America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook (38 page)
The narrative of Mr. Wesley Jones, who was born enslaved in South Carolina in 1840, is the source of this delicious barbecue sauce. In his narrative, edited by Elmer Turnage of the Works Projects Administration of the 1930s, he described his role as a pit-master at the many barbecues that served as social and business engagements for the planter class. Mr. Jones and many other men like him are the unsung creators of the Southern barbecue tradition. Historian Michael Twitty says that while some trace the origins of the word barbecue to a Carib term from the West Indies, barbacoa, other linguists point to words like babbake, which means to “grill, toast, or broil” from the Hausa language of northern Nigeria, as evidence that barbecue has equally strong roots in African and African American culture.
½ stick unsalted butter or margarine
1 large yellow or white onion, well chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 pod long red cayenne pepper or
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried, rubbed sage
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves or
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
½ teaspoon crushed coriander seed
¼ cup dark brown sugar or 4 tablespoons molasses (not blackstrap)
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent. Turn heat down slightly and add vinegar, water, any variation ingredients if using, and salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, rubbed sage, basil, coriander, and sugar or molasses.
Cook gently for 30 minutes to an hour. Use as light mop sauce or glaze during the last 15–30 minutes over the pit of coals as well as a dip for cooked meat.
Pass It Down variations:
Carolina Mustard Sauce:
Add ½ cup or more of brown mustard to taste, and a bit more sugar to taste.
Red Sauce:
Add two cans of tomato paste or four very ripe red or purple heirloom tomatoes, such as Large Red, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, or Amish Paste, cooked down for several hours on low heat into a comparable consistency; and two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.
Caramelly Chocolate Sauce
Olathe, Kansas
MAKES 1½ CUPS SAUCE
Renea Feagin uses this recipe most often to top her brownies, but it’s great on ice cream too.
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
¼ teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
¼ cup hot milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir together chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and salt. Stir until chips melt and mixture is thick and bubbly, about 5 minutes.
Place the egg yolks in a small mixing bowl and whisk in hot milk, adding milk a little at a time, whisking the whole while so the eggs do not scramble. Add egg yolk mixture to melted chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
Continue to cook until mixture is very thick and bubbly, about 1 minute. Set a fine mesh sieve over a medium-size mixing bowl and strain the chocolate mixture into the bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to force the mixture through the sieve, if necessary. Discard any lumps.
Stir in vanilla and set mixture aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
Sweet Tea
Southern United States
MAKES 8 SERVINGS
Heart & Soul
Sweet tea, a highly sweetened, deeply steeped iced tea, is popular throughout the South all-year around. It’s not just a summertime drink, as it is in the North and elsewhere, and folks will drink it by itself or with meals. The secret is boiling the sugar with the water and then adding the teabags to steep.
2 quarts (8 cups) cold water
1 cup sugar 4
Luziane tea bags, or other black tea bags
Place water in large pot and add sugar. Bring to a boil and stir so sugar totally dissolves.
Remove pot from heat and add tea bags. Cover and allow to steep 15 minutes.
Remove tea bags and allow tea to cool. Pour into a gallon pitcher or jar and add 2 more quarts of cold water. Store in refrigerator and enjoy anytime.
Did You Know?
Sweet Tea is one of the South’s oldest and most distinctive southern comforts. If you order Sweet Tea below the Mason-Dixon line, you would routinely be given a “long and strong” brewed, very highly sweetened iced beverage estimated to be about two times as sweet as your average soda.
“Sweet Tea is the house wine of the South.”
— Dolly Parton in
Steel Magnolias
Pass It Down variation:
Watching your blood sugar? Try Stevia, an herb that naturally tastes sweeter than sugar and can be purchased as a powder or in liquid drops. To make sweet tea using Stevia, stir in the Stevia after removing the tea bags. You’ll need 4 tablespoons of Stevia powder or 2½ teaspoons of liquid Stevia.