Southern Potato Salad
5 pounds red potatoes, chopped medium size, boiled and cooled, (salt potatoes really well while they are boiling)
1 large onion, chopped small, green onions also
5 eggs, boiled, chopped small
3/4 cup sweet salad cubes, (if you want them like a relish, use the food processor)
1 teaspoon mustard (just enough to add color)
Enough mayonnaise to hold together and some to spare (I am a Bama Mayonnaise person, but use what you prefer.)
Black pepper
A little salt
Mix all of the ingredients together. Try to refrigerate overnight or at least for a few hours. I always prefer potato salad the next day. Be sure you have enough mayonnaise that it can actually be seen. You must have enough mayonnaise.
Andy’s Note: For years, I have assumed that everyone made really wonderful potato salad as my mother and grandmother had always taught me to make. My mother’s potato salad was not only tasty but very attractive. She told me to remember to use red potatoes because they kept their shape better. As you can see, I use very few ingredients in this recipe but I use them in large quantities. You must keep adding ingredients until it is tasty. I have made potato salad for a hundred people before and it was tasty. My sister and I know of a place in Birmingham that has the best potato salad that we have ever eaten. Even though my sister does not cook as often as I do, her potato salad is delicious! After all, we both learned from a pro, our mother!
Oven Fried Vegetables
Oil
Vegetables
Self-rising flour
I use a large roasting pan with maybe two-inch sides. Pour enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Slice any vegetable you prefer in large pieces and place in a large bowl. I like to use yellow squash, onions and green tomatoes. Sprinkle a little water on top of the vegetables and mix. I then cover the vegetables with self-rising flour and mix well. Throw the vegetables in the greased pan and place in a 450 degree oven and bake until you can see the brown on the bottom of them. Then turn them with a spatula and bake until they are as brown as you like. When brown, drain on paper towels and salt as you like.
Andy’s Note: Sometimes, I mix squash and onions together or okra alone or onions alone. One can add a green tomato to any of the above. What I love is that it is so easy to fix vegetables this way and one can also feed a lot of people. Fresh vegetables will arrive really soon from our gardens.
Barbecued Hamburgers
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon mustard
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
A dash of Louisiana red hot sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck
Mix all ingredients except meat into a skillet and cook until onion is done. Cook hamburgers in a separate skillet. Drain off most of the fat and add the sauce. Simmer about 20 minutes. Serve on warm buns.
Andy’s Note: I found this recipe in a church cookbook that was printed back in the 1970s. It is so different and can be served in so many amazing ways. Can you imagine this dish served over rice, wide noodles and good ole creamed potatoes?
Speaking of a country kitchen, I immediately think of my two precious grandmothers. Their love was unconditional. However, there did exist a code of character from which you did not stray. Good manners were expected without exception. Treating them with the upmost respect came naturally. Last but not least, they taught us to cook and to love good food.
Andy’s Country Kitchen Recipes will continue next week!
Happy Cooking,
Andy Bedwell
Southern Cooking with Andy Bedwell” can be purchased at Alabama Gift Company in downtown Gadsden and The Messenger on Rainbow Drive.