VEGETABLES

COUNTRY STYLE GREEN BEANS & POTATOES

When you cook green beans country style, you start with fresh green beans from the garden. The ends from the beans are "snapped" and the strings are pulled from the seam side, and the beans are broken into bite size pieces. The beans are then washed and placed in a large pot of water with a ham hock or a piece of streak of lean cured pork. When the beans come to a boil, they are turned down to a low heat and left alone to cook until the beans are almost transparent in color. About an hour before the beans are done, peal potatoes and cut into large hunks and lay the potatoes on top of the green beans. Cover pot and let cook until the potatoes are done. Salt and pepper are added to taste.

FRIED CABBAGE

May, 1983 By: Miss Addie Wood

Put some bacon grease in a frying pan. (If you have a cast iron one, use it.) Chop up cabbage like slaw and cook it in the frying pan with salt, sugar and pepper to your taste. Fry until it's done as you like it. Stir it often because it tends to get a "little too brown" if you don't. This last line was my own advice, not Miss Addie's, but it does tend to cook more even if you stir it more often.

COUNTRY KRAUT

November, 1983 By: Susan Thigpen

Good country kraut is made in an earthenware crock. (The size of your crock will determine the amount you make.)

Cut up fresh cabbage in size and shape you like best for kraut. If it is shredded smaller, it will ferment faster. When you have it chopped, add salt to your taste and squeeze it in your hands to thoroughly bruise it. Keep doing this until you have the cabbage packed down tight and it has released enough water to cover it. Then place a flat plate on top of it and sit a milk jug full of water (or any heavy object) on top of the plate. This is to keep the cabbage under the juice. It will turn brown if it isn't under the juice. Cover and sit in a fairly warm place until it is fermented as sour as you like it. Then fill clean canning jars, put on lids and can in a canner for about 20 minutes. If you like it hot, you can add layers of hot peppers in the cabbage as it is being made.

CORN PUDDING (02-85)

2 Cups corn, canned or fresh cut
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 pint scalded milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
chopped green pepper optional

Beat eggs, add milk, fat, corn, green pepper and seasonings. Pour into greased baking dish. Set dish in pan of hot water. Bake until firm. About 1 hour, in 350 degree over.

POKE SALLET

08-83 By Ivalien Belcher, Meadows of Dan, Virginia

How many people know the uses of the "Poke Sallet Plant"? When I was a child I made a beautiful colored ink from the berries. The leaves are delicious and the stalks make a tasty dish when fried. My dad always fixed the greens like his grandmother and passed the recipe to me.

Editor's Note... The poke sallet is picked as the new shoots are coming up and are tender. Be careful to only use the leaves and stalks as the roots and berries are poisonous to man and beast.

POKE SALLET GREENS

Pick tender leaves, parboil with a pinch of soda added to the water. Fry in grease. When ready to serve, scramble an egg in with the greens. Sometimes I fry onions with it. Mmmm delicious!

FRIED POLK STALKS

Pick tender stalks and peel the thin red membrane off. Soak in ice water three hours or overnight. Slice, roll in flour, salt and pepper to taste. Deep fry until golden brown.

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