From the Archives: Bread Crumbs

Having shared my response to Garden & Gun's NYC myth busting attempt, it is appropriate to bring an example of proper Southern cooking to the forefront. This article appeared on our old site three years ago this month and proved to be one of the most popular articles there. Feel free to enjoy some culinary heritage shared by our managing editor. 

By Leigha Burnham
@LeighaBurnham

On a recent trip to my mother's house, I was sharing a meal with my mom and my niece. Mother and I were trying to tell my niece about our Grandmother Edna and her skill as a Southern cook. As we talked about fried chicken and mayonnaise rolls, the memories came flooding back.

For those who don't know, we Southerners associate memory with the foods we eat and vice versa. Edna's cooking was a special treat I enjoyed once a week as we visited her and her aging father. Edna was not my biological great-grandmother but had married and been widowed by my great-grandfather Petty years before. I actually never knew him personally, but he came to life for me through stories my mother and Edna shared over our weekly meals.

Communion is not just for church, you know. It is an act very much a part of our Southern experience. So, I want to break bread with all of you - in a virtual-sort-of-way, by sharing a few of the recipes Edna passed on to me in my first recipe box. Each card was typed on a manual typewriter with the same hands that patted the tender dough that made some of the best biscuits in Georgia, not to mention the best fried chicken.


Mayonnaise Rolls:
2 c. self-rising flour
4 tsp. mayonnaise
1 cup sweet milk (Sam note: "sweet milk" means "not buttermilk")
1 tsp. sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl for about 2 minutes. Pour into 12 cup muffin pan. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until brown.


June's Banana Pudding:
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 can condensed milk
3 egg yolks/whites seperated
1 tsp. vanilla

Let cook on low heat until slightly thickened. Pour over vanilla wafers and sliced bananas. Top with egg whites that have been beaten to stiff peaks and brown in a 400 oven. Cool and then refrigerate.


Edna & Malcolm's Buttermilk Chicken - Southern Fried
Skinned chicken - fryer size/clean and dry
2 c. buttermilk
flour
oil

Roll and dip in buttermilk and flour alternately for at least three turns.
Drop into DEEP oil that is hot. Fry until coating is cooked and brown. Inside of ck will not yet be done.
Place on baking sheet in preheated 200 oven for approximately 1 hour.
"Best stuff you've ever had!"