I don’t know how I developed my passion for the cooking of the south. In fact I haven’t traveled to the south much at all. I went to Savannah once and recall a wonderful meal at The Olde Pink House. I’ve been to Williamsburg and dined at the Williamsburg Inn that evokes the old south with black waiters in livery. I’ve been to Atlanta and Florida but didn’t seek out regional cooking. I wish I had also spent more time in Charleston, South Carolina where it has the biggest concentration of southern chefs doing great things. I subscribe to the southern lifestyle magazine Garden and Gun and import soft wheat southern flour milled in small granaries in the South. What more can I do from my perch up north?
Clockwise: fried chicken at the old Caiola’s; a generic portrayal of fried chicken ; fried chicken at BJ’s
But here I am: a native New Yorker living in Maine and cooking southern food. Go figure. I think the fascination with the cooking of the south was inspired by a cookbook called “Miss Mary’s Down Home Cooking: Traditional Recipes from Lynchburg, Tennessee. ” I was given the book as a present at least 20 years ago. I love this kind of no-frills cooking: rich, satisfying and just plain delicious.
The book is where I developed my passion for chess pie when I made Miss Mary’s version of that classic southern pie. And of all the recipes I’ve seen since in my vast collection of cookbooks on southern food, this one is still the best. Then there were other memorable preparations in the book like Light Corn Bread, a uniquely textured cornbread leavened with yeast. Or the macaroni and cheese with tons of cheese, milk and crushed saltines. All those northern versions are just plain hooey. And then I finally mastered the art of making light and fluffy southern style buttermilk biscuits, recipes for which I’ve included here often.
Remarkably one of the few southern specialties that I haven’t made is classic fried chicken. The process seems too messy to do in the standard home kitchen.
My deep-sided vintage cast-iron chicken fryer, which I’ve yet to use to make fried chicken
Yet I was curious when I read the lead food story in today’s Portland Press Herald about the writer’s coverage of southern fried chicken in Portland and, more importantly, her recollection of southern fried chicken that she had as a child growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. But there was no recipe other than a vague outline of her mother’s method for fried chicken.
Well I won’t give a recipe here either but will refer you to several cookbook authors who I respect and who I have followed for years. There you’ll find some of the best versions of classic fried chicken.
First and foremost a must read for southern cooking is cookbook author Ronni Lundy’s book, “Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes and Honest Fried Chicken.” Another more modern tome is from the revered southern restaurant chef, John Currence and his book “Pickles, Pigs and Whiskey” in which he offers a wonderful diatribe on his favorite fried chicken learned from Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans whose chickens are brined in coca cola and coated in batter before frying. It’s considered the best fried chicken anywhere.
Finally, I was much inspired when I went to 3 Crow restaurant in Rockland and reviewed it during my stint as the dining critic for the Portland Press Herald a few years ago. There chef and owner Josh Hixon prepares a menu of southern inspired fare. When I interviewed him he said, “Southern food is the only true American cuisine.” Maybe that’s why I like it so much.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces or about a scant cup of elbow macaroni
- 2 1/2 to 3 ounces very sharp aged Cheddar cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 heaping tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- Pinch cayenne, optional
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon)
- 1/3 cup good quality sour cream
- Small onion, peeled and grated on a box grater
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup good quality heavy cream (not ultrapasteurized)
- 3/4 cup half and half or make your own using equal parts milk and heavy cream
- A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
- 3 to 4 ounces grated extra sharp aged Cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter an 8-by- 8 or 7-by-11 Pyrex or other glass baking dish and set aside.
- Cook the macaroni until tender, according to package directions. Strain well and put into the casserole dish with the cubed cheese. Mix well.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, salt, cayenne and nutmeg. Add the sour cream and whisk to combine (or use a wooden spoon). Add the beaten egg and whisk to combine until smooth. Add the onion, cream, half and half and Worcestershire and whisk until well blended.
- Pour over the macaroni, mixing gently to combine. Sprinkle the top with the extra cheese until the top is nearly all covered. Bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture is set and nicely browned; it may wiggle a bit in the center but will firm up when rested for about 10 minutes. Bake it a few minutes more if the custard has not set sufficiently or if you want it browner, but it should come out just right. Cut into wedges and serve.
