On Fri 28 Oct 2005 02:20:55p, Ophelia wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
> "Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Fri 28 Oct 2005 01:49:36p, Ophelia wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>>
>>>
>>> "OmManiPadmeOmelet" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> In article >,
>>>> "Ophelia" > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
>>>>> .. .
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Now we get into po' folks vs. what was available. IMHO
>>>>> > (sincerely humble opinion), Southern comfort food was what was
>>>>> > available cheaply during and after Reconstruction. Greens,
>>>>> > cornbread, home baked bread with lard or rendered fatback.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Chicken & dumplings, yes. Simmered beans and bean soup; mac &
>>>>> > cheese, milk gravy on biscuits (predates sausage gravy), baked
>>>>> > potatoes.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Later on, after the "great" American depression, these foods
>>>>> > became precious again, North and South. My grandmother fed her
>>>>> > children on potato soup and
>>>>> > greens for a number of years. When they say someone had to walk
>>>>> > to school uphills both ways... Grandma baked potatoes in the wood
>>>>> > stove then sent my
>>>>> > dad and his siblings to school in the 1930's with hot potatoes to
>>>>> > keep their hands warm and to eat for lunch. I'm not kidding.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > They had the occasional chicken and the greens were usually
>>>>> > dandylions. She
>>>>> > made rivels (tiny dumplings) to make the potato soup more
>>>>> > filling.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I am so fortunate. So lucky. So are we all.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you Jill. We are all very lucky. Please explain
>>>>> 'Reconstruction'
>>>>> and 'sausage gravy'
>>>>> recipe saved
>>>>>
>>>>> O
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Reconstruction was post-civil war. The re-structuring and rebuilding
>>>> of the southern states that tried to cecede from the union. Very
>>>> American history. ;-)
>>>>
>>>> Sausage gravy??? OH boy!
>>>>
>>>> Fry some pork sausage, sliced or link. Leave the grease in the pan.
>>>> Add
>>>> flour to make a roux and enough milk to thin to the desired
>>>> consitency. For red-eye gravy, add coffee.
>>>>
>>>> Serve over buscuits with sausage, fried eggs on the side and hash
>>>> browns (grated potato mixed with egg) if you have them.
>>>>
>>>> Southern cooking at it's, uh, best? <lol>
>>>
>>> This sounds like you take the sausage out! Oh yes.. another
>>> question.. what is red-eye gravy???
>>>
>>> O enjoying asking about all the strange things she reads here)))))
>>
>> Red-eye gravy has nothing to do with the above. It is made from the
>> drippings after frying country ham. American "country ham" is a
>> dry-cured ham that is cured with salt. Sliced and fried is one of the
>> most common ways of serving it. The drippings are a reddis-brown
>> color, and when combined with liquid, form little droplets of the
>> grease, hence the "red- eye". Red-eye gravy is generally not
>> thickened very much with flour, if at all, the liquid being water, a
>> mixture of water and black coffee, or all black coffee. No milk is
>> involved.
>
> Thanks Wayne ... not sure we have that ham here
Not too surprising. It's even hard to get here in US except in the South.
If you have access to any rather dry, salty ham, you might be able to use
it. Usually, prior to frying, the ham is soaked overnight in water, milk,
or buttermilk, then rinsed and dried. This is done to reduce the
saltiness.
--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
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