Southern Food Frustrates Health Officials

hosted.ap.org ^ | Feb 13, 2005 | DANIEL YEE

[mwyounce]

That's gotta balance it out!

[MamaTexan]

That was double pleasure.

Don't you just love passing down recipes & traditions?

My daughters can't eat a hush puppy without me telling them the story of how it got it's name, even thought I've told it a hundred times.

At 11 years old, one of them is turning out to be a mighty fine cook...although her twin seems more interested in eating food than preparing it. :)

[AnAmericanMother]

I use my mama-in-law's fried chicken recipe.

If you have a proper fryer AND you have your oil at the correct temperature, the chicken does not come up greasy. Also, if you dip the chicken in a beaten egg before you roll it in flour, it's lightly but uniformly coated and doesn't absorb too much oil.

Also you have to have the chicken near room temperature - you can't fry it straight out of the fridge. I guess this is stuff that you have to learn at stove-side or be told, you don't get it out of the cook books . . .

But my favorite meal is still lamb chops grilled with Blackened Steak Magic (no, really, try it - it's perfect), a nice rice pilaf with plenty of butter cooked in, romaine salad with a ranch or poppy seed dressing, and green beans cooked Gujarati style with mustard seeds and garlic. My home made Key Lime Pie (with real key limes) for dessert, or maybe my Scots Trifle.

Pretty eclectic menu, but our family's been in the South since the 1600s, we don't see any need to cook Southern all the time.

Of course, mama-in-law's fried chicken DOES form the centerpiece for a tasty traditional meal. I make rice-and-gravy instead of mashed potatoes, green beans, corn meal spoonbread (a REAL old fashioned southern specialty that I guess is a souffle), lime jello with pear halves (my grandmother's standby), and baked custard (that's creme brulee for you hoity-toity folks) for dessert.

[Melinda in TN]

When my Mom and Dad got married, my Southern granny had to teach Mom how to cook Southern. Mom was from Ohio and Dad is from Chattanooga. She caught on quite well eventually. I try to eat healthy foods and love Southern cooking but there are two things I can't stand. One is hominy and the other is wilted lettuce. I can't even stay in the kitchen with wilted lettuce. In case you don't know how to prepare wilted lettuce and want to try it, here is how, the best I can remember.

Fry a whole skillet (iron skillet) of bacon. Lay lettuce down in a rectangular baking dish. Chop onions and boiled eggs and scatter across the lettuce. Crumble the bacon on top of that. Pour the hot grease on top of the whole mess. Eat (or not, LOL) That's all I remember because by the time the grease hit the lettuce I was sitting in the back yard.

I don't understand the health crisis from eating in the South. I'm 50 and have been eating Southern food all my life. My blood pressure is 120/72, my cholesterol is medium at 165 and I'm not overweight (5'6" & 130lbs). I'm active though. I personally think that is the key. Eat what you want but stay active.

You Northerners can keep your bagels too. I tried one once and it was like eating a rubber donut with no taste. LOL Not a big seller around here.

[AnAmericanMother]

Honey, real Charleston SC Crab Cakes will make the Maryland variety crawl under the table and cry Uncle!

But there's nothing to compare with a Maine lobster - although crawfish are handier, you have to eat a lot of them . . .

[westmex]

ping

.....Westy.....

[bayourod]

It looks like soy bean plants. I think "rape" in Canada means "soy bean". Sorta like maize vs corn.

[Publius6961]

Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

When did that abortion get appended to the old name?
Whoever came up with that should be drawn and quartered, then hanged then shot.

Nothing transforms a good institution faster into something totally useless and unacceptable than the ability to set rules of conduct for others...

[Coldwater Creek]

This is the recipe that my friend from Chattanooga taught me:

Use a large bowl that has a lid. Dump in a a bunch of flour 1 or 2 Tablespoons baking powder, 1 pkg. Italian salad dressing, a little garlic salt, salt, pepper. Mix all of these ingredients together, then put chicken breast on top of the dry mixture. Take about a cup or more of buttermilk and pour on top, then shake it all up. The batter should look sort of like corn flake consistency.

I use a deep fryer with a lid and basket. This chicken is never greasy.

My l2 yo grandson told me that if he had to choose between chocolate chip cookies and the chicken, the chicken would win every time.

[bayourod]

I looked it up. Your right, it isn't soy beans.

[LibertarianInExile]

Bump to that. Damn Yankees already took my country...now they want to take my deep fryer. The South will fry again!

[xjcsa]

"The owner says I'm the only girl who can eat a whole one without flinching," Cleaveland said proudly.

As for Cleaveland, she says she doesn't think about cholesterol. "I probably should, but I do not. I'm only 25, maybe later." For now, she's able to maintain her 5-foot-7, 115-pound physique without regular exercise.

I need to meet a girl like that...

[Publius6961]

It suddenly occured to me... I know now why so many people are on cell phones 24/7...

Thank you for solving one of life's trickier mysteries.

[Drago]

Note to health officials: They'll eat like that because *gasp* it's THEIR lives, not yours...

Problem is free healthcare benefits/entitlements. If the government pays your bill, they have a say in your lifestyle. Eliminate Medicare, Medicare Prescription benefits, guaranteed treatment at ER's regardless of the ability to pay, etc., and then you will be free to do what you want. Same with helmet laws, etc..

[Feiny]

What made it even harder was that I had to come within one block of a Krispy Kreme store....I really wanted to eat more, but luckily I had my dog with me & she talked me out of it.

[Feiny]

And you know those pies were made with Crisco or Lard crust.

[kalee]

Super Varsity Bump

What'll ya have?

[Little Bill]

Fried oysters and crab cakes, orgasmic.

[dwilli]

My Grandmother churned her own buttermilk, served ice cold
with chunks of country butter still in it with a big hunk
of her coconut cake was heaven on Earth when I was a kid.

They (Grandparents) also had a smokehouse which always had
a ham or shoulder hanging that she was slicing from. there was a butcher knife in the smokehouse so we could go in there and cut off a slice at any time. Most of the time it was eaten as soon as it was sliced,raw.

[FreedomCalls]

"The dish, a specialty of Mulligan's, a suburban bar, is a hot dog wrapped by a beef patty that's deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions and served on a hoagie bun. Oh yeah, it's also topped with a fried egg and two fistfuls of fries."

It needs some jalapeños on top.