A Southerly Course: Recipes And Stories From Close To Home - Martha Hall Foose

In the highly anticipated follow-up to her bestselling Screen Doors & Sweet tea, Martha Hall Foose shares recipes and stories that are even closer to her home and heart.

A Southerly Course delves deep into Mississippi Delta flavors and foodways, where Martha finds inspiration in local ingredients—from figs and sweet potatoes to crawfish and venison. In her signature style, she pairs each recipe with an anecdote or words of advice, her memorable tales about each dish lingering long after the last bite has been polished off.

Martha’s beloved Southern cuisine is a fresh take on homey favorites fiercely protected by the locals, including Skillet Fried Corn, Sweet Pickle Braised Pork Shoulder, and Blackberry Jelly Roll. Dishes such as Sweet-and-Sour Salsify and Peanut Chicken, on the other hand, reflect the influence other cuisines have had on Southern cooking. Martha’s lifelong bond with Mississippi is most apparent when she introduces her friends and family; she dedicates Burgundy Duck to a fiery group of women duck hunters called the Swamp Witches, while her cousin’s new wife inspires Korean-style Grilled Green Onions. And in recalling her former neighbor, the famed author Eudora Welty, she reveals the secret to a perfect Custard Pie.
 
With more than 100 recipes and beautiful color photographs, this book is a wonderful, personal look into the South that Martha loves. Gather around her table in A Southerly Course for unforgettable food and vivid stories, both hallmarks in a rich Southern tradition.

Featured Recipe: Creamed Onions

Creamed Onions
Egyptian Walking Onions
Serves 2

Egyptian walking onions do just that; they walk their way across a garden. These unusual plants produce clusters of onion sets at the top of their stalks. As the sets at the top mature and become too heavy for the stalks to hold them upright, they lean over to the ground and replant themselves, traveling across the yard. When the new sets are buried, a petite onion will form. Once these are established they will travel, producing onions along the way, for years. The onions harvested from walking onions are very similar to pearl onions and, like their cousins, are delicious creamed.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound Egyptian walking onions or pearl onions, peeled (see Notes)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Dash of hot pepper sauce
• Grate of fresh nutmeg
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the onions, cream, garlic, and salt in a small baking dish. Dot the top with the butter and add a little hot sauce, nutmeg, and pepper.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until the onions are beginning to brown and are very tender.

Notes

• To peel pearl onions, cut off a small bit of root end from each onion and drop the onions in boiling water. Let boil for 3 minutes, then submerge in cold water. The peels will slip off easily.
• If you like, add 1/2 cup blanched almonds to the onions as Helen Corbitt did.
• One of my favorite Southern authors is Clyde Edgerton, who wrote a novel called Walking Across Egypt. The title comes from one of the lead character’s favorite hymns, which was written by Mr. Edgerton himself!

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