Gluten Free Eastern Shore Style Sweet Potato Biscuits

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Sweet Potato or Yam?

The confusion between yams and sweet potatoes dates from European contact, when Columbus encountered sweet potatoes for the first time and conceived them to be a variety of yam—the edible West African tubers of the Dioscorea family had been well known to Europeans since the Portuguese voyages along the continent’s west coast in the 1460s and ‘70s. He brought examples to Europe from the second voyage. Yet African yams never established a substantial presence on the North American mainland; but sweet potatoes did. When enslaved Africans encountered sweet potatoes in the West Indies, they processed them as they did the yams that they brought with them over the Atlantic. They did not eat them raw, as livestock did. They shredded, pounded, leached, boiled, roasted or fried them—the cooking processes designed to counteract the toxicity of the raw African yam. Though baking was not a West African culinary technique, contact with Europeans and their bread fixations taught West Indian slaves to bake the sweet potatoes into breads, pones, and pies.

Beth Messick, Contributor

1 heaping c. mashed sweet potatoes
(about 3 or four medium sized potatoes)

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. shortening (or butter, if you prefer)

3 c. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour

3 tsp. baking powder

Boil potatoes in skins, peel and mash. Add sugar, salt, and shortening to warm potatoes.

Sift flour and baking powder together. Add to potato mixture.

Add water to make consistency of biscuit dough.

Knead a few times to make smooth. Form into biscuits.
Place on a well greased baking pan.

Bake at 450 degrees about 12-15 minutes until light brown.

Makes about 16 biscuits

Mom Ollies Black-eyed Pea Soup (naturally Gluten Free)

This can possibly be the only bean to be called a “pea”. Its origins can be traced back to West Africa. It was the primary food consumed by slaves during their voyages to the West Indies, and remained a basic staple in their diet. Because of the slave trade, the beans eventually made its way America; but they were not widely accepted as a food source until after the American Revolution.

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for prosperity is not only an African American tradition; it is also practiced by the Sephardi and Israeli Jews at Rosh Hoshana.

* My Grandmother, Marie, like most from the "old school", preferred to soak the peas overnight. But for those who do not have the time or patience, simply cook the peas for 3 minutes in a pot of boiling water, remove and let sit for 45 minutes to an hour. There’s not much difference, but personally, I think the peas have a better consistency when allowed to soak naturally overnight. 
2 lbs black-eyed peas, soaked overnight
1 pound bacon (pork or turkey), chopped
6 smoked ham hocks or 10 turkey necks
2 large yellow onions, chopped
Kosher or Regular salt (sea salt can be added)


After the soaking overnight or quick time boiling, drain and rinse black-eyed peas.

Place black-eyed peas, bacon, ham hocks, chopped onion in a medium pot and add enough water to cover the black-eyed peas by 1 inch.

Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce heat to low and let black-eyed peas simmer, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Periodically check the peas with a fork for tenderness then remove from heat.

Transfer ham hocks or turkey necks to a bowl. Let cool, remove meat from the hocks and add it into black eyed peas.

Season with salt to taste and serve



                  

Gluten Free Jalapeno Hush Puppies

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  Civil War Camp Scene. Cooks at Work circa 1860-1865

      Matthew Brady Nat'l Photographic Art Gallery, Washington, DC

 

John Mariani wrote, “Hush Puppies are a popular "down South" twist on an ancient culinary theme. Thousands of years ago Romans and Greeks made fritters. The fritters consisted of deep fried flour mixed with milk, eggs, spices, and honey. These ancient cooks also sometimes coated their fish and other meats with similar concoctions before frying. Presumably, the practice of cooking leftover coating was one of sensibility and frugality. "Hush Puppy”, a dumpling of cornmeal that is deep-fried, especially popular in the South. The term appears in print for the first time about 1915.

 

Although unconfirmed, the common assumption regarding the hushpuppy's origin is that it dates from the period of scarcity following the Civil War, when cooks would toss scraps of corn batter to hungry dogs with the words "Hush Puppies!" But the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins cites a Southern reader's account that in the South the aquatic reptile called the salamander was often known as a "water dog" or "water puppy"...These were deep-fried with cornmeal dough and formed into sticks, and, so the account goes, they were called "hush puppies" because eating such lowly food was not something a southern wife would want known to her neighbors." 

 

6 cups Bob's Red Mill All-purpose Gluten Free Flour

3 cups Bob's Red Mill Cornmeal

1 cup white sugar

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup Rumford baking powder

5 large eggs

3 green bell peppers (minced)

3 medium white onions (minced)

1 (14 ounce) can cream-style corn

1 (14 ounce) can whole kernel corn

1 cup chopped Jalapeno peppers

2 quartsvegetable oil for frying

salt and ground black pepper to taste

Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, cheese, baking powder, salt, black pepper, eggs, bell peppers, onions, cream-style corn, whole kernel corn, and Jalapeno peppers in a large bowl.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F.
 

Drop 6 to 8 tablespoon-sized balls of batter into the hot oil; fry until each hush puppy is golden brown, about 5 minutes.

 

Remove hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

 

Repeat with remaining batter.

 

Serve with tartar sauce
 

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