South Carolina Gold

It’s no secret that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the union. The shots heard round the world were first fired by a group of Citadel cadets. They open fired on a Union ship as it entered the harbor brining supplies to Fort Sumter. And so the secession began.

William Tecumseh Sherman is most famous for his merciless march through Georgia in the later part of 1864. The burning of the south was looked upon as a necessary evil to win a just war. Yet an even more devastating march took place the following year, as the war reached its forgone conclusion. The South was seen as defeated when Sherman led his men through South Carolina. The Carolina Campaign saw some of final battles of the American Civil War.

Long before the Civil War, South Carolina was looked upon as the problem child of the Union. The burning and destruction carried out in Georgia by Sherman’s men paled in comparison to the punishment unleashed in South Carolina. General Sherman succeeded in his goal to lay the state in ruin.

Yet there is great beauty to behold in South Carolina. The state boasts 2, 876 miles of coastal shoreline.

Georgia Peach? Think again. The largest grower of peaches east of the Mississippi is South Carolina. They actually rank second-most in the entire country, just behind California.

South Carolina claims to be the birthplace of Barbecue. In the south, Barbecue is more a social event rather than a way of cooking. What goes better at a Barbecue than Sweet Tea? It’s no surprise that Summerville, South Carolina was the first place to import tea leaves that eventually became Southern Sweet Tea. It remains one of the few areas in the country to grow tea. There are actually Tea Plantations in South Carolina.

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When it came time to put together a menu that incorporated all that is South Carolina, it was easy. German settlers has a great influence in the flavors that would eventually become Carolina Cuisine. Mustard is prevalent in German Dishes, which explains the Gold Barbecue Sauce so famous in South Carolina. Any southerner worth their sault knows ribs and barbecue just go hand in hand. As for the Gullah Red Rice – South Carolina is a southern state. The influence of slaves on Southern Cuisine helped to develop the concept of Red Rice. And the Cornbread – what can I say? Cornbread in a skillet is about as southern eats as you can get.

A Salute to South Carolina
South Carolina Gold Barbecue Ribs
Gullah Red Rice
Southern Skillet Cornbread
Simple Syrup Southern Sweet Tea

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South Carolina Gold Barbecue Ribs
Ribs
5 lbs (2 racks) Baby Back Ribs

Rinse ribs with cold water, pat dry with paper towels, and remove sinew from back. Set ribs aside to create rub.

Dry Rub
1/2 cup (packed) Brown Sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons Smoked Paprika
1/2 tablespoon Kosher Salt
3/4 tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
3/4 teaspoon dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
3/4 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning

In medium whisk together all the ingredients for the Dry Rub. Taste a pinch and adjust to your family’s taste.

Cut 2 large sheets of foil, several inches longer than the ribs at each end. Place 1 foil sheet onto working surface dull side-up. Spray center with non stick spray. Place ribs, meat side-up, onto foil. Coat meat with a little over a quarter of the dry rub, pressing on and rubbing into the meat. Turn ribs over, re-center on the foil and set aside. Repeat with second rack of ribs. Turn, re-center. Sprinkle remaining rub over the bone side of each rack of ribs

Bring long-edged sides of foil up to meet and carefully roll down to meet the top of the ribs. Fold ends of foil inward like an envelope and roll up. It should be a nice closed package touching the meat. Place rib package onto foil-lined baking sheet folded side-up (meat side-down). Let rest in the refrigerator for several hours or up to 2 days.

Carolina Gold Barbecue Sauce
3 tablespoons Butter
3/4 cup Yellow Mustard
3/4 cup Spicy Brown Mustard
3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons coarse ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
1 teaspoon Hot Sauce (Sriracha or Louisiana)

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add all remaining ingredients. Whisk to combine. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick and deeply rich.

Remove from heat and let col down for 5 minutes. Stirring once or twice to help cool and keep blended.

Pour sauce into a pint jar, and cool completely. Place on lid, and refrigerate until needed or overnight for flavors to completely marry.

When Ready to Cook:
Remove ribs from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place ribs in the oven and let slow cook for about 3 hours.

When ribs are done, remove from oven,. Increase oven heat to 350-degrees. Carefully open foil package, and transfer ribs to clean, foil-lined backing sheet bone side-up.

Slather on some of the Gold Barbecue sauce. When oven has reached temperature, place ribs in to bake on the sauce for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven turn ribs over, baste with more sauce. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes longer.

Slice into serving-sized pieces and serve hot with remaining sauce on the side.

Gullah Red Rice
4 slices Bacon, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
1 small Yellow Onion, chopped
2 (4-inch) Smoked Sausage Links, sliced
1 (8 oz) can Tomato Sauce (such as Hunt’s®)
1 (4 oz) can Tomato Paste (such as Hunt’s®)
1 cup Chicken Stock
2 cups Converted White Rice
1 tablespoon Sugar
Kosher Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Green Onions
Parsley for garnish

Stack bacon, cut in half lengthwise, then dice and set aside. Core, seed and chop bell pepper, set aside. Peel and dice onion, set aside. Cut sausage into small rounds, set aside.

Place bacon in a pot and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 6 minutes or so. Add bell pepper and onion to bacon grease; sauté over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and cook and stir until browned, about 9 minutes more. Remove mixture from the pan to a bowl. Set aside.

Pour tomato sauce and tomato paste into the now empty pot, along with chicken stock. Bring to a boil; add rice, sugar, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Return to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

While the rice simmers, heat oven to 350-degrees.

Remove rice from heat. Stir in sausage mixture. Spread Red Rice in a baking dish.

Bake in the heated oven until liquid has evaporated and rice is tender, about 25 minutes. While the rice bakes, clean green onions. Slice for garnish. Snip parsley for additional garnish and texture.

Remove rice from oven, garnish just before serving.

Southern Skillet Cornbread
4 teaspoons Bacon Drippings
1 1/2 cup Yellow Cornmeal
1/2 cup Flour
4 tablespoons Sugar (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Baking Powder
1 tablespoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup rapidly boiling Water
1 cup Buttermilk
1 large Egg, beaten lightly

A “must” for this bread is a hot cast-iron skillet. Although the bread can be made in a cake pan or square casserole dish, that would just be too “Yankee” to do the bread justice. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set 8-inch cast iron skillet with bacon fat in it to heat oven.

Measure 1/2 cup cornmeal into medium bowl. Set aside.

Mix remaining 1 cup cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in small bowl; set aside.

Pour boiling water all at once into the 1/2 cup cornmeal; stir to make a stiff mush. Whisk in buttermilk gradually, breaking up lumps until smooth. Cornmeal mush of just the right texture is essential to this bread. The mush must be smooth without overworking the batter. Don’t rush the buttermilk and you’ll have less lumps to break up. Once the mush is ready, add the egg.

When oven is preheated and skillet very hot, stir dry ingredients into mush mixture until just moistened. Carefully remove skillet from oven. Pour hot bacon fat into batter and stir to incorporate, then quickly pour batter into heated skillet.

Place skillet back into the oven, then immediately lower the temperature of the oven to 425 degrees.

Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and instantly turn corn bread onto wire rack; cool for 5 minutes, then serve immediately.

Sweet Southern Tea
Simple Syrup
1-1/4 cups Water
1-1/4 cups Sugar

In a saucepan, bring 1-1/4 cups water to a rolling boil. Add sugar, stir until sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat, let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Southern Tea
12 regular size Tea Bags
1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda
4 cups Distilled Water
4 cups Ice

Place tea bags and baking soda in a large heatproof glass pitcher.

Bring distilled water just to a rolling boil in a kettle, Immediately pour water over tea bags and baking soda. With a wooden spoon, make sure gabs are submerged. Cover and let tea steep a full 7 minutes. Carefully remove tea bags from the pitcher without squeezing. Discard bags.

Add ice, stir until ice melts. Stir in Simple Syrup, When ready to serve, pour sweet tea in glasses over ice..