The pain of growing up southern
Paula Deen is my favorite chef on Food Network. She never shies away from calories and fat-I love it when she looks at a dish and says… "Let's add some more butter, y'all." XD (Hmph, even the secret to great French cooking is butter, butter, and more butter >.<) I read an article recently that the top "fattest" states in the US are all in the south, partially because of southern cuisine's reliance on fried foods, etc.
Southern cuisine wasn't as "bad" back in the day (back in the day when pigs were fat and chickens were lean) - not just because we have access to better nutrition information now, but primarily because people worked a lot harder physically. Working out in the fields, or just even sweating in the summer (as opposed to sitting in the AC). My grandfather took lard sandwiches to school, and man, that overload on saturated fat got to him…in about 87 years. Bacon and fried eggs only took 90 years to kill my great uncle. They were always active, even when they got older. If you took them and sat them in front of a computer for 8 hours a day and then in front of a television all evening, well…I don't think their diet would have been as kind to them. My point is, traditional southern cooking was tailored to a different kind of lifestyle than most people in the US live today (including myself)-which means we should indulge in its deliciousness more sparingly (or head to the gym more often.---or both. ^_^''')
Now, I consider myself a good southern girl. I can drown buckets of sweet iced tea. I love biscuits, cornbread (without sugar! No yankee cornbread!) and beans, okra, greens, watermelon, and fried just about ANYTHING. And while I am trying really hard to eat healthy, dang it, summer calls for FRIED SQUASH. We can make a whole meal out of just fried squash, but it also goes well with corn and beans. Add some warm biscuits and a fruit salad and I might just die from happiness. ^_^
mmm...grease
Fried squash
Feeds maybe 3 or 4 people
2-3 squash, sliced
½ cup flour
½ cup cornmeal
Salt and pepper
(garlic powder and/or a pinch of cayenne, optional)
Fryin' oil
Method 1
Mix the dry ingredients and pour over the squash. Cover the bowl and shake it well. Let set for 30 minutes or so and it should make its own batter (this is a light batter). Heat the oil (about 350 degrees) and fry until brown and cooked. T
Method 2
Mix the dry ingredients. Beat a couple of eggs and dip the zucchini in the egg before covering with flour mixture (this is a heavier batter). Heat the oil (about 350 degrees) and fry until brown and cooked.
My dad has always done it with just cornmeal, but I like doing half and half cornmeal/flour - I think it has a finer texture and adheres a little better to the squash. If the batter slips off the squash, well…that happens all the time to me. *shrugs*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Let's add some more butter, y'all…
Southern cuisine wasn't as "bad" back in the day (back in the day when pigs were fat and chickens were lean) - not just because we have access to better nutrition information now, but primarily because people worked a lot harder physically. Working out in the fields, or just even sweating in the summer (as opposed to sitting in the AC). My grandfather took lard sandwiches to school, and man, that overload on saturated fat got to him…in about 87 years. Bacon and fried eggs only took 90 years to kill my great uncle. They were always active, even when they got older. If you took them and sat them in front of a computer for 8 hours a day and then in front of a television all evening, well…I don't think their diet would have been as kind to them. My point is, traditional southern cooking was tailored to a different kind of lifestyle than most people in the US live today (including myself)-which means we should indulge in its deliciousness more sparingly (or head to the gym more often.---or both. ^_^''')
Now, I consider myself a good southern girl. I can drown buckets of sweet iced tea. I love biscuits, cornbread (without sugar! No yankee cornbread!) and beans, okra, greens, watermelon, and fried just about ANYTHING. And while I am trying really hard to eat healthy, dang it, summer calls for FRIED SQUASH. We can make a whole meal out of just fried squash, but it also goes well with corn and beans. Add some warm biscuits and a fruit salad and I might just die from happiness. ^_^
mmm...grease
Fried squash
Feeds maybe 3 or 4 people
2-3 squash, sliced
½ cup flour
½ cup cornmeal
Salt and pepper
(garlic powder and/or a pinch of cayenne, optional)
Fryin' oil
Method 1
Mix the dry ingredients and pour over the squash. Cover the bowl and shake it well. Let set for 30 minutes or so and it should make its own batter (this is a light batter). Heat the oil (about 350 degrees) and fry until brown and cooked. T
Method 2
Mix the dry ingredients. Beat a couple of eggs and dip the zucchini in the egg before covering with flour mixture (this is a heavier batter). Heat the oil (about 350 degrees) and fry until brown and cooked.
My dad has always done it with just cornmeal, but I like doing half and half cornmeal/flour - I think it has a finer texture and adheres a little better to the squash. If the batter slips off the squash, well…that happens all the time to me. *shrugs*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Let's add some more butter, y'all…