America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook (28 page)

MAKES 1 LOAF

George Washington Carver didn’t indicate just who Aunt Nellie was, but, her flavorful take on simple brown bread is both tasty and healthy with extra protein from the wheat and peanut flours and limited fat.

1½ cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1½ cups peanut flour
1–1½ teaspoons salt
2–2½ cups milk, or just enough to make a soft dough

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Sift the flours and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the milk to make a thick batter.

Grease a loaf pan and pour in the batter. Bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Peanut Doughnuts Number Two

MAKES 12 TO 15 DONUTS

The ground peanuts add interesting texture to this donut recipe.

1 package yeast
2 cups milk
1 egg, well beaten
4 ounces butter (softened)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
5½–6 cups flour
2 cups peanuts, ground
2 cups or more canola oil

Dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in º F.

When the yeast mixture is bubbly, mix it together with the remaining milk, egg, butter, lemon juice, and sugar. Slowly add the flour to form a sticky dough. Add the ground peanuts and mix well.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow to rise 2 to 3 hours or until doubled in size.

Roll out dough on a well-floured board and cut out rounds using a 4-inch round cookie cutter or in squares, like beignets.

Add enough oil to a deep cast iron pot so that the depth of the oil is no more than 1/3 of the height of the pot. Heat until the oil reaches 350º F or a pinch of flour dropped into the oil bubbles vigorously. Carefully add the donuts, turning them once so that they are golden brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Remove the donuts from the oil and place on a wire rack set over a sheet tray or a paper-toweled-lined tray. Glaze with confectioners mixed with half & half, or sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

Serve warm.

Mock Veal Cutlets

SERVES 4

Vegetarians and meat eaters alike will appreciate this recipe for “mock” cutlets. For a vegan version, substitute soy yogurt for the egg prior to dredging.

1 cup lentils
¼ cup melted butter
2 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon minced celery
1 tablespoon minced onions
1 cup unsalted peanuts, ground to a coarse powder
1 cup tomato puree
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
½ teaspoon chopped thyme
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water

Rinse the lentils by placing in a bowl and covering with 2 cups of cold water. Swirl the lentils around in the water with your hand and gently pour off the water. Repeat, then add 2 cups clean cold water to the bowl and allow to soak over night.

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the lentils. Boil until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and place the lentils in a food processor and pulse into a puree.

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Make the cutlets: Add the butter, 1 cup of the bread crumbs, tomato puree and baking soda to the lentils and mix well. Add the peanuts, celery, onions, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. The mixture should hold together enough to form into oblong patties about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.

Dip the patties in the egg mixture and then bread both sides in the remaining bread crumbs. Grease a large baking dish with cooking spray such as Spectrum Natural Organic Oil Spray and layer the cutlets in the dish in one even layer. Bake until crispy, about 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite sides.

Bitter Grains

Rice was a high money crop. Slavers depended upon African labor to cash in on it. Slaves were integral to every part of the process, from planting to harvesting, drying, threshing, winnowing, and packaging it for sale. This 1867 engraving depicts the lifecycle of the rice industry—at every turn dependent on African American labor.

Y
ou can’t have soul food
in the Carolina low country or Louisiana if you don’t have rice. As important as corn is to other parts of the South, rice is a reminder of West African heritage, where rice cultivation has taken place for more than 3,000 years. It was that knowledge that would not serve them well, as North American and European slavers came to their lands seeking labor for their rice fields. In fact, slaves from the “Rice Coast” regions—namely what is today Gambia and Sierra Leone—drew far higher prices because of their knowledge of rice growing.

Working a rice field was like working in a pit of stagnant water. Malaria was common, malnutrition was rampant, and most children didn’t reach 16 years old. In many cases, the putrid conditions of South Carolina rice plantations drove white plantation owners to live elsewhere, leaving white foremen working along African “drivers” to run their estates.

“. . . negroes, anckle and even mid-leg deep in water which floats an ouzy mud, and exposed all the while to a burning sun which makes the very air they breathe hotter than the human blood; these poor wretches are then in a furness of stinking putrid effluvia: a more horrible employment can hardly be imagined.”

— Account of South Carolina rice production during slavery

The result was that African slaves on these plantations often retained their cultural ways more easily than slaves elsewhere in the country. This strong cultural tie to Africa is still seen among the Gullah/Geechee people (see Who Are the Gullah/ Geechee?
page 108
).

Their backbreaking work created an industry that was highly prosperous for its owners. Just before the War for Independence, rice trade counted for more than half of all the South’s exports. Even today, thanks to the industry built by the intelligence and sweat of African slaves, the United States ranks among the top five rice-producing and rice-exporting countries.

"The Slaves from the River Gambia are preferr’d to all others with us [here in Carolina] save the Gold Coast.”

— 18th-century South Carolina Rice Planter, Henry Laurens

Pass It Down Classic Red Beans & Rice

New Orleans, Louisiana

SERVES 4 TO 6

Red beans and rice is a classic Creole New Orleans side dish that has its roots in a similar dish made in the Caribbean. In fact, red beans were brought to New Orleans directly from the West Indies.

3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped small
3 ribs celery, white parts removed, chopped small
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped small
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 pound andouille sausage, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound dried red (kidney) beans, soaked in 3 cups of water overnight,
     or two 15-ounce cans of kidney beans, rinsed
10 cups water
4 cups cooked white rice

Heat the oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers. Cook until soft.

Add salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook, stirring until the vegetables are soft, about 3–5 minutes. Add bay leaves, parsley, thyme, and andouille sausage, stirring 3–4 minutes or until the sausage browns.

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add beans and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and start to thicken, about 2 hours (if beans dry out, add more water, about ¼ cup at a time). If you’re using canned beans, simmer for just 40 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove about 1 cup of the beans from the pot and place in a blender or food processor with ½ cup of the cooking water. Purée or pulse to achieve a smooth paste. Return the mashed beans to the pot and stir well. Cook 15 minutes more. Remove bay leaves and serve over rice.