Try your hand at recipes inspired by Alabama’s Gulf Coast cuisine.
By Janet Groene, F47166
Alabama’s Mobile Bay is one of nature’s richest nurseries, producing tons of seafood that nourished generations of American Indians, then French and Spanish explorers, and now grateful gourmets.
From the rich soil come sun-kissed fruits and vegetables. From the sea and swamps come tons of oysters, as well as alligators, crabs, shrimp, and a finfish menu ranging from amberjack to wahoo. From today’s artisanal farms come heritage greens, small-batch bacon, free-range cattle and chickens, specialty honey, Belle Chevre goat cheese, juicy fatback, and legal moonshine.
Travel the area, discover local farm markets, and try these recipes in your motorhome.
Dauphin’s Smoked Gumbo Z’herb
This recipe makes two gallons of gumbo, just the ticket for a chapter rally or campground potluck. It’s from executive chef Steve Zucker at the elegant Dauphin’s, a 34th-floor restaurant overlooking the city of Mobile and Mobile Bay.
In the restaurant, smoke flavor is obtained using a SmokePistol smoke generator and a pecan wood cartridge. Additional smoke flavor comes from the smoked ham hocks, sausage, bacon, and turkey wing. You may find that to be enough. If not, use a drop or two of Liquid Smoke. Chef Zucker uses local Conecuh hickory-smoked sausage and Conecuh bacon. They’re found at Walmart and Sam’s Club. For information about SmokePistol, visit www.smokepistol.com.
Recipe
1 cup lard
6 cups diced onion
3 cups diced celery
3/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 pound bacon, diced
2 pounds sausage, sliced
1 pound beef brisket, cubed
1 cup flour
5 1/2 pounds cut-up greens (cabbage, kale, spinach, turnip, mustard, lettuce)
4 quarts water
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 cup chicken base (I use Better Than Bouillon)
2 smoked ham hocks
1 smoked turkey wing
4 bay leaves
4 tablespoons hot sauce
4 tablespoons Maggi Liquid Seasoning
2 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 SmokePistol pecan wood cartridge OR 2 drops Liquid Smoke (or to taste)
Heat the lard until a little flour sizzles when added. Add the onion, celery, garlic, bacon, sausage, and brisket. Keep stirring until the onions are translucent. Stir in the flour and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the well–washed greens, which will wilt down. Add the water, stock, and remaining ingredients. Simmer 60 minutes, skimming occasionally. Smoke for 30 minutes (or just add Liquid Smoke). Simmer and adjust seasonings to taste. Discard bay leaves. Makes 2 gallons of gumbo.
Dairy Cow Cream Sauce
Delicious over charcoal-grilled oysters, this aromatic sauce works well with any seafood. Use the surprise ingredients to try three variations and choose your favorite, or invent your own surprise ingredient.
Recipe
2 tablespoons butter
2 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 10-ounce jar marinated artichokes, chopped
2 cups whipping cream
Surprise ingredient (add one):
1 teaspoon hot sauce and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce OR 2 teaspoons dried tarragon OR 2 tablespoons anisette liqueur
Optional topping:
buttered bread crumbs
minced parsley
grated dry cheese
lemon wedges
Melt the butter and stir in the scallions and garlic. Add the wine and bring the mixture to a hard boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in the artichokes to heat through, and then stir in the whipping cream and one of the surprise ingredients. Spoon over fish or baked oysters and add one or more optional toppings. Makes three cups of sauce.
Tailgate Pickled Shrimp
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar
3 pounds cooked, deveined, tail-off medium shrimp, thawed and drained
2 medium onions, sliced thin
4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon pickling spice
Put everything in a large plastic bag, seal it, and turn it several times to mix the ingredients. Chill overnight. Serve with toothpicks. Makes 12 servings.
Alabama Field Pea Succotash
Small, sweet field peas are the unsung stalwarts of Southern cuisine. These legumes of many sizes and colors are found in both common and heirloom varieties at roadside farm markets and in some supermarkets.
Recipe
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups cooked field peas (such as lady peas, crowders, pinkeyes, polecats, cranberry beans, cowpeas, asparagus beans, or Big Red Rippers), drained
2 to 3 plum tomatoes, diced
1 14.5-ounce can whole-kernel corn, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
Salt, pepper
1/4 cup vinaigrette
Sizzle the onion in hot oil, gradually stirring in the drained peas, tomatoes, and corn. Season with dill weed, salt, and pepper. Stir in the vinaigrette and serve hot as a side dish.
For an alternative presentation, make a bed of this succotash over grits and top with grilled snapper. Makes five to six servings.
Alabama Good Luck Greens
In the Yellowhammer State, greens traditionally are served on New Year’s Day to assure financial success. To make doubly sure, a shiny dime is dropped into the pot. Chopped, washed, and packaged collard greens are now found in supermarkets. They’re good luck any day, especially when simmered in a big, iron pot over a campfire.
Recipe
2 sticks butter, divided
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 pound smoked sausage, cut in coins
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
2 quarts chicken broth
3 pounds chopped, trimmed collard greens
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
In a large pot, melt ½-stick butter and stir-fry the onion and garlic, gradually adding sausage to brown it. Add the salt, pepper, and broth and bring to a boil. Add the collard greens in batches, stirring them down as they wilt. Add the vinegar, remaining butter, and hot sauce. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 hours. Serve with cornbread. Makes eight servings.
Janet Groene’s Speedy Southern Ambrosia
Ambrosia is a traditional Southern dessert that takes many forms. It may be made with whipped cream, whipped topping or sour cream, fresh or canned fruit, with or without coconut and/or miniature marshmallows. Here is the instant version I have been making since my tent-camping days.
Recipe
3 cans fruit in fruit juice, 15 ounces each
1 package instant French vanilla pudding mix
1/2 to 1cup flaked coconut
Drain the fruit juices into a bowl and whisk in the dry pudding mix. When it thickens, fold in the fruit and coconut. Chill. Makes eight to 10 servings.
’Bama Blackberry Cobbler
The blackberry is Alabama’s official state fruit.
Recipe
1 stick butter
1 pint blackberries
1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Set the oven to 350 degrees and melt the butter in a 9-inch-by-11-inch pan. Pour the melted butter into a bowl. Set aside. Spread the blackberries in the pan and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. In the bowl with the butter, whisk in the biscuit mix, milk, remaining sugar, and extracts. Pour the batter over the berries and bake until the topping is golden brown. Makes six servings.
Oyster Overview
An old myth says the best time to eat oysters is during months that contain an “r” (that is, September through April) and to avoid eating them from May through August. But while levels of certain naturally occurring marine bacteria are higher in coastal waters during warm weather, the bacteria may still be present — although in lower levels — in cold-weather months, according to SafeOysters.org. Because heat kills harmful bacteria and viruses, thoroughly cooked oysters, clams, and mussels are safe for anyone to eat all year, as long as they are legally harvested, the website says.
More than a dozen types of oysters are harvested in the Gulf of Mexico and may be labeled simply Gulf oysters. Alabama’s best-known varieties are Point aux Pins oysters, harvested in the Grand Bay region, and Murder Point oysters, from Portersville Bay.
Murder Point oysters are distinguished by a smooth, deep, colorful shell and extra plump meat. They are raised using the Australian long line method, in which baskets of oysters are attached to lines above the muddy bottom and are tumbled around by the tides. That way, the oysters get the water’s nutrients without ingesting mud.