Memories of Sunday Dinner At Grandmas

A moment of flashback had my minding turning back to my childhood and eating Sunday dinner at my grandfathers. We would attend church together as a family and then head to my grandmothers where all my aunts, uncles and cousins would also be. We would sit and chat and have a good time while we enjoyed my grandmothers delicious cooking. Her Sunday Menu would go something like this

•1 pound fresh green beans, about 4 cups


•1 1/4 cups water

•1 saucepan that will fit the beans and water comfortably

•Paring knife and cutting board (optional)

•Colander

Wash the beans thoroughly, making sure to rinse off all stray leaves and dirt. You can either slice off the ends of each bean, or just break them off. discard the ends. The beans can either be cooked whole, or you can slice them into pieces, depending on your preference.

Serves 2




1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices

3/4 cup low-fat milk

1 1/2 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. finely chopped chives

1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

Place potatoes in medium pot and cover with 1 inch water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain, and put potatoes through ricer or mash in medium bowl. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan until butter is melted. Stir into potatoes along with chives and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.
 

Delicious Buttermilk fried chicken was one of my grandmothers favorite Sunday recipe. My grandmother raised chickens so chicken was always right at hand good for both eggs and Sunday chicken dinner. My grandfather would kill the chicken for my grandmother and I remember my grandmother plucking every small feather out of the chickens to prepare for dinner. Now days those steps are often done for us as the grocery stores has chickens that are ready to prepare in whatever recipe we select. To me though the fact that the food was so ready at hand seemed to make the dinner more delicious.   I remember the taste was as delicious I don't think I will ever find a taste as delicious as her chicken no matter how long or where I look. All though I do not know the secrets to her recipe it was sort of like this

Use 1 boneless-skinless piece per person. I rinsed and patted dry my chicken. Pound each piece slightly between wax paper or parchment paper, with a rolling pin or mallet till a touch thinner. Slice in 5 sections on the diagonal. Then put chicken in a large bowl and pour buttermilk to cover. Let sit for an hour to overnight. Heat vegetable oil till 335degrees in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. Fill a large zip lock bag with 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt and lots of freshly cracked pepper. Shake the flour mixture. In groups of three drop in drained chicken and toss and coat the chicken breasts. Drop carefully into a hot pan and fry about 4 minutes each side. Do not overcrowd pan. Drain on crumpled paper towel.

Desserts would always be special as well the only thing they all had in common is that you would have the choice between ice cream or whip cream. One of my favorite desserts that she made was a blackberry cobbler. She would pick the blackberries herself when they were in season from her blackberry patch. Part of the berries that she would pick would be prepared in cobblers, jellies etc.. and the other part would be frozen for later use. I think the best part of my grandmothers blackberry cobbler was the delicious crumbly melt in your mouth crust and the oh so juicy berries. Want to make your own blackberry cobbler?


6 tablespoons unsalted butter


3/4 cup all-purpose flour (3.75 oz)

3/4 cup sugar (5.5 oz), plus 1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

3/4 cup milk

2 cups fruit or berries, sliced (not sweetened or thickened)


Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter in 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan; set in oven to melt. Whisk flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in small bowl. Add milk; whisk until just incorporated into dry ingredients. When butter has melted, remove pan from oven. Pour batter into pan, without stirring it into butter, then arrange fruit over batter. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake until batter browns, about 40 to 50 minutes.






This post will be shared with the blog MomStart where I plan to have a weekly post sharing not only the food that I remember my grandmother and other strong personalities in my life cooking and the stories that go with them.