Just Good, Old Fashioned Southern Cooking
Greens and Pork Loin
I appreciate you guys looking at my fancy, different, and sometimes strange recipes, when in truth, I am nothing more than a southern boy, bred from Isola and Hollandale, MS parental stock. Our branch of the family tree sprouted from the limb on an autumn evening in 1939 when my dad and one of his brothers decided to go across the Sunflower River on Highway 12 from Washington County to Humphreys County and Isola, MS where a Brush Arbor Revival at a Holiness Church was being held. I think H-12 was still a gravel road and the Sunflower bridge was a wooden frame, topped with heavy planks back then. I doubt it would have passed our vintage 2000 bridge inspections that have resulted in so many of our bridges needing identified as needing to be replaced.It would be nice to tell you my dad and his brother were going to hear a fire breathing southern preacher feeding folks the Words of Life and redemption, spiced with his occasional speaking in tongues and maybe a little rolling on the floor by spirit led folks out in the congregation, but the truth is, they had heard there were “good looking women” in Isola and thought they would travel over and check them out.
As God had evidently planned, there was a female trio singing for the revival that night. The girls in the trio were my future mom and two of her 6 sisters. As the story goes, my dad's brother pointed to the shorter girl and said, “You can't have her. She is mine.” Several months later, My Dad's brother married that short girl and three weeks later, my dad married my mom. Yes, I have those rare relatives known as Double First Cousins. A week before my future dad married my future mom, he received an invitation in the mail to join the US Army (No RSVP required, and refusal not allowed).
Not long after that, Dad was leaving his temporary posting in New Jersey, on his way with a bunch of new friends for a scenic Trans-Atlantic Ocean cruise on the Queen Mary. He traveled in the Royal Stateroom on the trip, accompanied by 96 other boys and young men (He was 17 when he shipped out). They slept in three shifts in hammocks strung up just for them in the Queen's bedroom. When they weren't sleeping, they had to be somewhere else on the ship as the guys in the next shift needed the hammocks for their turn to sleep. Dad said the deck was crowded and chilly cold at night.
Dad's brother left on another boat, for the same forced European adventure two weeks before dad did, and the other five brothers in their family all left for Europe in short order. Seven brothers fought in the War, and Praise God, all of them returned. Dad and his brother were actually within a mile of each other during the Battle of the Bulge and didn't know it until they got back from the war.
For the Corn Bread
Self-Rising White Corn Meal (Martha White)
Self-Rising Flour (Martha White)
Buttermilk
salt
I try to always call for Martha White self-rising flour and Martha White self-rising cornmeal in my recipes, because for a southerner, there is none better. I hope this works. If it does, Thank you Mr. Flatt, Mr. Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys.
Butter, for the cornbread.
Directions:
I try my best to never cook pork from frozen. These were pulled from the freezer and thawed on the counter, seasoned on both sides with salt and black pepper.
Add the chopped turnips and mustard greens to a suitably sized boiler, toss in some sort of pork (I used diced Hickory Smoked Party Ham slices), 1 tsp. Sugar 1 tsp salt, a Tablespoon of oil, using bacon fat if I have it, and enough water to cover the greens. I am never all that concerned with how much water I add because I love cornbread crumbled in the pot liquor as much as I love the mixed greens.
I like to add a bit of Better Than Bouillon Ham Base to my greens. It adds lots of flavor and greens cooked in ham stock are classic southern cooking.
I also think a nice shake of black pepper (maybe a teaspoon) adds another layer of flavor to the greens.
30- 40 minutes later, they are done and ready to eat.
Almost there.
Making cornbread.
If you know me, you know I am an absolute expert at making White Cornmeal Cornbread, exactly as my dad, mom, and grandmother made it. This is "depression era cornbread" and does not contain any sugar or egg. Dad always said it is not cornbread with sugar and an egg. That makes it corncake, not cornbread and he wanted cornbread with his meal
This recipe makes an 8-inch skillet, which is enough for leftovers for two people. About half of everything makes a 6-inch skillet and doubling everything makes a twelve-inch skillet which will serve a decent sized family
6, 8, and 12 inch skillets
Add 1 heaping cup Self-Rising cornmeal meal, half a cup of Self-Rising flour and 1 teaspoon of salt to the mixing bowl, while the skillet, is preheating in the oven. Start the batter when the skillet has come up to sizzling heat since it only takes a minute to make your batter. If using AP flour and meal, add a teaspoon of baking powder and half a teaspoon of baking soda to the dry ingredients.
Add enough buttermilk to make a slightly thick batter. Start with less buttermilk than you need, stir it in, and then add the rest of the buttermilk a little at a time until you get a batter that is slightly thick.
The batter goes into the hot skillet (Hopefully filling it 1/2 to 2/3rds full) and then the skillet goes into oven for 30 minutes +- (maybe 40) until the top browns. When the top has browned slightly, it will be done. I like my slice of cornbread thick and try to make enough batter to rise to the top of the skillet as it bakes.
The best wedge of cornbread has softened butter slathered over the hot from the oven slice.
Not a part of this recipe, but cornbread heaven finds it crumbled with peas or butter beans or pinto beans, Turnip and mustard greens, or great northern beans. Having Pork on the plate completes the dream meal. You are truly southern if you have crumbled it into pot liquor, or into a cold glass of milk. All of these are better with and some diced onion added.
Skillet fried Pork Chop or Pork Loin
When the greens are done and the cornbread is cooking in the oven, you have just enough time to cook your pork. Preheat the skillet with a little oil. Your chops can be cooked breaded or un-breaded, as shown here. If breading them, season the flour (AP or SR) with salt, black pepper, and maybe some garlic powder, then dredge/coat the chops. Do no add then to the skillet before it has heated to “sizzling temperature”.
Try to cook the chop until the first side has browned and the chop is cooked half way through before turning it. Then turn and cook the other side. Might take 5-10 minutes, depending on skillet temperature and thickness of the chop. “Modern pork chops” are more carefully grown and are safe to eat if slightly pink in the middle. In the old days, they needed to be cooked well done to make sure any parasites were cooked to a food-safe point. Cook the chop to whatever level of done you like.
As God had evidently planned, there was a female trio singing for the revival that night. The girls in the trio were my future mom and two of her 6 sisters. As the story goes, my dad's brother pointed to the shorter girl and said, “You can't have her. She is mine.” Several months later, My Dad's brother married that short girl and three weeks later, my dad married my mom. Yes, I have those rare relatives known as Double First Cousins. A week before my future dad married my future mom, he received an invitation in the mail to join the US Army (No RSVP required, and refusal not allowed).
Not long after that, Dad was leaving his temporary posting in New Jersey, on his way with a bunch of new friends for a scenic Trans-Atlantic Ocean cruise on the Queen Mary. He traveled in the Royal Stateroom on the trip, accompanied by 96 other boys and young men (He was 17 when he shipped out). They slept in three shifts in hammocks strung up just for them in the Queen's bedroom. When they weren't sleeping, they had to be somewhere else on the ship as the guys in the next shift needed the hammocks for their turn to sleep. Dad said the deck was crowded and chilly cold at night.
RMS Queen Mary. Sadly, I can't make out Dad
Maybe he was sleeping.
Dad's brother left on another boat, for the same forced European adventure two weeks before dad did, and the other five brothers in their family all left for Europe in short order. Seven brothers fought in the War, and Praise God, all of them returned. Dad and his brother were actually within a mile of each other during the Battle of the Bulge and didn't know it until they got back from the war.
Mom and two of her 6 sisters moved to Jackson and worked jobs previously held by men as the war progressed. Dad left for training two weeks after he and mom married, and she did not see or hear much from him for the next 38 months.
Mom says she was working in the yard at the farm outside of Isola one afternoon. They had heard Dad was landing in NYC soon, on a boat from Italy and would be taking a troop train to Camp Shelby after processing. The farm in Isola seemed to be as good of a place as any to wait. As she was working in the yard, she happened to look up and there was a guy walking down the gravel road from Isola to the Sunflower River, with a duffel bag over his shoulder, and she knew right away it was him. He had caught a bus from Shelby to Isola and then walked the seven miles from H-49 out to the farm.
They were part of an incredible generation. Dad went across the channel on D-day+4 and 30+ months later, was outside the gate of Buchenwald Concentration Camp the day the fighting stopped, and they heard the war had ended. They went into the camp and then went into town and made the local civilians come and walk through the camp to look at what their military had done to people whose crime was being born Jewish. Dad refused to talk about it until about a year before he died, and then only to me. For almost forty years all he would say was that they were not outfitted properly for the cold and nearly froze to death in the snow. He cried one of the few times I ever saw him do that as he told me about going into that camp at the end of his war experience. There were many war memories all of the soldiers lived with after they came home, but he said that one stayed with him and kept him awake many nights.
During their early days in Jackson, Mom and her short sister went to a local photographer (Olan Mills?) for girly photos on a dare from friends. She sent a copy of her photo to Dad and he said his fellow soldiers were always trying to get him show it to them.
As the guys would have said back then, “Hubba Hubba!”
Enough History.
Here is southern cooking, the way they would have done it in Isola back in the 1950s (except they used Pork Chops from PaPa's hogs and fresh or frozen greens from Grandma's garden. My cornbread was made the same as granny's, probably even using Martha White flour and Cornmeal, just like mine. Grandma clabbered her own buttermilk from the cow PaPa had milked a day or two earlier and I buy mine in a half gallon plastic jug from the “Little Grocery Store” on Northside Drive.
Country Turnips and Mustard Greens with Cornbread and Pork Loin
Ingredients:
Frozen Turnips I get mine from the grocery store
Frozen Mustard Greens
Ham bits and pieces (cut up party ham slices were used here)
Sugar, Salt, and Pepper - to taste
They were part of an incredible generation. Dad went across the channel on D-day+4 and 30+ months later, was outside the gate of Buchenwald Concentration Camp the day the fighting stopped, and they heard the war had ended. They went into the camp and then went into town and made the local civilians come and walk through the camp to look at what their military had done to people whose crime was being born Jewish. Dad refused to talk about it until about a year before he died, and then only to me. For almost forty years all he would say was that they were not outfitted properly for the cold and nearly froze to death in the snow. He cried one of the few times I ever saw him do that as he told me about going into that camp at the end of his war experience. There were many war memories all of the soldiers lived with after they came home, but he said that one stayed with him and kept him awake many nights.
During their early days in Jackson, Mom and her short sister went to a local photographer (Olan Mills?) for girly photos on a dare from friends. She sent a copy of her photo to Dad and he said his fellow soldiers were always trying to get him show it to them.
As the guys would have said back then, “Hubba Hubba!”
Enough History.
Here is southern cooking, the way they would have done it in Isola back in the 1950s (except they used Pork Chops from PaPa's hogs and fresh or frozen greens from Grandma's garden. My cornbread was made the same as granny's, probably even using Martha White flour and Cornmeal, just like mine. Grandma clabbered her own buttermilk from the cow PaPa had milked a day or two earlier and I buy mine in a half gallon plastic jug from the “Little Grocery Store” on Northside Drive.
Country Turnips and Mustard Greens with Cornbread and Pork Loin
Ingredients:
Frozen Turnips I get mine from the grocery store
Frozen Mustard Greens
Ham bits and pieces (cut up party ham slices were used here)
Sugar, Salt, and Pepper - to taste
Better than Bouillon Ham Paste
For the Pork
Pork Loin Slices, or pork chops if you like them better with a bone.
For the Corn Bread
Self-Rising White Corn Meal (Martha White)
Self-Rising Flour (Martha White)
Buttermilk
salt
I try to always call for Martha White self-rising flour and Martha White self-rising cornmeal in my recipes, because for a southerner, there is none better. I hope this works. If it does, Thank you Mr. Flatt, Mr. Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys.
Other stuff:
Directions:
I try my best to never cook pork from frozen. These were pulled from the freezer and thawed on the counter, seasoned on both sides with salt and black pepper.
I like to add a bit of Better Than Bouillon Ham Base to my greens. It adds lots of flavor and greens cooked in ham stock are classic southern cooking.
30- 40 minutes later, they are done and ready to eat.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. When it gets hot, add a tablespoon or two of oil to your skillet. The oil on the preheated cast iron fries the batter as it bakes and is an absolute requirement for the crispy crust cornbread I make.
6, 8, and 12 inch skillets
Add 1 heaping cup Self-Rising cornmeal meal, half a cup of Self-Rising flour and 1 teaspoon of salt to the mixing bowl, while the skillet, is preheating in the oven. Start the batter when the skillet has come up to sizzling heat since it only takes a minute to make your batter. If using AP flour and meal, add a teaspoon of baking powder and half a teaspoon of baking soda to the dry ingredients.
When the greens are done and the cornbread is cooking in the oven, you have just enough time to cook your pork. Preheat the skillet with a little oil. Your chops can be cooked breaded or un-breaded, as shown here. If breading them, season the flour (AP or SR) with salt, black pepper, and maybe some garlic powder, then dredge/coat the chops. Do no add then to the skillet before it has heated to “sizzling temperature”.
Ready to eat.
Thanks for looking at my post.
God bless you.
God bless you.
6 comments:
Damn if that don't look great. Can taste it just looking at it.
Collards for me, but if the juice is good they will slide!
I love pork chops cooked like this! I enjoyed your parents' story as well. It sounds a lot like my maternal grandfather's experience in the war. He was from Camden. He wouldn't talk about the war much either...my mom said he talked for 6 hours one day when she was pregnant with me and that was more than she had ever heard. He was at the Battle of the Bulge as well and talked about burying a half-track in the snow. He didn't change his socks for 6 weeks (due to the cold) and suffered from toenail problems due to that. He too talked about the concentration camps and forcing the German citizens to witness what their government had done.
Incredible generation. I despair when i contemplate whether there will ever be another like them. I know mine isn't.
I just pulled one of containers of homegrown mixed greens I put up last January from the freezer to go with pork country style ribs for dinner. I love to eat like this. I totally agree that cornbread should never have eggs or sugar, but I like to make it with yellow cornmeal and never any white flour in it. Yum.
My father, 17 years old, was marching toward the Battle of the Bulge when the Germans cut their supply lines, leaving his unit wearing summer clothes and summer boots, and with little food. They slept on the ground in the snow in what I've read was one of the coldest winters on record in France. His toes froze but he did not have amputations as did others all around him, but he was always very picky about what shoes he'd wear. He said the French farmers brought them food. The Battle ended before his unit could get there. About the only thing he ever said about the war was that he was lucky. God bless America.
I have to disagree with the flour in the cornbread. I agree sugar in it is an abomination before the Lord. 😀 However we do put egg in ours and like it on the thin side. The iron skillet is the correct pan for cornbread and biscuits.
Thanks for posting your parents’ story.
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