Grandmother's Japanese Fruit Pie & Southern Cooking

My Grandmother was the best ever Southern cook!  She lived in South Carolina and whenever we visited from way up in North Carolina, she served one of her famous Southern dinners!  Of note is that when I was growing up what we now call "lunch" was "dinner" and what we now call "dinner" was "supper".  So, dinner was around noon time and supper was the evening meal.  Dinner was the big meal of the day and Grandmother’s dinners were truly unforgettable.  You’ve heard about a 5 course meal?  Well her dinners were 10 course meals!  Everything was served family style from the table & a table full of family was always present!  Her beautiful bowls and platters were literally filled to the brim with good food; biscuits & gravy, skillet cornbread, fried chicken, roast beef, country ham, baked macaroni & cheese, seasoned green beans, fresh creamed corn, fried okra, mashed potatoes, buttered white rice, black eye peas, and the list goes on!  Of course you can’t forget dessert!  One of my favorites was Japanese fruit pie but her apple pie, pecan pie, chocolate cake, caramel cake, and pound cake were five star recipients as well. 

Grandmother’s Japanese Fruit Pie   This recipe makes enough to fill a 9" deep dish pie shell... or about 10 individual tarts   INGREDIENTS: 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell 3 eggs, beaten 1 stick butter, melted 1 cup Splenda sugar baking blend 2  teaspoons vanilla extract 2 tablespoons vinegar (either distilled white or apple cider) 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup shredded coconut 1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.	In a medium mixing bowl combine eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Beat until smooth. Stir in pecans, coconut, and raisins. Pour mixture into pastry shell.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cool before serving.

Mexican Layered Salad

This is a great make-ahead salad, a twist on the old classic seven layer salad.  It's simply a fiesta of flavors and makes a beautiful presentation in a glass bowl.  It can be the salad course at your dinner party or a great pot luck dish.  You can even make this as an entree course if you add a layer of grilled chicken or a taco salad by adding layer of ground beef (well browned with taco seasoning).   I've made many versions of this salad, sometimes adding onions, avocados, or chopped green chilis.  It's fun to experiment.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups torn romaine (the smaller the pieces, the better)
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large green or red pepper, chopped
• 1 can black beans, washed & drained
• 1 cup corn (frozen is fine)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 cup light sour cream
• ¾ cup salsa
• 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican blended cheese
• sliced black olives

DIRECTIONS:

• In a 2-qt. trifle bowl or glass serving bowl, layer the first six ingredients.
• Sprinkle with salt & pepper
• Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, and salsa and spread over the top.
• Just before serving, sprinkle with  black olives, chips and cheese.
• Cover all day and serve; be sure to use a large serving spoon to get all the yummy layers!
• Yield: 10 servings.

Dessert Apple Enchiladas

Looking for a sweet finish to a spicy meal?  I think this recipe is the perfect ending to a Mexican dinner or hot bowl of chili!  It's been a regular for me because it's as tasty as it is easy.   I like to top mine off with a scoop of ice cream - cinnamon, vanilla, or caramel toffee swirl!  One "easy" part of this is that the recipe calls for a can of pie filling; of course your own home made filling would likely make it even better!

Ingredients:

1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling (or other pie filling of choice)
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas (I used Mission fajita sized tortillas)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Spoon fruit evenly onto the center of all tortillas; sprinkle with cinnamon.  Roll up tortillas and place seam side down on lightly greased 8x8 baking pan.
Bring butter, sugars, vanilla, and water to a boil in a small sauce pan.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 3  minutes.
Pour sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with extra cinnamon on top if desired.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream

Makes 6 large tortillas; may be cut in half to serve 12.

*variations are as easy as "pie".  The recipe is good as is or I have added cranberries (dried or fresh) and/or chopped nuts.  
*I make a lower sugar version by using apple pie filling that is sweetened with Splenda, Splenda baking blend & Splenda brown sugar.  Note that if you use Splenda sugars, you need half the amount.

Slow Cooker Creamy Grits

This recipe is a favorite in our home, especially when we have a house full of people!  Generally on our holiday breakfast  menu, it's sort of magical because you just dump the ingredients into your slow cooker before going to bed at night and when you awaken the next morning, voila you have a pot of creamy grits.  What could be easier?

This recipe has already been doubled for a large crock pot, but it works just as well if you halve it for a smaller one.  I halve it and use my 2 quart slow cooker for two to four people.

Servings: about 8

2 cups of grits

8 cups of water

2 tsp salt

Ground pepper to taste

1 lb of Kielbasa, cut into bite sized pieces (optional)

Cheddar cheese, grated

Butter or margarine to taste

Splash or two of milk or cream 

Liberally spray your slow cooker with Pam cooking spray.  Pour the grits, water, salt, and kielbasa (you may cook this with the grits or separately the next morning) into the crock pot at about 11:00 p.m. at night.  Cook on low heat all night.  In the morning, stir and add milk if necessary to make more creamy.  Add butter and pepper to taste and top with cheese.  Delicious!

A Brief History of Grits According to Patti

Grits Glorious Grits - a true Southern comfort food that always brings a smile to my face & makes me want to dance with joy!  You probably already know this, but I am a GRITS member (Girls Raised In The South) and I have eaten grits ever since my baby food days. 

On a rainy day, cozy up with "The GRITS (girls raied in the south) Guide to Life".  It's an excellent book.  GRITS Pearls of Wisdom are noted throughout the book.  My favorite is the GRITS Pearl of Wisdom #24:  If you learn to laugh at yourself,  you'll never run out of smiles.  So true.  Nuff said.

Grits, a breakfast staple, is served either as a stand alone bowl or to accompany a full Southern breakfast of eggs, country ham, and biscuits.  Southerners do NOT put sugar on grits, but we do use a bit of butter and salt & pepper and cheese (although cheese is optional)  (sometimes I like to add a dash of nutmeg or a dash of garlic... but never sugar).  Just so you know, I don't eat instant grits... it's just not the same in any way, shape, or form.  Quick cooking is fine and stone ground is even better!  I probably have a slight preference for yellow grits, but white grits are yummy too.

It seems that grits are probably one of the first truly American foods as the Native Americans ate a mush made of softened corn/maize and introduced it to the colonists of Jamestown. The fact that grits have remained popular is a testament to yumminess.

Did  you know that three-quarters of grits sold in the United States are sold in the South stretching from Texas to Virginia, also known as the “grits belt”?

Charleston, South Carolina's "The Post and Courier" proclaimed in 1952, “An inexpensive, simple, and thoroughly digestible food, [grits] should be made popular throughout the world. Given enough of it, the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about. A man full of [grits] is a man of peace.” I totally agree with this statement!

We eat grits for breakfast, as a side dish to accompany salmon cakes or fish, as an entree dish such as shrimp & grits.  You'll see shrimp & grits on the menu of many 5-Star restaurants, each claiming to have the best recipe!  Versions are made with mushrooms and garlic, or with tomatoes and onions, or shrimp and bacon... it's fun to experiment.

Now for a couple of funny family grits stories:

The first one is about my beloved Mama, who was a true Southern lady.  A few years ago, she & Daddy went to New England with Ken & me.  Ken is from New England so he was our tour guide.  First morning there, we head out to a local New England restaurant for breakfast in Ogunquit, Maine.  Mama orders her usual: one scrambled egg, bacon, grits, and biscuit.  Not so fast... No grits are on the menu!  My Mom is astounded!  No biscuits either!  She had to settle for hash browns and a bagel!

Second story is about Ken's Dad.  He was born in New York, lived in New England for most of his life until he later moved to Florida.  The first time he came to visit us in Chapel Hill, we took him out to our finest restaurant for Sunday brunch... The Fearrington House.  He ordered one of the omelette dishes.  When his order arrived, he was puzzled and asked the waiter "What is that white stuff on my plate"... When he learned that it was grits, he said "take it away"!  He never even tasted one single grit.

I know that there are many more funny stories... my own Ken for one insists on putting sugar on his grits because that's the way he eats cream of wheat.  He just doesn't understand that grits and cream of wheat are entirely different animals!  

Oh well, to each their own.  I will remain a true GRITS person and enjoy my grits as such.

In upcoming posts, I'll share a couple of favorite grits recipes.