Sunday, Southern Sunday

Southeastern view on Southern Sunday night.

As you know, I had planned on yesterday being a "Southern Sunday", which was just an excuse to try the stuff my mom sent me.

That sorta went well.

For instance, the livermush was just the way I remembered it, which unfortunately is hard to explain to those of you who've never tried it. I know when you hear the words "liver" and "mush", several unfortunate images come to mind (much like "children of the quorn" or "Seitanic rituals"), however, livermush is far from gross.

In fact, just think of livermush as the lovechild between pork and cornbread. Don't get distracted by the words "liver" or "mush". I'm not a big fan of liver unless it's in a paté or braunschweiger or chicken livers sautéed with onions or one of the few glorious bites of foie gras I've eaten.

Other than that, liver's just plain gross.

But livermush, sliced off of the loaf and fried in the pan is just so good...you don't need anything to accompany it other than bread, and even that is optional. It's not at all greasy, even when it's fried.



Just stay with me for a minute: Imagine a hot, soft, peppery, other white meat offal loaf that is beefed up with corny-corn cornmeal crumbling in your mouth right as it wraps you in it's arms just like your granmaw or mammaw hugging you as she stands there in her slippers and nightgown just as she's fried you up some livermush and pancakes for Saturday morning breakfast using the bacon grease she has on the back of the stovetop. OK, maybe that doesn't even do it justice.

The only problem or, for lack of a better word, dilemma I may have as I work on these two loaves of livermush is possibly getting livermush burnout, or "livermashed". No doubt I'll have to figure out different ways to use livermush. Perhaps I may have to consult some residents of the Spam community and see if they have any suggestions.



The other sandwich I made in honor of Southern Sunday was a grilled banana-mayonnaise sandwich which my Mom would sometimes fix for me right as I was watching Woody Woodpecker and Mighty Mouse while waiting for the school bus to arrive.

Am I grossing you out yet?

Please. Try it before you dismiss it.

Easy to assemble, just take some white bread, smear with mayo (in this case, Dukes), slice a banana in half and assemble. Next, melt some butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Then fry the sandwich on both sides until both sides are golden brown.



Oh, now you've got me salivating!

If you're skinny and have a problem gaining weight (common affliction in the South), this sandwich is for you!

Southern Sunday wouldn't be complete without some pecan pie and pinto beans with chow chow on top. However, this is where things went horribly wrong for me.

Even though I followed the directions from Fannie Farmer's Cookbook by Marion Cunningham, my pecan pie was a soupy disaster. Damn! I should've followed the directions on the Karo bottle!

Don't be fooled. This is not a pecan pie, it's a pecan swamp.

The pinto beans were just "eh" Not particularly nice, but then I just boiled them plain, without the usual addition of salt pork, ham hocks, bacon or fatback. The chow chow was good, but it could've been chunkier. The difference between Mrs. Campbell's sweet chow chow and her spicy chow chow was barely noticeable. It did perk up the beans, but it would've been nicer if it was chunkier. As it was, it would only be suitable on hot dogs and hamburgers as far as I'm concerned.



Perhaps this is something to make at home.

At least I had some Cheerwine to wash it down with.

Southern Sunday wouldn't be complete without an hour of watching those good ol' boys, or as they say "good fellas", from another part of the South - that would be Southern Italy - aka the first episode of the new season of the Sopranos.



Even though we don't get cable, luckily, our upstairs neighbor Tom does. I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse since watching the Sopranos always makes me so hungry. The culprit in this episode?

"Satriale's veal parm hero".

Urgh!

k.