Photos from Como,MS

[Steve Harnar]

ooooh lordy lord now ya'lls talking my language.


CHICKENFRIED ANYTHING
No ham or turkey for  this okie-illini fambly. Jest chicken fried pork
cutlets, mashed potatos &  gravy, lettuce wedges w/ blue cheese dressing, and
rhubarb pie/Everybody always  wants to know how come their fried whateversstick to
the meat pan instead of the  meat. Here's the SECRET.
First- take your pounded steak/pork cutlets and salt & pepper both sides
then set aside
Heat your oven to 250 degrees and set a wire rack over a cookie sheet or
similar pan.
Take oNE SLEEVE OR 48 saltine crackers smashed to dust.
add
1 cup  unbleached flour
1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
1 teaspoon Fresh ground  pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (not as hot  as it sounds so even wussy types can
consume)
mix dry ingredients.
beat 2  eggs, add 3/4 c milk
Heat reg NOT nonstick fry pan w/ 1 c peanut or other oil - hot but not
smoking hot.
dredge meat in cracker mixture, then milk/egg,then again in cracker mixture.
Fry 2-3 minutes than turn and fry same again or until golden. Put fried
pieces  or rack in oven to keep warm while everything else is cooking. Save cooked
bits  and 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil. COOK but don't brown 1/4 cup flour in
drippings,  then add 1 t salt and pepper. Add about 4 cups of milk, stirring
constantly  until thickened. this isyour pure southern gravy. Sent in by Ceedalee

____________________________________
OKIE STYLE BLACK EYED PEAS
sent in by C-Dale  Sue
Gotta have 'em for good luck. Here's my Old Okie recipe:

1  tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 bay  leaf
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped  garlic
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (more can be added after the peas are  done)
1 big teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (the pre-ground stuff is full  of
rat hairs, etc.)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 or 3 splirts of Tabasco  sauce
1 pound black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
2 or 3 medium  ham hocks
1 quart chicken stock
hot peppers in vinegar to  taste


Saute onion and celery in the olive oil until clear but not  browned. Add bay
leaf and thyme and lightly saute. Add garlic and cook maybe 10  seconds. It
gets bitter fast.
Add the soaked peas and stir for a minute or  two on low heat -- just enough
to coat the peas with the spice mixture. Add the  salt, pepper, cayenne, and
Tobasco.
Put in the ham hocks, cover with chicken  stock and quickly bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. I cook  mine 1 hr more than it takes the
skins to separate from the peas and float to  the top, or 2 2/12 - 3 hours.

When peas are fully cooked, take out the  ham hocks and remove the skin,
bones, and any white fat. Then put meat back into  pot.
If it's too thick (like paste) add 1/2 cups of chicken broth until it  looks
right...Stew, not soup. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with  vinegar pepper sauce.

We never eat peas with corn bread. It's always big  homemade white rolls. The
frozen kind aren't bad. When I do fix cornbread,it's  made with white
cornmeal, no sugar.
For greens, we like fresh spinach with a  little olive oil/vinegar on top.

Archives & web interface: http://lists.netspace.org/archives/blues-l.html
NetSpace LISTSERV(R) software donated by L-Soft, Inc.   http://www.lsoft.com
To unsubscribe from BLUES-L, send an email with the message UNSUBSCRIBE BLUES-L to: listserv@lists.netspace.org