Southern Style Potato Salad Recipe: Virginia Community Cookbook Edition

It's officially summer, which means cookouts, picnics, family reunions, outdoor grilling, and 4th of July festivities, and I can't think of a better addition to any table spread than a big bowl of Southern style potato salad. While everyone has their own unique take on this popular side dish often from recipes handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, I just love noshing on the Southern classic version made with hot potatoes doused in a bit of vinegar (it gives them depth of flavor) that are mixed with mayo, onions, celery and a couple of spoonfuls of sweet pickle relish or homemade chow chow relish which is a little secret ingredient I like to add.

In the past, I've always made my mom's potato salad recipe, but this time I decided to crack open an old friend, my copy of Green Springs Country Cooking, a community cookbook published in 1975 by the Historic Green Springs society from Louisa County, Virginia. Historic Green Springs is a national landmark in the heart of Virginia's Piedmont that carries a fascinating history dating back to the pre-Civil War era with protected property spanning over 14,000 acres. Many family plantations and farms still stand in their original form here, allowing visitors a rare glimpse into the oldways of Virginia life during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The beauty of this cookbook, in addition to the fact that many of the recipes are heirloom ones generously shared by family and friends who have lived in this area for hundreds of years, is that each one has been painstakingly handwritten in the original author's best penmanship. Some even include campy sketches.

From Jell-O salads and sausage balls to how to properly soak and season a country ham, it's all in here. There are even recipes for making your own hard soap and some key advice on distilling your own moonshine. Just don't get caught with the latter.

There's nary a drippy close-up of some perfectly sauced meat or any expertly staged photos of chocolate cakes or parfaits in this cookbook since it doesn't boast a single photo. What you get instead are what these kinds of cookbooks are really about, collections of tried and true recipes generously shared by home cooks just like you and me. This is why I am constantly drawn to church and community cookbooks over the flashier contemporary ones. Perhaps it's the simplicity of being so proud of your special dish that you can't wait to share it with the rest of the world, and isn't that what cooking, cookbooks and recipes are really all about?

So, here's my share or should I say Mrs. Paul Farley's share from "Ben Lomond" in Gordonsville, Virginia. If you ever happen to see her, please tell her I said thanks for the great recipe.

Potato Salad
By Mrs. Paul Farley from "Green Springs Country Cooking" (1975)

2 1/2 cups diced cooked potatoes
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise

Sprinkle potatoes with vinegar. Add all other ingredients and toss lightly. Chill. Serve in lettuce lined bowl and garnish with parsley, sliced radishes, cucumbers and hard-boiled egg slices, if desired.

For a change of pace and extra crunch, add 1/4 cup sliced sweet pickles*.

*Kendra's note: Try adding chow chow relish instead. Adds an amazing sweet tang to the salad.

©2013 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Around the Southern Table: Peppered Pork Roast with Blue Cheese Grits Recipe

Photo credit: Jennifer Davick

I got into the business of writing cookbooks because I truly love them. As a young girl, I would sit for hours flipping through and dog earring my mother's collection of Southern spiral bound church and community cookbooks. I would literally read them word for word, starting with the table of contents all the way through to the index, stopping every now and then to oogle at some overly staged, styled photo of a lime congealed salad or a coconut cream pie with whipped meringue that seemed to touch the top of the page. While most pre-pubescent girls were curled up in bed with Judy Blume, I was trying (unsuccessfully, I might add) to work my way through Larousse Gastronomique.

I was a weird kid, yet one thing has remained a constant all of these years (in addition to still being a bit on the strange side) and that's the childlike giddiness I feel when I crack open a brand spanking new cookbook, one that truly excites me. Enter author, food writer and resident Georgia gal Rebecca Lang's new book, "Southern Living Around the Southern Table: Coming home to comforting meals and treasured memories" (Oxmoor House, 2012).

Photo credit: Jennifer Davick

It goes without saying that the recipes in this book are of your swoonworthy Southern variety-- think Cat-Head Biscuits with Tomato Gravy, All Things Sweet Potato Casserole (made with gingersnap cookies), Country Ham and Cheese Biscuit Bread, Pecan Bourbon and Cane Syrup Ham (yup) and a Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie that Lang describes as consisting of, "pecans suspended in a fudgy, bourbon-kissed filling". Um, yes please!

Yet, this is not your average recipes-only cookbook. There's a lot more going on here than simply tasty food since, as any good Southern cook knows, great recipes are meant to be shared with others. Herein is where the book offers so much more. In addition to first person tributes on Southern cooking and entertaining along with the joys of family and fellowship from a few of Lang's friends and fellow Southerners including model and actress Ali Landry, HGTV's Vern Yip, Olympic gymnast and Oklahoman Shannon Miller, and a lovely forward by Southern cookbook author and respected culinary expert, Nathalie Dupree, the book is also chock full of precious entertaining tidbits.

From a short lesson on the giving side of Southern hospitality and "how we do" where Lang shares, "It's not just about the food; it's in all we do. It's writing a sweet thank-you note on real paper to taking supper to a neighbor in need" to the right of passage of handing down table linens, china and glassware that so many of us display with pride (I have grandmother's collection that I treasure to this day), this is a cookbook that will ring true with you whether you're a Southerner by birth or simply one at heart.

Moreover, now that home cooks have officially entered the holiday party phase of the year, I can think of no better reference for recipes designed for entertaining the Southern way than Lang's Roasted Cornish Hens with Lemons and Creamy Grits, Peach-Glazed Duck Breasts or perhaps a Coffee-Crusted Standing Rib Roast. Maybe some Hummingbird Cake? Lang was generous enough to share her Peppered Pork Roast with Blue Cheese Grits recipe with me, which simply screams cool weather and would make an excellent addition to an elegant Christmas Eve dinner. Bone-in, center-cut pork gets a punch from a good amount of garlic, herbs and mustard before hitting the oven and meeting up with creamy, blue-cheesy stone-ground grits. What's not to like about this combo?

In the meantime, bust out those underused linens, polish the silver, grab yourself a big, fat glass of sweet tea and crack open Lang's cookbook for inspiration since there's plenty of Southern goodness to be found within its pages especially for us cookbook collectors who can't get enough of the good stuff.

Peppered Pork Roast with Blue Cheese Grits

From Southern Living "Around the Southern Table" by Rebecca Lang (Oxmoor House, 2012).

When it’s not cut into chops, the center-cut pork loin makes a mighty bone-in
roast and serves a crowd. Make it for company and save some for sandwiches
the next day.

5 large garlic cloves
1 (4.5-lb.) bone-in, center-cut pork loin roast, trimmed
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
11⁄2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
3⁄4 tsp. dried thyme
1⁄2 tsp. salt
Blue Cheese Grits
Garnish: arugula

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Cut garlic into slivers. Cut 1⁄2-inch-deep slits in pork using a paring knife; insert garlic into slits. Place roast, fat side up, on a lightly greased rack in a roasting pan. Pat dry. Sprinkle top of roast with flour; pat lightly to adhere. Spread mustard over roast.

2. Combine parsley and next 3 ingredients. Generously coat roast with parsley mixture, patting to adhere.

3. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 2 hours and 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 145°. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with Blue Cheese Grits. Garnish, if desired.

Makes: 10 to 12 servings Hands-on Time: 15 min.
Total Time: 3 hr., 20 min., including grits

Blue Cheese Grits

8 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
2 cups uncooked stone-ground grits
5 oz. soft-ripened blue cheese, rind removed (such as Saga Classic
Soft-Ripened Blue-Veined Cheese)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1. Bring broth and salt to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Stir in grits. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring very often, 45 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

2. Reserve about one-fifth of the cheese. Slice the rest, and add, with butter, to the grits. Stir until both are melted. Just before serving, garnish with crumbles of the reserved cheese.

Makes: 12 servings Hands-on Time: 50 min. Total Time: 50 min.

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Chow Chow Relish Recipe

So, I did this whole post featuring a story about one of my "grannies" Maw Maw Tiller, (it really does take a village to raise a kid) along with some rambly musings regarding the gift of Southern cooking and its innate ability to help us preserve traditions, recipes, and most importantly, our recollections.

What I failed to include is a recipe, one that captures why the preservation of heirloom recipes and the "oldways" is more important than ever. We can't lose this, and I think canning a mess of chow chow relish succeeds in encompassing this sentiment. Chow chow is pure Appalachia. Canning and preservation in general lies in the hearts of so many country cooks, but it's chow chow (a.k.a. chow-chow, chowchow or piccalilli) that truly speaks to me.

My mom taught me to make this piquant and sweet relish, which is one that contains cabbage (some recipes don't), and one of my fondest memories is that glorious Sunday afternoon we spent canning jars upon jars of it. While chow chow is delightful enough to eat with a spoon (or on top of a hot dog, yum), it's really made to grace a big bowl of slow cooked brown beans cooked in fatback. 

Chow Chow Relish

Makes about 8 pints

2 cups chopped sweet red peppers
2 cups chopped green peppers
4 cups chopped cabbage
2 cups chopped sweet onions
2 hot peppers, chopped (such as jalapenos)
5 cucumbers, chopped
4 cups chopped, cored green tomatoes
3 tablespoons pickling salt
4 tablespoons mustard seed
2 tablespoons celery seed
1 cup sugar
2 cups vinegar

Chop up vegetables into a medium dice. Sprinkle with pickling salt; cover and refrigerate overnight. Lightly rinse veggies and drain well.

Put the remaining ingredients in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add the vegetable mixture and cook for about 10 minutes. Pack into sterilized canning jars, leaving about 1/2-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Wipe jar rims and seal at once according to canning manufacturer's directions. If you don't have any canning materials handy, you can store relish in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to a month.

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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