Texas Home Cooking

by Cheryl Jamison

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  Betty's Ambrosia Salad with Lemon Dressing

  A heavenly concoction of fresh citrus and tropical fruits, ambrosia shows up in some of the earliest Lone Star cookbooks and still graces many Texas tables at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cheryl's mother, Betty, perfected our family preparation, a little different from most. Many supermarkets now offer fresh pineapple already cut into rounds or bite-size chunks, but in a pinch the canned variety will do.

  1 pound fresh pineapple slices or chunks in juice

  ½ cup sugar

  2 teaspoons cornstarch

  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

  1 egg, lightly beaten

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  5 bananas

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  ½ cup (1 to 2 ounces) grated mild cheddar cheese

  ½ cup shredded coconut

  Serves 4 to 6

  With a strainer, drain the pineapple. Measure 1 cup of juice, and set it aside. Cut the pineapple into very small chunks or tidbits, and reserve them.

  Make the dressing: In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour in the pineapple juice slowly, stirring to eliminate any lumps. Add the lemon and orange juices and the egg, simmering until thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Cool the dressing.

  Slice the bananas into thin rounds and arrange half of them in a serving bowl. Top them with half of the pineapple chunks and half of the dressing. Repeat the layers, and sprinkle on the cheese and coconut. Refrigerate the salad, covered, for at least 1 hour before serving. The salad is best the day it's made.

  Fig and Cantaloupe Salad

  This is a tasty, if unusual, blend of two of the state's foremost fruits.

  8 fresh figs, sliced into sixths

  2 cups cantaloupe chunks (from about ½ medium cantaloupe)

  ¼ cup chopped fresh mint

  ¼ cup pecan pieces, toasted

  DRESSING

  ½ cup sour cream or yogurt

  1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey

  1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

  4 thin cantaloupe wedges

  Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

  Serves 4

  In a medium bowl, combine the figs, cantaloupe, mint, and pecans.

  Make the dressing: In a smallbowl, stir together the sour cream or yogurt, honey, and lime juice. Pour the dressing over the fruit and toss them together lightly. The salad can be refrigerated until it is ready to serve, but it is best eaten within a few hours of preparation.

  To serve, place a cantaloupe wedge on each person's plate. Spoon the salad in the hollow of each wedge. Garnish each serving with mint leaves.

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  Technique Tip

  There are a couple of ways to tell a good cantaloupe from an inferior one. First, check the stem. It should be completely gone, leaving only a smooth, shallow basin known as a "full slip." You also should be able to smell a full-bodied fruity aroma.

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  The most arid corner of Texas produces the juiciest cantaloupes. The well-irrigated alkaline soil of Pecos, along with its western sunlight and its half-mile-high altitude, yields succulent fruit.

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  Smoked Turkey and Cantaloupe Salad

  This salad gets some of its flavor from curry powder. The East Indian blend of spices has appeared in Texas cookbooks for over a century, but Helen Corbitt popularized its contemporary use in the state.

  2 cups shredded or cubed smoked turkey

  ½ medium cantaloupe, diced

  ¾ cup pecan pieces, toasted

  2 celery ribs, chopped

  2 green onions, sliced

  1 teaspoon curry powder

  Pinch of salt

  ⅓ cup mayonnaise

  ⅓ cup sour cream or yogurt

  Lettuce leaves and thin cantaloupe wedges, for garnish

  Serves 4 to 6

  In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, cantaloupe, pecans, celery, onions, curry powder, and salt. Mix in the mayonnaise and sour cream or yogurt, and toss the ingredients together. Refrigerate the salad, covered, for about an hour.

  Arrange the lettuce leaves and cantaloupe wedges on each plate, and top them with mounds of the salad.

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  Pecos, Texas, residents celebrate their favorite crop at the Cantaloupe Festival in August, when they carve melons in the shape of their own faces and compete in a look-alike contest. The next day the festival goes aloft as airplane pilots try to bomb targets with cantaloupes.

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  Triple-A Chicken Salad

  This combination of apricots, apples, and almonds is a triple play in any league. It's based on a recipe from the Dallas Junior League's best-selling South of the Fork cookbook.

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  1½ cups Poppyseed Dressing ([>])

  ½ cup dried apricots, cut in halves or quarters

  1½ pounds shredded cooked chicken, chilled

  ½ cup sliced green onions

  ½ teaspoon minced lemon zest

  ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

  1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, sliced thin

  Lettuce leaves, for garnish

  Serves 4 to 6

  In a medium bowl, combine the poppyseed dressing with the apricots. Let the bowl sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Mix in the chicken, green onions, and lemon zest. Refrigerate the salad, covered, if you wish. Shortly before serving, stir the almonds and apple into the salad. Mound the salad on lettuce leaves.

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  The Junior League of Dallas has been publishing cookbooks since the Great Depression. The first one, called simply Cook Book, came out in 1935.

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  Shelby County Egg Salad

  Egg salads have been a winner on Texas tables for well over a century. This version, created by Jason Griffin of Center, won a cook-off at the 1986 East Texas Poultry Festival.

  6 hard-boiled eggs, grated fine or sieved

  ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons minced pimiento-stuffed olives

  ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

  2 tablespoons minced green onions

  2 tablespoons minced parsley

  1 tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard

  Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

  Lettuce leaves, optional, for garnish

  Makes about 2 cups

  Combine all the ingredients together in a medium bowl, and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate the salad, covered, at least 30 minutes. Serve the salad atop lettuce leaves or spread it in a sandwich. Leftovers can be kept a couple of days.

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  You can win with more than egg salads at the East Texas Poultry Festival, held in Center in early October. We particularly enjoy the Flying Chicken Contest, where athletic birds fly as far as they can from a roost on a 12-foot-high mailbox.

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  Miss Sterett's Shrimp Salad

  This is an updated version of a pioneering dish Willie Mae Sterett served in the 1950s at the S&S Tea Room, then the leading spot for ladies' luncheons in Dallas.

  SHRIMP

  4 cups unsalted seafood stock

  1 medium onion, chopped

  Tops of 3 to 4 celery ribs

  2 tablespoons salt

  2 bay leaves

  ½ teaspoon dried thyme

  1½ pounds medium shrimp, unshelled

  SALAD

  ½ cup mayonnaise

  3 tablespoons minced parsley

  1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

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  4 celery ribs, chopped fine

  ½ teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard

  ¼ teaspoon dried thyme

  Lettuce leaves, for garnish

  Serves 4

  In a large saucepan, combine the stock with the onion, celery, and seasonings. Bring the liquid to a boil, and boil for 10
to 15 minutes, reducing the liquid slightly. Add the shrimp, immediately reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook the shrimp 2 to 4 minutes, until the shells have turned pink and the shrimp are firm. Don't overcook the shrimp. Drain the liquid from the shrimp, and put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes, until they are cool.

  When the shrimp are cool, peel and devein them, and slice each in half lengthwise. Place the shrimp in a bowl and gently mix in the remaining ingredients. Chill the salad, covered, for 30 minutes or longer before serving. Mound the salad on the lettuce leaves.

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  Technique Tip

  The shrimp salad is deceptively simple. For best results, get top-quality shrimp and cook them only briefly but with a lot of seasoning. The shrimp soak up just enough of the flavor to enhance their natural briny sweetness. Don't be alarmed by the amount of salt in the cooking liquid; the shrimp absorb little of it.

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  Catfish Salad

  Even Willie Mae Sterett wouldn't have dared serve this dish. In her prime, catfish was relegated to the plates of poor folks. It's gained in stature only recently, partially through the support of authorities such as Craig Claiborne, who calls it "one of the prized fishes of American waters."

  ¾ cup chopped celery

  ½ cup chopped dill pickle plus 1 tablespoon pickling liquid

  ½ cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives

  2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

  3 tablespoons mayonnaise

  3 tablespoons yogurt or additional mayonnaise

  2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

  2 tablespoons capers

  3 garlic cloves, minced

  Juice of 1 lemon

  1 teaspoon salt

  1½ pounds catfish fillets, smoked, broiled, or grilled, and flaked

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  2 dashes of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, optional

  Lettuce leaves, for garnish

  Serves 4 to 6

  In a medium bowl, mix together the celery, pickle, olives, eggs, mayonnaise, yogurt, horseradish, capers, garlic, lemon, and salt, and toss together well. Add the catfish to the other ingredients, mixing gently. Taste, and adjust the seasoning, adding Tabasco if you like. Chill the salad for at least 1 hour for the flavors to mingle together. Serve the salad atop the lettuce leaves.

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  Miss Sterett occasionally got peeved at the tastes of her wealthy clients. She once complained, "Here we are, overnight from the Gulf, and they have no interest in seafood. It's just pure damned ignorance.... If these women would try to be a little cosmopolitan, you wouldn't have to practically break their arms to get them to take something they haven't been eating since they were kids."

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  Shivering Elizabeth Salad

  We once tried to improve this traditional dish with fresh fruit, but the result wasn't half as good as Mary Jane Mallard's version in A Texas Hill Country Cookbook, the state's best collection of congealed, or gelatin-based, salads. We went back to a recipe very close to Mrs. Mallard's.

  2 11-ounce cans mandarin oranges

  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  1 3-ounce package orange gelatin

  1 pint orange sherbet, softened

  2 tablespoons sour cream

  DRESSING

  ½ cup sour cream

  ½ cup yogurt

  ½ cup mango or peach chutney, puréed

  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  Zest of 1 lemon, optional

  Serves 6 to 8

  Oil a 6- to 8-cup decorative mold.

  With a strainer, drain the oranges, reserving them and their syrup. Pour the lemon juice into a measuring cup. Add enough orange syrup to make ¾ cup of liquid. Heat the liquid in a medium saucepan, and stir in the gelatin until it is dissolved. Add the sherbet and sour cream to the warm gelatin and stir until they are well combined. Transfer the pan to the refrigerator and chill 30 to 40 minutes, or until the gelatin turns syrupy.

  Stir in the drained oranges and pour the gelatin into the prepared mold. Chill it until it sets, 1 to 2 hours.

  Make the salad dressing while the gelatin sets: Combine all the ingredients, except for 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, in a small bowl and stir them well. Add the additional lemon juice, if needed, for tartness. The dressing may be made a day ahead, if it is covered and refrigerated.

  Unmold the salad shortly before serving time. Serve it topped with the dressing.

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  The makers of Jell-O deserve credit for promoting salads in Texas and other parts of the country decades ago. They marketed their sweetened gelatin as an appetizing way to eat fruits and vegetables, and the idea caught on like beer at a barbecue. Some people today take an uppity view about congealed salads, but they are still the most popular potluck dishes in Texas.

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  Dr Pepper Cherry Salad

  Texans will mix almost anything with gelatin. We even found, in an old San Angelo cookbook, a congealed salad with peanut butter. Dr Pepper may sound odd, too, but this is a combination that works.

  1 17-ounce can sweet black cherries

  1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice

  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  2 3-ounce packages cherry gelatin

  12-ounce can or bottle Dr Pepper

  1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

  Serves 6

  Oil a 6-cup decorative mold.

  With a strainer, drain the liquid from the cherries and the pineapple, and reserve the liquid. Slice the cherries in half, and reserve them along with the pineapple. Add the lemon juice to the liquid from the canned fruit. Measure the liquid and add enough water to make 2 cups. Bring the liquid to a boil.

  Place the gelatin in a medium bowl. Pour the boiling liquid over it and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Mix in the Dr Pepper. Refrigerate until the gelatin turns syrupy, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

  Fold the fruit and pecans into the gelatin. Pour the gelatin into the mold, and chill it again until the mixture sets firmly, another hour or two. Unmold the salad, and serve it.

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  A similar congealed salad, popular throughout the South, is made with Coke, RC Cola, or even 7 Up. We think the Texas soft drink gives this one the edge.

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  In The Texas Cookbook, Arthur and Bobbie Coleman offered an ingenious explanation for the state's fascination with congealed salads. They reckoned that gelatin is "particularly appropriate to Texas, coming as it does from cows."

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  Seafoam Salad

  A 1927 Texas cookbook suggested dressing up pears for a salad by dyeing one half of each pear green and the other half pink, and then sticking cloves in each to represent stems. The approach in this salad is just as colorful and tastes better.

  2 16-ounce cans pears (in light syrup or their own juice)

  1 3-ounce package lime gelatin

  1 cup cottage cheese

  ½ cup mayonnaise

  Juice from 1 lime

  1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

  Serves 6

  Oil a 6-cup decorative mold.

  Drain the pears and chop them fine. Reserve the fruit, and measure 1 cup of the pear liquid, discarding the rest or saving it for another use. In a small pan, bring the pear liquid to a boil. Sprinkle in the gelatin and stir it until it dissolves.

  In a medium bowl, combine the cottage cheese, mayonnaise, lime juice, and horseradish. With a mixer, beat the ingredients well. Pour in the gelatin mixture and beat just to combine.

  Refrigerate the mixture until it is thickened, 30 to 45 minutes. Fold in the pears. Pour the gelatin into the mold. Chill the salad, until the gelatin sets firmly, at least 1 hour. Unmold the salad shortly before serving it.

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  When wheat was available in early Texas it was used for biscuits, a special treat at the time. John Duval recalled how he celebrated the republic's independence from Mexico with a big meal of biscuits—"no
ne of your little flimsy affairs, such as are usually seen on fashionable tables, but good solid fat fellows, each as big as a saucer."

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  Just Good Plain Cornbread

  We dedicate this recipe to Governor Ann Richards, famed for cajoling legislators late at night at the Mansion with a silver tongue and a plate of golden cornbread.

  1 tablespoon oil, preferably corn or canola

  1½ cups medium-grind cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

  ½ cup all-purpose flour

  3 tablespoons sugar