The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided into 4

To rinse, pour the grits into a large bowl and cover with cold water. Skim off the bits of floating chaff, stir, and skim again. Drain in a sieve. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large pan. Add salt and gradually stir in the grits. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until the grits are thick and creamy, about 40 minutes. Pour into four bowls and stir in butter.

Euphoria’s Southern Fried Doughnuts

Since Euphoria bakes a great many meringue pies, the diner’s kitchen is equipped with an electric beater, which also makes short work of mixing up a batch of doughnuts. (In their 1929 catalog, Sears and Roebuck sold a stand model, manufactured by Arctic, for nine dollars and ninety-five cents.) This recipe makes about a dozen doughnuts, a sweet alternative to biscuits for a Southern breakfast. Other traditional recipes include sweet potato doughnuts, mashed potato doughnuts, and calas, New Orleans doughnuts (rather like fritters) made from cooked rice, eggs, flour, and sugar.

2 tablespoons lukewarm water





1 teaspoon sugar


1 (1?4-ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1?4 teaspoons)

3 1?4 cups flour





1 cup milk


1?2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

2 large eggs





2 tablespoons sugar


1 1?2 teaspoons salt

1?2 teaspoon cinnamon

5 to 6 cups vegetable oil (for frying)

To proof yeast (that is, to make sure that it’s fresh and active), place warm water in shallow bowl. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast across the solution and stir until dissolved. Let stand for 5 to 7 minutes. Fresh yeast will bubble. If it doesn’t, toss it out and try again with fresh yeast.

Combine flour, milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in large mixer bowl and add yeast mixture. Mix at low speed until a soft dough forms, then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes. Scrape dough from sides of bowl and brush lightly with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 11?2 to 2 hours, or let rise in refrigerator overnight (8 to 12 hours).

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll about 1?2-inch thick. Using a doughnut cutter, cut out rounds. (Reroll doughnut centers and recut to make 1 or 2 additional doughnuts.) Cover with a damp towel and let rise until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes (45 minutes if dough was refrigerated). Heat oil to 350oF in a heavy 4-quart pot. Fry 2 doughnuts at a time, turning once or twice with a slotted spoon, until golden brown and puffy (about 2 minutes). Drain. Reheat oil to 350oF before frying the next batch. Cool and glaze.

GLAZE

1?4 cup milk





1 teaspoon vanilla


2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Heat milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan until warm. Sift confectioners’ sugar into milk and whisk until well mixed. Remove from heat and place over a bowl of warm water. Dip cooled doughnuts individually into the glaze. Drain on a rack over a cookie sheet.

Aunt Hetty Little’s Stewed Okra with Corn and Tomatoes

Okra (Hibiscus esculentus, a member of the same family as the Confederate rose) grows well in the heat and humidity of the South and is a staple of Southern gardens—and Southern cooking. The plant seems to have originated in Ethiopia, then distributed to the eastern Mediterranean, Arabia, and India. A Spanish Moor visiting Egypt in 1216 wrote one of the earliest accounts of okra’s use as a vegetable, reporting that the young seedpods were cooked with meal to reduce their gummy texture. In the American South, cooks follow something of the same practice, dipping the sliced pods in cornmeal and frying them.

During the Civil War, okra seeds were dried, parched, and brewed as a coffee substitute. This recipe is from the Southern Banner, Athens, Georgia, February 11, 1863: “Parch over a good fire and stir well until it is dark brown; then take off the fire and before the seed gets cool put the white of one egg to two tea-cups full of okra [seed], and mix well. Put the same quantity of seed in the coffeepot as you would coffee, boil well and settle as coffee.”

3 to 4 strips bacon, diced

1?2 cup diced onion

3 to 4 cloves garlic, diced

8 to 10 pods fresh young okra, sliced





1 cup corn kernels


1?2 cup diced green peppers

1 cup diced tomatoes





1 cup tomato sauce


1?2 cup water

1?4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1?2 teaspoon dry thyme

1?2 teaspoon salt





1 teaspoon black pepper


Sauté diced bacon, add onion and garlic, and sauté until onions are transparent. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 35 to 40 minutes or until okra is tender.