Last month I was invited by the Viking Range company to give a series of classes at their cooking school in Greenwood, Mississippi. The company’s headquarters is there and, besides the school, there are factories, show rooms, a classroom for salespeople and a very, very nice hotel called the Alluvian. All of these are in big pretty old buildings that the company has renovated right downtown.

The weekend included cocktail parties and dinner parties as well as the classes and of course I was a guest of the Alluvian. Many of my students came for the whole weekend. I decided a while back, that when I teach classes that I would try to demonstrate things that people might actually do in their homes. For lunch, I chose some Latino influenced things that I have learned from my cooks. We started with mango salad. This is a variation on something you might buy from a vendor at a street fair or a fiesta. In Mexico, the mangoes are peeled, stuck onto popsicle sticks then rolled in lime juice and cayenne pepper. At Crook’s, we cut the mangoes into chunks, then dress them with those things plus chopped fresh mint. It’s a lot less messy.  This was followed by chicken tamales. I learned this recipe from the wife of one of my cooks who comes from Oaxaca. They are wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn shucks. The chicken stays on the bone, so it makes a sort of gravy for itself. We finished with fresh pineapple and buttermilk sherbet.

Supper was a little more elaborate.  First we made a quick but tasty chicken liver mousse. This is a good way to begin a class because it is fast and easy. It gives people something to nibble on right away. It can be ready to eat in twenty minutes with a little advanced preparation. Next came duck legs that had been prepared as a confit. This is a French technique of salt curing and slow cooking that comes from Gascogne. Its sauce was a cider vinegar reduction with fresh grapefruit. We finished with frozen mint juleps- sort of dessert and an after dinner drink all in one.

It was a nice weekend. That part of Mississippi is pretty and rural. We also had time to visit Jackson to sign books at Lemuria Books, have a pig’s ear sandwich at Big Apple Inn and Red Fish Anna at Walker’s Drive-In.  My next excursion will be in June when my staff and I will cook dinner at the James Beard Foundation. Then in November, I’ll be off to South Carolina for Tyler Florence’s Low Country Food.

Mint Sorbet

Makes a quart and a half

2 cups sugar

4 cups water

4 cups fresh mint leaves

Zest of 2 lemons

2 cups lemon juice

Mix the sugar and water and bring to a boil in a non-reactive pan.  Boil for 5 minutes; it should begin to look a little viscous. Remove from heat; submerge the mint leaves and zest and cover.  Steep for at least fifteen minutes- longer is ok.  Add the lemon juice. Strain the infusion and churn the liquid in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions. For frozen mint juleps, put two scoops in an old fashioned glass and douse with bourbon. Garnish with fresh mint.

Bill Smith, the author of Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook’s Corner and from Home, has served as chef at Crook’s Corner for more than a decade. His essays have been featured in newspapers and on radio and television, and his recipes have been selected for 150 Best American Recipes and Food & Wine Magazine’s Best of the Best.

For the last few years the Carrboro Farmers’ Market has been open year round. It’s much smaller of course, but still worth visiting. This winter for a change we have had a real drawn-out cold spell.  This will have set back some of the things that ordinarily do well here at this time of year. One crop that won’t be bothered is collards. My great grandmother always said that you shouldn’t even eat them until after the first frost. If she got any before this, she would put them in the freezer for a while before they were cooked.

Meats and cheeses are not affected by the season and we now have lots of both there. In fact, I always wait until after the holidays to bring back corned hams, a favorite recipe from Eastern North Carolina. Every Wednesday between now and Easter, I have Eliza MacLean bring one fresh ham from her Cane Creek Farm. I salt it the way Gwen at the Pak’a’Sak in New Bern showed me years ago and put it in the back of the fridge to cure for eleven days. I used to cook it plain, but a few years ago, I was doing a fundraiser with the Kitchen Sisters for our local NPR affiliate. In their book Hidden Kitchens, they make reference to a Maryland-style corned ham that is stuffed with winter greens. I had never seen a reference to corned hams anywhere so I decided to try this version. I had always viewed my recipe as beyond improvement, but this new version is unbelievably good. It has now become part of our repertoire at Crook’s Corner.

Eastern North Carolina Corned Ham
(The plain version and the fancy version)
Serves a crowd

15-20 pound fresh ham
Kosher salt

2 green cabbages, finely chopped
4 pounds fresh kale, finely chopped
6 bunches scallions, finely chopped
1 bunch of celery, finely chopped
And if you are stuffing it:
2 pounds other greens (collards, turnip or spinach etc.), finely chopped
2 Tablespoons celery seed
3 Tablespoons whole mustard seed
3 Tablespoons ground red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon salt

Rinse and dry the ham. Use a sharp boning knife to make a three or four inch incision at each place that the bone protrudes from the meat. This is usually in three places: one at each end and one place on the side. Pack as much salt as possible into each of these incisions, and then cover the outside of the ham with a thin layer of salt. Place in a non-reactive pan and cover. Keep in the refrigerator for 11 days. Turn the ham and resalt the outside if you think about it. One the night of the 11th day wash the ham and flush the salt out of the pockets that you cut. Soak overnight in cool water.

The ham is ready to cook at this point, and in fact this is the ham that I grew up eating. Just cook covered at 325 degrees for 20 minutes a pound.  Put a little water in the roasting pan. Uncover for the last hour of cooking so the ham will brown. Ham should be beginning to fall off of the bone. Let rest a little before serving.

To stuff the ham:
This next part comes from Phyllis Richman (formerly of the Washington Post) by way of The Kitchen Sisters:
Wilt all the vegetables in a little water or oil, then stir in the seasonings. Allow to cool enough to be handled. With the boning knife, cut 2 to 3 inch slits all over the ham, wherever there is room. Stuff as much of the vegetable mixture into these slashes as possible. Pack any leftover stuffing on top of the ham, then cook the same as explained above.

Bill Smith, the author of Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook’s Corner and from Home, has served as chef at Crook’s Corner for more than a decade. His essays have been featured in newspapers and on radio and television, and his recipes have been selected for 150 Best American Recipes and Food & Wine Magazine’s Best of the Best.

It’s been a long time since I have had to cook the whole meal at Thanksgiving. The fact that I am not afraid to make gravy generally proves to be contribution enough.  At my mother’s house, we provide the main courses and our guests provide most of the sides and desserts. If I were advising someone about hosting a Thanksgiving dinner party this would be my first suggestion. Ordinarily, I like to be in charge of the whole menu, but a cover dish is more in the spirit of this holiday. Ask people to bring a favorite dish and don’t worry about whether things go together or not.

Make a time line of the things that you intend to do, especially if you don’t cook for crowds as a rule. There are a lot of things that are fine to do in advance.  Baking may be done a day ahead. Plan your cooking schedule since most home stoves aren’t big enough to cook everything at once. Certainly do shopping early. You avoid crowds and there is less risk that stores will be out of things that you were counting on. Plates, silverware and serving pieces can be rounded up ahead of time. Make sure you have enough chairs.  Try to get a fresh turkey, but if you do get a frozen one you will want several days to thaw it slowly in your refrigerator.  It is unsafe to roast such a large bird if it is icy at its center.

The less done to a turkey, the better in my opinion–salt, pepper, butter. That’s all. In France, they put thin slices of truffle under the skin, and while I am sure that this is delicious, truffles are hard to find here and you have then obliged people to talk about them all night. In the foodie culture that we now inhabit, you need to beware of what you might stir up. Season the cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff in a whole head of garlic and a whole onion. Truss the bird with kitchen twine to help it keep its shape. Pull the legs up over the breast as much as possible to slow its cooking. It will be less dry. It should be roasted up on a rack so that the heat can get underneath. Generally, since they take so long to cook, turkeys are covered to start with. There are several theories on the best way to do this. An old fashioned covered roasting pan is probably the most common. Some people use a baking bag. I have one friend who soaks cheese cloth in melted butter and drapes this over the top of the bird. The oven starts out at a lower temperature, 325 degrees, so that the outside isn’t overcooked before the inside is done.  Uncover the turkey for the last hour of cooking so that it will brown nicely. Save all of the juices that collect in the roasting pan. That’s the beginning of your gravy.

It’s important to not let this project drive you crazy. Remember that most people don’t cook like this anymore with any regularity. Holiday parties are the exception. People will view your invitation as a treat. And if they have any breeding at all, they will find, as my great grandmother often instructed us, that what you offer is delicious. And of course, it will be.

Bill Smith, the author of Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook’s Corner and from Home, has served as chef at Crook’s Corner for more than a decade. His essays have been featured in newspapers and on radio and television, and his recipes have been selected for 150 Best American Recipes and Food & Wine Magazine’s Best of the Best.