All Alabama Meal - Menu D'jour
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 09:02PM 
In my last post, I mentioned that one of the difficult aspects of this project has been forgoing shared meals and communal eating. Well, one of the things we've done to remedy this void is to instate the weekly "Alabama Supper" - a time where we can get together with some friends and cook a meal made with all Alabama ingredients. This assures us a regular social event centered around food and sometimes, when we're not hosting, gives us a break from cooking (which is needed I assure you!). Last week, I prepared the following menu to wild applause (yes, I'm tooting my horn), for nine dinner guests. At 98 degrees in the kitchen, it was a labor of love, as I fried up 2 dozen hoecakes and 30 or more strips of bacon. Luckily, the potato salad and coleslaw could be prepared a day ahead of time. Enjoy!
BLT's on Hoe Cakes with Goat Cheese and Homemade Mayo*
For the Hoe Cakes (from "Southern Country Cooking from the Loveless Cafe")
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola or corn oil
Salt to taste
Combine the cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir in buttermilk and beaten egg. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/3 cup batter into the skillet. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Repeat with remaining batter.
Fry bacon (amount of bacon will depend on number of guests, I figured 3 pieces per guest)
Place 2-3 strips of fried bacon, freshly sliced tomato, lettuce, and crumbled goat cheese between two hoecakes slathered (or dabbed) with mayonnaise.
*for the Mayo see "A Few Recipes", April 11 post.
Quick Summer Slaw
(modified from "Farmer John's Cookbook")
1 large head of cabbage, shredded
2-3 large carrots, grated
3/4 c mayo (more or less to your liking)
1/3 c apple cider vinegar
2 T honey
3/4 tsp salt or more to taste
Toss the cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Mix the mayo, vinegar, and honey in another bowl. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and carrots; toss and mix to combine. Stir in salt to taste. Chill until ready to serve. Serves 6-8 (depending on how big your head of cabbage is!) Can be prepared one day ahead of time.
Hearty Dill Potato Salad
(modified from "How to Cook Everything")
3 lbs red potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks (peels on or off, it's up to you)
1/3 cup fresh parsely, minced
1/3 cup fresh dill, finely chopped (more or less to your taste)
chopped dill pickles to taste (I probably used about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup spring or yellow onions (more or less to your taste)
Mayonnaise to taste (start with 1/2 cup)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of water to a boil; salt it. Add potatoes. Cook them in the water until tender, but still firm (don't want them to be mushy), about 15 min. Drain and rinse in cold water. Toss the potatoes with parsley, dill, pickles, and onion. Add mayo until you have achieved the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serves 8-10. Can be prepared one day ahead of time.
Reader Comments (1)
I wonder if most people know that mayonnaise is just whipped eggs and oil. I wonder what it would taste like with local peanut oil?
Nuttonaise. Mmmmmmm.