Fred Thompson’s Southern Sides: 250 Dishes That Really Make the Plate

By Fred Thompson

Side dishes are the very heart and soul of southern cuisine. So proclaims Fred Thompson in this heartfelt love letter to the marvelous foods on the side of the plate. From traditional, like Pableaux's Red Beans and Rice, to contemporary, like Scuppernong-Glazed Carrots, Thompson's 250 recipes recommend the virtues of the utterly simple and the totally unexpected. Fred Thompson's Southern Sides celebrates the sheer joy of cooking and eating these old and new classic dishes.
Exploring the importance of side dishes in the cuisine of the American South, Thompson suggests that if you look closely enough, you can find a historical tale of family, culture, and ethnicity in one awesome recipe after another. Twelve richly illustrated chapters feature a full array of produce, grains and beans, fish and meats, and more. The recipes are enhanced by Thompson's amusing observations, tales of southern living and eating, and straightforward cooking tips. Thompson also provides menus for special occasions throughout the year--for Thanksgiving, you may want to include Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Sage, Sorghum, and Black Walnuts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Release date: Sep 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9780807837382

Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson is a food, wine, and travel writer and is publisher of Edible Piedmont. He is author of ten cookbooks, including Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-off-the-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes from America's Backyard and The Big Book of Fish and Shellfish: More than 250 Terrific Recipes. He is the Weekend Gourmet columnist for the Raleigh News and Observer.

Book preview

A Little Something to Get the Hospitality Started

There’s a reason why folks around the country and around the world talk about southern hospitality. That’s because hospitality is a mainstay of the southern mind-set. Hospitality can take many shapes, including just being a gracious and attentive listener, being an impeccable conversationalist, and putting food in someone’s mouth shortly after he or she walks through the door. Southern hospitality is never just reserved for a dinner or cocktail party. It’s also evident when your neighbor pops over to say hi and how are you getting along, when friends pile a table with food for someone saddened by a loved one’s passing, and even when we’re practicing the art of tailgating.

Much of this well-known warmth comes from the speed with which we can get something to eat in front of our guests. It can be as simple as always having homemade cookies and a fresh pot of coffee. One of my uncles was generous with his moonshine and always had pickled eggs. For some people, it’s a glass of sweet tea or lemonade on a scorching hot summer day. In my house, I try to have things that I can bring together at a moment’s notice. I believe in a mixture of classic and new southern cuisine. Some things you just can’t do without: deviled eggs, pimento cheese, cheese straws, and pickled shrimp. So when company comes to my house, they will be offered a glass of iced tea or lemonade, some good sipping bourbon on the rocks, or a Jack Daniels with Blenheim ginger ale. I try to always have a jar of pickled shrimp in the refrigerator. And in the freezer, I’ll have some Apple-Walnut Pâté (page 22), some cheese straws ready to be baked, probably a Shrimp Ball (page 25), and an artichoke dip that’s quickly baked. While some may call me old-fashioned, I keep a block of cream cheese around as well as local farmer cheese. To go with that, there’s always a jar of hot pepper jelly (sometimes homemade, occasionally from Braswell’s) or some of Sarah Foster’s awesome Seven Pepper Jelly. Add an assortment of crackers, and you have a truly southern hors d’oeuvre.

I also like to throw a few new twists into the mix. Sweet Potato Guacamole (page 13) is a culture clash between a North Carolina bumper crop and the flavors of a Latino table. The result will have your friends demanding the recipe and confused about what’s in the mixture. My advice—keep them guessing for a while. Hummus has been a major part of Middle Eastern cuisine for centuries, but did you know that it’s also pretty doggone good when you make it with butterbeans? Or how about new-wave kale chips? They’re interesting and delicious and show everyone that you are contemporary.

The recipes in this chapter only scratch the surface, but they will delight your company and can be slid on a plate just like a side dish of field peas. Just remember—hospitality is part of the underpinning of our famous generosity, so be very good at it. We’re being watched.

Sweet Potato Guacamole

This very southern twist on guacamole came from my son-in-law, Kyle Wilkerson, a chef at Four Square Restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, and my biggest playmate with food. Daughter, you really did right with Kyle. You will be totally surprised how well this guacamole fits with standard Mexican fare. Nibbling on corn chips with some Sweet Potato Guacamole, some regular guacamole, and some salsa is a great way to spend an afternoon with friends, a football game, and a couple of beers. Put this guacamole alongside some fish tacos, and it’s oooh so good.

Serves 4–6

1 large cooked sweet potato

1 tomato, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 garlic clove, minced

2 poblano chilis, roasted, peeled, and chopped

Kosher salt

Fresh lime juice

1 Using a spoon, scrape the cooked sweet potato from the peel into a medium mixing bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients except salt and lime juice. Mash with the back of a fork and stir together. Season with salt and lime juice. Serve the same day, with blue corn tortilla chips.

Lighter-Than-Air Cheese Straws

Many businesses in the South are devoted to selling cheese straws, but none will come close to your homemade ones in taste and visual appeal. (Yes, we do eat with our eyes first.) Easy, easy, easy to make, and they freeze great for emergency drop-ins. Award-winning pastry chef Karen Barker taught me a trick that really makes these straws exceptional: Roll the cheese into the pastry instead of sprinkling the cheese over the top, as many recipes suggest. The result is a very intense, cheesy straw.

Makes 2 dozen

1 box frozen puff pastry, preferably Dufour, thawed in the refrigerator overnight

All-purpose flour

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon water

2 cups grated hard cheese (I like a combination of Parmesan, Pecorino, and Asiago)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Remove the puff pastry from the refrigerator and unfold. Flour the counter or a cutting board and a rolling pin. Roll each sheet into a rectangle about 9 × 14 inches.

2 Beat the egg with the water and brush the mixture over both sheets. Sprinkle each piece of dough with about half the cheese and then all the cayenne pepper. Reflour the rolling pin and lightly roll over the dough to push in the cheese. Lightly flour the top of each sheet and flip it over. Brush the dough again with the egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and then the thyme. Run the rolling pin over the dough to push in the cheese.

3 Square up the dough by trimming the edges with a pizza wheel or knife. Cut the dough in half lengthwise and then crosswise into about 1-inch sticks. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle with a small amount of flour. Hold each stick of dough between your thumb and forefinger. With the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, twist the dough. Place each twisted piece of dough on a baking sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch between pieces. Chill in the refrigerator or freezer until very firm. (You can freeze them at this point to bake later.)

4 Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

5 Bake the cheese straws for 12–14 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese straws begin to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. The cheese straws are best served within 30 minutes to 1 hour. If you bake them in advance, reheat them in a 425 degree oven for about 5 minutes to get them crispy again.

Lighter Than Air Cheese Straws

Cheddar Cheese Straws

No self-respecting southern host or hostess would ever be caught without cheese crackers or cheese straws. They are almost as important as biscuits and cornbread. Sure, you can buy them, but homemade cheese straws are infinitely better. I wouldn’t think of having a party without them.

Makes about 8 dozen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose soft wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pepper jelly

Cream cheese

1 Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2 Combine the flour and cayenne pepper in a bowl.

3 Place the cheese and butter in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the flour and pulse until well combined. (You can also do this with an electric hand mixer using softened butter.)

4 If you have a cookie press, fit it with the star attachment and press out the straws. Otherwise, roll the dough 1/8 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut it into 1 × 2-inch strips. Transfer the straws to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. If you’ve rolled your dough, twist each strip to give it some visual interest.

5 Bake for 8–10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately, or cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Serve with pepper jelly and cream cheese.

Au Courant Kale Chips

The latest craze in culinary snacking is the kale chip. Not one to be out of fashion, I played with several different ways of creating the chips. My first efforts were fried kale chips with the leaves coated like fried green tomatoes. And gosh darn, they were really good. But, you know, kale is one of those good for us vegetables, and by frying it, I was negating much of that benefit. So I played around with the idea of baking the chips. It’s a fairly simple process, and the results are outstanding. What separates these kale chips from others is the addition of a little vinegar, which I put on braised kale since it helps mellow out the bitterness of dark greens. Make a batch of these and see how fast they get gone.

Serves 2–3

1 bunch regular kale or 3 bunches Tuscan kale

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry, white balsamic, or apple cider vinegar

Sea salt or seasoned salt

1 Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2 Remove the tough stems that run through the kale leaves. Tear the leaves so they are all about the same size. Remember, we’re making chips, so think about the size of a potato chip. Throw the torn kale into a colander and rinse. Then either toss the leaves in a salad spinner or lay them between two kitchen towels until the kale is perfectly dry.

3 Place the dry kale pieces in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, and toss the chips with your hands until the leaves are evenly coated. Add the vinegar and toss again. Spread the chips evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

4 Roast the chips until they are crisp and slightly browned on the edges, usually about 35 minutes (but begin checking at 25 minutes). Remove from the oven and give them a generous pinch of salt. Serve immediately.

Rachael Thomas’s Deviled Eggs

You know that these unassuming small packages of taste have come into their own now that restaurants are calling them appetizers and charging an arm and a leg for them. That’s not the way deviled eggs should be consumed. They should be on a deviled egg platter, and there should be lots of