What to cook in South Carolina?

We just rented a house near the beach in South Carolina for Christmas, and now I am obsessing over what I will cook for Christmas dinner. I'd love to take advantage of local possibilities, make something that reflects where we are -- but I don't know what they are. (We'll be near Charleston, and I'll explore the restaurant threads, since I'm sure we'll do some eating out, but not on Christmas Day.)

Added complications: One son will not eat shrimp and is not enthusiastic about ham. I would need a lot of guidance to cook crabs and the like, since I have never done this.

But we are all pretty adventurous and cooking together is our idea of fun, so if we could figure out a menu and take recipes with us, I think we could have a great time. Except none of us knows quite where to start.

Do you have websites to suggest? Or recipes? Or major ingredients? Anybody with Southern roots? I guess I've steered away from Southern cooking since my idea about it is that it is not healthy, so I am really drawing a blank. I need some input to get my brain going on this.

I'm from South Carolina.

Go ahead & have turkey
Make collard greens
Hoppin' Johns
Cornbread
Biscuits
Macaroni & Cheese ( no Mashed Potatoes)
Sweet Tea
Ambrosia
Candied Yams ( no frakkin' marshmallows allowed)
Pineapple Coconut Cake
Coconut Custard Pie
Sweet Potato Pie ( no pumpkin)
Homemade eggnog


We always had shrimp & rice ( S.C. brought slaves over who could grow rice) for breakfast.

PM me I have a cousin in the area who could probably get a lead on crab, heck even make them for you if they are in season & a sister who knows the area well for food.

pairs4life wrote:We always had shrimp & rice ( S.C. brought slaves over who could grow rice) for breakfast.

What???

spanky, I believe pairs4life is explaining why African-American families in SC, such as her own, have a long tradition of consuming rice. For more information, you could read the book Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas

pairs4life -- your menu sounds delicious!

Amata wrote:spanky, I believe pairs4life is explaining why African-American families in SC, such as her own, have a long tradition of consuming rice. For more information, you could read the book Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas

pairs4life -- your menu sounds delicious!

Amata, you are correct.

That menu still has me looking at it a few days since I posted it. mmmmmm

Judy H wrote:We just rented a house near the beach in South Carolina for Christmas, and now I am obsessing over what I will cook for Christmas dinner. I'd love to take advantage of local possibilities, make something that reflects where we are -- but I don't know what they are. (We'll be near Charleston, and I'll explore the restaurant threads, since I'm sure we'll do some eating out, but not on Christmas Day.)

Added complications: One son will not eat shrimp and is not enthusiastic about ham. I would need a lot of guidance to cook crabs and the like, since I have never done this.

But we are all pretty adventurous and cooking together is our idea of fun, so if we could figure out a menu and take recipes with us, I think we could have a great time. Except none of us knows quite where to start.

Do you have websites to suggest? Or recipes? Or major ingredients? Anybody with Southern roots? I guess I've steered away from Southern cooking since my idea about it is that it is not healthy, so I am really drawing a blank. I need some input to get my brain going on this.

It's too bad your son won't eat shrimp, as shrimp and grits is a classic low-country dish (for Web recipe searches, I would use that term, as it describes that neck of the woods).

Maybe a pork roast, using the shoulder, that you could then turn into pulled pork for sandwiches with the leftovers? In South Carolina, a mustard-based sauce to accompany it would be proper; being from North Carolina, I would of course turn up my nose at that, since the preference where I come from is vinegar-based.

pairs4life offered great suggestions, though I always consider Hoppin' John with collard greens and stewed tomatoes to be a New Year's Day dish.

Other thoughts: Not sure if this is a Southern thing or a sign of the era I grew up in, but we sure did have a lot of baked casseroles at holiday get-togethers that featured a vegetable (broccoli was always popular) in a cream sauce and topped with cheese. Of course, you can't go wrong with a green-bean casserole. For a more Southern twist, though, you could cook the beans in a big pot of water with a piece of ham hock in it (just don't tell your son what they are flavored with). They must be cooked to death to be truly traditional, but boy are they tasty! Onion is also added for flavoring.

She-crab soup is another classic dish you will see in Charleston. I've never made it, so I'm not sure of the major components.

Hope this gives you some "food for thought" for a great Christmas dinner!

Sharon

I've had to change our New Year Tradition because these Brits I live with loathe southern food. The last few years I've made a curry with black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, and collards that they adore. So much for tradition but I see to it we all eat for health, money, & good fortune on New Year's Day.

pairs4life wrote:I've had to change our New Year Tradition because these Brits I live with loathe southern food. The last few years I've made a curry with black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, and collards that they adore. So much for tradition but I see to it we all eat for health, money, & good fortune on New Year's Day.

Brits dissing Southern food??? The nerve!! However, I am glad to see you have found a compromise that satisfies all parties and meets the traditional foods necessary to start the new year off right!

Judy,

Don't forget to drink plenty of Blenheim's Ginger Ale while you are there. It's expensive as heck to ship it here or get it from the co-op but it is our favorite ginger ale.

Wonderful cookbook from two Charleston brothers should give you ideas and road map. Also, Pat Conroy, one of my favorite authors has penned a cookbook of his own which includes a significant South Carolina connection.


The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Order Signed Copies Now!

2007 James Beard Cookbook of the Year

From the book jacket:

The Lee Bros. long-anticipated first cookbook is a culinary coming-of-age tale, narrated in recipes and amusing anecdotes, of how two boys learned to cook Southern without a Southern grandmother Inside, you’ll find exceptional recipes for Fried Chicken, Crab Cakes, and Red Velvet Cake, the Southern classics that have become restaurant hits around the country. But you’ll also find lesser-known preparations such as St. Cecilia Punch, Frogmore Stew, and Shrimp Burgers—dishes that seem fresh and original agains the backdrop of iconic American comfort food. Also here are recipes that bear the hallmark of the Lee Bros.’ style: simple yet sophisticated dishes such as Sagon Hoppin’ John, Scuppernong Grape and Hot-Pepper-Roasted Duck,a dn Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie that usher Southern cooking into the twenty-first century while never losing sight of its deep roots. No one brings the same blend of witty intelligence, reverence and since passion to Southern food culture.

babaluch wrote:Wonderful cookbook from two Charleston brothers should give you ideas and road map. Also, Pat Conroy, one of my favorite authors has penned a cookbook of his own which includes a significant South Carolina connection.


The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Order Signed Copies Now!

2007 James Beard Cookbook of the Year

From the book jacket:

The Lee Bros. long-anticipated first cookbook is a culinary coming-of-age tale, narrated in recipes and amusing anecdotes, of how two boys learned to cook Southern without a Southern grandmother Inside, you’ll find exceptional recipes for Fried Chicken, Crab Cakes, and Red Velvet Cake, the Southern classics that have become restaurant hits around the country. But you’ll also find lesser-known preparations such as St. Cecilia Punch, Frogmore Stew, and Shrimp Burgers—dishes that seem fresh and original agains the backdrop of iconic American comfort food. Also here are recipes that bear the hallmark of the Lee Bros.’ style: simple yet sophisticated dishes such as Sagon Hoppin’ John, Scuppernong Grape and Hot-Pepper-Roasted Duck,a dn Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie that usher Southern cooking into the twenty-first century while never losing sight of its deep roots. No one brings the same blend of witty intelligence, reverence and since passion to Southern food culture.

I received the Lee Bros. first cookbook as a gift, and as far as the recipes go, the book has been a real letdown for me. I've only made about ten items from the book, but all have been at best mediocre, and in need of major adjustments . . . just my opinion.

Judy H wrote:We just rented a house near the beach in South Carolina for Christmas, and now I am obsessing over what I will cook for Christmas dinner. I'd love to take advantage of local possibilities, make something that reflects where we are -- but I don't know what they are. (We'll be near Charleston, and I'll explore the restaurant threads, since I'm sure we'll do some eating out, but not on Christmas Day.)

Added complications: One son will not eat shrimp and is not enthusiastic about ham. I would need a lot of guidance to cook crabs and the like, since I have never done this.

But we are all pretty adventurous and cooking together is our idea of fun, so if we could figure out a menu and take recipes with us, I think we could have a great time. Except none of us knows quite where to start.

Do you have websites to suggest? Or recipes? Or major ingredients? Anybody with Southern roots? I guess I've steered away from Southern cooking since my idea about it is that it is not healthy, so I am really drawing a blank. I need some input to get my brain going on this.

Are you back from your trip? What did you end up making?

I posted this request and then got buried at work and didn't get back to reply to it, though I did follow some of the excellent suggestions, particularly from pairs4life:

pairs4life wrote:Go ahead & have turkey
Make collard greens
Hoppin' Johns
Cornbread
Biscuits
Macaroni & Cheese ( no Mashed Potatoes)
Sweet Tea
Ambrosia
Candied Yams ( no frakkin' marshmallows allowed)
Pineapple Coconut Cake
Coconut Custard Pie
Sweet Potato Pie ( no pumpkin)
Homemade eggnog

This was more than we could possibly eat, just being four of us! But it was my template, so thank you!

We had a pork roast instead of turkey -- my one mistake was not taking my son up on his offer to cook a pork shoulder; he had only done it twice, once pretty bad, and the second a success -- but I was nervous about it, and not sure we would have the right spices, etc., in the cottage kitchen. Instead I cooked what turned our to be a very boring pork loin roast.

My son did make wonderful biscuits (though he had been napping and I woke him since he had the recipe, and he was a bit dazed, and accidentally doubled the butter, and when we opened the oven to see if the biscuits were done, we both burst out laughing because the biscuits were frying in butter. Nevertheless they were delicious.

I made fabulous collards (with bacon and onions and garlic) -- and then I had to make minestrone soup the next day with the rest of the collards, because the grocery sold them in four pound packages. Yow! This photo is the greens, not the soup, which also had white beans and pasta in it. I don't normally cook with bacon, so although I have cooked collards before, I have never made anything this delicious. I was very pleased.

Sweet potatoes, baked -- candied was too much sugar for us. The boys would have adored macaroni and cheese, but we all agreed it was overkill.

We made plenty of cornbread, but not for this dinner. (My husband has read that you soak up the collard pot liquor with cornbread, so that was lunch the next day.)

We are not big coconut eaters, so we altered the pie to banana cream, which seems southern to me, even if it isn't, and it was excellent. Last time I made banana cream pie (which was the first time I ever made it) it did not set well, and was best eaten with a spoon. This time, it came out just right -- better recipe, I think, something I found on the internet.

It was quite a Christmas feast!

I've posted on the Charleston thread about some of the food we ate when we were not at the cottage. The mix of being able to cook and going out when we wanted to was perfect. The boys and I love puttering around a kitchen together, and it would have been a shame to have missed that as part of the vacation. But we ate some fabulous meals out as well.

It does sound like quite a feast! Glad it all turned out well. Lesson learned about the pork shoulder!

I'm really glad you posted.

Food sounds lovely.