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I was recently working on a question that was posted some time in the past, asking about easy recipes to cook for a transplanted North Carolinian. I know we have quite a few members who live in North Carolina and I was wondering what you would recommend.
I'm in the Pacific NW, so the food is about as different as possible. :)Sweet potato biscuits are popular in the south. Here is one with ham: www.ourstate.com/
Hi Jess, We have family and friends in NC and they are all about BBQ!! BBQ everything!! This is one of the favorite recipes that one friend shared. It is pretty easy and you can brush it on chicken, pork, or beef:
It is too hot for me...I am more of honey based BBQ gal, but the gang that likes spice loves it!
Carolina Dogs
North Carolinians love a Carolina dog all the way topped with chili, slaw, onions, and mustard. Nothing more, and nothing less. If you can forget about Barbecue for a moment, this is one of N C favorite back-yard recipes.
Here's a resource for some NC recipes that may help you out www.ourstate.com/
Personally, I'd like to add deviled eggs and southern style potato salad to the list. Both are delicious and easy to prepare.
It is the vinegar. Pucker power and the heat.
Corn pudding, made from fresh home grown corn, is one of my family's favorites. This is my recipe posted years ago.
I live in NC and things people here like are
fried okra - www.allrecipes.com/
fried green tomatoes - www.myrecipes.com/
I love stewed okra but had never tried tomatoes and okra. I saw this can of Margaret Holmes Tomatoes and Okra in the grocery store and decided I would try it for lunch. It's 3 servings per can but it was so good, I ate the whole can full which was only 105 calories.
At our house, New Years day is not complete without eating fried Hog Jowl, Black-eye peas and turnip greens. www.tasteofsouthern.com/
You are exactly right. Those four ingredients. Nothing more, nothing less!
It takes very little mustard and the other three ingredients are better prepared yesterday to allow the flavors to mellow.
LG
My Mama liked stewed okra. I find it slimy. I do really like it fried (small tender pods). I use to cut the pods like pennies.
Jess,
To answer your question about potato salad, I am not familiar with how potato salad is prepared across the country. I can tell you this. If a person has tasted only commercially prepared potato salad, they have no idea how delicious homemade potato salad can be.
Most potato salad sold in stores and delis has large, hard hunks of potatoes and not much of anything else. Southern potato salad has many ingredients and can vary not so much by locale, but by personal taste.
As a rule, it will contain cubed potatoes from boiled or baked potatoes. (I prefer to cube mine before boiling). Salt and pepper (white pepper if you have it). A small amount of prepared mustard, a good amount of mayonnaise.
From there, what you add is a matter of choice. I like chopped, hard boiled eggs, chopped bell peppers, a small amount of finely chopped onions (mild ones if available). Some like to add finely chopped celery, some add celery seed, some add celery salt. I prefer the chopped celery in small amounts. I add well drained, dill pickle relish.
If you're up to it, a nice addition is peeled, cubed, tomato meat that has been patted dry with paper towels. Some choose to add chopped pimentos. I have known some people to add peeled and diced cucumbers (they are nice for a change).
You can be as creative as you like with southern potato salad, and as with so many southern dishes, it is best if prepared a few hours ahead.
My only advice would be, go very easy on the mustard. One teaspoon is enough for 4-5 lbs of potatoes. It is strong and will overpower all those other flavors if too much is used.
And if you want to see some fancy footwork in honor of potato salad, watch this.
I love stewed Okra. I think I could eat it 3 times a day. I don't like it stewed all to pieces though and it has to be little tender Okra.
Jess,
I like experimenting and you have just given me an idea. I've heard about German Potato Salad often but never tasted any and never checked a recipe for the ingredients.
I'm not crazy about mayo, I do use it on some sandwiches that otherwise would be dry. As for potato salad, I may have come up with a good alternative.
My next batch of potato salad will be a small one to test my idea. In place of mayo, I plan to use neufchatel cheese. For those not familiar with neufchatel, it is very similar to cream cheese. However, it had a milder flavor and 1/3 less fat. I use it wherever cream cheese is called for, from cake frosting to cherry yum yum.
For starters, I may use half mayo and half neufchatel. The finished dish (I'm thinking), will be quite rich in flavor.
If my experiment turns out well, I will post the results on TF.
One year I grew so much okra, I was eating it about 3 times a day. I experimented a lot. I found a fish batter mix by House Autry. It was too spicy. I mixed half that with half flour and battered and fried the okra with it. It was delicious.
Does anyone here have any recipes that are specific to or well known in North Carolina? Am a northern girl and would like to try to make some comfort food for my fiance who comes from there and misses the down home stuff.
Homemade biscuits-put some self-rising flour in a bowl, add a little oil and buttermilk; mix, then knead on a floured surface; pat down and cut out some biscuits with the rim of a glass. Pour a little puddle of oil in a cake pan, dip the top of each biscuit in the oil and arrange in pan. Put in a very hot oven-425 or 450 for about 10 min. or so-see when the tops get browned. Serve with butter in the middle. This is quick and it's fun to just pour ingredients into the bowl without worrying about measuring stuff. Enjoy!
Hi Tami,
I too am from the north and living near Asheville. I have never learned to make biscuits, nor gravy, properly, so can't help there, but I cook a lot and will see what I can come up with! A quick thought, I make oven fried chicken with a breading that tastes like KFC - cant remember the exact name "Kentucky colonel" or something like that in the grocery store near the flour and "shake & bake." I swirl a couple of tbs of oil in a long 2-in deep pan, rinse bone in chicken breasts with water, coat with flour then beaten egg, then the breading (tastes just like KFC). I use higher heat than the recipe on the box, usually 500 degrees, turning once when one side is browned. Delicious and not too unhealthy!
I have lived in Eastern NC for over half my life, I spent my early childhood in CA. I work in a resturant that serves country buffet style food. I don't cook there but, I do know a few easy ways to incorporate NC style into any meal.
If your fiance likes seafood a really easy thing to do is fried flounder, use seafood breader that you can buy at most grocery stores. An easy side that usually shows up at a fish fry is believe it or not...
peeled and sliced cucumbers covered with apple cider vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper (so easy)
Hushpuppies usually accompany this and I think any onion flavored mixes are basically pretty good. Just make sure you fry the hushpuppies first then the fish! :)
NC style pork BBQ is a huge deal here but, honestly is next to impossible to make just for a couple. There are some recipes out there for crockpot NC BBQ but, I wouldn't try it.
There is a also a fast food chain here that is like a million times better than KFC it's called Bojangles, if you are a good cook fried chicken aqnd biscuits maybe the way to go and remember biscuit mixes are perfectly fine unless it's Bisquick, it just so happens that Bisquick is good for everything except biscuits.
Depending on what he likes collard greens or turnip greens could be a huge thing for him. They too like most simple things can be screwed up quite easily. I would definately research some recipes if you are adventurous to try something like that. Another thing is that NO MATTER WHAT most southerners overcook and over season all vegetables ( this may be exaggeration on my part as CA is the capital of fresh produce) so opening a can of french cut string beens and adding a small amount of pork seasoning could possibly make his day.
A final suggestion which lots of people like but, I could do without is "tomatoes and rice" yes you guessed it cook some white rice open a can of stewed tomatoes and plop them on top and salt and pepper.
Good Luck from an experianced eater and a mediocre cook
Keep adding the recipes! My family's from North Carolina and I love to see more recipes that remind me of "home". For reference, my family is from Alamance County (just west of Raleigh/Wake County) and these are things they make.
One great one is this cabbage that my nana makes. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I'm going off of memory. Cook up some fat back (really fatty ham/pork) in a frying pan. While the fat back is cooking, boil some cabbage in a large pot of water. Once the cabbage starts to wilt some, drain the water and pour the fat from the meat into the large pot. Keep stirring with a large wooden spoon until the cabbage is cooked and the fat/grease has coated it. Serve warm.
Another thing your fiancé would probably love is fried okra. Although I know it's often really hard to find fresh okra in the supermarket outside of the South. If you can't find it fresh, sometimes they'll have it frozen. Make some large biscuits in the oven, slice up okra into bite-sized pieces, fry it, lightly breaded preferably. Then cut a sizeable slice of a large tomato. Take the biscuits out of the oven, let them cool, slice them in half and throw in some okra, tomato and butter if you like. Close the biscuit up and enjoy :)
