Recipes

The Legendary Hot Brown Recipe
from J. Graham's Café at The Brown Hotel

Ingredients:
4 oz. Butter
Flour to make a Roux (about 6 tablespoons)
3 - 3 1/2 cups Milk
1 Beaten Egg
6 tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 oz. Whipped Cream (optional)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Slices of Roast Turkey
8-12 Slices of Toast (may be trimmed)
Extra Parmesan for Topping
8-12 Strips of Fried Bacon

Melt butter and add enough flour to make a reasonably thick roux (enough to absorb all of the butter). Add milk and Parmesan cheese. Add egg to thicken sauce, but do not allow to boil. Remove from heat. Fold in whipped cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For each Hot Brown, place two slices of toast on a metal (or flameproof) dish. Cover the toast with a liberal amount of turkey. Pour a generous amount of sauce over the turkey and toast. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until the sauce is speckled brown and bubbly. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of bacon on top, and serve immediately.

Barbecue Spaghetti

"Mutant" barbecue is the term John T. uses to refer to dishes like barbeque nachos, barbeque salad, barbeque pizza, and barbeque hash. But nothing, for sheer oddity, compares with barbeque spaghetti, he says. His favorite comes from Bar-B-Que shop in Memphis. My recipe is different from what I've eaten at the Bar-B-Que Shop, but it is good. We serve this as a special at 17th Street. And it's always a sellout.

Ingredients:

½ cup olive oil
2 large onions, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can (4 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (3 ounces) tomato paste
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
¾ to 1 cup barbeque sauce (Apple City Barbeque Sauce on page 54 or your favorite)
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, finely ground
1 cup pulled pork (optional)
1 box (16 ounces) spaghetti

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Add the sugar, oregano and basil. Simmer for another 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Stir in the barbecue sause and salt to taste. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth. Add pulled pork, if desired, and stir to combine.

Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the box. Al Dente is preferred. Pour into a colander and drain well, but do not rinse.

Pour the drained spaghetti into a large bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Pie a la Cozy Corner

You'll be proud to serve this quintessentially Southern dessert anywhere. The sweet potato flavor is not overpowering.

Crust:
5 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt, finely ground
1 cup solid vegetable shortening, well chilled

Filling:
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (about 3 large)
3 large egg yolks
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 teaspoon rum extract
1/3 teaspoon kosher salt, finely ground

Make the crust: Whisk the ice water, vinegar, and egg together in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well. Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles course meal. Sprinkle the flour mixture with the liquid mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time. Toss with a fork after each addition of liquid until the flour is all moistened and the dough cleans the side of the bowl. Shape the dough into a ball. Divide the dough in half and shape each portion into a flat disk; wrap in plastic wrap. You'll be using only one crust for this pie, so put one away in the freezer for up to 1 month. Refrigerate the other for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Make the filling: Beat the sweet potatoes and egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Add the milk, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum extract, and salt. Mix well until smooth.

Roll the piecrust out on a floured surface to about ¼ inch thick and line a 9-inch pie plate. Pour in the sweet potato mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is well browned and a knife inserted into the center come out clean.

Dixie Chili Dip (serves 8-12)
from Dixie Chili

2 Packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (Softened)
1-9oz can of Bean Dip or Mashed Pinto Beans (optional)
Hot Sauce (optional)
2-10oz cans of Dixie Chili
2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
2 Scallions (green onions), finely chopped
Nacho Chips

Spread cream cheese evenly on the bottom of a 9" x 13" oven proof glass pan. Spread Beans over Cheese. Sprinkle with hot Sauce. Pour 2 cans of Dixie Chili over Beans. Spread Grated Cheddar Cheese. Sprinkle Green Onion over Cheese. Bake or microwave until hot. Serve warm with Nacho Chips.

How to Cook Ribs
from Gates Barbeque

Place your pork ribs, preferably 2-3lbs, on the counter or block.
Trim all fat and score between each bone.
Marinate, medium strength, using Gates original Seasoning, shaking off excess.
Let stand until it starts to liquify, approximately 15 minutes.
Place ribs front or face side down on a HOT FIRE.
Bar-BQ until golden brown, then turn over.
Bar-BQ backside until golden brown.
Move away from the fire slightly. Continue Bar-BQ process for 45 minutes to an hour, or until tender.
There, the perfect ribs!

Pan Fries With Onion and Peppers

Ingrediants: 4 baking potatoes
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
2 tbsp corn oil
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. Wrap potatoes in foil and bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven and let potatoes remain wrapped for another hour. Refrigerate the potatoes wrapped in foil overnight or until fully chilled.

Remove potatoes from foil, peel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

In a large skilliet, melt corn oil with butter. Saute onion and green pepper. Poor cubed potatoes into skillet and stir together with onion and green pepper. Sprinkle more oil around the edge of pan if very crisp potatoes are desired. Fry, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are browned. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

Pig and Plate Cracklin Corn Bread Muffins

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup milk
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 pound cracklins, chopped into small bits

Preheat oven to 400º. Grease 12-16 muffin-tin cups generously and put tins in oven to heat. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bown. In another bowl blend eggs and milk. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add milk mixture and blend about 10 strokes, just until moistened. Divide amoung muffin tins. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Turn onto a rack. Serve warm. Makes 12-16 muffins.