Susan Albert - The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies

8 catfish fillets (about 2 pounds)

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 cups white or yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon paprika

Lard or corn or peanut oil for frying

Place fish in flat dish. Combine buttermilk, salt, and pepper, and pour over fish. Refrigerate at least four hours. Combine cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, and paprika in a pie plate or other similar dish. Remove fish from buttermilk mixture and dredge in the cornmeal mixture, one at a time, coating completely. (Really pat it on-and don’t worry if the cornmeal mixture gets lumpy. If you need to, add more flour.) Melt lard or pour oil to depth of 2-3 inches in a cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°F. Fry fillets, a few at a time, about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings.

Hush puppies are thumb-sized deep-fried dumplings of cornmeal, traditionally served with fried catfish. Most of the explanations for the origin of the name have to do with keeping the dogs quiet. The most picturesque version involves Confederate soldiers preparing their meals over a campfire. If Yankee soldiers approached, the Rebs would silence the camp dogs by tossing them some of their cornmeal cakes with “Hush, puppies!” If you have a dog, you can experiment.

2 cups white or yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup water

2 tablespoons melted bacon grease or other oil

Lard or oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, then stir in buttermilk, water, and bacon grease. (You can use another oil if you have to, although Euphoria says that would be a shame.) Make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour in the liquid ingredients and mix until batter is smooth and free of any lumps. It ought to be stiff. If it’s too dry, add milk or water; too thin, add cornmeal. Experience is a great teacher.

In a cast-iron skillet (yes!) or a large, heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, heat lard or oil to 350° F or until a small amount of batter dropped into the hot oil sizzles and floats. (If the oil gets too hot, your hushpuppies will be doughy in the center.) Using two spoons, push a thumb-sized dollop of batter into the hot oil. Fry in small batches of 4 to 6 for approximately 5 minutes or until golden brown, turning to brown all sides. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. You can keep these in a warm oven for about 30 minutes, until you’ve finished frying your catfish. Serve hot.

Makes 2 dozen hush puppies.

1¼ cups flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

½ cup pecan pieces

¾ cup golden raisins

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

2 eggs

¼ cup Southern Comfort whiskey

confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nuts, and raisins. In a separate bowl cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. To the egg mixture, alternately add whiskey and the flour mixture. Chill the batter at least 1 hour and then roll it into 1¼-inch-diameter logs. Wrap in wax paper and chill 4 hours. Slice ½-inch thick and place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes in a preheated 350ºF oven. Cool and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Southern Comfort was first produced by Irish bartender Martin Wilkes Heron sometime in the 1880s in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Heron moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1889, patented his booze, and began selling it in sealed bottles (to keep it from being adulterated or diluted) with the labels “None Genuine But Mine” and “Two per customer. No Gentleman would ask for more.” According to Master Distiller Chris Morris, the original recipe for Southern Comfort began with bourbon and included vanilla bean, lemon, cinnamon, cloves, cherries, oranges, and honey. Aunt Hetty learned how to make her “Southern Comforter” from her father, who claimed to have misspent a portion of his youth in the French Quarter.

1½ pounds fresh peaches

1 cup sugar

4 strips fresh lemon peel, about 2 inches long (don’t include

the bitter white pith)

4 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long

2 cups bourbon or brandy

Peel, pit, and slice peaches. Place in a saucepan, add sugar, and stir well. Warm over low heat until sugar is dissolved and peaches are juicy. Place mixture into a large jar, add lemon peel, cloves, cinnamon stick, and alcohol. Stir to combine. Cover and keep in a cool, dark place for 1 week, stirring occasionally. Strain and filter, pressing out the liquid from the peaches. Strain again. Homemade Southern Comforter is ready for cooking after a week, for drinking after a month.

Every Southern cook has a recipe for peach pie. Sally-Lou taught Lizzy how to make this one. The almond-flavored whipping cream topping is a perfect complement.

Dough for 9-inch 2-crust pie

5 generous cups sliced peaches (5 to 7 large peaches)

Juice of ½ lemon

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

⅔ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons butter, cut into bits

Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate and line with half the pastry. Reserve remainder for top crust. Preheat oven to 425°F. (If you’re using a glass pie pan, reduce heat by 25 degrees.) Peel peaches and slice into large bowl. Add lemon juice and almond flavoring and toss gently. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to peaches and mix well. Spoon into pastry and dot with butter. Roll out remaining dough. Moisten rim of bottom crust with water and put top crust in place. Trim overhanging pastry within 1 inch of edge, and fold top edge under bottom edge, pressing together to seal. Cut a few slits in top crust to allow steam to escape. Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm.

1 pint heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

¼ cup powdered sugar

Stir all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, then whip the mixture with an egg beater until raised peaks form and hold their shape. (Modern cooks will want to use an electric beater.) Aunt Hetty says if you want to add a spoonful of her Southern Comforter to this, that would be fine.

Native Americans were already growing sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) when Columbus arrived in 1492. Because they grow readily in warm regions, sweet potatoes became a staple food for Southern colonists and supplemented diets from late summer until spring. Most large plantations had a fenced sweet potato lot where low mounds of potatoes were grown, then dug and covered with straw and soil to protect them from the cold and frost of winter. During the War Between the States, when there were many shortages, the sweet potato-thinly sliced, dried, parched, ground, and brewed-became a substitute for coffee.