40 always more online @ eatdrinkmag.net issue twelve ? september 2008 COOKBOOKS
Screen Doors and Sweet Tea
Review by Jennifer Gagel Here is a perfect recipe to extend the languid feel of summer: sit out on porch, sip a Mint Julep, and keep good company with Martha Hall Foose's Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2008, $37.95). Foose grew up on the Mississippi Delta, amid rhythm 'n' blues and fried chicken. She left the South to become a chef of the world, starting by attending École Lenôtre pastry school in France, later ranging as far as Africa and Thailand. Homesickness returned her to the Delta to open Bottletree Bakery and, later, Mockingbird Bakery. As the executive chef of the Viking Cooking School, she teaches home cooks accessible Southern cuisine. "All in all, this book is about my home, and I know no better way to tell its stories than through food,? she writes. "Recipes for collard greens and black-eyed peas capture our superstitions, but trust passes them along ... The unadorned perfection of home-grown tomatoes paired with delicate lady peas is just one way for me to explain this place-and I guess myself, too.? The South is rich with history and embodies entertaining and down-home hospitality-so too does this book. Luscious pictures showcase the people and places, and the anecdotes convey rich local colour. Foose is a wonderful storyteller. In her recipe for Cantaloupe Daiquiris, she tells us, "The courtyards of New Orleans offer a haven from the heat. Shaded and mossy, planted with sweet-smelling Confederate Jasmine, they're like Mrs. Venable's arboretum in Suddenly Last Summer. She had her trusty secretary deliver a daiquiri every day at five. The musky sweetness of the melon, married to the brightness of the basil and mint, suspended in an icy slurry, will cool an afternoon down to the slow simmer of twilight.? Part of what makes these recipes so accessible is the plethora of tips in the margins. She explains that okra will darken if slow cooked in cast iron, and that blue cheese is easy to crumble in a plastic sandwich bag. She also gives great serving ideas, freezer tips, substitutions and plenty more. She may be a professional chef, but she is as welcoming to the home cook as a Southern lady would be to her guests. "The slow simmering of my gumbos mimics the pace of our speech down here,? notes Foose. I had never tried to make gumbo before, or cooked with okra, but the simplicity of the Chicken and Okra Gumbo stood out. Okra juice is sticky; an accidental splatter of it on the open cookbook and those pages were almost glued shut forever. But other than the okra-glue mishap, the gumbo was extraordinarily easy to make and had none of the 'ropey' consistency Foose warns of with okra. This dish could easily be as personal to you as the South is to Foose with the addition of some favourite seasonings. Blue Cheese and Pecan Bread is a quick bread, requiring no yeast or rising, but the savoury, full-flavour of the round belies the ease of preparation. "Present the hostess with a bottle of wine and this bread,? Foose suggests, "and you will most likely be invited back.? The biggest hit for my guests was theeatdrink savour stratford this september 20th & 21st!6 34 40 45 14 32eatdrink? crunchy carrots & tasty tomatoesthe return to flavourslow foodbenvenuti to authentic italian ...9519 667 0535thebraywick thebraywickthe best products you'll never seegreat food ... fine wine ... good timescopper is cookware for kingsin stockelegance & simplicityvisit our newly designed & expanded showroom onta rio's west coast choco-liciousthe buzzthe sunnivue farmstore schnitzel schnitzel??????????????????????? katana kafémykonosjambalaya is jump-up world cuisine25years 28celebrate the harvest30www.relishelgin.cawalker's is a tradition to savour33foraging now easier in bayfieldwinemaker's dinner serieswhat's up, doc? carrots!chocolate carrot cakechianti culture in casks39 screen doors and sweet teacooking blue cheese pecan breadbounty from prince edward countyartevino 2008 wine award winnerswhat's brewing in craft beer culture46what do london women want?"more than a visit... an experience!?