Farm fresh Southern cooking: straight from the garden to your dinner table

289 Pages·2012·37.532 MB·English

by  Algood, Tammy

Farm Fresh
Southern Cooking
Straight from the Garden to Your Dinner Table
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Tammy algood
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© 2012 by Tammy Algood Killgore a/k/a Tammy Algood and Bryan Curtis
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—
except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson
is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Photography by Ron Manville
Food styling by Teresa Blackburn
Images on the following pages are from Thinkstockphotos.com: 49, 69, 87, 89, 107, 173,
185, 196
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational,
business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please
e-mail [email protected].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Algood, Tammy.
Farm fresh Southern cooking : straight from the garden to your dinner table / Tammy Algood.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4016-0158-4
1. Cooking, American—Southern style. 2. Cooking (Vegetables) 3. Cooking (Fruit)
4. Cookbooks. I. Title.
TX715.2.S68A39 2012
641.5975—dc23 2011041377
Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 16 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To my husband, George, who taught me how
to love life richly, deeply, and completely.
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iv F A R M F R e S h
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Contents
Introduction vi
Appetizers 1
Soups 33
Salads 53
Sides 75
Breads 125
Entrees 151
Desserts 189
Breakfast and Brunch 233
Canning Instructions 271
Acknowledgments 274
Index 275
iv FA R M F R e S h
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Introduction
think I have always been a farm girl even though I have never lived on an actual
I
farm. There is something about the entire lifestyle that I can identify with and that
I admire and adore. It’s that depth of appreciation for farmers and agriculture that has
greatly influenced my food choices throughout my whole life.
Locally grown, seasonal fresh foods that are sold straight from the producer to the
consumer are more than just a passing fad. These unprocessed, beautifully natural
foods have become a way of life not just for me, but for
countless others in this country and beyond our borders.
To that, I say, “Glory!”
In my two decades of promoting foods produced from
your own community backyards, I’ve noticed something
interesting. The challenge for a lot of people is how to
locate local. Well, believe it or not, it’s easier than you
may think and doesn’t involve endless trips all over the
Southern countryside.
Start with the farmers’ market that is in or around
your town. I promise you there is one, whether you know
about it or not. The easiest way to find it is to go online at
the Department of Agriculture in your own state. You’ll
be surprised at the treasures you’ll find on their websites.
Not only do they have listings of community farmers’ markets, but of individual growers
and producers as well. Most have local farm locator maps, divided by county or parish,
making it a cinch to find those that are close to your kitchen.
You’ll also find produce availability charts to direct you through the local season
wherever you live, in the South or not. Use it through the entire year as your guide
to where to find the freshest food at your fingertips. You will quickly see that it is an
invaluable resource, so go ahead and bookmark the site as one of your favorites, because
it soon will be just that.
Don’t stop there. Pay close attention to your local newspaper. If you don’t
vi I N T R O D U C T I O N vii
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subscribe to one, make it a
point to do so today. It is an
“in the hand” connection to
your community and a wonderfully wise investment. You’ll see loads of advertisements
from food producers of every kind within the pages. Find them! Get to know the people
around you.
Last, make it a point to shop for local foods as you travel. It’s easy to forget that
neighboring states—north, south, east, or west—have growing conditions that differ
vastly from your own. Those other areas can be sources of unique food items that
make routine meals tastier and a lot more interesting. Frequent welcome centers along
interstates, and stand in front of those overwhelming
tourist brochure racks. Hidden among the slots are
gems of local food outlets including everything from ice
cream parlors to goat cheese farms.
My hope is that this cookbook will inspire you to
cook fresh and enjoy the bounty we routinely receive
from our precious land. Annually, we are given
incredible food gifts that sometimes subtly and other
times dramatically shift and change in texture and
flavor as the days move from long to short. The earth
is nature’s grocery store and quite honestly, the finest
food market I’ve ever seen. Make it your regular stop
and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes when
that food—especially when it’s close to home—is placed
on your breakfast, lunch, and dinner table.
There is nothing better than knowing who grew or made the foods you enjoy daily. It
will change your recipes, your enjoyment of food shopping, and your entire attitude about
which foods are just good and which ones are great. So go ahead and get started . . . local
is calling!
vi I N T R O D U C T I O N vii
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1
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Appetizers
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Crawfish-Stuffed Mushrooms Pickled Figs
Pocketbook Pleaser Sweet Potato Chutney Roasted Eggplant Dip
Green Tomato Salsa Great Grapes
Not for Wimps Shrimp Dip Spring Celebration Cucumber Plates
Tomato and Double Cheese Fondue Kernels of Wisdom Salsa
Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Triangles Time-Honored Cheese Crackers
Coconut Fried Shrimp and Florida Citrus Dip Golden Brown Goat Cheese Medallions
Spring Green Spread Spring Street Bean Spread
Cheese-Filled Banana Peppers Good to the Core Apple Chutney
Pea-Picking Salsa Roasted Bacon Pecans
Spiced Peach Chutney “Where’s the Party?” Broccoli Dip
Lazy Afternoon Fruit Salsa Fresh Peach Salsa
Party Time Rhubarb Chutney
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