In Search of Spoon Bread
Besides the Strasburg Heritage Society cookbook, which I blogged about last time, my cookbook shelf also contains FOODS AND RECIPES OF THE SMOKIES, perhaps bought long ago on some adventurous road trip. Not only does it contain the recipes that a hardy and creative people devised for a rather limited range of ingredients, mostly raised by them—pork, corn, beans, cabbage, or foraged and hunted from the woods that surrounded them—berries, wild greens, possum. It also includes photos of such things as a sorghum mill powered by a mule.
I took it off my shelf recently to search for a specific recipe. The New York Times had featured “Strawberry Spoon Cake,” accompanied by a preamble in which the author mentioned spoon bread as an inspiration. Spoon bread sounded fascinating to me—something called “bread” but served, and perhaps eaten, with a spoon.
It’s a very old Southern dish, I learned, and it appears in many cookbooks. And there it was, a few different versions even, in FOODS AND RECIPES OF THE SMOKIES.
Two key elements are cornmeal and egg whites beaten stiff, then folded into the batter right before baking. I pictured a country housewife without electricity putting the elbow power into beating egg whites stiff. What a testimony to the human appreciation for good food and a cook’s devotion to her craft!
Usually spoon bread is a side dish, not a dessert. But taking off from the Strawberry Spoon Cake idea, I decided to invent my version of a dessert spoon bread. And since August is the peak season for peaches, I decided to use peaches rather than strawberries.
Well, it turned out great! The slightly acidic quality of the peaches goes just right with the hint of cornmeal in the “bread,” as if the two flavors were destined to meet and marry. And maybe they were, peaches and corn both growing in similar climes, like the made-in-heaven match between salmon and dill or tomatoes and basil.
My “Summer Peach Spoon Bread” is the guest blog today (8-30-20) at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/...
Take a look—the whole recipe is there, along with many in-progress photos. And if you leave a comment, you’ll be in the running to receive a copy of KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, which was just released, as well as an advance copy of CHRISTMAS CARD MURDER, Kensington’s 2020 Christmas anthology containing my novella, DEATH OF A CHRISTMAS CARD CRAFTER.
The link will remain live long after today, but the book-giveaway will end Tuesday..
I took it off my shelf recently to search for a specific recipe. The New York Times had featured “Strawberry Spoon Cake,” accompanied by a preamble in which the author mentioned spoon bread as an inspiration. Spoon bread sounded fascinating to me—something called “bread” but served, and perhaps eaten, with a spoon.
It’s a very old Southern dish, I learned, and it appears in many cookbooks. And there it was, a few different versions even, in FOODS AND RECIPES OF THE SMOKIES.
Two key elements are cornmeal and egg whites beaten stiff, then folded into the batter right before baking. I pictured a country housewife without electricity putting the elbow power into beating egg whites stiff. What a testimony to the human appreciation for good food and a cook’s devotion to her craft!
Usually spoon bread is a side dish, not a dessert. But taking off from the Strawberry Spoon Cake idea, I decided to invent my version of a dessert spoon bread. And since August is the peak season for peaches, I decided to use peaches rather than strawberries.
Well, it turned out great! The slightly acidic quality of the peaches goes just right with the hint of cornmeal in the “bread,” as if the two flavors were destined to meet and marry. And maybe they were, peaches and corn both growing in similar climes, like the made-in-heaven match between salmon and dill or tomatoes and basil.
My “Summer Peach Spoon Bread” is the guest blog today (8-30-20) at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/...
Take a look—the whole recipe is there, along with many in-progress photos. And if you leave a comment, you’ll be in the running to receive a copy of KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, which was just released, as well as an advance copy of CHRISTMAS CARD MURDER, Kensington’s 2020 Christmas anthology containing my novella, DEATH OF A CHRISTMAS CARD CRAFTER.
The link will remain live long after today, but the book-giveaway will end Tuesday..
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