Southern Supper

Menu

Smoked Pork Butt

Caramelized Baked Beans

Loaf Bread

Potato Chips

Country Fried Apple Biscuits

Yesterday, we were invited for a fish fry over at Brett's aunt and uncles home. He just so happens to have a unique apple tree on the property. I was told that this tree is spliced together from two different trees, similar to how they do a rosebush. The apples have produced so fervently this year so many have fallen to the ground. We saw the opportunity to spoil the horses with the bite size apples and I found a way to spoil us after an amazing pork roast, a gift in exchange for a few gallons of our fresh picked wild found blackberries. This roast just so happened to be a gift from Mr. Burke {previously mentioned Gardner Extraordinaire}. He spent hours slow roasted the perfectly seasoned roast over a fire pit in the back yard. I am determined to learn to prepare this so hopefully I will have that information, photo's included, up on the blog before the end of the summer {fingers crossed}!

After this perfectly balanced meal of pork, beans, and bread I had a 'hankering' for something sweet and southern. I am so thrilled with my new found ability to bake biscuits I turned to my Edna Lewis cookbook {The Taste of Country Cooking} and discovered her recipe for 'Country Cooked Apples' was paired with her biscuit recipe in the section of the book marked 'Morning After Hog Butchering Breakfast'.

Everyone should be aware that the mention of 'fried apple pies' sparks stars in the eyes of southern men. It seems so many southern families had that one lady who makes one mean fried apple pie, from scratch of course. I was blessed to be able to learn to make these beauties from Aiden's Great Grandmother DeFoor who at 83 was still picking apples from her own backyard, slicing them, drying them in the barn, and then preparing her treats for a hungry family to be eaten at Thanksgiving dinner. A task that from start to finish took months, simply adding to the anticipation and appreciation for them.

Recipes

Start with fresh made biscuits. This recipe is not particularly sweet, which I prefer because I love adding a sweet whipped cream to it. Follow recipe for Country Fried Apples {via The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis}. The following photos are of the apples in three stages: started, cooking, and finished. If you care for a sweeter apple pie flavored concoction, I would add more sugar {up to double the sugar} to the apples than the recipe calls for. After they caramelize {turn from their bright white color to a brownish color} simply place a spoonful of the apples on top of the biscuits and drizzled the dessert with caramel sauce right before I served it. Voila! In less than 30 minutes you will have a simplified southern treat.

Country-Fried Apples, via The Taste of Country Cooking

6 apples
3 Tablespoons fresh bacon fat {or butter/lard}
1/3 C sugar

Basically, cut up the apples and fry them in the fat until they soften up and start breaking up. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and cook until the liquid is mostly gone from the pan.