America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook (23 page)

Monticello Okra & Tomatoes

Charlottesville, Virginia

SERVES 6 TO 8

Heart &Soul

Thomas Jefferson was very familiar with okra—a plant native to West Africa that was transported to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade—and grew it in his garden at Monticello. Here’s a classic combination of Southern vegetables that is especially popular during the summer months, and could have likely been prepared for the third president by his slave-cook Peter Hemings.

4 tablespoons olive oil (or bacon grease)
2 pounds okra, sliced (fresh or frozen)
2 cups tomatoes, peeled (fresh or canned)
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon black or cayenne pepper

If using frozen okra, first bring to room temperature.

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.

Slightly lower the heat, add okra, and sauté gently for a few minutes.

Stir okra frequently to keep it from sticking.

Add tomatoes, onion, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, oregano, basil, and black or cayenne pepper.

Toss all these together until there is virtually no liquid left in the pan.

Serve.

Haitian Hash

Naples, Florida

SERVES 6 TO 8

This is Ron Duprat’s family recipe for hash, learned in his family kitchen in Haiti. Duprat, the author of My Journey of Cooking, says it is a lovely side dish for eggs and omelettes, or grilled chicken, fish, or steak.

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
1 pound sweet potatoes
1 pound boniato potatoes
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 Scotch bonnet (habañero) peppers, stemmed seeded, and minced
1 teaspoon Maldon or other sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pass It Down TIP

Most of the nutrients in potatoes are in the skin, including iron and other important minerals. As long as the potatoes are well scrubbed before boiling, try making this recipe with the skin on.

Wash the potatoes well and place them in a large pot with enough water to cover by 3 inches. Bring water to a boil and lower to simmer for 25 minutes or until they’re fork tender. Drain the potatoes and run cool water over them. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel and chop into ½-inch pieces.

Heat olive oil in a medium sauté pan and add potatoes, onion, and all the bell peppers. Fry until onion is translucent. Add the Scotch bonnet peppers and stir well.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve as a side dish.

Did you know?
Boniato potatoes are also commonly called Cuban sweet potatoes, white sweet potatoes, or batata. They’re most commonly eaten in tropical areas, like the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Gillian Clark’s Easy Corn Relish

Washington, DC

SERVES 4 TO 6

In a past life, Gillian Clark was a marketing executive, a stressful job that, she says, had her “drinking Mylanta” out of a bottle nightly. She cooked to relax, and in 1995 with a one-year-old and six-year-old, she decided to leave the marketing biz and go to cooking school. Entering the market at a time when chefs were not revered as they are today, she had to work two jobs to survive. Today, Chef Clark is executive chef and owner of The General Store and Post Office Tavern and the soon-to-open Georgia Avenue Meeting House. She makes this corn relish most often with crab cakes, but it is a fresh side dish for any summer menu.

6 ears of corn, shucked, cleaned, and carefully cut off of the cob
1 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1/3 cup light brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño pepper, finely diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

In a saucepan, bring vinegar, sugar, cloves, and cinnamon to a boil. Set aside and let cool slightly.

Place the corn kernels in a 2-quart pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat and drain.

Put corn in a large bowl and add red onion, jalapeño pepper, and parsley to corn and mix well. Strain vinegar mixture and pour over corn mixture. Mix well.

Season with salt and pepper. Set aside in fridge to completely chill.

Did you know?
George Crum, an African American-Native American cook at Moon’s Lake House, is credited with inventing the potato chip? In 1853, the then-posh resort in fashionable Saratoga Springs in upstate New York catered to a wealthy clientele, one of whom complained that Crum’s French Fried potatoes were too thick. To teach the customer a lesson, Crum sliced the potatoes as thinly as possible, deep fried them in oil, and doused them with salt—much to the customer’s delight. The crisps became so popular they were branded Saratoga Chips and widely sold as a snack. Earlier English recipe books had recipes for “potato shavings,” so while it’s just possible that the cook didn’t actually invent the treat, there is no doubt that he—and his legendary showmanship—popularized it into what is now one of America’s most beloved snacks.

Edna Lewis’ Corn Pudding

Freetown, Virginia

SERVES 6 TO 8

Edna Lewis can easily be called the Julia Child of Southern cuisine—and in fact she often has. The granddaughter of a former slave, Ms. Lewis was born and raised in Virginia, but moved to New York City at the age of 16. She lived a remarkable life, first as a seamstress working for notable celebrities, then as a political activist and later as a noted chef.

This recipe for a classic corn pudding is from her first cookbook,
The Taste of Country Cooking,
in which she writes, “Corn pudding was one of the great delicacies of summer and the first corn dish of the season. After helping to thin out corn and weed it, we watched eagerly for the day when Mother served her rich, aromatic, golden-brown corn pudding. It was always served with a sweet potato casserole made from fresh dug sweet potatoes.” The recipe is reprinted as the author wrote it.

2 cups corn, cut from the cob
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups rich (whole) milk
3 tablespoons melted butter
½ teaspoon fresh-grated nutmeg
1½ quart casserole

Author’s note:
An ingenious way we had to retain the freshness of the corn was to stand the ears in a tub of water about 2½ inches deep. When the ear is severed from the stalk, its source of moisture is cut off. By standing the corn in a dish of clean water, the cob continues to absorb moisture. Refrigeration, of course, helps. How many ears will your icebox hold?