Classic regional/family not widely known recipes

masraum · 11-07-2017, 07:34 PM

We have a bunch of folks here that like food, and some that like to cook food.

I'm wondering about old regional or family recipes that are possibly not widely known, probably not found in a restaurant, but are still classics and probably comfort food. You know, the kind of food your mother, grandmother or great grandmother fed you. It's probably something that you love, but you can't imagine ordering at a restaurant.

I'm not sure I have any. When I was a kid, my dad went back into the Navy (was in before I was born) and we started traveling, so I didn't get a lot of time at the grandparents and aunts and uncles. Also, dad was a yankee, and didn't eat a lot of my mom's southern food (at least not until later in life).

The closest that I might come to something unusual might be Shepherd's Pie, and ours is not an old family recipe since it's made with campbells cream of mushroom soup.

I think I'm going to ask my mom if she can ask my grandma if she's got any old recipes.

id10t · 11-07-2017, 07:49 PM

Somewhere in my piles of stuff I have a recipe book my brother's mother gave me. That her mother gave her, after copying her mother's.

Dad married her and brought her back from Northern Italy at the end of WW2. The recipes are all hand written on plain paper, in Italian.

I've GOT to clean out my garage and get organized!

masraum · 11-07-2017, 08:12 PM

Wow, that sounds like a treasure, family or not!

Evans, Marv · 11-07-2017, 10:03 PM

I have a recipe I got from my mother. She got it from her mother. I think it's a recipe they used in the old days on the farm (since my grandparents were farmers) to use up cream that had soured. It's called "Surprise Pudding." I did a little internet searching and did find similar recipes. It's a batter with brown sugar on top and soured cream poured on top of that. When it's baked, the sour cream and brown sugar combine and sink into the batter. I could eat the whole thing at one setting. My mother used to get heavy cream, and let it sit out on the counter top until it soured. Today's creams don't seem to sour. They just separate and develop some black stuff. So when I make it, I buy Mexican sour cream, which works out fine.

SCadaddle · 11-07-2017, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

I have a recipe I got from my mother. She got it from her mother. I think it's a recipe they used in the old days on the farm (since my grandparents were farmers) to use up cream that had soured. It's called "Surprise Pudding." I did a little internet searching and did find similar recipes. It's a batter with brown sugar on top and soured cream poured on top of that. When it's baked, the sour cream and brown sugar combine and sink into the batter. I could eat the whole thing at one setting. My mother used to get heavy cream, and let it sit out on the counter top until it soured. Today's creams don't seem to sour. They just separate and develop some black stuff. So when I make it, I buy Mexican sour cream, which works out fine.

Sounds like something my 97 year old Dad who grew up on a farm in southern Mississippi told me he had a "hankering" for a while back. I had never heard of the stuff. 10 minutes of brain racking and it finally came to me....."Clabber". Google it!

Simple dishes we enjoyed growing up was a grilled cheese sandwich and "Tomato-Mush soup".... a can of tomato soup added to a can of cream of mushroom soup and 2 cans of milk in the saucepot. That's a tasty soup!

The other was to brown some chicken with butter in the electric skillet, add 3 cans of shrimp soup, simmer for 40 minutes or so then serve over rice.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

My mom used to make the most amazing beef stew. When I moved out on my own she showed me how to make it. It had Campbell's tomato soup in it. A group of single friends had a potluck dinner once a month, and once I brought stew they wouldn't let me bring anything else. A bowl of stew and a hunk of crusty bread - ultimate comfort food.
I asked Mom if the recipe was handed down from her mother or something- nope, she got it off the side of a Canbells soup can, sometime in the early 1950s!

berettafan · 11-08-2017, 02:18 AM

Here’s a simple one that should be accessible with some effort.

Buy a 5lb block of 16/20 or slightly smaller gulf shrimp. Not raised in a sewer Chinese shrimp. Gulf shrimp. 5lb block frozen in water. Not individually freezer burned like you see at grocery stores and warehouse clubs.

Thaw the block in cold running water.

Boil a pot of water.

When boiling carefully drop a pound or two (depending on pot size) of thawed shrimp in. When water comes back to a boil shrimp will be opaque and about done.

Drain 95% of the water.

Dump copious amounts of old bay or JO spice in the pot, put a lid on it and shake it vigorously so that seasoning is well distributed.

Put shrimp in a giant bowl in the center of the table and find out what shrimp are supposed to taste and chew like.

Put leftovers in the fridge. The next day you will discover what some say is even better tasting than hot out of the pot!

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berettafan · 02:58 AM

Now if you’re in shrimp country and can get them fresh out of the water with heads on dont be afraid to try them. Even tastier, you just pluck the heads off when eating.

Do not buy peeled and deveined either.

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rfuerst911sc · 11-08-2017, 03:36 AM

My wife and I were both born in Endicott + Conklin N.Y. both are just over the PA. border . In that region was born the spidie , it is cubed meat and can be chicken , beef , pork or venison . You take the cubed meat and marinate it in spidie sauce that is sold by State Fair and Salamida's and Lupo's . Those sauces are Italian salad dressing on steroids !

My mom would let the meat marinade overnight in the fridge covered with aluminum foil . Then you take the meat and slide it onto a BBQ skewer and place onto a hot grille . Only takes a few minutes per side flipping so they don't burn but some char is good . Serve on fresh Italian bread lightly buttered it will make your knee's wobble

Simple but very tasty . The spidie to my knowledge originated from that area and at ANY outdoor event like balloon fests to football games someone is always selling spidies ! To our amazement a few years ago we found spidie sauce for sale in Publix in Ga. and bought some . We've been buying it there ever since but it can be purchased online also .

masraum · 11-08-2017, 04:14 AM

Some good stuff here, folks.

If you've got the recipes, post 'em

javadog · 11-08-2017, 05:10 AM

Someone in my extended family compiled recipes from other family members and published a book. 99% of the recipes in there are complete garbage. There's very little actual cooking in those recipes, it's more the usual "add a can of this, to a can of that, then stir." I bet Campbell's mushroom soup is used in at least a third of the recipes.

I have studied the cuisines of the world and the US is one country that doesn't really have what I would consider good strong regional cooking styles. Apart from Cajun cooking, there is very little cooking in the US that's not derived from some other country, and that's because we are a nation of immigrants who just brought their recipes with them when they came to the US. Sadly, most of those recipes have been dumbed down and are a poor substitute for the originals in their home countries.

We have gone away from utilizing meats and vegetables like the rest of the world does. 90% of the crap sold in a grocery store in the US wouldn't be found in the market in Europe or Asia. Sadly, the notion of our supermarkets is starting to infect the other side of the world, which will eventually render their cuisines as pitiful as ours, as the younger generations are showing the less interest an actual cooking.

So, I got nothing.

berettafan · 11-08-2017, 05:15 AM

java for my part i'll tell you the sourcing of the proper ingredient in the proper condition is absolutely key. same for any crab recipes (cake or dip) I could post. None of what is done matters if you don't get fresh lump blue crab meat. the result will be something other than what was intended and other than what we enjoy in our area. great example is the bread cakes Phillips sells in grocery stores under the name of crab cakes. nasty filler **** that bears zero relation to the dish that we make here.

so as relates to regional cooking (maybe not so much to family recipes) the ingredients are 99% of the issue. A great point you have brought up.

javadog · 11-08-2017, 05:23 AM

One of the first things I learned, I learned from my study of Italian cooking. Their philosophy is "demand the best ingredients, then don't **** them up." Because the rest of the world cooks with fresh ingredients, and often doesn't have refrigeration, they shop daily and they buy what is locally available in their area. They follow the harvest, so they don't expect to be eating strawberries in December. We, on the other hand, want everything all the time, so we've managed to stock our stores with crap that was picked two weeks ago, 10,000 miles away, because we want it now. Quality be damned.

I'm pretty picky about what I buy. I tend not to go to the grocery store with a list, I typically go and see what they have that looks good. I am seeing a little more emphasis on locally sourced, fresh produce and meat, but we've got a long way to go.

cairns · 05:28 AM

I hate Phillips. They should be shot for what they sell as crab.

Oh and while you're enjoying that shrimp boil make sure to cook up plenty of white corn. And smother it with butter, salt and old bay.

javadog · 11-08-2017, 08:01 AM

Herewith, I am going to inflict upon you my grandfather's recipe for chili. If you are stupid enough to make a batch and eat it, don't blame me if it kills you. If you survive it, you'll wish you hadn't, as will anybody else that shares it with you, or spends any time downwind of you in the next 2 days.

Take note that there are two additional ingredients in the directions that aren't listed in the ingredients list. Some of my kinfolk is short a brick, or two.

It's why I won't touch a bowl of chili, to this day. You've been warned...

Evans, Marv · 11-08-2017, 08:19 AM

Ha! Good luck on finding suet at your local market. I asked in a few some years ago planning on making a chili recipe. The guys behind the meat counters didn't even know what it was.

javadog · 08:26 AM

Look for it where bird seed is sold.

The sad thing is that "chili meat" is probably the ****tiest quality ground beef that you can buy and my grandfather felt the need to add more fat to it. He also thought that the eighth grade was as far as you needed to attend in school, so there's that.

If you're a hipster, buy 2 jars of this at $26 per, and get it delivered to your door for free:

Evans, Marv · 11-08-2017, 08:30 AM

Who knew ???? I wonder how much of that would substitute for a pound of suet. Suet renders down & what doesn't is discarded if I remember correctly.

javadog · 11-08-2017, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Suet renders down & what doesn't is discarded if I remember correctly.

I advocate discarding it before you add it to the pot.

drkshdw · 05:27 AM

Just made these cheese frenchees for lunch. Basically battered and deep fried cheese sandwiches made popular by Kings Food Host which was a midwest restaurant popular in the 50's, 60's and 70's. They all closed up by the mid 90's but I still make these at least once a month for nostalgia. Comfort food at its finest!

Cheese Frenchees:

Make 3 cheese sandwiches using cheap white sandwich bread. Use mayo (generously so it mixes with the cheese and makes it extra gooey) on both pieces of bread and 2 slices of American cheese on each sandwich. Cut diagonally into 4 pieces.

Dip into a batter made by combining:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

When battered, bread with corn flakes (plain, not frosted) that have been crushed up with a rolling pin. Deep fry in 350*F oil for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and serve with ketchup. Makes 12 frenchees.