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renata101
Community Member

Soul Food Kitchen - What's on Your Menu?

I’ve always considered soul food as a general concept, maybe closer to “comfort food,” which could mean something specific to your family, your ethnic origins (native or adopted), your local cuisine or maybe even what your best friend’s mom used to cook when you were growing up.

So what's on your menu? What's your soul food of choice?

Recipes welcome. 

For me, lately it's anything with apples because they're in season where I live. I think I would bake things with apples just to have the smell wafting around my kitchen.

78 REPLIES 78
kathrynbaughman
Community Member

Tacos, Spaghetti, or just Jasmine Rice drowning in real butter.  It has apparently rubbed off on my kids because their go-to is Tacos or Spaghetti as well when they are upset.  Thus why I always have a huge bowl of spaghetti noodles, a dish of spaghetti sauce, a large bowl of cooked ground beef, and taco shells in the fridge.  Everyone always told me not to be a "short order cook" for my kids, which irritated me, so I took it to the next level and made enough to last a couple of days overall instead. Smiley Very Happy

~I am only here when I can tolerate having my eyes blasted, my privacy treated like a joke, and my temper pushed to it's limit. For all other times, please request alternate contact methods~
mwiggenhorn
Community Member

I tend to cook cajun/ creole.  I made beef grillades last night (but with rice instead of grits).  Red beans and rice are traditional Monday dinner, although recently I've done black beans and rice.  (Not from scratch, but from Zatarain's in a box and with crawfish smoked sausage added.)

 

Making a lime roast chicken for Tropical Storm Nate who's coming to visit tomorrow night.


@Mary W wrote:

I tend to cook cajun/ creole.  I made beef grillades last night (but with rice instead of grits).  Red beans and rice are traditional Monday dinner, although recently I've done black beans and rice.  (Not from scratch, but from Zatarain's in a box and with crawfish smoked sausage added.)

 

Making a lime roast chicken for Tropical Storm Nate who's coming to visit tomorrow night.


Oooh, where do you get crawfish smoked sausage?  And I'm not sure that I share your same taste in dinner companions, but I'm interested in the lime roast chicken. How do make that?

 

Lime roasted chicken - take a whole chicken and squeeze fresh lime juice into the cavity, followed by Zatarain's seasoning and the actual half lime.  Rub the entire outside of the chicken with Zatarains and squeez more fresh lime juice all over it.  Place on a bed of fresh carrots to roast and add the squeezed limes to the pan.  Spray the whole thing with Pam, sprinkle more seasoning if necessary and roast as usual in the over.  Really, really good.

 

We get crawfish/ pork and alligator/pork smoked sausage at the local Winn Dixie.  Really good stuff.  Use it in gumbo, too.

Not fair Mary.  I MISS shopping at Winn Dixie.  I miss Gumbo.  I miss Gator.  I miss Crawfish Etouffe.  Oooo and Shrimp Etouffe.  And amazing Buttermilk Biscuits from Popeyes (up North it's just NOT the same).  And and and.... I wonder if I can get the husband to agree to move South....  *wanders off to work and plot*

~I am only here when I can tolerate having my eyes blasted, my privacy treated like a joke, and my temper pushed to it's limit. For all other times, please request alternate contact methods~

No one does comfort food better than the south!

 

I love fried chicken but of course that's like a whole week's worth of calories so I have to be careful. I hate anyone who can eat whatever they want and never gain. I look at fried chicken and it's a pound. I'd prolly be 200lbs if I didn't work out.

 

My sister makes amazing mashed potatoes. I might go to Atlanta for Thanksgiving just for the mashed potatoes.

 

 


@Jennifer M wrote:

No one does comfort food better than the south!

 

I love fried chicken but of course that's like a whole week's worth of calories so I have to be careful. I hate anyone who can eat whatever they want and never gain. I look at fried chicken and it's a pound. I'd prolly be 200lbs if I didn't work out.

 

My sister makes amazing mashed potatoes. I might go to Atlanta for Thanksgiving just for the mashed potatoes.

 

 


 It's so funny how really simple things can do it. One of my recent cravings was for potato-dill soup. It's really nothing fancy and it's really simple to make, but noting quite hits the spot in the same way.


@Mary W wrote:

 

We get crawfish/ pork and alligator/pork smoked sausage at the local Winn Dixie.  Really good stuff.  Use it in gumbo, too.


 Sigh.


@Mary W wrote:

Lime roasted chicken - take a whole chicken and squeeze fresh lime juice into the cavity, followed by Zatarain's seasoning and the actual half lime.  Rub the entire outside of the chicken with Zatarains and squeez more fresh lime juice all over it.  Place on a bed of fresh carrots to roast and add the squeezed limes to the pan.  Spray the whole thing with Pam, sprinkle more seasoning if necessary and roast as usual in the over.  Really, really good.

 

We get crawfish/ pork and alligator/pork smoked sausage at the local Winn Dixie.  Really good stuff.  Use it in gumbo, too.


I think I'd find alligator a lot more comforting in sausage form than up close and personal. I never realized they were part of the cuisine.  I guess there are probably enough of them around.

I've been checking out Zatrain's online. They have something called "Blackened Chicken Alfredo" and "New Orleans Style Dirty Rice Mix."

smoked-alligator-and-pork-sausage.jpg

Cheese, cheese, and more cheese (with red wine). Smiley Happy

"Certa bonum certamen"

The dirty rice mix is pretty good.  The jambalaya mix is really good.  And yes, that's the sausage I get.

Alligator is quite good in po-boys and alligator with sauce piquant is amazing.

Re: Zatarains

 

If you all are talking about the grocery store boxed products that have the brand name "Zatarains", I can say yea, it's not bad, but not nearly as good as having REAL homecooked or CHEF cooked Cajun food. I had both for a  6 month period about 18 years ago, and got so spoiled I don't get Zatarians anymore. It's just not the same. Having some real sausage handy will elevate one of the box rice meals into a a nice dinner though, if your not spoiled.

 

Re: pączkis

 

Oddly, I have seen those (only once a year though) in grocery stores here in CO, and also in gorcery stores in the East Coast (also once a year). Since my current location is 100% chains, with no ethnic culture to speak of, I have to wonder some. Not much of a donut fan, so I can't provide a review.  I think they only show up in the Spring? Like maybe around Easter? Not sure..

 

 

 

I use the Zatarain's or Chachere's seasoning all the time.  The boxes are okay when you're tired but you have to jazz them  up a good bit.

 

christopherbudde
Community Member

Being of Czech descent, it's all about roasted pork leg and potato dumplings.


@Christopher B wrote:

Being of Czech descent, it's all about roasted pork leg and potato dumplings.


I think dumplings must be a universal comfort food. My mom used to make them with beef stew.

 

Also, it seems like every country has its own version of filled dumplings, from perogies, which are part of my background,  to Chinese dumpling, which were part of my local food heritage.

A friend of my mom's used to do these amazing deep fried perogies. I'm not sure where she was from. I think she was Russian. That's not really the standard way to do perogies, and I've never heard of anyone else making them that way. The filling was ground beef, onoions and hard-boiled eggs.   

Love pierogis.   Grew up in Chicago where they were prevalent.  Also klatchkes (sp?) - pastries.  Yum.  I'm starving now.


@Mary W wrote:

Love pierogis.   Grew up in Chicago where they were prevalent.  Also klatchkes (sp?) - pastries.  Yum.  I'm starving now.


I didn't discover pączkis, the sweet filled donuts, until I moved to Montreal. And then I became addicted. I could never figure out why my mom was so into jelly donuts. I think they must have been the closest thing you could get to a pączki. But somehow pączki take the filled donut to a whole new spiritual level. 

 

 

cupidmedia
Community Member

What a great topic. I *love* food, and I love to cook for people. Where to start?

 

I make a fantastic bacon and egg pie (this is very much a Kiwi thing, apparently). This is my go-to recipe when I want something I know is easy and tasty. Also the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. My comfort foods are usually cold-weather soups and stews (also with dumplings!) but we don't really have cold weather here.

 

What I miss the most is my Nana's cooking. Rice pudding. Rock cakes. Towards the end of her life, when she was bed-ridden, I went back home for a visit before it was too late. Mum and I made rock cakes together in her kitchen after digging her recipe out of her book. She reminded us that we couldn't forget to add chopped glace cherries. So when we were done we found the cake with the most obvious cherry bits in it and gave it to her especially.

 

We're coming up to holiday season which means I need to start planning my Christmas menu and making my Christmas cakes. I make an amazing Drunken Christmas Fruitcake. We also have a special breakfast we do each year for Christmas called Stuffed French Toast. My husband's family used to host a lot of exchange students when he was in school and one year they hosted the daughter of the owners of the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Texas - the French Toast is one of her recipes.

jodypm
Community Member

I'm not a chef, by any means, and have been accused of actually burning water, but I love cracklin' cornbread. I had it for the first time years ago in Georgia while visiting the home of a client. There was lots of good Southern food there during that night, but the cracklin' cornbread just made me delirious. 

 

There are a few places in Miami that serve good soul-food, one of the best ones is in Overtown and the other is in Liberty City. 

 

Now I'm thinking about cracklin' cornbread and my plate of beans and rice looks sad.

 

Another day in the life.

 

Jody

renata101
Community Member


@Jody P wrote:

I'm not a chef, by any means, and have been accused of actually burning water, but I love cracklin' cornbread. I had it for the first time years ago in Georgia while visiting the home of a client. There was lots of good Southern food there during that night, but the cracklin' cornbread just made me delirious. 

 

There are a few places in Miami that serve good soul-food, one of the best ones is in Overtown and the other is in Liberty City. 

 

Now I'm thinking about cracklin' cornbread and my plate of beans and rice looks sad.

 

Another day in the life.

 

Jody


Wow, Jody. We've got to get your cooking! You should not be facing a plateful of sad, lonely beans. That might not be a hard thing to fix.

Cornbread is actually not that hard to make, and it takes less than an hour from start to finish. So you can do it while your beans are cooking. For me, the secret is using buttermilk if you have it, and a little bit of honey. And it's really good for breakfast the next day if you made a lot.  

I was looking online, and I think the main thing with the Southern cornbread is that it's baked in a cast iron pan. Maybe someone can verify that?

We could probably get you some phone support if you want to try it out. 🙂






I'm a northerner through and through, but I've lived in the south and I always make my cornbread in a cast iron skillet. Always. I do a half and half recipe where one half of the pan is cheddar jalapeño and the other is honey butter. Now I'm super hungry.  

jodypm
Community Member


@Renata S wrote:

@Jody P wrote:

I'm not a chef, by any means, and have been accused of actually burning water, but I love cracklin' cornbread. I had it for the first time years ago in Georgia while visiting the home of a client. There was lots of good Southern food there during that night, but the cracklin' cornbread just made me delirious. 

 

There are a few places in Miami that serve good soul-food, one of the best ones is in Overtown and the other is in Liberty City. 

 

Now I'm thinking about cracklin' cornbread and my plate of beans and rice looks sad.

 

Another day in the life.

 

Jody


Wow, Jody. We've got to get your cooking! You should not be facing a plateful of sad, lonely beans. That might not be a hard thing to fix.

Cornbread is actually not that hard to make, and it takes less than an hour from start to finish. So you can do it while your beans are cooking. For me, the secret is using buttermilk if you have it, and a little bit of honey. And it's really good for breakfast the next day if you made a lot.  

I was looking online, and I think the main thing with the Southern cornbread is that it's baked in a cast iron pan. Maybe someone can verify that?

We could probably get you some phone support if you want to try it out. 🙂







Hi, Renata:

 

LOL, yes, they were indeed sad -- but I cheered them up with a few sprinklings of habanero pepper!

 

Fortunately for me, my wife is an amazing cook, so I am rescued from having to fend for myself most of the time! However, as a developer, I have to work late at times, so I often find myself trying to be clever in the kitchen. For some reason, I can decipher complex algorithms but can't figure out how to make sure bread rises.

 

Thank you for the suggestion about the iron skillet -- I've often tried to get my wife to use one as my grandmother had many (one of my chores was to coat them with oil every night), but she was from a time and place (Cuba, pre-Castro) that is different from now. The bad thing about those iron skillets is their weight and for my wife, that is the single item that makes it unfavorable in her eyes. I wonder if there are alternatives, however?

 

Best,

 

Jody

renata101
Community Member

 


@ Jody

I'm relieved to hear that you're connected to someone who's a good cook. I was imagining a scene that was a lot more dire.

 

For some reason, I can decipher complex algorithms but can't figure out how to make sure bread rises.

 

Seriously, I've never been able to figure this one out: Intensely intelligent people who are capable of high-level, complex thought processes but who are flummoxed by something completely pedestrian like cooking (granted some people take it to the level of a high art). I guess my only intuition into this is that it's a "feel" thing, and maybe it's like the "dance gene" (which my mom had but I didn't inherit). Or maybe you just have to grow up around someone who doesn't like cooking (the advantage was that I was heartily encouraged to learn and I still enjoy it). I still think, though, that you could master cornbread.

 

Thank you for the suggestion about the iron skillet -- I've often tried to get my wife to use one as my grandmother had many (one of my chores was to coat them with oil every night), but she was from a time and place (Cuba, pre-Castro) that is different from now. The bad thing about those iron skillets is their weight and for my wife, that is the single item that makes it unfavorable in her eyes. I wonder if there are alternatives, however?

 

I'm taking a moment to contemplate that idea: pre-Castro cast iron grandmother.  LOL

Jody, it still seems like the alternative is you baking the cornbread.... then your wife doesn't need to approve of your pan. 🙂

You would think with all the technological advances these days there would be an alternative. But I think cast iron is still the gold standard for some cooking applications. There's something really unique about the way cast iron holds heat -- it's really even. I think that's the secret because I'm imagining that the Southern cornbread would be crunchy on the outside. I actually lucked out and found a smallish cast iron pan that was made in Japan at a thrift store. It holds heat really well but it's not as heavy as most. I have no idea where you would find one because I wasn't aware they existed. But for cornbread, you would probably only need something like a 10-inch pan. 

Maybe someone out there has an answer. My cornbread is fairly crunchy on the outside and I've been baking mine in a Pyrex baking dish. It's good, but somehow I imagine the cast iron version would totally win out. 

A question: What did your grandmother cook in her cast iron?  What's a traditional Cuban dish -- even a recipe that she made up?


Renata

jodypm
Community Member


@Renata S wrote:

  

Seriously, I've never been able to figure this one out: Intensely intelligent people who are capable of high-level, complex thought processes but who are flummoxed by something completely pedestrian like cooking (granted some people take it to the level of a high art). I guess my only intuition into this is that it's a "feel" thing, and maybe it's like the "dance gene" (which my mom had but I didn't inherit). Or maybe you just have to grow up around someone who doesn't like cooking (the advantage was that I was heartily encouraged to learn and I still enjoy it). I still think, though, that you could master cornbread.

A question: What did your grandmother cook in her cast iron?  What's a traditional Cuban dish -- even a recipe that she made up?


 I haven't been able to figure that one out either. I wish that I could say that being a developer means I'm super-smart and capable of high-level thought processes (smile). What it really means, though, is that because I enjoy being a programmer and do it professionally, I'm able to stick in there with sheer determination and figure things out with an average brain. But while I might have a few talents as a developer, I have very few as a cook (smile). 

 

How many times in life have you seen sheer determination trump intelligence?

 

"Talent does whatever it wants to do. Genius does only what it can. - Eugene Delacroix

 

So with that, as you say, I could probably master cornbread due to my determination: though, honestly, I'd rather master the art of baking bread first as there is rarely a thing as grand as the smell of fresh-baked bread in the place you call home.

 

But what is that cracklin' that they put in it? I've heard lots of different things, and Google offers a myriad of answers, but they are as varied as the day is long.

 

I'm glad that you asked about my grandmother and what she cooked in those humongous cast-iron skillets. The answer is everything, or so it seemed -- especially since I was the one that not only had to clean them every night, but they also had to be towel-dried and then greased and re-greased with coconut oil.

 

But following your advice, I may buy one or two and just tell my unsuspecting better half that they are for me to use. Not that I will ever do them true justice, but that'll work to get them in the front door!

 

 

 

renata101
Community Member


@Jody P wrote:

I'm glad that you asked about my grandmother and what she cooked in those humongous cast-iron skillets. The answer is everything, or so it seemed -- especially since I was the one that not only had to clean them every night, but they also had to be towel-dried and then greased and re-greased with coconut oil.

 

But following your advice, I may buy one or two and just tell my unsuspecting better half that they are for me to use. Not that I will ever do them true justice, but that'll work to get them in the front door!

 


@Jody

 I think I'm beginning to understand the story of how you were able to hook up with a good cook -- early training with the pan washing. 

Also, I think that sheer determination might have a lot more to do with being "brainy" than we think.

As for bread baking, that is truly spiritual food territory. My mom, who did not like cooking in general (or at least said as much on every possible occasion), was amazing with bread. Years later, I see artisnal bakeries doing creative breads that are actually similar to hers. And she was really experiemental. She used to take leftover rice and cooked cereals and make bread out of them. I think the rice bread was my favorite because it was really light and crisp, and it made amazing toast. I think she just had the right feel for what to add to get the right consistency. And the smell was amazing. Also, once you get it down, it's a really meditative activity (good for unwinding the brain).  

About getting the pans in the door: I would work the nostalgia angle. 🙂  I think you can get pre-seasoned ones if you don't want to do the seasoning yourself. 

For some things you just can't go past cast iron. I have two different sized enamelled cast iron pots and a cast-iron griddle all from Le Creuset and I love them. The smaller pot I use to make bread. I probably need *more* cast iron, not less, haha. Like Renata said, the heat is very even and they can handle very high heat. And you can use them on the stove and put them in the oven.

sivavranagaro
Community Member

Simplest biscuit with ganache. There's no better thing in whole universe than chocolate.

Its majesty ...

ch

____________
Don't correct my grammar!

Well we had a tornado move through just south of us yesterday, and a really bad storm over the weekend. Lots of damage to property and a few lives were lost. And some flooding. Power has been on and off, although it seems to be okay today (so I can get some work done - writing emails to clients apologising and explaining - and adding links to weather and news channels just in case they don't believe you, is kinda tiring....) so I need to get my ass into gear and get going! Of course, goto have my coffee break and read up some...in the coffee break area.

 

Nicola...what happened to you is just B.A.D.!!!!!! Hope things are resolved SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

As the weather is still iffy, and it's a cool day...we are having a South African cold weather staple today..bean soup, made in the traditional SA style.... It is on order from the one son and mamma said yeah okay. Those beans are soaking as we speak.

 

 

 

 


@Irene B wrote:

Well we had a tornado move through just south of us yesterday, and a really bad storm over the weekend. Lots of damage to property and a few lives were lost. And some flooding. Power has been on and off, although it seems to be okay today (so I can get some work done - writing emails to clients apologising and explaining - and adding links to weather and news channels just in case they don't believe you, is kinda tiring....) so I need to get my ass into gear and get going! Of course, goto have my coffee break and read up some...in the coffee break area.

 

Nicola...what happened to you is just B.A.D.!!!!!! Hope things are resolved SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

As the weather is still iffy, and it's a cool day...we are having a South African cold weather staple today..bean soup, made in the traditional SA style.... It is on order from the one son and mamma said yeah okay. Those beans are soaking as we speak.

 

 

 

 


Wow, Irene. It's hard to know how to respond to something that extreme. The only response I can come up with is to say that soup's probably a pretty good comfort food menu choice after a tornado. 

 

All we had in my part of the world was lots rain, which might have been the tail end of Nate. I hope everything's okay.  

What's the traditional SA style?




"Traditional" SA food is very, very simple food made with the minimum of ingredients. Very few people still know HOW to make such food as they have tended to 'evolve' the traditional dishes into something they were not really meant to be...yet they still tend to call them traditional...hence my inverted commas at the beginning of the post.

 

REAL 'traditional' bean soup would be:

 

Soaking a packet of dried beans overnight. Next day, braising either some beef or pork in the pot with some onions, a bay leaf, cloves, and pepper and then adding water and cooking for a while before adding the soaked (strained a few times) beans. After cooking a (long) while, add your salt and mash those beans a bit (makes the soup thick) and voila..simplest 'traditional' fair you can imagine.

 

Other 'traditional' SA food includes bobotie with yellow rice, green bean stew (a Western Cape dish mainly), tomato stew (also traditional Western Cape), and 'Waterblommetjie (a type water weed that grows in the Western Cape)" stew....

 

OK...I come from the Western Cape and my grandad had a milk farm....and learned to cook REAL traditional food from my mother and grandma. I make the most astonishing range of jams, marmalades, and pickles.


@Irene B wrote:

"Traditional" SA food is very, very simple food made with the minimum of ingredients. Very few people still know HOW to make such food as they have tended to 'evolve' the traditional dishes into something they were not really meant to be...yet they still tend to call them traditional...hence my inverted commas at the beginning of the post.

 

REAL 'traditional' bean soup would be:

 

Soaking a packet of dried beans overnight. Next day, braising either some beef or pork in the pot with some onions, a bay leaf, cloves, and pepper and then adding water and cooking for a while before adding the soaked (strained a few times) beans. After cooking a (long) while, add your salt and mash those beans a bit (makes the soup thick) and voila..simplest 'traditional' fair you can imagine.

 

Other 'traditional' SA food includes bobotie with yellow rice, green bean stew (a Western Cape dish mainly), tomato stew (also traditional Western Cape), and 'Waterblommetjie (a type water weed that grows in the Western Cape)" stew....

 

OK...I come from the Western Cape and my grandad had a milk farm....and learned to cook REAL traditional food from my mother and grandma. I make the most astonishing range of jams, marmalades, and pickles.


I've never thought of cloves with beans, but that actually sounds nice.  

As for non-traditional recipes, I think I've had a few "evolved" SA recipe dishes. I only know bobotie in a tofu version, which is definitely not traditional. But it's still really good. 

I even found a recipe for Waterblommetjie on the Le Creuset South Africa website. It's propably a serious fusion cuisne job since they cook theirs in a cast iron version of a Middle Eastern tagine.  So there are even more things you can cook in cast iron. I wonder what the difference is between a tangine and a regular pot. 

https://www.lecreuset.co.za/recipes/waterblommetjie-bredie/

 

And sorry, it's actually a t-a-g-i-n-e.


@Renata S wrote:

<snip>

 

So there are even more things you can cook in cast iron. I wonder what the difference is between a tangine and a regular pot.


Unless something has changed, a tangine is special a clay pot and can be quite large. We have them in the US know, and for normal folks (backyard example) they can set you back almost 1k USD.

 

Sigh. Need a real tangine to make Naan.

 

 

I cook my naan on a large cast iron skillet!

 

I cook my cornbread in a small cast iron skillet (I have two different sizes) unless I make corn pone, then those get baked in a cast iron pone pan.  The secret to a great crust is make sure the skillet and shortening are screaming hot before the batter goes in.

 

I cook my flour tortillas on a cast iron skillet too.

 

I've even baked an upside down cake in my large cast iron skillet.

 

I wouldn't bake my baking powder biscuits in a cast iron skillet though, they need to be on a rimless pan for the best browning.

 

With all the tomatoes ripening, my kitchen has been so busy canning I'm almost too tired to cook. but just last night I canned spicy aubergine sauce, Sunday I canned marinara, Saturday was all day canning stewed tomatoes and green tomato salsa.

 

 


@Pandora H wrote:

@Renata S wrote:

<snip>

 

So there are even more things you can cook in cast iron. I wonder what the difference is between a tangine and a regular pot.


Unless something has changed, a tangine is special a clay pot and can be quite large. We have them in the US know, and for normal folks (backyard example) they can set you back almost 1k USD.

 

Sigh. Need a real tangine to make Naan.

 

 


I've been getting it wrong. It's a T-A-G-I-N-E. I think you got to the post before I noticed that.

And actually, the Le Creuset one is lovely (almost sculptural). However, I need the mansion with the properly sized kitchen to house it first. 

Tagine-Large-554x554.jpg 

What I want right now is a big Mac with French fries and salad on the side. I am too lazy to jump in the car and drive 12 miles to get it.


@Nichola L wrote:

What I want right now is a big Mac with French fries and salad on the side. I am too lazy to jump in the car and drive 12 miles to get it.


You're too lazy for fast food? And don't you live in France where they have real food as a viable alternative? I'm confused.

Sometimes, you just can't beat a greasy burger and fries.


@Pandora H wrote:

Sometimes, you just can't beat a greasy burger and fries.


Okay, it's like eating poutine when it's -37ºC?  Nothing beats that. 

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