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12 Southern Recipes That Show Off The Best Of Lowcountry Cooking
Along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia lies a stretch of coastal plains, marshlands, swamps, and Sea Islands known as the Lowcountry. Here, French and West African culinary traditions came together to build a cuisine based on rice and the area's abundant seafood. Frogmore stew, for example, is a culinary creation credited to African Americans of West African heritage known as the Gullah. If you use words like "goober" (for peanut) and "gumbo," you're speaking a bit of Gullah. Let's look at the best of Lowcountry cooking.
Dave's Low Country BoilDotdash Meredith Food Studios
With sausage, shrimp, crab, potatoes and corn, it's an all-in-one pot all-you-can-eat buffet. "Low country boil is famous in Georgia and South Carolina," says Allrecipes member Lisa. "Grab a paper plate and a beer and enjoy!"
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Related: 11 Seafood Boils for Easy Summer Dinners
Aunt Margie's Sweet Potato PoneChristina Kennedy
This Southern stand-out recipe features shredded sweet potatoes baked in a buttery orange sauce. "This is what our Southern family has had on the Thanksgiving table for at least three generations," says reviewer Christina Kennedy. "Great Aunt Margie (pronounced MAH-gee) was born in 1902."
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Okra RiceDee
This fried rice with okra, bacon, and onion is a terrific Lowcountry-inspired side, but it's filling enough to be a satisfying main dish. Reviewer CharlieSandra rates it 5 stars: "Went right by the recipe and it turned out great. Being from the Low Country of SC, I think I will add some fresh shrimp next time. With or without shrimp, it's a meal all by itself. Ya'll enjoy."
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Charleston Shrimp 'n' Gravy"This shrimp 'n' gravy, an original Charleston favorite, is usually served as 'shrimp n grits,'" says Allrecipes member ALRAYNA. "Serve over fresh hot grits, rice, or biscuits."
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Related: 15 Top Seafood Recipes from the American Southeast
Okra and Tomatoeshappytocook
Here's a simple, comforting side with a Lowcountry sensibility. The okra is sautéed in bacon grease with onion, green pepper, celery, and stewed tomatoes. "This is one of my favorite recipes," says reviewer nammacooks. "I make this dish often in the summer when we have okra from the garden and I use frozen okra in the winter."
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Lowcountry Shrimp and Cheese GritsLowcountry Shrimp and Cheese Grits
Shelled shrimp are sautéed with diced tomato in olive oil and butter before serving over garlic cheese grits. "This is the best and easiest shrimp and grits recipe!" says reviewer Carol. "I have also added andouille sausage sometimes for a different flavor excellent."
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Related: 10 Of Our Creamiest Cheese Grits Recipes
Southern Tomato Piedotdash meredith food studios
"Absolutely delicious using home grown summer 'maters! I made only one teeny tiny change," says reviewer Nonna T. "Instead of plain cream cheese, I used half plain and half chive and onion. It was a perfect addition."
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Related: My Southern Grandma's 2-Step Tomato Pie Is Always on My Summer Table
Husband's Grandmother's Shrimp GumboAllrecipes Magazine
"My husband's grandmother taught me this recipe," says Allrecipes member ranch_maven. "She actually cooked for Cajun festivals. She used 40-gallon trash cans for her stock pots. People would line up for this authentic Cajun specialty. This recipe serves eight but multiplies well. Serve gumbo over cooked white rice."
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Related: 23 Favorite Regional Recipes from Every Corner of the USA
Red Rice and SausageKim Hyndman
This savory dish goes from stovetop to oven. "Red rice and sausage is a Charleston favorite," says Allrecipes member AUTUMNJON. "I like to use turkey sausage, another good alternative is Italian sausage."
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Related: 7 Crowd-Pleasing Lowcountry Rice Recipes
Boiled PeanutsTender, salty boiled peanuts are a Southern treasure. And all you need to make them at home are raw peanuts in their shells, salt, and water. Claudette raves about them! "If you have never tried boiled peanuts, stop whatever you're doing right this minute, go out buy peanuts and get started (smile)," she says. "You will not be let down. To Die For!"
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Hearty Hoppin' John StewHoppin' John, it's not just for New Year's Day! This simple skillet meal features pork sausage, rice, and Cajun-seasoned black-eyed peas. "I've made Hoppin John for years with many recipes and different ways (crock pot etc.) and this is my favourite," says reviewer Michelle Renee. "It was so easy (no soaking the peas overnight) and fast and just delicious."
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Related: 8 Soups and Stews That Are Full of Lowcountry Flavor
Old Charleston Style Shrimp and GritsDotdash Meredith Food Studios
This traditional Lowcountry dish features tender shrimp simmered with flavorful andouille sausage, bacon, and colorful bell peppers. Enjoy your saucy shrimp served over creamy, cheesy grits.
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More InspirationDotdash Meredith Food Studios
Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
Gumbo As History
Many Americans think of the influx of new immigrants to the country — bringing with them new flavors, ingredients and cooking techniques — as a metaphoric "melting pot." In New Orleans, they call it a "gumbo." The quintessential New Orleans bowl of gumbo is a history lesson on the mixed cultures of southern Louisiana.
Bay leafSuffering from the lack of proper medical care, the predominantly male New Orleans settlers summoned the Ursuline Sisters (a Catholic order of nuns) from Canada for help in 1727. The Sisters came and planted herb gardens and taught its benefits — among them bay leaves to keep stews from souring and to keep weevils out of the flour.
TomatoesA New World delight, the tomato became a staple in many European cuisines. Thomas Jefferson enjoyed tomatoes in France and Americans added them to their regular diet in the first half of the 19th century.
TabascoA New Orleans banker named Edmund McIlhenny tried his hand at a new business following the Civil War. Planting Central American pepper seeds on Avery Island, Louisiana, McIlhenny developed a spicy sauce he called "Tabasco."
Andouille sausageAndouille sausage consists of coarse ground pork and spices. French colonists expelled by the British from eastern Canada — Acadia — brought a particularly spicy version with them when then settled in Louisiana. The Acadians have become known as "Cajuns."
ShrimpShrimp and other seafood harvested from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico are staples in Louisiana cuisine. Perhaps the most famous is the crawfish (called "crayfish" elsewhere), a small, freshwater relation to the lobster.
German French BreadWarm French bread — baked by Germans — is often eaten with a steaming bowl of gumbo. In the early 1700s, hundreds of Germans and Swiss farmers were lured to New Orleans in hopes of finding an agricultural paradise. Upon arrival, seeing the French settlers pining for the crusty hot bread and the pastries from back home, the entrepreneurial Germans learned to bake in the French style. Even today the most lauded French bakeries in New Orleans have Swiss and German names.
RiceRice had been cultivated in Asia and Africa for millennia before being introduced to the Americas. Rice agriculture in the southeastern United States became economically unfeasible with the abolition of slavery, but not before establishing a strain known as "Carolina Gold." Gumbo was traditionally served on Carolina Gold rice.
RouxFrench peasants used roux, a butter-flour mixture, to thicken sauces, stews, and soups. La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, a French Canadian who had lived in France before exploring Louisiana with his brother.
Indian FilePowdered sassafras, known as "file," thickens and flavors broth. Native Americans introduced file to the French settlers whose farming techniques and crops were not suited for swampy New Orleans. Had it not been for the native Choctaw Indians who offered their bread, beans, and seasonings to the settlers, the Frenchmen would have starved.
OkraWest African slaves brought okra from their native lands to the southern United States. The vegetable, which they called kimgombo, also gave gumbo its name.
PeppersIn the 1840s, hundreds of Louisianans went off to fight in the Mexican War. They returned with Mexican pepper seeds and a passion for heat. Adding green peppers to sauces and to meats kept foods from spoiling in the era before refrigeration. Eating pickled and raw peppers is still a popular Louisiana bar-room contest.
Catfish Gumbo With Okra Fries
Add the butter and 25ml/1fl oz of the oil into the same pan, when melted, toss in the flour and mix well. Cook over a medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring constantly until dark brown and nutty. Reduce the heat and gradually add the stock, stirring constantly. Add the chopped tomatoes, the cooked vegetables and the okra. Stir to combine and then turn off the heat.
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