Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2006 i Taste of the South

And take it from me, Inez and Oliver Norton are exactly that. My husband and I have had the priviledge of living next door to the Nortons for about thirteen years, but I have known them for more than twenty years. As a college student, I was welcomed to many a Sunday dinner in their home along with their children and grandchildren, where I enjoyed great food, wonderful conversation, and much laughter. A lot of the great food served up at these meals, especially in the summertime, was cooked on the grill by Oliver. As far as I’m concerned, he is the undisputed “king of the grill” in our neighborhood—his steaks are the best I’ve eaten anywhere. I’m simply delighted that he was willing to share many of his “secret”…

Peach-Cobbler Parfaits Yield: 4 servings Preparation: 20 minutes Freeze: 1 hour or overnight 1 cup pecan shortbread cookie crumbs (approximately 8 cookies, crumbled) 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons butter, melted 4 tablespoons sugar, divided 1 (16-ounce) package frozen peaches or 2 cups sliced fresh peaches 1 (24-ounce) container vanillafl avored yogurt 1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed • In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs, cinnamon, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside. • Reserve 8 to 12 peach slices for garnish. In the work bowl of a food processor, process remaining peaches with 3 tablespoons sugar until peaches reach a smooth consistency. Fold into yogurt. • Using 4 (12-ounce) glasses, assemble parfaits by layering a few tablespoons of cookie-crumb mixture in bottom of each glass, followed by…

It was a regular Saturday event in towns across the South more than 100 years ago. Farm families would climb into horsedrawn wagons for their weekly trip to town to stock up on necessities. That tradition is being revived in cities across the South, but with a 21st century twist. Now city families are piling into their SUVs and mini-vans to visit urban farmers’ markets, where they can meet the farmers who grow their food and buy some of the freshest produce around. “A tomato fresh from the farm doesn’t taste like a grocery-store tomato,” explains Jennifer Walden, of the Saturday Market on Broad in downtown Augusta, Georgia. “It tastes so much better.” Marcy Prescott, market coordinator of the Pepper Place Market, located in the Lakeview district in Birmingham, Alabama,…

“Cooking is a joy, and it takes your mind off everyday things,” claims Emelia Cowans, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. The joy is evident when Emelia talks about her family’s cooking traditions. “This salmon recipe is my dad’s,” explains Emelia, “he’s made it since I was a little girl.” Her dad, 83-year-old John Cowans, still cooks everyday. Emelia took her dad’s beloved recipe and made it a little more her own by adding the tuna. “It gives it a meatier flavor,” she remarks. Emelia warns that the bell pepper should be diced small. “It enhances the flavor of the dish, but not if you bite down on a big chunk of it,” she jokes. For Emelia, the croquettes also make a great breakfast. “Just replace the rice with some…

Tacos al Carbon Yield: 12 servings Preparation: 10 minutes Cook: 41/2 hours Stand: 15 minutes 1 (41/2-pound) beef brisket, trimmed 2 tablespoons brown sugar 11/2 teaspoons ancho chili powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper Flour tortillas Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream,chopped tomatoes, salsa, guacamole,shredded lettuce •Preheat oven to 300°. • Place brisket, fat side down, in a roasting pan. • Combine brown sugar, powders, parsley, salt, and pepper. Rub spice mixture into top of brisket. Cover and seal pan with foil. Bake for 41/2 hours. • Remove brisket from pan; let stand for 15 minutes. Cut brisket across grain into thin slices, using a sharp knife. Serve in warm flour tortillas with desired toppings. Put…

In the South, barbecue is serious business. If you doubt it, just drive down a major thoroughfare in any middling-size city south of the Mason-Dixon line and count the barbecue restaurants. Or better yet, smell them. On a hot summer day, there’s nothing more tantalizing than the aroma of pork shoulders or briskets of beef, being cooked slowly over a pit of hickory coals. It’s our idea of Heaven on Earth—in short, barbecue bliss. Every Southerner has an opinion about what kind of barbecue is best. Pork shoulders and ribs hold sway in much of the South. Down Texas way, they prefer beef brisket. And in northwest Kentucky, mutton has a strong and devoted following. Of course, there are just as many opinions about barbecue sauce as there are about…

Well, can y’all believe that summer 2006 is already here? It seems like I was just putting up the Christmas tree. Savannah can get really hot in the summer— temperatures can climb into the triple digits! So to cool off, I have got a great recipe for y’all: Hershey-Bar Cake. This is sure to cool you down on the long hot summer afternoons, especially if you add a scoop or two of your favorite ice cream. My life is sure not slowing down this summer; I’m as busy as one of those bees in my garden. Michael is taking me on yet another cruise—this time to the Greek islands. Girls, I never knew a man could treat you like this! I am so looking forward to two weeks of relaxation.…

Green Beans with New Potatoes Recipe development by Lorna Reeves Yield: 6 to 8 servings Preparation: 20 minutes Cook: 1 hour 2 pounds green beans, snapped and washed 8 small new potatoes, washed and cut in half 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 cubes beef boullion 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon ground black pepper • In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat on stovetop. Reduce heat to low; cover with lid. Simmer for approximately 45 minutes until vegetables are tender. Lady Peas with Fresh Okra Recipe development by Betty Terry Yield: 6 to 8 servings Preparation: 5 minutes Cook: 1 hour 4 to 5 cups shelled lady peas* 1 cup water 1 cup chicken broth 4 to 6 whole…

If summer were a taste, it would be a tomato. Warm from the sun, straight from the vine, and dripping juice with every bite, a tomato is as irresistible as a hammock strung between two shady trees. It’s almost unthinkable that this staple of our Southern diet was once thought to be poisonous. The tomato is a member of the Solanaceae family that also includes sweet peppers, potatoes, and petunias, but also the deadly nightshade. Guilty by association, the tomato was shunned as a food source and used for purely ornamental reasons until some brave soul took a bite and lived to tell the tale. These luscious fruits that Southerners love so much had humble beginnings as wild tomatoes in the Andes Mountains. South American Indians then cultivated these plants…

off the grill: oliver’s famous grilled steaks baby-back ribs norton’s barbeque sauce grilled pork chops oliver’s grilled chicken basting sauce for pork and chicken beef kabobs mimi’s potato salad Oliver’s Famous Grilled Steaks Yield: 4 to 8 servings Preparation: 10 minutes Marinate: 1 hour Cook: 30 to 45 minutes 4 (8- to 10-ounce) Angus ribeye steaks 1/2 cup red-wine vinegar 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce 1/2 cup soy sauce 8 teaspoons seasoned salt 8 teaspoons seasoned pepper 8 teaspoons steak seasoning 4 teaspoons garlic salt • Place steaks in a 9-x-13-inch baking dish. • In a small bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire, and soy sauce. Pour half of sauce over one side of steaks; rub steaks to encourage absorption. Repeat for opposite side of steaks. • In another small bowl, combine dry…

Here’s what I can’t tell you about the cheeseburgers at Cabbage Key: just how good they really are. Because if I tried to explain all that, we’d have to start with the backstory. I’d have to tell you all about the leisurely cruise over from Captiva Island, Florida, and how bobbing along in the ocean on a boat—even one as nice as the Lady Chadwick—makes you feel so small and alone in the universe and yet so much a part of it. I would have to spin a salty tale about being ushered to the docks of Cabbage Key by a school of dolphins, only to feel my newfound sea legs nearly go out underneath me after stepping on dry land for the first time in more than an hour.…

Newcomers to the South have a hard time warming up to okra. That always puzzled me. Then I realized that, the first time most people try okra, it is usually served boiled. I guess that’s some kind of test we have devised for newcomers. If you have the courage (or at the very least, the good manners) to dig into a bowl of slimy, boiled okra, you pass the test. You’re welcome to stay. Okra itself is a relative newcomer to the southern United States. It was first cultivated in Ethiopia more than 2,000 years ago. Legend has it that okra seeds were brought to the New World in the 1700s, concealed in the clothing and woven into the hair of West African slaves. It’s more likely that okra seeds…

Cover: Cake plate from HomeGoods. Tex-Mex Fiesta Pages 10–18: Plates, serving dishes, and linens from Target®. Pitcher and stemware from World Market®. Location courtesy of Beth and George Simpson. Hot off the Grill Pages 20–24: All serving pieces and linens from Pottery Barn. Location courtesy of Inez and Oliver Norton. Chill Out Pages 26–32: Blue plate from Anthropologie; Star Pop Molds from Cuisipro®. Peach cobbler glasses from World Market; table linen from Anthropologie. Green plate with table linen from Anthropologie; pop molds from World Market®. Blue bowl with table linen from Anthropologie; sipper ice pop molds from Bed Bath and Beyond®. Purple plate with linen from HomeGoods. Strawberry cheesecake stand and plates from TJ Maxx®; table from Minerva’s. Sundae pie table linens from Anthropologie. Locations courtesy of Perry James and…