Saveur: The New Comfort Food (28 page)

Spoonbread

This soft, luxurious spoonbread marks the start of most meals at Kentucky’s century-old Boone Tavern (pictured). The eggy corn bread pudding rises and settles like a soufflé and goes exceptionally well with that other Kentucky specialty, smoky and salty country ham.

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, 1 tbsp. softened and 3 tbsp. melted

3 cups milk

1¼ cups finely ground white cornmeal

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 eggs, beaten

Serves 6–8

1. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with some of the softened butter. Cut out a parchment paper circle to fit inside the pan, nestle it into the bottom, and grease the paper with the remaining softened butter. Set the prepared cake pan aside.

2. In a 2-qt. saucepan, bring the milk to a boil, whisking occasionally, over high heat. While whisking, pour in the cornmeal in a steady stream. Whisk vigorously to incorporate the cornmeal, for about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to let the cornmeal mixture cool to room temperature.

3. Heat the oven to 350°F. Transfer the cornmeal mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter, baking powder, salt, and eggs and mix on medium speed until uniform and aerated, about 15 minutes.

4. Pour the cornmeal batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and puffy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Randy Evans, the executive chef at Brennan’s restaurant in Houston, grew up on slow-cooked Southern peas, also known as field peas or cowpeas. He recommends simmering them along with a ham hock, carrots, celery, and chopped onion and serving them with corn bread to sop up the smoky-sweet liquor that accumulates during cooking.

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, minced

1 rib celery

1 small carrot, peeled

2 cups fresh or frozen Southern peas (such as zipper creams, blackeyeds, or butter beans)

2½ cups chicken stock

1 small smoked ham hock Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Corn bread, for serving

Serves 4

1. In a 4-qt. saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

2. Cut the celery and carrot in half and add both to the pan along with the peas, stock, and ham hock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender and creamy, about 1 hour. (The time depends on the type and size of the peas; cook smaller peas about 50 minutes and larger ones about one hour and 10 minutes.)

3. Remove the ham hock, slice the meat from the bone, and chop; return the meat to the pan and discard the bone. Season the peas with salt and pepper and serve with corn bread.

(Top to bottom) Zipper cream, butter beans, cream peas, pink-eyed purple hull, crowders

Everyday ingredients can undergo remarkable transformations. Sugar becomes caramel, butter becomes butterscotch, egg whites become meringue. The metamorphosis from simple to sublime is the product of forceful whisking, patient stirring, and meticulous timing—processes that are as scientific as they are artful. From rustic sweets like huckleberry crisp and sticky buns to more lavish desserts, like a ganache-topped caramel tart, the meal’s sweet finish makes us feel like a kid again.

It seems that every Southern cook has a cherished recipe for homemade biscuits, but this one is a standout. Generous amounts of butter and buttermilk impart richness and a tender texture, and the sharp, tangy flavors of fresh chives and cheddar cheese provide a mouthwatering counterpoint.

2 cups flour, plus more for dusting

2 tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. sugar

1½ tsp. kosher salt

8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into thin pats

¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk

½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

½ cup minced chives

2 tbsp. heavy cream

Makes 6 biscuits

1. Heat the oven to 450°F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, work the cold butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of small peas.

2. Add the buttermilk, cheddar, and chives to the flour–butter mixture and stir with a fork to form a loose dough.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently pat into a 6 x 9-inch rectangle. Fold into thirds as you would a letter and pat into a 6 x 9-inch rectangle again. Dip the edges of a 3-inch round biscuit cutter in flour and punch out 6 biscuits from the dough. Transfer the biscuits to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. (Form and cut the dough scraps into another biscuit or two, if you wish; they won’t rise as high, though.) Brush the tops with heavy cream and bake until lightly browned, 14–16 minutes. Serve warm.

As big as the plate they’re served on and crisp around the edges, the tender buttermilk flapjacks at Robie’s Country Store & Deli, in Hooksett, New Hampshire, a town of 13,000 people in the southeastern part of the state, are so incomparably delicious that they nearly outshine the establishment’s other claim to fame: politics. The old-fashioned general store, with its eight café tables and its counter lined with jars of penny candy for sale, is a frequent stop for campaigning politicians passing through the state. Campaigners have long made a habit of pulling up a chair at out-of-the-way, all-American spots like Robie’s in the hope that their enthusiasm for down-to-earth, local meals would make them more appealing to voters. Robie’s is particularly significant because it’s one of the earliest and most anticipated stops on the cross-country campaign trail: New Hampshire traditionally holds one of the first primary elections of the voting season, so the nation naturally turns its attention to the state. Robie’s also functions as a community social club: Dorothy Robie, who ran the store for five decades with her husband, Lloyd (whose great-grandfather bought the place in 1887), can still be found having coffee and flapjacks with neighbors there a few times each week.