Hurricane Food in Texas

We were, through our own carelessness, stuck in a Walmart parking lot in Livingston, Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike--for two long days. We were lucky to have propane, drinking water, and all the necessities in our camper; we only lacked gas to get out of there.

One of the things I made was skillet cornbread from a mix. I used a heat diffuser ("flame tamer") under the skillet and managed quite a nice crust without burning it. The mix cost 42 cents. With it we had fried ham, canned stewed tomatoes, some fresh fruit, and imported dark chocolate. It seemed incongruous to eat in such a civilized way under the circumstances.

Pantries

It's 100 degrees here at dinnertime, so my thoughts turned again to Middle Eastern food.

I accompanied Grandma to another cooking class by the Turkish women's group on Saturday. They made "Turkish cigarettes," which are filo-type pastries stuffed with cheese or potato fillings and rolled into thin cylinders and then deep fried, and usually served for breakfast. Very tasty. There was also a general potluck involved, ranging from banana bread to green chile burritos, but it was served at 3:00 p.m. and I couldn't get into a full meal thing at that time of day. It was a lovely cross-cultural event, though.

Tonight I made a Greek salad with garbanzo beans, corn bread, and Claudia Roden fish. I was getting the garbanzo beans out of the pantry and musing about how important it is to have a stockpile of ingredients.

Here is a picture of our pantry before remodeling a few years ago, and then after. It takes up the same space! I think my system of organization is brilliant: booze on top shelf; then cans; then jars and bottles; then boxes. In the three drawers below are: things in bags (nuts, prunes, elbow macaroni); pet food and dishes; paper goods such as napkins, and miscellany.

Fire Pit Chicken Wings

I don't know why it seems so much hipper to cook over the big copper fire pit than on a grill, but it does. Lawson built a fire, and when it had burned down to coals he cooked wings. We ate them with spoon bread and a salad of lettuce and avocado.

You can see our ugly makeshift tables in this photo -- our outdoor table shattered during a windstorm and we haven't replaced it yet.

I'd never tasted spoon bread before. I like it. I used the 2000 Joy of Cooking recipe for Custard Topped Spoon Bread, with my usual substitutions of yogurt for buttermilk. It was delicious.

I've been busy: I took over Chew On This!, the Free Times food news column, for one thing. And in two weeks I'm off to the beach. But I can get back to updating more regularly now that I have quit my corporate job. Plus, it's getting to be garden vegetable season, so there'll be plenty to write about.

Southern Cornbread

I was never much of a fan of cornbread until I moved to South Carolina and learned about Southern cornbread. It's not cake-y at all -- no wheat flour, only cornmeal -- and has no sugar. It's crusty and crunchy and basic, as well as super-easy to make.

My recipe is modified slightly from traditional recipes in that it contains yogurt instead of buttermilk. I don't keep buttermilk around, but I always have some yogurt, so it's worked out this way.

I like coarse yellow cornmeal. Anson Mills is my favorite, but it's expensive, so lately I've been using Adluh and liking it fine. Sometimes I blend grits and cornmeal.

I should add that much of the cornbread I've eaten down here is not like this. I've had some very, very sweet homemade cornbreads, and plenty of people don't seem to like gritty, all-corn cornbread. But to me it's the only way.

Put 1 to 2 tablespoons of lard, bacon grease, or butter in a large cast iron skillet. Place in oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

Whisk together in one bowl:
- 1 and 1/2 cups cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 scant teaspoon salt

Whisk together in another bowl:
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk

Combine without overmixing. When grease in skillet is sizzling hot, pour batter in and return to oven. Bake about 20 minutes and eat immediately.

Tonight I also added kernels from two ears of sweet corn we parboiled and froze last fall. It tasted a little freezer-burnt to me, but Lawson didn't think so, so I guess it was okay. Fresh sweet corn would be better.