Southern goodness: Family recipes from the country

I was recently loaned a cookbook to read and learn about "White Trash Cooking." Yes, the name says it all, and just about anything you can imagine made it into "White Trash Cooking." A friend loaned me the book but was a little shy about giving it to me in public and did not want her name to appear in the newspaper. This book was given to her as a farewell gift from friends in the South. It is a funny read, and most recipes are written exactly the way I can imagine the writer talking. I was able to find several recipes I thought you might enjoy. I had to look past the roast possum and fried squirrel, but I did find some.

Tutti's Fruited Porkettes

Tutti, Petie's grandma, said she "learned to make her porkettes by using a Hawaiian recipe combined with Southern ingredients. You cain't git trashier than that."

1 pound sweet potatoes

12 slices canned pineapple

6 slices bacon, cut into halves

6 tender pork chops

6 tablespoons brown sugar

Select sweet potatoes to make slices a bit smaller than pineapple slices. Cut into slices 1 inch thick. Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes. Place each chop between two slices of pineapple. Place slice of sweet potato on top of each pork-pineapple stack. Sprinkle each porkette with one tablespoon of brown sugar. Place bacon crisscross on top. Place porkettes in open casserole. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour or longer, depending on thickness of chops.

Nobody's Corn Topper Casserole

1 (1-pound) can cut green beans, drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 (1-pound) can creamy-style corn

4 tablespoons finely-chopped onion

2 cups cubed cooked ham

3/4 cup prepared biscuit mix (Bisquick)

Place beans in a 2-quart greased casserole, reserving a few for garnish. Sprinkle onion on top. Spread with soup. Top with a layer of ham. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Combine corn and biscuit mix. Spoon mixture on top of casserole. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer. Garnish with rest of beans.

Loretta's Chicken Delight

1 (No. 14 size) can asparagus

1 small can pimiento, chopped

1/4 pound soda crackers, crumbled

1/2 soup can water

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 stick oleo

Place a layer of asparagus in bottom of greased casserole. Add a layer of chicken, pimiento, eggs and cracker crumbs. Repeat. Dilute soup with water. Pour over casserole. Sprinkle with additional crumbs. Place slices of oleo over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Liver-Haters Chicken Livers

1 pound chicken livers

1 cup sweet sherry

1 small bunch green onions

1 small bunch parsley

1 cup cracker meal

Salt and pepper

Cut the chicken livers into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces. Put in a glass bowl. Add salt, pepper and 1/2 of the sherry, then let them soak for 30 minutes to an hour. Now chop your onions, green part and all, and parsley, not the stems, and set them aside. When your livers are ready, roll them in cracker meal and fry in a hot skillet in 1/2 inch of grease. Turn them over a lot so they can brown on all sides. Then remove from skillet and pour off grease, but leave the drippings. Put onions and parsley in the skillet and fry for 1 minute. Now return the livers and add sherry. Simmer down for 15 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone. You're guaranteed to like them even if you hate livers.

Salmon Pie

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup buttered breadcrumbs

1/2 cup sweet milk

2 teaspoons chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon sage

1 (1-pound) can salmon, drained

Combine all ingredients in order given. Place in an 8-inch greased dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Mock Pecan Pie

1 cup Post Grape-Nuts cereal

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup melted oleo

3 eggs, beaten

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

3/4 cup lukewarm water

1 cup dark Karo corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch salt

Soak Post Grape-Nuts cereal in water until water is absorbed. Combine sugar, Karo syrup, oleo and salt in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, beat eggs until foamy. Add small amount of hot syrup mixture to eggs. Mix well and add rest of syrup and other ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. You can hardly tell it from the real thing.

Jenny Pansy of Neck, Fla., says: "We use ta stir up something from nothing. Now, they gotta have too much before they begin."

Hannah's Hoe Cakes (Hard-Hearted)

Pour hot (not boiling) milk or water on some salted cornmeal. Just enough to make it soupy but not runny. Then let it sit for an hour or longer. Then put 2 or 3 teaspoons of this on a hot greased griddle or black iron frying pan. Pat it down smooth to make a cake about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly brown one side, then the other, and serve piping hot with beans, greens or whatever you got. You can also cook these on the blade of a hoe on an open fire. That's how they got their name.

I hope you had fun reading these recipes and wish I could share more with you. The book also has some pretty photographs from the South that I found interesting.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.