The South

No I am not talking about the South in terms of the Civil-War; although a great deal of what we eat today in the South was created during that time.

The South is obviously known for it's Barbecue meats and one pot dishes. A lot of today's cuisine in the South was adopted from slaves brought over from West Africa.

I was only in class for the first of the two days we worked on the South cuisine. Unfortunately the second day was when we made the pulled pork. However, I liked the menu we had the first day of class; which consisted of the following: Grilled Quail with spicy eggplant relish; Tomato and Bib Lettuce salad; Pecan encrusted catfish; slow-cooked greens (collard greens) and Peanut Brittle.

I made the pecan encrusted catfish; which was breaded with finely chopped cornmeal, pecans, bread crumbs and parsley. You season the following mix with salt and pepper; then proceed with traditional breading method (flour, egg wash, breading). You pan fry the fish and dry on paper towel. They came own great; seasoned well, crispy and great pecan flavor. The Quail was in brine for about an hour in a sugar/salt water mix; then split rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper then grilled. We placed the quail on top of a bed of spaghetti style zucchini and squash; which we made the first week of class. This was a great dish and even better to photograph. The spicy eggplant relish was surprisingly very tasty with the quail as well. The collard greens turned out pretty well and the tomato with bibb lettuce was pretty standard. A good way to cool down the meal.

Overall the one day I was in class was very good; only wish I was there for the pulled pork!