RECIPES

Hominy Grits
New England Clam Chowder
Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya
Cobb Salad
Sweet Potato Pie
Pedernales River Chili con Carne 
Cornbread

Hominy Grits

A Native American recipe

Used as a breakfast cereal, lunch or dinner side dish

5 cups water
1 cup hominy grits
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon honey

Bring water to a rapid boil in a saucepan.  Gradually pour in the hominy grits and stir.  Then add the butter and stir.  Cook for 20 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.  Grits may be sweetened with honey or maple syrup.  Serve while hot.   8 Servings

For more traditional recipes, visit (“The Great American Potluck”) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/ckbk/index.html

New England Clam Chowder

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

2 Tablespoons melted butter

8 ounces Quahog clams, chopped (liquid reserved)

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup clam juice

1 cup peeled and coarsely chopped potatoes

¼ cup melted butter

½ cup flour

1 cup milk

1 cup Half & Half or heavy cream

Dash thyme

Dash salt

Dash white pepper

In a 3-quart saucepan, sauté onion and celery in 2 Tablespoons butter until transparent. Add liquid from clams, clam juice, chicken broth and potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are tender.

In a separate pan, add ¼ cup butter. Stir in flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Do not brown. Gently stir flour mixture into soup. Add clams, milk and half & half or cream. Stir gently until thickened. Add seasonings. Stir and enjoy!

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya
(from chef and author Emeril Lagasse, 1999)

Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French creation, the offspring of paella in the New World.  A Cajun version was adopted later after the absorption of White French Creoles into the Cajun population after their fall of power in New Orleans from the Civil War.

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb andouille, chorizo, or other smoked sausage, cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices

2 cups chopped onions

¾ cup chopped bell peppers

¾ cup chopped celery

salt + cayenne to taste

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 can (14 ½ ounces) whole tomatoes, chopped, with juice

1 tbsp chopped garlic

2 cups water

4 bay leaves

¼ tsp dried thyme

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

¼ cup chopped green onions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or a large-cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for 2 minutes. Add onions, bell peppers, and celery. Season with salt and cayenne to taste and auté for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden, wilted and soft.

Add the rice and stir to coat evenly. Add the tomatoes with their juices, the garlic, bay leaves and water, thyme. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Season shrimp with salt and cayenne in a mixing bowl. Add to mixture and cook for 10 more minutes. Cook until rice is tender, liquid is absorbed and shrimp is pink.

Remove from heat and let stand, covered for about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the green onions and serve.

Makes 6 servings

Cobb Salad 
(from the Brown Derby Restaurant, Hollywood, California)

3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
8 bacon slices
1 head romaine lettuce, leaves separated and torn into bite-size pieces
2 cups chopped watercress (tough stems removed)
4 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken
2 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, chopped
¼ pound plus 1 ounce Roquefort cheese, crumbled
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Several long chive lengths for garnish

Cut the hard-cooked eggs into ½-inch dice. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, fry the bacon about 10 minutes or until crisp; transfer to paper towels to drain. When cool, crumble and set aside.

Make a bed of lettuce on a platter, shallow bowl, or individual serving plates. Arrange the eggs, bacon, herbs, watercress, turkey or chicken, avocados, tomatoes. And the ¼ pound Roquefort cheese in a neat pattern atop the lettuce, in rows or in a checkerboard pattern, covering the lettuce almost completely.

In a small bowl, whisk together the wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper. Using a fork, mash in the remaining 1 ounce Roquefort cheese to make a paste. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil to form a thick dressing.

Pour a little of the dressing over the salad and garnish with chive lengths. Serve immediately. Pass the remaining dressing at the table.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Sweet Potato Pie
(American South)

4 large sweet potatoes
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 store-bought pie crust, or your can just line a pan with vanilla wafers
½ cup milk

Boil the sweet potatoes until tender. When you stick a
fork in them it should go in easy but you don’t
want them to fall apart.

Let the potatoes cool and then peel them.

Put the potatoes in a large mixing bowl and
mash them thoroughly with a potato masher.
Melt the butter and pour it and the other
ingredients in the bowl of potatoes. Stir
until well mixed.

Whether you used a ready made pie crust or
just cookies, pour the potatoes mixture
into the crust.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes.  Top with miniature marshmallows and continue baking until marshmallows become golden brown or until a toothpick
inserted in the center comes out dry.

Pedernales River Chili con Carne
(Texas)

This recipe was former President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s favorite of this signature dish from Texas.

4 pounds coarsely ground beef (chili-grind)
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
6 teaspoons chili powder
2 (16-ounce) cans tomatoes
Salt to taste
2 cups hot water

In a large frying pan, brown meat with onion and garlic until meat is lightly browned; transfer ingredients to a large kettle.

Cornbread
(Native American)

Native Americans were using ground corn for cooking long before the European explorers arrived in the New World. Cornbread was first discovered by Europeans during the European exploration of North America. Europeans who had to use the local resources for food fashioned cornmeal into cornbread. Cornbread was popular during the American Civil War because it was very cheap and could be made in many different forms. It could be fashioned into high-rising, fluffy loaves or simply fried for a fast meal.

Ingredients

1 cup Yellow Corn Meal

1 cup of all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs lightly beaten

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place two tbsp. shortening in 8 inch square baking pan. Place in hot oven until shortening is melted. Combine dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. Combine milk, oil and eggs in small bowl. Mix well. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with butter.

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Updated: 20 May 2008

Source: U.S. Permanent Mission to the OAS