Family Table

Southern Fare Family Table

by Lorie Thompson

There is no better place to be in June than Rabun County! It is the beginning of Summer, but there are still the cool evenings of Spring hanging around. One of the best parts of Summer in Rabun is having Osage Markets open. The star of the show in their Spring and early Summer debut are the strawberries! Strawberry season doesn’t last long. You have to buy them while they are available. It is time for jams, jellies, salads, pies, cakes, and just plain eating those luscious berries!

I was thinking about strawberry pie when I picked up my last batch of berries. I like cobbler, but I can make that using frozen berries after the fresh berries are gone. I wanted a pie that exhibited the fresh berries in all their glory. I didn’t have a recipe, but after an online search revealed many slightly different versions of a similar recipe using fresh berries, I settled on one and made it. It was delicious! Let me tell you how to do it.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. You can buy a pre-made pie crust or make your own. You will need to pre-bake a 9” deep-dish pie crust until golden. Remove from the oven and completely cool before adding the strawberries. If you would like to make your crust but think it is too much trouble, try this recipe. It requires no rolling, kneading, or chilling! Add 2C of All Purpose White Lily Flour to a mediumsized mixing bowl. Whisk in a heaping 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, and 1 tsp of sugar. Create a well in the center of the flour and add 1/4 C of very cold water and 7 T of vegetable oil. Stir together with a wooden spoon. You can use unsalted melted butter in place of the oil. Make sure it has cooled before adding it to the flour.

Lightly spray a 9” deep dish pan with non-stick spray. Place the pie dough into the center of the pie plate and begin spreading it

Lorie Thompson is a REALTOR at Poss Realty in Clayton, Georgia. Her expertise in her industry is second only to her culinary talents. Lorie is a dynamo in the kitchen. Honestly if she prepares it, it will likely be the best you’ve ever had! Lorie and her husband, Anthony (Peanut), make their home in the Persimmon Community. She is the proud mother of Joe Thompson and Kendall Thompson.

to the edges using your fingertips. The bottom of a measuring cup works great along the edges to smooth the crust. Keep patting it until the pan bottom and sides are evenly covered. Crimp the top edges of the crust. To pre-bake, using a fork, pierce the sides and the bottom of the crust. This will keep it from puffing up during baking. Place a piece of parchment or foil in the bottom of the crust and cover with dried beans. Place the crust in a preheated 375-degree oven and cook for 15 +- minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Wash the strawberries, drain them, and allow them to dry. Remove the cap from each berry and cut it in half. Place the berries into the pie crust. I like quarter slices on the bottom layer with some half slices up top. To make the gel: Stir together 1 1/2 C of water, 1 1/4 C of sugar, and 2 1/2T of cornstarch. Simmer, constantly stirring until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add one 3 Oz pack of Strawberry Jello, stirring until Jello has completely dissolved. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and then very carefully, pour over strawberries. Refrigerate for 4 -5 hours before slicing. This is wonderful served with fresh whipped cream!

I had the pleasure of traveling in the early Spring with my daughter, her best friend, and her best friend’s Mom. We visited Big Bend National Park in Terlingua, Texas. Big Bend is gorgeous, remote, huge, remote, wild, and remote. You get the picture. It is incredibly remote and undeveloped. We bought a few groceries in El Paso before driving down to Big Bend with plans to eat in restaurants and cook some. The last evening of our stay was a Sunday night, and the local restaurants were closed. (both of them) We located the BBQ grill provided with our rental and discovered it was a Frankenstein grill. The top grate did not match the grill. There were bits and pieces of several old grills used to create one. We had been told there was a chimney to light the charcoal with, but we never found one. So, AC, my daughter’s best friend, figured it out. She gathered bits and pieces of mesquite from the grounds surrounding us and started a mesquite fire, laying the charcoal briquettes in with the wood to start them burning.

by Lorie Thompson

An hour before time to cook, I cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry and chopped every vegetable we had and put into a ziplock with some olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper: Green onions, sweet peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. We brought steaks out of the fridge and started letting them come up to room temperature. A hefty seasoning of garlic, salt, and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil had them ready for the grill. We grilled the vegetables and reserved the liquid from the bag they were marinating in. After grilling the steaks, we served them with the vegetables and the reserved vegetable marinating liquid shared out among the steaks. This has become one of my favorite meals. Everything I grill now has mesquite in the charcoal, and there is always a bag of vegetables marinating in olive oil, garlic, and salt to accompany. I use whatever vegetables are in the refrigerator but always include fresh tomatoes as they contribute to the liquid that makes such a good drizzle for the grilled meat. I know it is simple and doesn’t sound like anything special, but try it! Using mesquite is critical, and letting the vegetables sit long enough to create the juice to use on top of your grilled meat is essential.

Make June an exceptional month! Make Strawberry Pie and grill lots of vegetables over mesquite, and enjoy them with your family!

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