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.
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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 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 :)
Tami, where specifically is he from in North Carolina? There are a lot of regional specialties in different areas of the state.
Any regional recipe from North Carolina would be great!
have you tried Southern Cooking magazine? Or does he have a mom or sister who might be able to give you recipes? Family recipes might be the best anyway!
While I was stationed in N. Maine, I dated a guy from NC who was desperate for 'pork barbeque'(his Mom's precisely). Being a northerner myself, I had no idea what THAT was! Fortunately we now have wonderful sites like our 'thrifty.com', so search "Easy Barbeque Pork" (Marnita-7/13/2006) and make 'im happy!
If you want to fix real southern dishes, get a Paula Deen cookbook. You can order off her website or just search Paula Deen on the web and it should take you to her website where you can order. She is from Savannah, were she has a restaurant and her own cooking show on Food TV network. All her recipes are with simple ingredients and easy to make.
I love to cook "southern style" and love her cookbooks.
I recommend the Lee Brother's Cookbook.
For N.C. BBQ, I cannot find the recipe recommended by the earlier poster.
Jennifer
Northern Virginia
It sounds like your heart is in the right place, but wouldn't it be awful if you put care and love into cooking a southern recipe, and he thought it was awwwful, and didn't want to hurt your feelings, so told you it was great, and you got married and because he thought he liked it, you KEPT ON SERVING HIM A DISH HE HATED? <YukkIkkkPhoieeeee> I'm only half joking here. Stranger things have happened.
Ask him about his childhood. Ask a million questions. What TV shows did he watch? What subject did he hate? Who was his best friend when he was 7? What was his favorite way to spend Saturday? What was his favorite family meal? What did his granny cook that was his favorite?
If you cloak your questions with other questions, he won't catch on, and you can still surprise him with something you KNOW he likes. Then, just go to google and type in Recipe, and add the name of the dish in quotes next to it. Manymany sites will come up. go to one you trust. Your best bet will be something from the food channel, specifically Paula Dean, but there will be tons of other options.
The area has a veggie called 'Ramps", complete with its own festival. It's horribly stinky to prepare, and you either love them or hate them. You might tell him you read something about ramps (you're reading it now, so it'll be the truth lolol) and ask about them. No. Carolina bar-b-q is very specific. families have passed down recipes for many generations. Do your homework and narrow down your search. We as fellow "thrifty.com pals" can't possibly guess one young mans favorite foods,but it's easy to see why YOU are one of his favorite 'things'. What a sweet endeavor for you to embark on.
Best of luck to you both. : ))
I live in North Carolina and this is an electric co-op magazine I receive monthly. It has some good NC recipes.
carolinacountry.com/
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