A Love Affair With Southern Cooking_ Recipes and Recollections - Jean Anderson [29]
1708
The first African slaves arrive in Louisiana.
1710
Rations grow so scarce in the Louisiana colony that to obtain food, the men are permitted to live among the local tribes. It’s a move that will impact Louisiana cuisine.
1711
America’s first carnival (Mardi Gras) takes place in Mobile, Alabama.
1712
The huge Carolina colony is split and soon the simple suppers of North Carolina’s hard-scrabble farmers contrast sharply with the feasts of South Carolina’s planter aristocracy.
1714
The French settle at Natchitoches; it is Louisiana’s first permanent settlement west of the Mississippi.
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MARYLAND HOT CRAB DIP
MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS
One of the joys of traveling Maryland’s Eastern Shore is the chance to feast on blue crabs right out of the Chesapeake—and not only on whole steamed crab but also on freshly picked crabmeat prepared a hundred ways. Many Eastern Shore inns offer hot crab dip as an appetizer, some of them classic, others contemporary. This one, developed by the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Seafood Marketing Pro-gram, is fairly traditional. I picked it up while exploring crab country and have tweaked it to add my own touch. Note: Though crackers are usually served with hot crab dip, I prefer raw, bite-size florets of broccoli or cauliflower, even crisp spears of Belgian endive. Tip: Given the stratospheric cost of lump crabmeat these days, I use “special”—less expensive flakes of body meat. Cheaper still is the brownish “claw meat.” Either is a good choice for this dip because the crab will only be blended with the other ingredients.
One 8-ounce package light cream cheese (Neufchâtel), at room temperature
½ cup firmly packed sour cream (use “light,” if you like)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise-relish sandwich spread
1 tablespoon finely minced scallion
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
¼ teaspoon crushed garlic
¼ cup coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon milk (about)
8 ounces cooked crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell and cartilage (see Tip at left)
1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Spritz a 1-quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Beat the cream cheese with the sour cream, sandwich spread, scallion, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper sauce, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the grated Cheddar in a medium-size mixing bowl until well combined. Whisk in 1 tablespoon milk or just enough to make the mixture creamy. Fold in the crabmeat.
3. Scoop the crab mixture into the casserole, spreading to the edge, and scatter the remaining grated Cheddar evenly on top.
4. Slide onto the middle oven shelf and bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbling and tipped with brown.
5. Serve hot as a dip for crackers or bite-size chunks of raw vegetable (see Note at left).
Only a Southerner knows that asking for “sweet milk” means you don’t want buttermilk.
—ANONYMOUS
ARTICHOKE DIP
MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS
A riffle through any southern cookbook—especially a club or community fund-raiser—will turn up scores of artichoke recipes. Not Jerusalem artichokes, although these are plenty popular, but French globe artichokes. Did this passion for them begin in New Orleans and spread outward? Or did the aristocratic youths sent abroad to study before the Civil War come home with an appetite for artichokes? While in France, Italy, and elsewhere they would have encountered them prepared a dozen different ways. We do know that Thomas Jefferson grew artichokes at Monticello, even rare red globe artichokes. Whatever the reason, artichokes are a southern staple and this dip—superb with chips, crackers, or crudités—is a cocktail perennial. Note: To pack sour cream or mayonnaise into a measure, scoop up by tablespoonfuls, packing each into one of the nested cups designed