Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, Sunday Night

As a credit to Martha Hall Foose, author of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, tonight's meal made it to my boyfriend's list of all-time favorites.

Along with the 3 Bean Salad and Blue Cheese Pecan Bread I made earlier, I added Crispy Baby Reds with parsley and dill salt (page 164) and Paper Sack Catfish (page 129).   I will have to say that I have never been more precious with a potato recipe.   Indeed, there is one step where I failed.   After boiling the potatoes, I was to spoon them into a baking dish, one at a time, and coat with olive oil.   Sorry, Martha, I did small batches instead.

I'm sure that they would have been even better if I followed the recipe exactly, but I had to move on to the next step, so I could get my catfish in the oven.   The catfish was some of the best I remember having and I got to use some dill from our garden, but I will use a bigger baking sheet next time.   My paper sacks were dripping olive oil over the sides and onto the floor before I got wise to the sitchyation.   It's best to get fillets of a similar size and as close to the ones that the recipe calls for (6 ounces) as possible.   It's mighty difficult to judge doneness from the other side of the paper bag, so I'll never be the hostess with the dramatic reveal of slicing the paper bags open at the table.   I did the optional addition of  blanched asparagus beneath the catfish and prosciutto on top.   I forgot to add the pepper before cooking, but that didn't ruin the evening.   Butcher's twine, by the way, is on the baking aisle, next to the spices at Farm Fresh, if you need to know.

All in all, it was a tasty meal, but the recipes I chose to put together made for a heavy plate.   If I had to do it all over again, I would add in a fresh fruit salad and not have the bread and potatoes...just one or the other.   So far, this cookbook has delivered the goods, and I look forward to telling you about other test runs.   Perhaps something from the Mailbox Happy Hour section next?

Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, Sunday Afternoon

Outside the kitchen screen door, the next door neighbor's cat is sprawled out in the shade next to the water bowl that we keep for her.   The front screen door is propped open where my boyfriend is trying to capture the beauty of a wildflower plucked from one of our tiny gardens.   On the airwaves is Nick Waterhouse and KEXP.   A gentle breeze is flowing through the house while the oven is set to 375 for some first-time bread baking.

I'm no stranger to dessert breads and cornbread, but this recipe was for Blue Cheese Pecan Bread (page 180) from Martha Hall Foose's cookbook Screen Doors and Sweet Tea.   It's one of those cut the butter in and knock on the bottom to tell if the bread's ready kinda recipes.  

For a first effort, it turned out better than edible, good enough to share with neighbors.   Both the next door neighbors were away, so two-doors-down Mr. Herman got a slice.

Right now, the good ol' stand-by Three Bean Salad (page 62) is marinating in the fridge.   I substituted a red pepper because I had one on hand and added the optional can of artichoke hearts.   We were able to use some onions from our garden that had bolted and were ready to pluck.   I'll be able to tell you how it turned out tomorrow.

Tonight I'll make Paper Sack Catfish and Crispy Baby Reds, and I'll get back to you on how that went.

Foose recommends some zydeco to go with your bean salad.

Lissen here.

So what does this have to do with my Delta State class in July?   Well, there's the required reading, and there's the extra reading that I've picked up-- like cookbooks.   Foose was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, so how else could I kick off a reading marathon?