Since my post yesterday, I’ve gotten many questions about grits. Grits are a hot cereal, made from treating field corn with a lye process. Afterward, the grits are simmered, served as a breakfast cereal with butter and maybe sugar and milk. At our house, we spoon grits over eggs. (no sugar or milk) One of the most succulent and delicious dishes on this planet is Shrimp and Grits. If you ever see it on the menu at a coastal restaurant in the South or Southeast, order it, no matter who laughs at you. Be prepared to guard it with your life when it gets to the table. Everybody who laughed when you ordered will want a bite when they see how happy you are. Let them suffer!
Another regional favorite is Hog’s Head Cheese. Farm kids learn early, it’s best not to be friends with a pig you plan to butcher. This delicacy has nothing to do with cheese and everything to do with a hog’s head. It is very simple to prepare, for those of you who are already smacking your lips. The next time you butcher a hog, save the head. Scald it in boiling, soapy water before scrubbing and scraping off the whiskers. With your fingers, pry the eyeballs out, taking care not to rupture them. That is extremely disagreeable and makes it harder to get the membranes out of the sockets. You can throw in the feet if you don’t plan to make Pickled Pig’s Feet. When the head is thoroughly clean, boil it until all the flesh, contents of the head, skin, and cartilage fall off the bone. Try to let it boil low toward the end, so the broth will be reduced. Debone, reserving broth. Chop meat, add large minced onions, about eight cloves minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper per pound of meat, three to five tablespoons sage, red pepper if you like spicy. Add 1/2 vinegar. Mix in enough of reserved broth to mix till consistency of cooked oatmeal. Pour into loaf pans. Cover with foil and cool overnight. By the next morning can be turned out and sliced for cold cuts or rolled in egg and flour and browned in skillet. Store covered in refrigerator up to a week. Freezes well
I recommend you serve it with Poke-Salad, Fried Mountain Oysters, Buzzard Butter, Pickled Pig’s Feet, Hopping John, and Hush Puppies.
You and Miss R2B are freakin’ me out! Stop it! 😮
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Lunch is served!
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LOL
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Reblogged this on Moving from Strength to Strength and commented:
This is Linda’s story about head cheese. Come to think of it…she’s probably related to those Church ladies I was talkin’ about… Ya, betcha ANYTHING!
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Thanks. Might’ve!
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It’s here…and I’m lovin’ it!
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Wow That sounds like a lot of work. I have never had it before but just looking at a pigs head would make not want to eat it but to each its own. I’m sure its delicious.
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It was, but folks needed every morsel of meat.
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Thanks for the recipe. I never know what to do with my pig heads. ☺ Van
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Waste not, want not!
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The Pennsylvania Dutch have never met a part of the pig that they couldn’t turn into food. Hence….Scrapple. Don’t ask.
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Everyting but the squeal!
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Yes !
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What do you do with the bladders and tails?
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As a teen I worked in a Danish restaurant. Being a city-kid, I didn’t know a whole lot about what went into food, so imagine my surprise when I removed the lid off a pot to see what was in side. I had never been stared at by supper before…
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Okay, what was it?
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OK what was it?
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https://nutsrok.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/vagina-boobs-and-poop-part-12/ will be publishing a book based on this series soon.
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My mother used to make something similar but she used pork hocks. We’d slice it and either splash a bit of vinegar, or I heard some people liked a squeeze of lemon. Grab a slice of bread and a fork and go to town. 😀
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Sounds like the same idea.
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Indeed with different seasonings.
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You are one sick puppy. I have a story about “Ziltze”, too… But not today.
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Don’t forget!
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Okay…I’m workin’ on it…
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Have you ever eaten paw-paws or mayapple jelly?
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Don’t think paw-paws grow around here. Is mayapple the same as mayhaw
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No, entirely different: mayhaws come from a woody-stemmed small tree; mayapples grow on the forest floor, with umbrella-like leaves. BTW, only the fruit of mayapples is edible–and consumed in large quantities, has a purgative effect. Other parts of the plant were used by Native Americans and pioneers for various medicinal purposes. My granny was from rural Missouri–way out in the sticks.
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Good to know
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I have, for a long time, wanted to know what the hell grits are. We don’t have them in the UK.
Thanks!
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