutes to concentrate flavors and burn off the alcohol. Add cream and stir mixture to blend well. Let simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened. Whisk frequently as sauce simmers. Do not strain. Add seasoning. Set aside.

Corn Bread

Make a small batch of boxed or bagged variety of your favorite cornmeal. Follow direction on container. After baking, let cool and crumble into fine crumbs and place in a mixing bowl.

Oysters

24 Louisiana oysters, fresh shucked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Shuck and remove oysters from shell. Place the fresh-shucked oysters and their juices in a cup. Prepare a heavy-duty baking pan by lining with foil. Place 24 of the largest empty oyster shell halves on the lined pan. Fill each shell with 1 teaspoon chopped collard greens, place one shucked oyster on top, then cover with crumbled corn bread. Place pan in oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sauce each individual oyster with 1 tablespoon of the andouille cream. Slide pan back in oven and bake another 4 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Tags: Collards, Corn Bread, local restaurants, oysters, Pecans, Pensacola, Recipes, Southern Cooking

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Coastal Southern Cuisine Cooking Class