Down Home Country Cookin'

Remembering our families with their recipes has to be focused on down home country cookin' because it is the comfort food that many of us grew up loving. So many of us recall eating our family's favorite recipes but our family's usually spoke the recipe as a story and we don't have the actual recipes. This article includes 3 outstanding recipes from my family that it took me years to figure out . I kept cookin' and tastin' what I thought my family used until I got it just right. Please feel free to adapt these down home recipes to your taste so you can create your own family recipes.

Recently I had the pleasure and honor of fixing food for someone in my family who just had surgery so that they could rest and get well. It filled my heart with joy to be able to cook down home old time county recipes for them. First let me say that the following recipes are from my birth families of Appalachian folks who always said that "What you cook for your family and friends must come from the heart not a cookbook:" My family recipes listed below include 1) Pappaw's "little burgers" that some now call Grandma's(me) "Sliders 2) Daddy's Supper Potato Salad and 3) Mama's meatloaf.

First let me tell ya that Pappaw was very tall and stout in his bib overalls, smoked a hand-made corn cob pipe, raised corn and soybeans, and loved to cook over the wood filled pit that his Daddy hand built in the 1920's. This cookin' pit was out back in the open safely away from the fields, grass, and gardens. Now mind ya, Pappaw allowed a chosen few to sit up on the rocks away from the cookin pit but only let "youngin's" watch without asking questions. Mama passed this recipe down to us "youngins" when I was about 8 years old and sitting on a stool in the cafe she cooked in back in the 1950's.

1) Our Familly's Little Burgers

Mama's Ingredients: Very good quality hamburger meat hand picked from only the local family grocer Mr. Woods on Morton Ave. Good quality meant that Mr. Woods made certain it was bright, fresh, had enough fat to make it juicy, and he promised it was high quality. I know now that hamburger meat was the best grade of chuck.

You will need: 1 or 2 pounds of fresh high quality chuck hamburger meat
Iron skillet or old time wood filled fire pit that is safe
homemade beef broth from beef shanks
salt and pepper or other seasonings you enjoy- we love onion powder
liquid smoke
steamed cut in half dinner rolls that fit the size of little burgers that you made

First put the chuck hamburger meat in a large bowl and add your favorite ingredients such as salt and pepper, onion powder, next add 2 ice cubes for each pound of meat and let it soak in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes or so until fully chilled. Now make hamburger patties( I put them into plastic sandwich bags to press them down and then I shape them in 3 inch squares. Put small real butter and some oil into an iron skillet or heavy skillet and fry them until done. Pour the grease from the butter and oil into a bowl big enough to hold the little burgers and stir in some liquid smoke, stir well. Now add the fully cooked burgers to the bowl and soak them in the refrigerator for about thirty minutes. Now some folks reheat them by sauting onions in that skillet and then placing the little burgers on top of the onions untill fully heated. When the little burgers are reheated then place them in steamed dinner rolls that are cut in half. You can add cheese, pickles, or anything you want to make it just right for you.

2) Daddy's Supper Potato Salad

Daddy was very particular about where he got his ingredients and allowed no one in the kitchen when he cooked on the old time gas stove. I remember going to his favorite farmer's market down on Warren Street to his favorite farmer John who wore a big straw hat and bib overalls. Daddy and "Big John" were great pals and loved to talk about " a man's cookin'" with "real home grown food" and how the Reds were doing in baseball.

You will need: 1 large or 2 small Whole unpeeled red potatoes per person with clear good skin that you will
rinse really good before using
1 egg per person of Good grade of eggs to hard boil
fried thick bacon strips cut in pieces
red onions diced-amount changes depending on your taste
dill pickles minced to taste
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 fully cooked chicken breast that is skinless and boneless
paprika, salt and pepper to taste

Set your oven at 350 degrees and grease a baking dish. Cook all the meat , potatoes, and eggs first. First fry off your bacon strips until completely done but not burnt and set aside in refrigerator but keep the bacon grease in the skillet so you can fry off your chicken breast until completely done. After the bacon and chicken breast are cooked chop them into bite size pieces. Next steam your red potatoes until tender. Hard boil your eggs and shell them clean then dice them. Now in a baking dish combine the cooked meats, hardboiled eggs, diced red onions, minced dill pickles with a can of cream of chicken soup, stir really well. Top your cassrole with crushed Cheezit's so it covers the top. Spread your favorite shredded chees on top of the Cheezit's; we use Cheddar cheese but pick your favorite cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until completely heated throughout and cheese is melted really good. We serve ours with sour cream also.

3) Mama's Meatloaf

You will need: 1 lb of fresh ground beef
1 lb of fresh ground pork
Slab bacon slices to taste
Catsup to taste
2 eggs
a couple of slices of velveeta cheese
a couple of frozen onion rings
salt and pepper to taste
two slices of white sandwich bread
1/2 cup of milk
3 ice cubes
greased bread pan

Mama loved having the radio loud blast and lots of company in the kitchen while she cooked on the old gas stove but always made us stand way back when she lit the oven with those long kitchen matches. Her only rule was don't write nothing down, don't touch anything hot, and "like it or lump it" she would laugh if we did not like her cookin's. Her Mama was a terrific cook from Virginia and my Aunt Glady's, Grandpa Jack and Grandma Pearl used to have "cooking contests on the weekends. It was always so funny to watch them cook in our kitchen because they all were professional cooks at bakeries, hotels, and cafe's and never would admit if the other ones made something better.

Set your oven at 350 degrees and grease a bread pan that will hold your meatloaf. throughly Mix eggs, the beef, pork, catsup, frozen onion rings, salt and pepper to taste, and 3 ice cubes. Refrig. for about 10 minutes. Next soak two slice of white sandwich bread in a half cup of milk and then squeeze out the milk. Now stir in the cubes velveeta cheese and squeezed out milk bread and add to the refrigerated meat mixture. Mix thoroughly. Shape your meatloaf mixture into your bread pan. Place the slab bacon slices over the top of your meat loaf. Bake at 350 until all the meat is completely done about 45 minutes or so. Let meatload cool to touch and then refrigerate it for about an hour to "get thick" as Mama would say. Reheat or use cold for sandwiches.

Hope you enjoy our old time down home cookin' recipes.Enjoy! If you have any questions about any of the following storytelling recipes just leave me a comment and I will get right back to ya. thanks.