The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook
Page 13
MERINGUE TOPPING
3 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and sugar until stiff. Add vanilla. Spread over pudding mix; completely seal around edge. Bake until desired brownness on top.
The Lady & Sons
Savannah “Tiramisu”
SERVES 12 TO 16
2 dozen macaroons, crumbled
½ cup bourbon or rum
½ pound (2 sticks) butter
1cup sugar
6 eggs, separated
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted ½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped pecans
1 dozen double ladyfingers
¾ cup heavy cream, whipped with 3 tablespoons sugar until stiff
Soak crumbled macaroons with bourbon or rum. Cream butter with sugar. Beat in lightly beaten egg yolks; add melted chocolate, vanilla, nuts, and macaroons. Beat egg whites until stiff; fold into chocolate mixture. Grease a springform pan; line with separated ladyfingers. Alternate layers of chocolate mixture with remaining ladyfingers. Chill overnight. Remove from pan and decorate with whipped cream.
Peach Cobbler
SERVES 8 TO 10
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup self-rising flour
¾ cup milk One 28-ounce can sliced peaches in syrup, undrained (see Variation)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter in deep baking dish and place in oven to melt. Mix sugar and flour; add milk slowly to prevent lumping. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Still do not stir; batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Good with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
The Lady & Sons
VARIATION: When available, fresh fruit is wonderful. You may use fresh blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, peaches, or pears. Simply clean, peel, and core 2 cups of fruit and mix with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. In a saucepan, bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir often, making sure sugar is completely dissolved. Substitute this for the canned peaches.
Cooking “Tips from The Lady
Unless specifically instructed to put your dish in a cold oven to begin baking, you should always preheat the oven to the temperature required.
Always beat eggs before adding sugar.
Combine dry ingredients together when baking.
Add flour and milk to egg mixture alternately, beginning with flour mixture and ending with flour mixture for a lighter cake, muffin, or biscuit.
To eliminate odor from collards being cooked, add one washed, unshelled pecan to the collards pot before turning the stove on.
To determine whether an egg is fresh or not, place the uncracked egg in a glass of water. If it sinks to the bottom, it's fresh. If it floats, throw it out!
To make fluffier scrambled eggs, beat in a small amount of water instead of milk.
If baking a double-crust pie, brush top layer lightly with milk for a shiny crust; for a sweet crust, sprinkle with granulated sugar or a mixture of sugar and cinnamon; for a glazed crust, brush lightly with beaten egg. If you place the pie on a hot cookie sheet in the oven during preheating, it will ensure that the bottom crust will bake through.
You can always substitute 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour for 2 cups cake flour.
No buttermilk? Add 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar to 1 cup fresh milk; let sour for 5 minutes.
Remember, 1½ cups corn syrup equals 1 cup sugar dissolved in ½ cup water.
To remove excess grease from soups, drop a lettuce leaf in and watch it absorb the grease. Repeat until the desired amount is removed. Discard lettuce.
To keep unused egg yolks fresh for future use, place in bowl and cover with 2 tablespoons of oil. They will remain fresh for 4 to 5 days.
If you're out of tomato juice, simply mix ½ cup tomato sauce and ½ cup water to create 1 cup of tomato juice.
If you want to achieve a lighter texture in your baking, add a teaspoon of baking powder to any recipe calling for self-rising flour or self-rising cornmeal.
Out of sweetened condensed milk? Make your own: Mix 6 cups whole milk with 4½ cups sugar, 1 stick of butter, and 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tablespoon vanilla). Cook over medium heat, reducing liquid, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Cool. Yields 4½ cups. This can be stored covered in the refrigerator for several weeks. Cut recipe in half for immediate use.
Red potatoes or “new” potatoes are far superior for use in any potato recipe. For great convenience in preparing a variety of potato recipes, keep cooked red potatoes in refrigerator at all times. They can be used on the spur of the moment for potato salad, hash browns, or French fries. They will keep at least a week in the refrigerator if they are well drained.
In many of the recipes by The Lady, you will find we make reference to our House Seasoning. The recipe is: 1 cup salt, ¼ cup black pepper, and ¼ cup garlic powder. Mix well. Store in shaker near stove for convenience.
If you're watching your fat intake, you can try substituting low-fat cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, etc.
Never throw away chicken stock; fresh vegetables, such as peas, butter beans, turnip greens, collards, and rutabagas, are wonderful cooked in it. Stock may also be frozen for later use in soups and sauces.
Acknowledgments
To all my family, friends, staff, and guests who have given their invaluable help in making this book and restaurant a reality. My most heartfelt thanks goes out to each and every one of you: Mildred C. Ambos, Pat Andres, Ernest Bartley, Trina Bearden, Amy Beaver, John Berendt, Diane Berryhill, Nancy Blood, Holly Brantley, Mike Carnahan, Jamie Chabot, Dora Charles, Joshua Charpentier, Christina Cheves, Bob Christian, Todd Churco, Leroy Clayton, Becky Cohen, Theresa Lynn Creo, Roger Crews, Kevin Crumbley, Carolynn C. Cundiff, Janet Di-Claudio, Jessie Ruth Dixon, Amy Dupuy, Susan Dupuy, Judge Tom Edenfield, Frances Finney, Felicia Gaines, Regina Gaines-Baker, David Gaynor, Lorianne Greenlee, Jean Gregory, Maria Griffin, Ann Schuburger Hanson, Captain Judy Helmey, Corrie Waye Hiers, Don Hiers, Earl “Bubba” W. Hiers Jr., Elizabeth Hiers, Glennis Hiers, Jill R Hiers, C. McCall Holmes, Cathy Holmes, David Howard, Dion Hurd, Rance Jackson, Ineata “Jellyroll” Jones, Jacklyn Miller, Sheila M. Mims, Jody Moyer, Karen Nangle, George A. Ort III, Kelley P. Ort, Peggy P. Ort, Jacqueline R. Patton, Michael Peay, Shelly Peay, Erick Pineda, Paul Powell, Jeanne Powers, Peggy Richardson, Virginia K Robertson, Helen Rooks, Bill Schumann, Esther Shaver, Kristen Short, Clark Smith, Dorothy S. Smith, Steven P. Starling, Brendan Sweeney, Charlene Wagner, Suzette Dupuy Wagner, Denise Watson, Claire Watts, Chris White, Melvin Williams, Willie Wilson, and Mary Evelyn Young.
I would especially like to thank the wonderful care and consideration Random House has given me in transforming what started off as a local collection of recipes into a national cookbook—it has been a dream come true. Since discovering The Lady & Sons on a business trip, my editor, Pamela Cannon, has worked tirelessly on the book's behalf, for which I thank her a thousand times over. I would also like to express my gratitude to Beth Pearson, associate copy chief, for her carefully detailed job of overseeing the book's progress; Vicki Wong, senior designer, for her thoughtful design ideas; and art director Andy Carpenter, a fellow Southerner, who made the book jacket come to life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PAULA H. DEEN was born and raised in Albany, Georgia. She later moved to Savannah, where she and her two sons, Bobby and Jamie, started the Bag Lady catering company. The business took off and evolved into The Lady & Sons Restaurant, which is located in Savannah's historic district and specializes in Southern cooking.
ABOUT THE TYPE
This book was set in Galliard, a typeface designed by Matthew Carter for the Merganthaler Linotype Company in 1978. Galliard is based on the sixteenth-century typefaces of Robert Granjon.
Copyright © 1997, 19
98 by Paula H. Deen
Introduction copyright © 1998 by John Berendt
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by
Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
This work was privately published in different form in 1997
as Favorite Recipes of the Lady & Her Friends.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deen, Paula H.
The Lady & Sons Savannah country cookbook / Paula H. Deen;
introduction by John Berendt.
p. cm.
Previously published under title: Favorite recipes of the Lady &
Her Friends.
Includes index.
eISBN: 978-0-307-55728-5
1. Cookery, American—Southern style. 2. Cookery—Georgia—
Savannah. 3. Lady & Sons (Restaurant) I. Deen, Paula H.
Favorite recipes of the Lady & Her Friends. II. Title.
TX715.2.S68D44 1998
641.5975—dc21 97-41561
Random House website address: www.atrandom.com
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