Post by BBQ Butcher on Nov 3, 2016 8:31:08 GMT -5
Mildred's Turnip Greens with Cornbread Dumplings
Mildred Barnes has owned a series of soul-food restaurants around Fort Myers, the latest of which closed in 2008.
Barnes has cooked for more than 45 years. Born and raised in Whigham, Ga. before moving to Fort Myers in the mid 1970s, Barnes learned this simple and inexpensive recipe from her grandmother.
“I guess if I had to actually go back into time, I would say it was a comforting dish,” Barnes said. “A dish where the family was around the table and it was a time for conversation. It was a meal that would bring us all together, and you knew that once you came together it was going to be good times.”
2 medium to large ham hocks
2 pounds of turnip greens (can also substitute mustard greens) thoroughly washed, large stem ends removed
1 whole jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon salt
pepper to taste
1½ cups self-rising white cornmeal
½ cup self-rising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons margarine (or butter)
1 egg
1 small onion, finely minced
In a large pot add ham hocks and just enough water to cover, bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper, turn temperature to low and simmer for about an hour.
Add turnip greens and jalapeno (whole, uncut), and let simmer for two more hours total. After about 90 minutes, start working on the cornmeal dumplings.
Mix sugar, flour and cornmeal in a medium bowl.
Remove about a cup of the potlikker (the broth from the pot of greens) and stir margarine into it allowing the fat to melt.
Beat egg vigorously and stir in mixed minced onion. Add margarine-potlikker mix to egg-onion mix, and then slowly incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry until you have a stiff cornmeal batter.
Drop tablespoons of the batter into the simmering pot of turnip greens. Cover with lid and let dumplings simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm. Serve warm, like a soup. “You got yourself a meal,” Barnes said, “that makes you just want to - mmm!”
Mildred Barnes has owned a series of soul-food restaurants around Fort Myers, the latest of which closed in 2008.
Barnes has cooked for more than 45 years. Born and raised in Whigham, Ga. before moving to Fort Myers in the mid 1970s, Barnes learned this simple and inexpensive recipe from her grandmother.
“I guess if I had to actually go back into time, I would say it was a comforting dish,” Barnes said. “A dish where the family was around the table and it was a time for conversation. It was a meal that would bring us all together, and you knew that once you came together it was going to be good times.”
2 medium to large ham hocks
2 pounds of turnip greens (can also substitute mustard greens) thoroughly washed, large stem ends removed
1 whole jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon salt
pepper to taste
1½ cups self-rising white cornmeal
½ cup self-rising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons margarine (or butter)
1 egg
1 small onion, finely minced
In a large pot add ham hocks and just enough water to cover, bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper, turn temperature to low and simmer for about an hour.
Add turnip greens and jalapeno (whole, uncut), and let simmer for two more hours total. After about 90 minutes, start working on the cornmeal dumplings.
Mix sugar, flour and cornmeal in a medium bowl.
Remove about a cup of the potlikker (the broth from the pot of greens) and stir margarine into it allowing the fat to melt.
Beat egg vigorously and stir in mixed minced onion. Add margarine-potlikker mix to egg-onion mix, and then slowly incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry until you have a stiff cornmeal batter.
Drop tablespoons of the batter into the simmering pot of turnip greens. Cover with lid and let dumplings simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm. Serve warm, like a soup. “You got yourself a meal,” Barnes said, “that makes you just want to - mmm!”