Tomato Aspic

Tomato Aspic is an old traditional Southern side dish. There are as many variations as there are cooks, each claiming the best and often secret recipe. Many recipes add chopped vegetables, celery, cabbage, peppers, etc….Some Southern cooks use lemon jello instead of plain gelatin. This recipe is a well seasoned basic tomato aspic.

Tomato Aspic

2 cups tomato juice
8 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 onion, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons gelatin
1/2 cup water

Dissolve gelatin in 1/2 cup water. Cook together everything except lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Adjust seasoning, add lemon juice, Worcestershire and dissolved gelatin. Pour into desired molds and chill. Serve on a bed of lettuce

Tomato Juice Cocktail

If you have plenty of tomatoes this year, try this wonderfully refreshing and easy tomato juice cocktail. Full of vitamins and flavor… Its like a supercharged tomato juice. This takes a little time to cook and sieve the tomatoes, but it is easy.
Tomato Juice Cocktail

2 quarts tomato juice and pulp made from fresh tomatoes
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 Tablespoon Salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
hot sterile pint or quart jars

Wash and cut up (but do not peel) the desired amount of tomatoes. Boil until tomatoes are soft enough to go through a sieve easily. Put through sieve, then measure. For every 2 quarts of juice and pulp, add the above seasonings (except Worcestershire). Bring to a boil and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce – 2 teaspoons for every 2 quarts juice. Pour into hot sterile jars and seal. Process immediately for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

North Carolina Style Barbecue — Pulled Pork

Almost everyone in the South will agree that pork means barbecue! But travel a few miles and the barbecue changes. The sweet tomato style of sauce popular in the Smoky Mountain regions gets diluted with vinegar for this North Carolina style barbecue. True barbecue gurus would disagree with me about the cooking method, but to me easy means use the oven and timer. No fire to tend, but that rich flavor is still there!

4 to 5 pound Boston Butt pork roast
1 large onion, chopped
1 ½ cups water
1 cup vinegar
½ cup catsup
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons dry mustard
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place roast in a roasting pan.
3. Combine remaining ingredients, stir well, and pour over roast.
4. Cover and bake until meat is very tender – approximately 5 to 6 hours.
5. Remove from oven and let cool.
6. Remove roast from sauce and chop meat or “pull” apart with 2 forks, removing excess fat as you go.
7. Skim excess fat from sauce. Return the meat to the sauce, stir well, and bake at 325 for another 15 minutes or until heated through.
8. Serve as is – yum- or on buns with coleslaw.

Chicken Brunswick Stew

Chicken Brunswick Stew

1 chicken, cut up
1 quart corn
1 quart tomatoes
1 pint okra
1 pint butter beans or limas
2 onions
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the chicken until very tender and falling from bones.
2. Pull the meat from the bones and cut into cubes.  Return to the water in which it was cooked.
3. Add vegetables and cook down until a thick mixture.  Cook slowly, stirring often to prevent scorching.
4. Bread crumbs may be added if needed to thicken.
5. I like to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, but it is not part of this original recipe.

This is a quick and easy version of Brunswick Stew. For a more traditional recipe see Brunswick Stew Recipe – Liquid Barbecue