The New Southern Basics
Traditional Southern Food for Today
by Martha Stamps
Cumberland House, 2007
$24.95
300 pages
In her introduction to New Southern Basics, Stamps writes that these are recipes that work, that will please, and that you can make with ingredients already in your kitchen. And she's right. I cooked and cooked from this book, dinner one night, a cake the next, a pot luck casserole for a neighborhood party, and everyone was easy and delicious.
There is a saying that the definition of eternity is two people and a ham, but I feel that way about a head of cabbage. Slaw, soup, stuffed, it seems to go on forever. But you'll be glad of cabbage when you've tried Stamps's recipe for Braised Red Cabbage. It's the perfect blend of tart red vinegar and sweet brown sugar, with a dash of juniper berries to round out the flavor. She suggests serving it with venison, but I found that it elevated some good hot dogs quite nicely, and went equally well when braised in a skillet with some browned pork chops.
Her effort here is to lighten some traditional Southern recipes, that heavy on fat, taste delicious, but can only be a once in a while treat. She takes on dishes like Country-Style Green Beans, slow simmered with some country ham to add salt and smokey flavor. She turns them into a supper dish by adding some new potatoes, and encourages you to enjoy the "pot likker" with some cornbread. This country classic is served up alongside a more contemporary Summer Green Beans with Herbs, bright with mint, lemon, and scallion.
And through the book, recipes like sesame noodles sit next to corn and green bean salad, tomato aspic next to Asian Cucumber Salad, and Burnt Sugar Vinaigrette next to Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette. Stamps doesn't let standards fade away, but keeps them updated
with new favorites.
Main dish chapters follow after recipes for snacks, salads, soups, and fritters, and cover meats, seafood, and poultry. Stamps recommends Chicken Artichoke Casserole for buffets and entertaining, and it serves well. The dish is easily assembled, an important characteristic for a party dish, when there's enough going on already. And it's got the kind of gentle flavor that will please everyone, a gentle blend of wild and white rice and nothing more surprising than the gentle tang of artichoke hearts.
The chapter on cakes and baking is especially well done, with simple tea breads to be made in an afternoon to more elaborate cakes that will crown any table. Her variety of homey biscuits and waffles, all variety of corn breads, risen breads and quick breads prove that homemade bread is central to the Southern table.
Caramel Cake is a tender yellow cake with an edge of burnt sugar, just enough to give it a pale tan color. Stamps recommends a caramel icing, but it's nice plain as well.
Stamps has assembled the tried and true, classic and contemporary that will serve you well, no matter the occasion.
© 2007 Claudia Kousoulas
