ODay - My Southern food: a celebration of the flavors of the South

My Southern Food
My Southern Food
A Celebration of the Flavors of the South
DEVON ODAY
EDITED BY BRYAN CURTIS 2010 Suzonne P. Ford d/b/a Devon ODay and Bryan Curtis All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Photos licensed through Shutterstock.

Photos licensed through iStockphoto. Photos by Danielle Patton. Photo by Ron Miller. Photos are from the collection of Devon ODay. Art direction and design by Angie Davis Jones, One Woman Show Design. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use.

For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ODay, Devon, 1962
My Southern food : a celebration of the flavors of the South / Devon ODay ; edited by Bryan Curtis.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4016-0000-6
1. Cookery, AmericanSouthern style. I. thank you for taking the time to pass down the legacy to Faith and me. Contents by Faith Ford
Faith Ford Growing up as sisters from a long line of seasoned Southern cooks, Devon and I were taught by the best! In fact, Devon was very instrumental in encouraging me, her skinny little sister, Faith, to take the first bite of all the family favorites: chicken and dumplings, crispy brown biscuits with cane syrup, pan-fried okra, butter beans, and fresh-sliced summer tomatoes, to name a few. Contents by Faith Ford
Faith Ford Growing up as sisters from a long line of seasoned Southern cooks, Devon and I were taught by the best! In fact, Devon was very instrumental in encouraging me, her skinny little sister, Faith, to take the first bite of all the family favorites: chicken and dumplings, crispy brown biscuits with cane syrup, pan-fried okra, butter beans, and fresh-sliced summer tomatoes, to name a few.

My sister was my idol. Whatever she did, I tried my best to follow along. She did everything with such grace and ease. I guess youd say I had big shoes to fill. She was the first to read, the first to play an instrument, the first to get straight As. And, of course, the first to cook.

She would make the best oven-baked cheese toast and Cheddar-stuffed broiled hot dogs with quick skillet pork and beans of any Southern sister I knew. And these were just after-school snacks. At suppertime, she would always let me have the crispy skin off her fried chicken. The golden brown edges from the fried pork chops were my favorite. She even figured out that she could take a piece of white bread, spoon my favorite purple hull peas inside, and slip it to me across the table as if it were my own special delicacy. It was all about how quickly and efficiently she prepared and presented it.

My sister has always had a knack for throwing things together on the fly, yet seeming as if shed worked on them for hours. Its enough to make a little sister slightly intimidated, but not me. Not around Devon. She wouldnt have that. She insisted on sharing all her tips and skills, just like our mom taught her. Whats good for the hen is good for the chicks! Devon loved going to restaurants and then coming home to whip up a quick version for us.

And it was always tasty and satisfying. She always made enough for a crew too. Thats another thing she got from our momalways make enough. If it doesnt get eaten, youll have plenty of leftovers. Turkey chili for ten, or more. Pasta as a side dish only.

Cornbread for a crew. Brisket for a bevy. And casseroles that can feed a church. Yep! Thats right! My sister is a pack leader when it comes to preparing delicious, simple Southern meals. And she knows how to do it on a budget. Devon is a force in the kitchen and, just like me, shes dedicated to preserving those precious recipes of our childhood years.

Trust me, after youve tried them, youll want to pass them on too. I was born and raised in the red-dirt crested bluffs and bayous of north and central Louisiana. My family of wonderful cooks kept the food for our holidays, church dinners on the ground, and family reunions so special that it created a magnetic pull that kept us returning no matter where life called us. Southern food is soulful, sinful, and satisfying in a way that no other cuisine can match. Its not only the food, but also the lifestyle that goes with it, that creates an indelible mark that time and distance cannot erase. From Acadianas spicy kick to New Orleanss ethnic influence, to Memphis barbecue to coastal Alabama and Mississippi River catches, Southern food is a broad palate of culinary brushstrokes.

Its not a rich mans cuisine, nor is it prepared only by the highly educated food aficionado. Its accessible and real, comfortable and sustaining. This book is my tribute to the place I call home, the food we serve, and the people who have joined me around the table and shared their fellowship and recipes with me. It is my sincere hope that the custom of eating around a table with good fresh-cooked meals can return to homes everywhere and heal something that has been lost through our busy schedules, which often make us turn to convenience food eaten on the run. At the end of our days, we wont remember the calories we counted or the time we didnt spend with those we love. But we will remember the indulgence of an incredible meal, the slow-as-molasses front-porch conversations, and the smell of bacon cooked in a real kitchen, with grace being said.

The haunting perfume of wisteria, heavy hug of humidity, and tempting crunch of fried chicken will fix anything broken in life, if someone you love tells you to pull up a chair. Sweet Tea, Cornbread,
and Fried Chicken
Sunday Dinner and
Other Family Gatherings Sunday dinner is the special meal of every Southern week. It follows church. Thats the way its done. You dont miss church to prepare the meal. You cook ahead, and everyone pitches in to get the meal on the table.

Everyone helps clean up. Then you take a nap, a long nap. Every holiday in the South is centered around the familiar. You dont try new recipes. You make the favorites that show up every year, made by the same person and served in the same bowl. Special occasions in the South arent for branching out into new horizons.