An American Southern Tea

The American South has a culture all its own based on the melding of many traditions—Native American, English, African, Celtic and French, among others. Key features of Southern society include decorum, politeness and an awareness of proper attire for every occasion, the classic elements for Afternoon Tea. Perhaps these characteristics are vital in the South to counteract the unpredictable, uncontrollable and often brutal southern weather.

Our Southern American Tea features the unique cooking styles and produce of this vibrant and deeply historic region. Enjoy this tea party in the leisurely Southern fashion, and be sure to bring out your best linens, a lacy tablecloth if you have one, grandmother’s china and your favorite cake pedestal for the fabulous Coconut Cake. Feel free to add to or subtract from this menu depending on the time available to you and the season of the year. Obviously, summer is the time for Sweet Tea and Sherbet Punch. During the fall and winter holidays, you might want to serve the Traditional English Fruitcake, which you will need to make at least a month in advance and age in rum. Under no circumstances should you eliminate the Coconut Cake, which will be the star of your party. In the winter you can serve it with rum raisin ice cream or warm custard, and in the summer it will be delicious with lime sherbet or coconut sorbet.

This Is Mississippi

For Corliss Greene

There is something about a hot night
That isn’t ever going to cool off--
No gentle breeze by ten o’clock,
No fog rolling in.
This isn’t San Francisco;
This is Mississippi
Or someplace else a long time ago
Before engineers grabbed control
Of the air we breathe--
Before the big refrigerated Wallmarts
Killed the animal in us.

This is the kind of place
Where people walk over to the mini-market
On the corner at midnight for an Eskimo Pie,
Where a man can go through a gallon of sweet tea
Before the baseball game is done,
Where the dogs live in a hell all their own,
And the women put on those flimsy summer dresses
And don’t even think about underwear.
Then they say, (Even though it’s not polite),
“Screw it,”
“I’m not frying any chicken tonight.”

There’s something edgy about those steamy evenings
That makes you want to get out your old
Otis Redding records and sing along,
Makes you want to go out dancing
With a guy you know is no good
Just because he’s got an air conditioned Impala
With a cooler in the back seat
Full of root beer and grape soda pop.

People take risks on nights like this--
They get sick of their own sweat
And run away from home.
They write a letter to someone
Who broke their heart way back when,
And even stick a stamp on it.
And after they’ve kicked off the sheets
For the tenth time, just before the doves wake up,
Those mournful heralds of another hot dawn,
They start to wonder
If they could have been wrong about God.

Menu

Beverages:
Iced Southern Sweet Tea
Lemon Pineapple Punch with Citrus Sherbet
Hot English Breakfast Tea
Chicory Coffee
Café au Lait
Mint Juleps

Savories:
Ham Salad Sandwiches on American Buttermilk Biscuits
Barbequed Chicken Sandwiches on Sally Lunn Bread
Fried Green Tomatoes
Hoppin’ John Frittata Squares
Celery Stalks Stuffed with Peanut Butter

Breads and Scones:
Beignets with Sweet Pepper Jam
Cornbread Muffins with Sorghum Butter

Sweets:
Ellen’s Fabulous Coconut Cake
Pecan Tartlets
Sweet Potato Tartlets
Iced Chocolate Brownies
Old English Fruitcake with Hard Sauce

Recipes Included:

Lemon Pineapple Punch with Citrus Sherbet
This refreshing and festive punch will look beautiful in a punch bowl, and the citrus flavors will complement the foods on the menu. Your guests will love the sherbet floating on top. You can use any flavor of citrus sherbet or sorbet, but with recommend orange, with additional orange slices enhancing the beauty and taste of this old fashioned punch. Make the punch the day before your gathering and add the soda, sherbet and orange slices to the punchbowl just before your guests arrive.

Mint Juleps
Mint Juleps are a traditional Southern cocktail and are closely associated with the Kentucky Derby. Mint Julep purists drink theirs out of sliver cups, but we don’t necessarily expect our readers to own a set of silver julep cups. As with all alcoholic drinks served with Afternoon Tea, offer only one per guest.

American Buttermilk Biscuits
American Biscuits are very similar to scones, except that they do not contain any sugar. Biscuits can be served like scones with butter, jam, marmalade, lemon curd or even honey or molasses. However, they are just as frequently served with savory items such as ham, bacon or gravy. Our Southern American Afternoon Tea menu includes Ham Salad Sandwiches on Buttermilk Biscuits.

Ham Salad
Ham Salad Sandwiches are a staple in the American South where ham shows up on the menu at every special occasion. If you happen to have leftover ham in your refrigerator, you will need about two cups to whip up this easy sandwich filling in your food processor. Butcher shops also sell ham chunks. For our American Southern Tea, this delicious ham salad will be served on Buttermilk Biscuits to create a regional “sandwich” your guests will relish.

Sally Lunn Bread
Sally Lunn is a golden, buttery, slightly sweet yeast bread similar to brioche. It originated, apparently, in Bath, England, in the Eighteenth Century and has been popular in the American South for almost as long. The identity of Sally Lunn, after whom this gorgeous soft white bread is named, has been lost in the fog of history. This bread makes a charming presentation, as it is baked in an angel food cake pan and indeed looks like a cake. It is wonderful eaten warm with honey butter, but it can be sliced and used for sandwiches like any other white bread.

We picture slices of barbecued chicken breast on Sally Lunn with mayonnaise, salt and pepper and perhaps a few sprigs of watercress. Though Sally Lunn is a yeast bread that requires at least 2 hours for rising, it is easy to make in your electric mixer and does not require kneading. We have included the procedure for making honey butter in case you should decide to serve the Sally Lunn on a cake pedestal rather than using it for sandwiches

Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Green Tomatoes are a simple Southern staple. This frugal lunchtime favorite was probably first developed to use up all the green tomatoes leftover in Grandma’s backyard garden late in the summer. Chefs Patrick and Gina Neely have elevated this humble dish to ethereal heights with their slightly spicy version that calls for panko bread crumbs for breading the tomatoes and includes a delicious Buttermilk Dipping Sauce. You can find their recipe, including a video, on the food network. (foodnetwork.com) A simpler recipe from Southern Living magazine is also available on line using cornmeal to bread the tomatoes. Our recipe leans toward the Neelys’ version, but we think Fried Green Tomatoes are best made in a cast iron skillet rather than the deep fryer recommended by the Neelys. No matter which recipe you choose, do not use red ripe tomatoes, as they will get soft and mushy when you fry them. You can make the Buttermilk Dipping Sauce and refrigerate it a day before you fry the tomatoes. With apologies to the Neelys, we have simplified their dipping sauce so that no cooking is required.

Some of you may be more familiar with the 1991 book by Fannie Flagg entitled Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café or the movie based on the book, than you are with the food itself. The book is hilariously funny and provides some gently humorous insights into some of the less talked about aspects of Southern culture. If you have not already done so, you might want to read the book or watch the movie to help prepare your mind and heart to host an authentic Southern Afternoon Tea.

Hoppin’ John Frittata Squares
Hoppin’ John is a Southern specialty probably of African origin. Folk tradition says that eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day will bring good luck, prosperity and romance in the coming year. This tasty combination of black eyed peas, rice and bacon, ham or sausage leaves much to the imagination of the home cook. Bell pepper, onions, bay leaves, celery and a variety of spices are common additions. And yes, contemporary Southerners still eat their black eyed peas on New Year’s Day.

We have allowed our imaginations to run wild by combining the basic black eyed pea and rice casserole with eggs and cheese to create the Southern version of a frittata, that trusty brunch classic that can be served, warm, at room temperature or even chilled. You can prepare and assemble the ingredients for this Hoppin’ John Frittata up to a day before baking it and pop it in the oven at a convenient time, perhaps while your beignet dough is rising. Alternatively, you can bake the whole thing a day early and warm it up shortly before your tea party begins.

Cornbread Muffins
These Cornbread Muffins are made in the Southern tradition with no sugar added. However, spreading some Sorghum Butter to these savory treats will bring a touch of sweetness, like adding jam to a scone.

Ellen’s Fabulous Coconut Cake
This gorgeous white cake achieves its fabulousness from massive amounts of coconut power. Kathleen’s friend Ellen first shared this cake with us, and we have been baking it and serving it only to our favorite people ever since. This is the cake to serve on your best cake pedestal, as it is without a doubt the Queen of Afternoon Tea.

Pecan Tartlets
It would just be wrong to host a Southern Afternoon Tea without serving some version of Pecan Pie, as this sticky sweet delight so perfectly exemplifies the Southern gift for turning the most humble ingredients into creations of baroque splendor. We found this very simple recipe for Pecan Tartlets in a classic book for home bakers published in 1975: Grandma Rose’s Book of Sinfully Delicious Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Cheese Cakes, Cake Rolls and Pastries. This little gem has provided us with kitchen inspiration for decades. The Grandma Rose of the title is Rose Naftalin, one of the greatest self-taught home bakers of all time. Grandma Rose’s advice has guided us in our own baking efforts, and we are happy to share her wisdom with you: “I always use butter and heavy cream and the very best ingredients I can buy. It takes a lot of effort to bake, and it’s a pity to waste that effort on inferior-quality ingredients.” Amen, Grandma Rose!

Sweet Potato Tartlets
The South is famous for pie, and ever since pie was introduced to America by English settlers, inventive Southern cooks have created all sorts of pies making use of the fruits, vegetables and nuts that grow in the region. Sweet Potato Pie, which reflects the African influence on Southern cooking, has become a standard of the Southern baker’s repertoire. This recipe can also be baked as a single 9” pie, which would make a welcome addition to your Thanksgiving menu. Some home bakers like to add a little grated orange peel or lemon juice to Sweet Potato Pie, but we think these slightly spicy tartlets are perfect just as they are.

Iced Chocolate Brownies
Brownies will never go out of style. They are the best of both worlds—rich fudgy cake and chewy cookie all rolled into one. And these brownies are also topped with a thick chocolate icing that will make your heart beat faster! And just to remind ourselves that this is a Southern tea party, we have also added toasted pecans and extra chocolate chips. You can make these brownies the day before your party. The thick chocolate icing on top will keep them from drying out. Cut into small squares with a sharp knife just before serving.

Old English Fruitcake with Hard Sauce
For many decades, Fruitcake has been closely associated with Afternoon Tea. Fruitcake can be made months before it is served and stored in a cool place without refrigeration. In households where Tea Time is a daily occurrence, it is easy to slice a few pieces of fruitcake from the pantry and enjoy them with a nice pot of English Breakfast Tea for a very simple afternoon break. You might want to review “In Defense of Fruitcake” in our Christmas Tea menu. This section provides several recipes for a variety of fruitcakes, some with nuts, some with candied fruits and peel and some with dried fruits.

The Old English Fruitcake we offer for your Southern Afternoon Tea contains both nuts and candied fruits along with lots of spices. This is the classic, old-fashioned dark fruitcake with molasses and rum that you can make in advance and store with additional rum or brandy poured on top. Since this is a Southern recipe, we suggest using toasted pecans. You can use pre-packaged candied fruits, sometimes labeled “Glace Fruit Mix” or “Fruit Cake Mix.” If you prefer to make your own candied fruits, recipes for Candied Cherries, Candied Citrus Peel and Candied Ginger are included in the Christmas Tea menu.

An American Southern Tea

This Is Mississippi

For Corliss Greene

Recipes Included:

Quick Links

Contact

CALL +1408 455-2000

An American Southern Tea

This Is Mississippi

For Corliss Greene

Recipes Included:

Quick Links

Contact

CALL +1408 455-2000

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