Even if we had a big sorta surprise birthday party last Saturday, we still had another immediate family dinner the actual day of my dad’s 75th birthday. And for this party I decided to go with a Southern American theme influenced by my trip last summer in North Carolina. I had a list of Must Do recipes from back then I still not attacked…I did a bunch in one shot, most adapted. Enjoy the dinner.

Oh yes, 1 recipe is a Southern impostor, can you guess which one?

Menu

Cajun Lemonade
Zucchini Corn Fritters
Beer Cheese Soup
Evelyne’s Slow Cooker North Carolina Pulled Pork
Corn bread
Swiss Chard
Sweet potato pudding cake
Evelyne’s Homemade Ice tea

Cajun Lemonade

6 ounces rum or vodka
2 ounces limoncello
4 ounces fresh lemon juice
2 ounces Simple Syrup
1/4 tablespoon Tabasco
4 ounces chilled 7-Up

In a large container, combine all of the ingredients except 7-Up. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Poor into a shaker and shake in batches, then pour into an ice-filled pitcher. Strain into ice-filled rocks glasses, stir in the 7-Up.

Zucchini Corn Fritters (12 fritters)

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup butter, melted
1 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cups fresh corn, kernels cut from cob
1/2 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese
oil for frying

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cumin, sugar, salt, and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and butter. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir in zucchini, corn, and cheese; mix well.
3. Warm oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Drop batter by the tablespoonful into hot oil. Fry until crisp and brown, turning once with tongs. Remove to paper towels.

Beer Cheese Soup

½ white onion, diced
¼ cup butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 12 ounce bottle of beer
14 oz broth
1 can cream of celery
1 Cup half-and-half
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground pepper, to taste

Saute the diced onions in butter, add the garlic, broth, cream, cream of celery and beer. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted then add Worcestershire, salt and pepper.

Slow Cooker Carolina BBQ

3-4 pounds pork roast, Boston butt or pork shoulder
2 tsp black pepper, garlic salt, Paprika each
1 Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped
2 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup of barbecue sauce (homemade or store bought, I used Bone Suckin’ Sauce from NC)

1. Combine garlic salt, pepper and paprika, rub into the pork. Place pork in slow cooker and cover with vinegar, onion and liquid smoke. Cook for 8 to 10 hours under “low” slow cooker setting.
2. After meat is cooked, remove from slow cooker onto plate and break apart with fork. If meat has any bones, please discard at this time. Keep liquid
3. Put the pork in the slow cooker & add BBQ sauce and liquid to tastes. Keep warm. Serve on  plate or burger bun.

OK I am assuming responsibility for my outlandish following statement: this was the BEST pulled pork ever. I have had about 4 different ones in NC and about 3 in the last year in Montreal BBQ restaurants (which all sucked). Mine is the BEST. I am specifically sending out this challenge to Rich, my friend who hosted me while I was visiting him last summer. Rich, get your butt up here for a little holiday and I’ll make you my pull pork…the BEST, period!

Swiss Chard

1 bunch of Swiss chard
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
Sea salt and pepper

Trim the stems of the Swiss chard and chop into sections. Wash the leaves well, shake dry. Cook the stems in a large pot of simmering salted water for 5 minutes, then add the leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes, turning them occasionally as they wilt down, until soft.

Drain well in a colander, then toss with the butter, lemon juice , sea salt and pepper.

Cornbread

I used my Mama Dips Cornbread Mix that I bought when I was in North Carolina…but if you want to make you own…

1 c. self-rising cornmeal
½ c. self-rising flour
3-4 T. sugar
3 T. butter
1¼ c. buttermilk
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cornmeal, flour, and sugar.
2. In separate bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add buttermilk and melted butter.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour into cornbread dish (or 8“x8” baking pan).
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Until golden brown

Sweet potato pudding cake

1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons dark or light rum
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (I used A”P” white flour)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups mashed sweet potato (about 1 large)
3 large eggs
14oz coconut milk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch spring form pan with cooking spray.
2. To prepare cake: Toss raisins and rum in a small bowl and let stand. Whisk flour, nutmeg and salt in another bowl.
3. Boil sweet potato till tender, drain and mash in a large bowl. Add eggs; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add coconut milk, 1 cup brown sugar and butter; beat until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients until evenly moistened. Stir in the raisins and any remaining rum. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
4. To prepare topping: Combine coconut, 1 tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of the cake.
5. Bake the cake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 min. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and gently remove the side ring. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour, then refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.

Evelyne’s Homemade Ice tea

2 liters of water
3 tea bags (any kind)
fresh lemon juice, to taste
honey, to taste

Run your tap water hot and fill the pitcher with about 2 cups of water. Add the 1 tbsp of honey and lemon juice and stir. Add the teat bags and let sit 1 hour on the counter. Fill with 1.5 liters of water and put in the fridge for a few hours. Discard tea bags and adjust lemon and honey to taste.