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Cozy Up to Satisfying Fall Recipes

WRITTEN BY LAZAR BROWN OGLESBY

The only thing that gets me through the dog days of summer in South Georgia is the promise of fall, my favorite season. I love the renewal and new growth of spring, the restful time spent snuggling under blankets in winter, and the golden skin and tan legs of summer, but fall in all of her autumnal glory makes my heart sing.

I anxiously anticipate the slight change in the air. Is it a smell, a feeling, an instinct? I can’t put my finger on how I know, but the moment I feel the gentle shift in seasons I begin to think of my favorite fall dishes. Those dishes include hearty soups and stews, wild game harvested from our farm, fresh greens after a first frost, and desserts made from apples, pumpkins, brown sugar and spices.

Any time my mother cooks a ham you can count on her to prepare any one of the following dishes with the ham bone and morsels of meat clinging to the bone: vegetable soup, ham and pea pasta with parmesan and linguine, ham and cheese quiche, and lastly, jambalaya.

I think it is nearly impossible to prepare a small pot of jambalaya or any dish that contains rice as rice swells. It’s a wonder Jesus didn’t forgo the loaf of bread and feed the masses with fish and rice. It goes a long way. Each time Mother made jambalaya she carted Tupperware containers to friends near and far: a church member who had surgery, an under-the-weather friend, a luncheon of co-workers, and a couple with a new baby. Her kindness with the dish were always followed by requests for more, and she always obliged the next time she made a pot.

Black-eyed peas and greens garner attention around the first of the year, but they make a lovely fall dish when combined. A dear friend, Ted Riner, shared the notion of taking two Southern staples and mixing them together. I never doubted this combo would be delicious. Ted has fed me enough food to fill up a pickup truck bed and I never tasted a bad meal at his home on Oglesby Pond. I give him all the credit for this delicious side dish. I often include this side in many of my fall and winter catering menus. People rave over the perfectly, Southern combo. You can also add tomatoes or extra protein to make this hearty dish into a soup.

You can’t very well have jambalaya and greens without a hunk of cornbread. Finding the perfect cornbread recipe takes time. I fussed with ingredients until I found the perfect texture, fluffy but firm enough to “sop” the „

JAMBALAYA

INGREDIENTS:

1 Ham Bone (with some meat still attached) 1 cup Green Bell Pepper (diced) 1 cup Onion (dice) 1 cup Celery (diced) 1 lb. Smoked Sausage (sliced into rounds) 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil 2 cups Ham (cubed) 1 cup White Wine 2 cans Petite Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz.) 4 cups Chicken Broth 2 cups Rice 1 lb. Shrimp (peeled and deveined) ⅔ cup Ketchup 3 Tbsp. Hot Sauce 1 Tbsp. Garlic Salt & Pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

Place ham bone and 6 cups of water in a heavy stock pot. Boil until tender. Remove bone from broth and allow to cool. Cut remaining meat from bone (approximately 2 cups) and save. Save 4 cups of ham stock.

Place olive oil, bell pepper, onion, celery and sausage in a heavy bottomed soup pot. Sauté until veggies are tender. Add white wine and deglaze. Add ham stock, chicken stock, tomatoes and cubed ham. Bring to a boil. Add rice and reduce heat. Cook until rice is done. You may have to add additional stock as needed.

Remove from heat. Stir in hot sauce, seasonings, ketchup and shrimp. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Fluff rice with fork and serve with cornbread. This is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day after the flavors have had time to marry. You can omit the shrimp and add chicken for a variation.

BLACK EYE PEAS AND GREENS

INGREDIENTS:

4 cans Black Eyed Peas (15.8 oz.) 2 bags Frozen Collard Greens (14 oz.) 4 cups Chicken Broth 1 Medium Onion (chopped) 1 cup Ham (chopped) 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil ⅓ cup Pepper Vinegar 2 Tbsp. Sugar Salt & Pepper to taste Hot Sauce to taste

PREPARATION:

Coat bottom of pot with oil and add onion and ham. Sauté until onion becomes soft. Add the greens, salt, pepper, and chicken broth and cook until greens are tender. While greens are cooking strain and rinse black eyed peas. Add black eyed peas to greens and adjust seasoning. You may need to add a little water. Add sugar, hot sauce, and pepper vinegar and bring to a boil. Turn off and let sit for 30 minutes. Serve warm. pot liquor of my favorite veggies, tart from the tang of buttermilk, and crisp around the edges to compliment the soft center. I add pimento cheese to my base recipe if I want to serve guests an extra treat!

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups Self-Rising Corn Meal 1½ cups Buttermilk ½ cup Milk 2 Eggs ½ cup Oil ½ cup Sour Cream 2 Tbsp. Sugar 1 tsp. Salt 1 cup Bacon (cooked and crumbled) 1 cup Pimento Cheese

PREPARATION:

Place all ingredients in bowl except pimento cheese. Mix until just combined. Add pimento cheese and mix until just combined. I like to leave some bigger pieces of pimento cheese so you can see the gooey cheese when you cut the cornbread. Pour into greased 9x13 pan or skillet and bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until middle is set. Let cool for 10 minutes

and slice.

Lastly, one of my most popular shared blog posts is an easy cinnamon roll recipe. I am super intimidated any time a recipe calls for yeast. I know recipes with yeast usually involve time and patience, both of which I’m not known to possess. I added apple butter to the original recipe for a fall variation. Happy Fall Y’all! S

INGREDIENTS:

DOUGH:

2½ - 3 cups All-Purpose Flour 3 Tbsp. Sugar 1 tsp. Salt 1 pack Dry Yeast ½ cup Water ¼ cup Milk 3 Tbsp. Butter (softened)

FILLING:

3 Tbsp. Apple Butter ¾ cup Brown Sugar 3 Tbsp. Cinnamon Rising Glaze: ½ cup Heavy Cream 2 Tbsp. Butter

ICING:

¾ cup Heavy Cream 2 cups Powdered Sugar 1 tsp. Vanilla

PREPARATION:

Place all of the dry ingredients in mixer bowl and mix well. Place butter, milk, and water in a small bowl. Make sure the tap water is hot. The temp of water and milk mixture should be around 110-115°. The heat from the liquid activates the yeast. You can microwave the mixture until it reaches desired temperature. Pour the milk mixture into the mixer bowl with dry ingredients. Mix with dough hook attachment for 5 minutes. The dough should pull away from the side of the bowl and be smooth and elastic to the touch. Not sticky. Add additional flour if the dough is sticky. Place the dough on floured counter top and press or roll out until you have a 14x12 inch rectangle of dough.

Cover entire rectangle of dough with apple butter, then cover with brown sugar, and sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Roll dough tightly starting with the long end. Once you have a long roll, cut the cinnamon rolls in 2 inch segments. Place rolls touching each other in greased 9x13 pan. Mix ½ cup of heavy cream and 2 Tbsp. melted butter in bowl and microwave until just warm, pour over cinnamon rolls. Cover with warm damp towel and allow to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes. While cinnamon rolls are cooking place icing ingredients in bowl and whisk until smooth. Remove cinnamon rolls from oven and spread icing generously over the warm rolls. Best served warm.