Making homemade crackers is one of the little culinary secrets I love so much.  It never occurs to most people that making your own is something that can or would be done.  But it is easy to do and pretty impressive when you serve homemade crackers.  It took me awhile to get where I wanted to go with making my own crackers.  I read and sampled a lot of recipes.  Some were too complicated, some just weren’t good, most were fine, but plain.  I fiddled around until I had a base recipe that worked with a lot of different flavor additions – herbs and spices and cheese.  But this version literally hit me like a lightning bolt.  I was serving myself a bowl of soup one night, and doling out some (store-bought) plain crackers and I suddenly thought – bacon crackers.  Could it be possible?  I went to work immediately, and here is where I landed.

These crispy, salty little gems are the perfect sidecar for a bowl of soup, particularly with Pimento Cheese Soup.  That being said, they also take pimento cheese spread to a whole new level.  These are excellent on a cheese platter, with a creamy brie, a salty goat or a tangy blue.  Or smeared with a little butter.  Frankly, they are good all on their own.

If you have a fancy-edged pastry roller this is a great place to use it.  Personally, I like the rough and rustic look.  Not all my crackers are even or perfect, but if I actually make my own crackers, I want them to look homemade!  The crackers do need to be roughly the same size on the same baking sheet for even cooking.

Bacon Crackers

4 strips of bacon, cooked very crispy

1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling

1 Tablespoon solidified bacon fat

5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 to 2/3 cup very cold water

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with a silicone liner or parchment paper.

Pat the cooled bacon with paper towels to remove as much grease as possible.  Break the bacon into pieces into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Pulse several times to chop the bacon very finely.  Scrape the bacon out of the bowl and set aside.  Do not worry of there is some bacon residue left on the sides of the bowl.

Place the flour, baking soda, salt and one Tablespoon of the chopped bacon in the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Add the bacon grease and the butter pieces.  Pulse several times until the mixture looks like sand, with a few larger lumps throughout.  Turn on the food processor and drizzle in the ice cold water until the dough starts to come together.  Check the dough by pinching a bit between your fingers.  If it sticks together, you’re done.  You may use slightly less water, but you may need a touch more.  Add another tablespoon of chopped bacon bits and pulse a few times to mix through the dough. You may not use all the bacon.

Lightly flour a work surface.  Divide the cracker dough in half and place one half on the work surface.  Knead a little to bring the dough together and pat it into a nice square.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough until it is as thin as a dime, trying your best to keep it in an even rectangle.  Trim off the rough edges and set aside*.  Cut the dough into crackers, about 1 inch by 1 inch.  I find a pizza wheel a very handy tool for this. You can cut them into smaller crackers if you prefer, but you’ll adjust the cooking time.  Carefully transfer the crackers to the prepared baking sheets. The crackers puff up rather than out, so you can place them close together.  Prick the top of the crackers with a fork, then very lightly brush the tops with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with salt. Repeat with the second half of the dough.  Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 12 – 15 minutes until lightly puffed, golden brown and firm. Cool on the baking sheets.

The crackers will keep in a completely airtight container for several days.  I find a flat, sturdy container works best as a zippered bag doesn’t protect the crackers from breakage very well.

* I like to gather all the scraps and knead them together, then roll them out as sort of a third batch.  They may be not as pretty as the rest, but taste just as good.

Makes about 3 dozen

Pimento Cheese is often called the paté of the South.  Country classic and city chic. We serve it out of a tub on saltines, or incorporated into elegant hors d’ouevres.   Meat-and-threes and mom-and-pops sell it between slices of white bread, and upmarket restaurants serve it on platters with house made charcuterie.  It is ubiquitous, and useful.  It’s good to have around when guests are visiting, and an excellent dish to take to a new mother or the recently bereaved.  It is immutable (cheese, pimentos, mayonnaise) and yet somehow permutable.  Add spicier peppers, a variety of cheeses, onions or garlic.  Every lover of pimento cheese has their favorite and very particular opinions on what does and does not constitute “real” pimento cheese – spicy, too spicy, not creamy enough, too much mayonnaise, too smooth, too chunky.  I, of course, make the best pimento cheese in the world ever, period.  And for me, the addition of chipotle peppers may be a lovely idea, but it simply is not “real” pimento cheese.

At the heart of this is the fact that the flavor combination of basic pimento cheese is a good one. Tangy sharp cheese, peppers with bite but not heat and creamy mayonnaise just work together.  Wonderfully.  So taking the flavor combination and applying it to other dishes just seems natural. It works in macaroni and cheese, on a burger, in a grilled cheese sandwich.  I treat myself often to some Pimento Cheese Biscuits with Creamy Tomato Soup, or mix it up and make the soup with the flavors of pimento cheese.

Pimento Cheese Soup with Tangy Toast

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot, finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely diced

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

¼ cup all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth

3 cups milk

1 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Hot sauce (optional)

In a 5 quart Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat then add the diced carrot, celery and onion. Sauté until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are soft, stirring frequently.  Try to prevent browning the vegetables.  When the vegetables are soft, add 1 Tablespoon from the jar of pimentos and stir.  Add the garlic and stir, cooking for one more minute.  Sprinkle over the paprika and cook, stirring, until it is nice and fragrant, about a minute.  Add the flour and stir to coat the vegetables, until there is no flour visible.  Pour in the chicken broth and stir well.  Raise the heat and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium, partially cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, or very carefully in a blender in batches, puree the soup until smooth.  If you prefer a chunkier soup, you can blend it just a bit to break down the largest chunks.  Add the milk and stir well.  Raise the heat to medium high and when the soup is just steaming, add the grated cheese in handfuls, stirring after each addition, until the cheese is melted and the soup is smooth. Do not let the soup boil.  Stir in the remaining pimentos and Worcestershire sauce and season well with salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  If you like, add a dash or two of hot sauce.

Serve immediately, or leave to cool, refrigerate for up to one day, and reheat slowly over medium heat.  Do not let the soup boil.

Serves 6

Tangy Toasts

Use one or two pieces of firm white sandwich bread for each bowl of soup.  Trim the crusts from the bread, then spread an even layer of mayonnaise on each slice.  You’ll want more than a barely visible skim of mayonnaise, but not a thick pile either.  Sprinkle with paprika and a little salt.  Toast the bread slices in the oven on a rack set over a baking sheet, or in a toaster oven, until crispy and browned.  Cut the slices into neat triangles, or into small crouton cubes.

I am not an overly suspicious person.  Sure, I have my little quirks, but I don’t worry about black cats, walking under ladders, throwing spilled salt over my left shoulder.   But there are a few traditions that I adhere to because, well, it can’t hurt.  Particularly if that tradition involves delicious food.  So on New Year’s Day, I always eat black-eyed peas and greens. For luck and prosperity.  Sometimes I eat them separately, but this gumbo includes all the ingredients for a good year.  The traditional ingredients of good-luck hoppin’ john (rice and black-eyed peas), which is another New Year tradition in the South, plus greens for prosperity.  Here’s a little more information on Southern luck traditions.

This gumbo can be made the day before and reheated, which is a boon if you have been out all night celebrating. Just reheat, cook some rice and add the collards. I highly recommend using smoked ham hock stock.  It really gives the gumbo a smoky, earthy, rich flavor. Making it in the slow cooker is a breeze, and you can do it ahead of time.  If you can’t manage, look for ham stock at some grocery stores, or use the combo of chicken and beef.

Good Luck Gumbo

1 pound smoked sausage, such as kielbasa

2 Tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 onion

1 green pepper

4 stalks celery

1 Tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon creole seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)

6 cups ham hock stock*, or 4 cups chicken stock and 2 cups beef stock

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 pound black-eyed peas, fresh or frozen and thawed

1 ½ cups long grain white rice

3 ½ cups water

Collard leaves

Cut the smoked sausage into bite-size cubes.  Heat the oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven, add the sausage and cook over medium high heat until the sausage begins to brown. Finely chop the onion, seeded bell pepper and celery.  I do this in a small food processor, one vegetable at a time, pulsing to chop the vegetable finely.  Add the “trinity” vegetables to the pot and stir.  Cover the pot and cook for five minutes to soften the vegetables, then remove the cover, stir well and cook until everything is nice and soft and any liquid has evaporated.   Stir in the flour and cook a further minute, then stir in the creole seasoning.  Pour in the stock and the canned tomatoes with their juice.  Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered, reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add the black-eyed peas and continue cooking for another half an hour.  The gumbo should reduce and thicken slightly.  The gumbo can be made up to this point, cooled and refrigerated, covered, overnight.

When ready to serve, cook the rice. Stir the rice into the water in a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil and boil until almost all the water is absorbed and little air bubbles form in the rice, about 10 – 12 minutes, stirring a few times to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat and tightly cover the pan.

Cut the collard leaves in half and cut out the stems.  Stack the leaf halves, three at a time, on top of each other and roll up like a cigar.  Cut the leaves into thin ribbons.  You can further chop the collard ribbons if you’d like.

Heat the gumbo to a low boil over medium high heat.  It will thicken as it sits, but loosen up when heated.  But add a little water if you need to get things moving.  Add the collards, stir, and cover the pot.  Cook until the collards are tender and wilted, about 5 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice.  If you have saved some ham hock meat from making the stock, dice that and stir it into the gumbo as well.  And if you’d like, sprinkle some hot sauce over the gumbo.

*Smoked Ham Hock Stock

Hock Stock is an amazing cooking medium for field peas, beans and greens, as well as a great base for soup or gumbo.  I always look for a naturally smoked hock (not one that has no artificial smoke flavoring added).  I get these from farmers market vendors when I can, and make a batch of stock to freeze.  I can then have to the long, slow cooked taste in quick versions of my favorite southern dishes.

1 large smoked ham hock, cut into three pieces

1 onion

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 Tablespoon black pepper corns

3 bay leaves

Place all the ingredients in the crock of a large slow cooker.  Add 10 – 12 cups of water to fill the crock.  Cook on the low setting for 10 – 12 hours.  Strain the solids from the stock and refrigerate for several hours.  When the stock is cold, skim any solidified fat from the top and discard.  Strain the stock through cheesecloth to remove any last bits of debris.

If you’d like, pull the meat from the ham hock pieces and dice. It is a great addition to any soup or beans you are cooking with the stock.

The stock will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or can be frozen for up to a year.  The same goes for the hock meat, in a separate container from the stock.

Makes 6 – 8 cups

These nuts are another cocktail party recipe.  Yes, they are perfect for nibbling at a cocktail party, but I really say this because I picked up the idea at a cocktail party.  Some ladies and I were standing around with our drinks, nibbling on a bowl of glazed pecans and chatting about various flavored nut recipes.  One of the ladies remarked that her grandmother always made “these peanuts that she boiled in sugar syrup.” As is my wont, I asked for details.  She didn’t know anything more, just that her grandmother used to fix up a huge kettle of peanuts boiling in sugar and
water.

These ideas stick with me, long after the party is over. I experimented occasionally over the years, overthinking the idea as it turns out, until I got it right.  Raw peanuts simply boiled in sugar syrup.  These little gems are not as sweet as you might think, and the salt adds a nice balance to each bite.  The peanut flavor really shines through.  They will keep in an airtight container for quite a while, so they make a great little gift.  But put a bowl on the bar, and your guests will gobble them up.  I’ll admit, I made a batch on a Thursday to photograph over the weekend, and they were all gone before the camera came out.

Sugared Peanuts

Raw peanuts are the key.  Ready-roasted ones will not soak up the syrup.  Look for them in the bulk section of a health food store or market. 

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

4 cups raw peanuts

Salt

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets completely with non-stick foil, or foil greased with a light coat of oil.

Stir the water and sugar together is a large, high-sided saucepan.  You want plenty of room for the peanuts, so you can stir them around and avoid the pot boiling over. Bring the syrup to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Stir in the peanuts and cook in the syrup, stirring frequently, until the peanuts absorb the syrup.  This may take 20 – 30 minutes.  As the process comes to the end, and almost all the syrup is absorbed, stir constantly to prevent scorching.  When there is only a little syrup left in the pan, put the prepared baking sheets by the stove and very quickly transfer the peanuts to the pans using a slotted spoon.  Shake the spoon to let any remaining syrup drip off. Keep the pot on the heat, being carefully of the really hot syrup.  If you take it off the heat, and the peanut syrup will immediately seize up and granulate. Spread the peanuts out in one layer on the first pan, trying to prevent many from clumping up. You largely want individual nuts, not peanut brittle.  Sprinkle a little table salt over the peanuts and place in the oven.  Repeat with the remaining baking sheet.  Bake the nuts for 10 – 12 minutes, until they are lightly golden.  Rotate the trays between racks at 5 minutes so the bottom pan doesn’t burn.

Cool the nuts on the baking pans.  You can break up any clumps with your fingers.

Makes 4 cups

Canning is a new passion for me.  I’ve had fits and starts about it over the years, lots of failures, lots of time spent making jams or relishes only to forget about them and never use them. But after all that trial and error, I have finally got the knack of it and have had mostly successes, and a great deal of enjoyment from what I have produced.  I have even gained the confidence to experiment with my own concoctions, and this is one of my favorites.  It’s rich with figs, set off with the warmth of vanilla and a depth from the bourbon.

I like using the slow cooker for making this.  It is pretty hands off, and clean-up is relatively easy.  This method is also a little forgiving as it will stay at temperature and there doesn’t need to be that frantic rushing to fill the jars at just the right moment.  I also use an immersion blender for this, but if you don’t have one, chop the figs smaller and try a potato masher or a really sturdy spoon to mash up the figs. You will get a slightly chunkier product.

I love this jam on an English muffin.  And fresh, warm buttermilk biscuits – oh lordy.  But this is also a very sophisticated accompaniment to a cheese and charcuterie tray.  It makes a great glaze for pork roast, or serve some on the side.  And of course, it is gorgeous in my Blue Cheese and Fig Savories.  This makes quite a few jars, but it’s worth it since there are so many uses for the jam.  And what an elegant gift!

Fig, Bourbon and Vanilla Bean Jam

3 ½ pounds brown fresh figs, like Celeste or Brown Turkey

2 ¾ pounds granulated sugar

6 Tablespoon lemon juice

5 Tablespoons bourbon

1 vanilla bean

First, place a small ceramic plate in the freezer.  You’ll use this this to test the set of the jam later. Then get your jars clean.  You will need nine half-pint mason jars.  I clean the jars and the rings in the dishwasher, and leave them in there with the door closed to stay warm.  You can’t put the lids in the dishwasher, it will ruin them.

Quarter the figs, cutting any larger ones into eights and place in the crock of a 6 quart slow cooker.  Add the sugar, the lemon juice and the bourbon and toss to coat. Cover the slow cooker and cook the figs for 2 hours on high. The figs will become nice and syrupy.  Remove the top from the cooker, and using a stick blender, puree the figs until you have a smooth texture with a few small chunks.  Split the vanilla bean open and scrape the seeds into the figs, then drop in the bean. Give the mixture a good stir, then continue to cook the jam, uncovered, for 4 -5 more hours, stirring occasionally.

When the jam has cooked down and is thickened, pull that little plate out of the freezer and spoon a little jam onto it.  Leave to set for a minute, then tilt the plate.  If the jam stays put, or only runs a little bit, it’s ready to go. Also, run a finger through the jam on the plate if the two sides stay separate and don’t run back together, you’re good to go.

While you jam is cooking, get a boiling water canner or big stockpot of water going.  Here are step-by step instructions for processing jam in a canner.  When the jam is almost ready, pour some boiling water over the lids to your jars to soften the seals and set aside.

When the jam has met the set test, turn off the slow cooker. Remove the vanilla bean. I like to ladle the jam into a large measuring jug for easy pouring. Fill each of your warm, cleaned jars with the jam, leaving a ½ inch head space.  Dry the lids with a clean paper towel and place on the jars.  Screw on the bands, then process the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.  If you have a bit of extra jam, scoop it into a refrigerator container and keep in the fridge for up to a week.

When the jars are processed, leave to cool on a towel on the counter.

The processed jars will keep for a year in a cool, dark place.  Don’t forget to label your jars!

Makes 9 (1/2pint) jars

Field peas are one of my favorite summer time treats.  Though to be honest, I spend enough time in  summer portioning little bags and stashing them in the freezer that I can enjoy them all year round now.  And I’ll be honest; I don’t veer too much off my standard method of cooking them.  Peas, water, a piece of pork of some variety, maybe onion or garlic and hot sauce.  When the farmers market is going full swing, I even pick up a good naturally smoked ham hock from the fine pork purveyor and make some hock stock to tuck away in the freezer with the peas.  Then I can have a quick summery dish of purple hulls or cream peas or zippers or blackeyes or butter beans in the middle of winter.

But I have always wanted to try field peas in a cold bean salad.  It makes so much sense in summer, refreshing when the heat is so oppressive. The idea has been rattling around in my noggin for a while, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on where I wanted to go with it.  Then, as recipes sometimes do, it literally jumped out of my brain, while I was in the car one day, driving around on mundane errands.  I could make a vinaigrette with bacon drippings, coat the peas in rich dressing and add the crispy bacon for texture.  From there, pimento peppers and green onions seemed like the most Southern of additions for flavor and color.

In my book, this is the ultimate summer farmers market salad, incorporating many of my favorite Southern farm products. Bags of freshly shelled field peas, the magnificent Berkshire hog bacon, shiny red pimentos and good ol’ green onions (we don’t call them scallions around here). Purple Hulls seem to be the most readily available field pea, but any variety will do.  Just adjust the cooking time accordingly, cooked, but still with a little bite.  If you can’t find fresh pimento peppers, use jarred and drained pimentos, or keep it fresh with a chopped red pepper.

Purple Hull Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

2 pounds purple hull peas

2 cups chicken broth

2 fresh pimento peppers

4 green onions

1 pound bacon

For the Vinaigrette

¼ cup bacon drippings, not solidified

½ cup vegetable oil

4 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon sorghum or dark honey

1 teaspoon hot sauce (or more to taste)

Generous grinding of black pepper

Salt to taste

For the Purple Hull Peas:

Place the purple hulls in a large bowl and cover with water.  Let the peas settle, then remove any floaters and pick out any trash or bad peas.  Use a slotted spoon to remove them to a large pan, leaving behind any debris.  Cook the peas with the chicken broth and  enough fresh water to cover by an inch and bring to a boil.  Spoon off any scum that rises, then reduce to a simmer and cook until just tender, about 30 minutes.  For a cold pea salad, you want a little bite to the peas, so don’t let them get mushy. Drain the peas in a colander, rinse them well and drain again.  Transfer the peas to a large bowl and chill in the refrigerator.

Cook the bacon until crispy, then remove to paper towels to drain.  Save ¼ cup of the drippings for the dressing and set it aside to cool, but not solidify. Dice the crispy bacon into small pieces.

Remove the seeds and the ribs from the pimento peppers and cut into a small dice.  Dice the green onions, whites and some of the green parts.  Toss these into the bowl with the chilled peas to combine.

For the Vinaigrette:

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, mix all the dressing ingredients and shake vigorously to emulsify the dressing, making sure the sorghum is blended in.  Pour the dressing over the peas and stir to coat.  You may not want all the dressing.  Taste the salad and add some salt if needed.  These peas tend to need quite a bit.

Chill the salad until ready to serve.  Toss the crumbled bacon into the salad right before serving.  The salad (without the bacon) will keep for up to 2 days covered in the fridge.

Serves 8 – 10

The combination of peaches and ginger is a favorite of mine, and in these muffins, it really shines.  These muffins are not too sweet, but burst with flavor and texture.  Fresh, in-season peaches are such a summer treat, make the most of the season.

Use real ginger ale for this – the kind you find at natural food stores or specialty markets.  Fortunately, it is frequently sold by the bottle in the refrigerated drinks section, so you won’t have to buy a whole six-pack.  I like Blenheim’s and Reid’s, but make sure you don’t buy the spicy or hot variety for this recipe.  I find crystaliized ginger already chopped into little chunks pretty easily, but if all you find are big pieces, use scissors to cut it into small bites.

 Peach and Ginger Muffins

 2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

2 fresh peaches

3 Tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger

6 Tablespoons real ginger ale

turbinado or granulated sugar for sprinkling

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 12 muffin cups.

 In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and ginger lightly with a whisk to break up lumps of sugar. Add the melted butter, sour cream and eggs and stir just until mixed – do not overwork.

Cut the peaches, with the skin on, into small chunks.  Drop peaches and crystallized ginger into batter and lightly stir just to mix.  Lightly stir in the ginger ale.  Muffins need to be just mixed, the batter will still be a bit lumpy.  Spoon into muffin cups, they will be nice and full. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tester inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins

This also works well with plums.

I like books about people who do things.  This summer I have been reading the Little House on the Prairie series, and boy do they do things.  Make their own clothes, their own food – even their own housee.  I have a list of books I have enjoyed that detail the work of women in the kitchen, baking bread, tending gardens, canning produce, collecting their own honey.  Now let me be clear, for the most part, I don’t want to do these things.  I can’t sew or build or grow.  I have a new found canning obsession, but it’s for fun, not survival.  I just like the idea of doing all these things.  I like the imagery of our foremothers carefully tending their corn crop, gratefully harvesting its bounty, shucking all those silky ears and turning them into delicious meals.  These are the women who can crank out biscuits and breads in mass quantities, by touch and feel and eye.  Again, I am not one of these women, but this recipe harks to that literary longing in me.  The combination of freshly shucked corn and old-fashioned buttermilk biscuits.

These biscuits have the loveliest buttery yellow color, with the gorgeous flecks of fresh corn shining through. Serve these warm with some fresh, rich butter with a summer dinner and your friends will swoon.  The breakfast possibilities are endless. Serve one with a slice of fresh tomato for a burst of summer flavor.  And a buttered biscuit with a slice of bacon is a real treat. I think Ma Ingalls would approve.

Fresh Corn Buttermilk Biscuits

These biscuits are best served warm to bring out the fresh corn flavor.  If you don’t eat them right out of the oven, wrap lightly in foil and heat for a few minutes in a low oven.

½ cup (1 stick) butter, divided

3 ears fresh yellow corn, husks and silks removed

1 cup buttermilk (preferably whole)

4 cups all-purpose flour (preferably White Lily), plus more for dusting

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line an 8 by 11 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Melt 1/3 cup of the butter and set aside to cool. Cut the kernels off two ears of corn and place in a blender.  Puree until very smooth (you can add a drop of buttermilk to get things going if needed).  Pour the puree into a 2-cup measuring jug.  You should have about 1 cup puree.  Add buttermilk to measure 2 cups of liquid.  Return the liquid to the blender, add the melted butter and blend until smooth.

Cut the kernels off of the third ear of corn, picking out as much silk as you can, and set aside.

In a large, wide bowl, mix 3 ½ cups flour, the baking powder and salt with a fork until blended.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the wet ingredients.  Using the fork, blend everything together, pulling the flour into the wet ingredients until everything is incorporated.  Lightly flour your hands and work in up to another ½ cup of flour until you have a soft, cohesive dough.  Drop in the corn kernels and knead a few times until they are distributed throughout the dough. Don’t be mean to this dough or it won’t be sweet to you.

Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it.  Lightly knead the dough a few times, then pat it out into a circle 1-inch thick.  Using a floured 2- inch biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits by just pressing down and lifting out – don’t twist the cutter.  Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet almost touching.  You can pat out the dough scraps to cut more biscuits, but they are never quite as pretty.  Bake the biscuits for 8 minutes.

While they biscuits are baking melt the remaining butter.  After 8 minutes in the oven, remove the biscuits and brush the tops with the melted butter.  Return to the oven for another 2 or three minutes until the biscuits are done.  They won’t brown on top, but when they are firm to the touch they are ready.

Makes 12 – 14 biscuits

I don’t really know what else I can say about this recipe.  It’s a rich, Southern version of butterscotch sauce with fresh peaches cooked right in, and a nice little kick of bourbon.  Of course, this is great over a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my favorite way to eat this is with a spoon.  A few slices of fresh peaches on the ice cream amps up the flavor, and a sprinkling of chopped pecans ain’t a bad touch either.

Peach Butterbourbon Sauce

2 large peaches or 3 small, peeled and pitted

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

¼ cup bourbon

Cut the peaches into small chunks and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the sugar and stir until melted.  Carefully pour in the bourbon and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, and add the chopped peaches.  Simmer until the peaches are completely soft and disintegrating into the sauce.  The ripeness of the peaches will determine how long this takes.

When the peaches are completely soft, puree the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, mash the peaches with a sturdy wooden spoon, then press the sauce through a wire sieve.

Serve warm over ice cream.  The sauce will keep in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge.  Reheat gently in the microwave, stirring frequently, to loosen up.

Makes about 1 ½ cups sauce

Summer in the South, the heat, the humidity, is best dealt with by a cool slice of fresh watermelon.  The thwack of a big knife slicing into the thick rind and the slurp as it cuts through the flesh is up there on the list of summer sounds with crickets humming and the sprinkler whirring.  When I think of watermelon, I think of fireflies, because I remember summer evenings rounded out by a cold slice, watching the fireflies twinkle over the lawn, juice dripping down my chin, fingers sticky enough to like when there’s nothing left but rind.

For some time now, I have wanted to make watermelon into a pie. Not a kitchy watermelon sherbet pie, or some really old school watermelon rind preserve pie, but a cool creamy slice of summer. It has been a hit and miss exercise, lots of failures before I got on the right trail.  But I finally got to the pie promised land.  A sweet cookie crust and a creamy topping surrounding a cool, soft, jeweled pink, quivering burst of watermelon.  Yes, I am quite pleased with myself over this one.  This is a great summer dessert, and can be made over the course of a few days – crust one day, filling the next, topped with cream and served the next.  Lazy party planning at its best. 

Watermelon Pie

For the Crust:

1 (10 ounce) box shortbread cookies, like Lorna Doons

¼ c sugar

½ cup butter, melted

For the Filling:

6 cups seedless watermelon cubes (from about a 4 pound slice), to make about 4 cups puree

2/3 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

1 Tablespoon lime juice               

For the Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

¼ cup sugar

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees,

Process the cookies in a food processor with the sugar until crumbly.  Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are wet.  Scrape the crumbs into a glass or ceramic pie plate and press them in the bottom and up the sides of the pan to make a nice, cohesive crust.  You may have a little bit more of the crumbs than you need.

Bake the crust for 8 – 10 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.  Cool completely and chill in the fridge.

For the filling

Puree the watermelon chunks in a blender, then pour it through a wire sieve into a large saucepan.  Push on the solids to extract the juice, then discard the solids and thoroughly rinse the sieve.  You should have around 4 cups of puree. Measure out ¼ cup of the watermelon juice with a small measuring jug and set aside.  Add the sugar to the watermelon juice in the pan, stir, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  While the juice is coming to the boil, add the cornstarch to the reserved juice and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.

When the juice is boiling, whisk the cornstarch mixture again, then whisk it into the boiling juice.  Boil for 4 minutes, whisking constantly and scraping the sides and bottom of the pot.  The mixture will begin to thicken.  Pour the mixture through the cleaned sieve into a bowl to remove and lumps that might form.  Leave the filling to cool for about 20 minutes.

Scrape the slightly cooled mixture into the prepared crust, smoothing it out to fill the crust and have a nice, flat surface.  Chill the crust in the fridge for an hour until it’s a little firm, then cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until completely firm.  It is okay if the plastic wrap sticks to the filling, it will come right up.

For the Topping:

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then drizzle in the sugar and whip until very stiff peaks form.  Scoop the cream onto the chilled pie filling and spread it to the edges of the crust, covering all the filling.  Chill in the fridge for an hour before serving.  The pie will keep in the fridge for a day.

This pie is great right out of the fridge, but I have discovered that serving after it’s been out of the fridge for half an hour or more intensifies the watermelon flavor.  But don’t leave it outdoors!

Serves 8

If you have some leftover watermelon, why not make some Watermelon Sweet Tea?