Looking for some classic American recipes.

[EoinMag]

Hi All,
I'm looking for some real recipes from the good people on here, I know I could do a search online and find some but I'm more interested in the honest home recipes of people on here.

I'm looking to know how to make a good corn bread, and also suggestions for what it's eaten with, although I do like it by itself.
I'm interested in both types of cornbread too, although I've only ever had the cakey type and there was cheese in it too, very tasty.

I'm also interested in exactly what biscuits and gravy are, and if it's worth it a recipe for those too.

I will mention that we don't have the products you have over there so an international recipe would be great from scratch, so no tins of something I need buy at some US store, just scratch ingredients like flour, not grahams crackers etc...

One other thing which piques my curiosity are grits....I think it's like polenta right, can someone explain.

You might notice it's not the fanciest of food I'm picking out, but then I find that simple is sometimes best in the food world, it's certainly true of Italian cooking.

So help me out there if you have some recipes and even any other traditional American recipes I can make from any larder cupboard from scratch ingredients.

Cheers, Eoin.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Well, I tend to use cornbread mix out of a box just cuz it's easy & Jiffy makes a good mix. http://www.jiffymix.com/recipes.php/Jiffy+Corn+Muffin+Mix
My favs are the creamy corn muffins & the hushpuppies; and you can't have catfish without hush puppies, cole slaw & beer. Here's a "from scratch" recipe that's pretty close to what the mix makes: http://southernfood.about.com/od/cornbread/r/r80508f.htm

Biscuits & gravy are just exactly that: biscuits cut or torn in half with sausage gravy ladled over them, usually with a heavy dose of black pepper in the gravy, also known as "redeye" gravy. Now the English call cookies biscuits, so I'm not sure what you'd call them in Ireland, but I'm talking big, thick, fluffy bread-like American biscuits, not cookies.

Grits are made from corn & are kind of like "Cream of Wheat" hot cereal, or maybe porridge, some make them thicker than others, almost like pudding & others more like a gruel & all points inbetween. Now there are 2 basic camps with grits: 1 group eats them with butter & salt, the other with butter & sugar... There are some that eat them with cheese, but they're kind of like the relative that the family doesn't talk about. <LOL>

Hope this info helps. Regards, GF.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Sausage gravy and Redeye gravy are different even though I have heard others call sausage gravy redeye. Redeye gravy is made with coffee (hence the name). When I make sausage gravy I wing it. Cook ground sausage, add flour to make a roux, add milk and season with salt and lots of black pepper. I like subbing a little chicken stock for some of the milk.

AFAIK, our southern biscuits are essentially savory versions of scones. The recipe for a southern biscuit should be about the same as a scone recipe but without any sugar/fruit (and maybe some salt added). Making great southern biscuits is an art form. They should be light and fluffy. The grease and flour you use makes a huge difference. Originally the grease was usually lard but some people use butter. Crisco is actually really good for baking but lacks flavor so you can use a mixture of Crisco and butter. I don't know if you can get Crisco but it's just hydrogenated vegetable oil (so it's solid at room temp). Whatever you use, it needs to be solid at room temp. The flour needs to be a lower protein flour, don't use a bread flour. And don't overmix it or you'll get too much gluten, very bad for southern biscuits (hockey pucks!). I use Alton Brown's recipe.

A lot of this country doesn't eat grits, it's a southern thing for the most part. I love grits. They are made from hominy, which is corn treated with lye. Grits are cooked similar to rice (except with more water and cooked longer) so there's not much to the 'recipe'. Just water, grits, salt, butter (I'm in the butter/salt camp).

 

[HokieBrewer]

Sugar in grits should be classified as a hate crime.

Sour milk cornbread recipe from Edna Lewis - Queen of Southern cooking.

Buttermilk Cornbread
Adapted from Edna Lewis &#8211; The Gift of Southern Cooking

1 1/2 cups white cornmeal (preferably fine ground)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 strips bacon or fatback (or 2 tablespoons butter)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the cornmeal, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Stir the milk and butter into the beaten eggs and pour over the dry ingredients, stirring to make a smooth glossy batter.

Cut the bacon into pieces and fry in a cast iron skillet (or bake in a baking dish) until the fat is rendered and bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon and swirl the pan to coat with the remaining grease. Pour the batter into the heated pan and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until cornbread is golden brown and crusty on top and pulls away from the sides of the skillet.

Remove the skillet from the oven and turn out onto a plate. Allow the cornbread to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into wedges. Serve hot with butter, jelly, honey, or applebutter.

 

[dataz722]

About a year or so ago there was a thread on here about biscuits and gravy. It had tons of opinions and recipes. You might want to look that up for that.

As far as the grits, yes, they are pretty much identical to polenta except grips use white corn and plenta uses yellow. What you mix into them does traditionally differ between the two though.

 

[motobrewer]

, not grahams crackers etc...

you don't have graham crackers in ireland??

 

[EoinMag]

you don't have graham crackers in ireland??

Nope, I think we can sub them with a digestive biscuit, but it's always an annoyance when reading US recipes that people seem to rely so much on brand named stuff.

I've seen US recipes for "home cooked" food where it's a can of this and a can of that and I'm thinking holy crap, just buy a can of whatever you're trying to make, save you mixing up all the cans of stuff.....

 

[dataz722]

Eoin, you might want to look into a show called Good Eats. It is a cooking show but it does break quite a few of those things down and makes them from scratch. There is an episode that covers souther biscuits, one that does sausage gravy, and even one where he makes graham crackers. I think you can get most if not all of the episodes on youtube.

 

[EoinMag]

Yeah I know Altons shows, I even downloaded a stack of them at one point, I watched the one on brining.....suppose I should watch some of the others.

 

[bierhaus15]

Unrelated, but when I was living in Ireland I couldn't find graham crackers for a pumpkin pie crust, so I used Jaffa Cakes. It turned out pretty good.

My latest food obsession has been authentic Cajun cuisine. Made my own andouille (smoked sausage) and used it in everything from gumbo, jambalaya, dirty rice, ect... Really flavorful, honest food with ingredients that aren't too hard to find. Lots of good recipes all over the internet. Though might be a tad too spicy for the average Irishman's taste...

 

[jezter6]

Cornbread goes great with pulled pork.

I'd rather pulled pork and cornbread with some beans than pulled pork on a sammich.

 

[EoinMag]

Unrelated, but when I was living in Ireland I couldn't find graham crackers for a pumpkin pie crust, so I used Jaffa Cakes. It turned out pretty good.

My latest food obsession has been authentic Cajun cuisine. Made my own andouille (smoked sausage) and used it in everything from gumbo, jambalaya, dirty rice, ect... Really flavorful, honest food with ingredients that aren't too hard to find. Lots of good recipes all over the internet. Though might be a tad too spicy for the average Irishman's taste...

I'm possibly not the average Irishman, been living all over the world most of my life, born in Australia, lived in Ireland, Germany, England, Saudi Arabia, hung about a lot in Holland.

I eat spicy enough to strip paint off of walls, in fact I've only just gotten over a pretty serious scotch bonnet addiction

<edit> Jaffa cakes have jelly in them and a chocolate coating.......

 

[jvlpdillon]

One other thing which piques my curiosity are grits....I think it's like polenta right, can someone explain.

Yes grits are essentially polenta. However polenta is usually more coarsley ground corn meal and made form yellow corn. Grits are white corn. Grits are served for breakfast usualy with butter and or cheese, like cheddar. They are also serve with Shrimp for lunch and dinner.

 

[motobrewer]

I've seen US recipes for "home cooked" food where it's a can of this and a can of that and I'm thinking holy crap, just buy a can of whatever you're trying to make, save you mixing up all the cans of stuff.....

a few wars will do that to a society.

graham crackers aren't a name brand. it's a...graham cracker. like saltines.

 

[EoinMag]

a few wars will do that to a society.

graham crackers aren't a name brand. it's a...graham cracker. like saltines.

Wiki says they're like digestives, at least I have a replacement now should I need it.

And you've done it again....a saltine is not something we have here in Ireland either.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

One thing about the "classic American breakfast" I forgot to mention is Hashbrowns. They're just shredded potatoes fried in a pan. Some use a ring to keep them nice & neat and in a sort of pattie form, others sort of scatter them around in the pan. Often I'll add some diced onions, but there is really no limit to what can be added: cheese, chili, tomatoes, diced ham, etc... Just use a cheese grater to shred the raw potatoes. They turn grey if you don't put treat them to keep them white, but they taste the same. You can shred them into a bowl of water with a teaspoon of lemon juice added to the water & that'll keep them from turning grey, but they'll spatter in the pan if you don't drain them well. I just let them turn grey Regards, GF.

 

[Homercidal]

I dont' know anyone who makes cornbread from scratch. We all use Jiffy.

And Biscuits and Gravy are fried sausage ground fine, with a bit of flour added to thicken, then some milk (whole milk if you have it) until it makes a milk gravy. The seared sausage makes the flavor amazing! Add pepper to taste. Red pepper, or cayenne pepper for heat.

Pour that on some Southern Biscuits (or baking powder biscuits) or whatever. Real biscuits are best, but you can get cans of biscuit dough that will do in a pinch, or if you haven't mastered making real biscuits (like me). There should be plenty of recipes online for those biscuits. I think the can of baking powder also has it on the back.

I remember having "Beans" as a kid at my friend's house. I think they used Pinto beans, but thinking back I am pretty sure they also added some Black beans. It was a sort of thick bean soup, or bean gravy with beans in it. We had it for breakfast quite often with eggs and toast. I've made a similar type thing for dinner, but not just the same. I think that would be a good example of American Eats.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Yes grits are essentially polenta. However polenta is usually more coarsley ground corn meal and made form yellow corn. Grits are white corn. Grits are served for breakfast usualy with butter and or cheese, like cheddar. They are also serve with Shrimp for lunch and dinner.

While my it wasn't something my family did for breakfast I've met a few southerners where fried catfish and grits was a common breakfast. Didn't think I'd want fried catfish for breakfast...until I tried it.

Some other American 'classics' (imo) are:
Meatloaf
Yankee Pot Roast
Fried Chicken
Spaghetti (yes, spaghetti with meat sauce)
BBQ

 

[EoinMag]

I can make a nice meatloaf.
I make a nice spaghetti, pretty original with lots of red wine in the ground beef, very little tomato.
Fried chicken...well that's fried chicken

Yankee pot roast, I'm not familiar with
BBQ here is grilling whereas BBQ as you guys do it Southern style is more hot smoking and not something that is practised here a lot at all, but this certainly appeals.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Yea, it's all basic stuff. Many folks prefer them the way their mom made them, typical of comfort food. You probably have something in Ireland similar to Yankee Pot Roast. It's just a braised roast with potatoes, carrots, and celery (at least the way my mom made it).

Well that's fried chicken.

The dickens you say! It's one of my favorite things to eat but most places don't do it the way I like it. Check out Alton Brown's Fry Hard II.

 

[dataz722]

I can make a nice meatloaf.
I make a nice spaghetti, pretty original with lots of red wine in the ground beef, very little tomato.
Fried chicken...well that's fried chicken

Yankee pot roast, I'm not familiar with
BBQ here is grilling whereas BBQ as you guys do it Southern style is more hot smoking and not something that is practised here a lot at all, but this certainly appeals.

Yes, southern fried chicken isn't just fried chicken.

 

[EoinMag]

Yea, it's all basic stuff. Many folks prefer them the way their mom made them, typical of comfort food. You probably have something in Ireland similar to Yankee Pot Roast. It's just a braised roast with potatoes, carrots, and celery (at least the way my mom made it).

The dickens you say! It's one of my favorite things to eat but most places don't do it the way I like it. Check out Alton Brown's Fry Hard II.

I think a Yankee pot roast is just a Beef casserole, from what I've seen of it on Google images anyway.

Don't tell my mother, but I don't like most of what she makes, typical Irish style, overcooked to hell and just not nice. She likes stuff when I cook it properly and definitely takes tips when I pass them on, but I'm a much better cook than her.....there I said it....I know she doesn't read homebrew forums.....

 

[Myrdhyn]

Hi All,
I'm looking for some real recipes from the good people on here, I know I could do a search online and find some but I'm more interested in the honest home recipes of people on here.

I'm looking to know how to make a good corn bread, and also suggestions for what it's eaten with, although I do like it by itself.
I'm interested in both types of cornbread too, although I've only ever had the cakey type and there was cheese in it too, very tasty.

I'm also interested in exactly what biscuits and gravy are, and if it's worth it a recipe for those too.

I will mention that we don't have the products you have over there so an international recipe would be great from scratch, so no tins of something I need buy at some US store, just scratch ingredients like flour, not grahams crackers etc...

One other thing which piques my curiosity are grits....I think it's like polenta right, can someone explain.

You might notice it's not the fanciest of food I'm picking out, but then I find that simple is sometimes best in the food world, it's certainly true of Italian cooking.

So help me out there if you have some recipes and even any other traditional American recipes I can make from any larder cupboard from scratch ingredients.

Cheers, Eoin.

Dunno if you've gotten a Cornbread recipe or not (just reading the thread now), but I'll post up my great Aunt's recipe that is basically the only one anyone in my family ever makes anymore. Best. Damn. Cornbread. Ever.

Also, yes Grits = Polenta, though typically polenta is made with yellow hominy grits/grains and "grits" is typically made with white hominy. Anyone that tells you otherwise is just being a food snob. We typically do them one of two ways: 1) butter and a bit of sweetener (honey or plain sugar) 2) lots of cheese, salt, pepper, and sometimes chunks of sausge (think kielbasa or some type of smoked sausage, not ground breakfast sausage). Many people also swear by shrimp and grits.

edit: this recipe posting escaped my brain this weekend...i'll get it tonight, emailing myself now as a reminder

 

[Myrdhyn]

Yea, it's all basic stuff. Many folks prefer them the way their mom made them, typical of comfort food. You probably have something in Ireland similar to Yankee Pot Roast. It's just a braised roast with potatoes, carrots, and celery (at least the way my mom made it).

The dickens you say! It's one of my favorite things to eat but most places don't do it the way I like it. Check out Alton Brown's Fry Hard II.

How dare you forget the onions.

 

[Myrdhyn]

Sorry for the delay in posting, but here's our family cornbread recipe:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar (you can use up to 1/2 cup to taste, but 1/4cup is what the original recipe calls for)
2 eggs
1 cup whole buttermilk
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil or vegetable shortening

Place oil or shortening in 12" iron skillet, put iron skillet in oven, preheat oven to 425 *F with skillet in it. Mix remaining ingredients. Once oven is preheated, remove iron skillet, swirl melted shortening/oil to coat, pour remainder of oil/shortening into batter and mix. Pour batter into skillet, return to oven, cook 20-25mins until top is lightly browned. Remove from oven and run a small pat of butter across the top while it is still hot.

You can half the recipe and use an 8" skillet. I don't remember what that does to the cooking time, but basically just cook until it's done

 

[Fusorfodder]

I'm going to have to disagree - what I'm about to post is the best damn cornbread recipe ever. It's the family recipe of a friend, that I begged and pleaded constantly to get. I don't normally like cornbread at all, but I LOVE this stuff. It falls in the realm of crack.

Dry:
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup white flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet:
2 eggs, beaten
8 oz plain yogurt
8 oz cream corn
3 tbsp honey butter, melted
3/4 cup milk or butter milk

Mix together and bake for 20min @425 in a preheated cast iron pan

 

[Myrdhyn]

Actually very similar recipes when you look at them.

The baking powder + soda combo has more leavening than just powder by itself because it provides a more balanced reaction, so it's going to be about the same as the more powder. It's got less milk but more wet ingredients overall, probably will end up slightly more moist than my recipe. The lack in tang from the butter milk will be brought to the table by the yogurt.

Only *major* difference is the cream corn...which you can add to my recipe without changing anything (done it before)

 

[Beerrific]

Place oil or shortening in 12" iron skillet, put iron skillet in oven, preheat oven to 425 *F with skillet in it.

This is key. Absolutely a must. And the skillet should be cast iron and as old as dirt.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Place bacon grease in 12" iron skillet, put iron skillet in oven, preheat oven to 425 *F with skillet in it. Mix remaining ingredients.

My preference.

 

[Myrdhyn]

My preference.

Also valid. I usually use either shortening or bacon grease. I've used vegetable oil in a pinch, but I don't like it as much for some intangible reason.