Cooking In, Dinner, Quick PostKerry Alaric CheeseboroMay 26, 2011balsamic, breaded, brown, brown sugar, cake, Cheddar, cheese, coated, Cooking In, corn, cornmeal, cream, crusted, dad, father, fried, gizzard, gizzards, grits, Harvey's, heavy, idea, kernels, mom, mother, recipe, recipes, restaurant, scallions, sugar, sweet, Verlene, vinegar, whiteComment

Mom's Restaurant

Country-Fried Gizzards over Sweet Corn Grit Cake with Balsamic Molasses

PEOPLE, FRIENDS, FANS, ALWAYS ASK me if I have ever thought of opening my own restaurant. Of course I have, finances—or lack thereof—obviously being my only deterrent. In "make-believe land" though, I would open two, one called Verlene, named for my mom, and another called Harvey's, named after my dad.

They were both from the south—North an South Carolina respectively—and separated when I was very young. I spent most of my youth eating in two different kitchens; my dad, a chef by vocation, cranked out some genuine and tasty "country" southern cuisine, while my more urbane-minded mother introduced my two a whole hosts of foods traditional and from several different cultures.

So, in keeping with my mother's food culture instruction, I've devised a menu of recipe ideas that involve using common and typical Southern cooking ingredients and using them in more modern and/or international applications. Carolina tacos of pulled pork or braised ox tail with smoked peanut aioli and watermelon salsa. Par-boiled chitterlings (chitlins') cut into strips, breaded and fried like calamari and served with a green tomato marinara. BBQ-seared scallops and lima bean soup. Country "sushi" of shrimp, pickle, and sweet potato, in a roll of cider vinegared rice and wrapped in collard greens instead of seaweed. Curry-freid chicken with ginger-honey drizzle and banana fries.

And this dish—the first of of this hypothetical menu that I've made!—country-fried gizzards and sweet corn grit cake with balsamic molasses. This was a surprising success in flavors and textures; the brightened, slightly fruity pearls of molasses balanced out the slight minerality of the gizzards, parboiled to a pliable firmness and coated in crunchy cormeal breading, while still toothsome kernels of sweet corn popped among some creamy grits, accentuated by just a hint of white cheddar cheese.

I can't wait to see what of this menu I make next...! =)