The daily feast of fresh garden stuff is dwindling down for us. Over the last few days we picked the last of the beans growing on our two long rows and pulled out all the plants.
Even though our garden is on the down hill slide last night we had one of the best meals we’ve had all summer.
A friend brought us a mess of peas last week. I cooked them with a couple of spoonfuls of bacon grease, water, salt, and pepper. When they were nearly done I laid several pods of okra on top of the peas, turned the heat down low and left them till the okra was cooked.
Our corn is pretty much all gone from the big garden. Growing two planting of it allowed us to eat a lot of fresh corn and it was so good. Of course we shared with Granny, Paul, Corie, and Austin too. We also canned quite a bit for the first time ever.
There’s a few ears left but it’s getting too hard to eat boiled, but it’s perfect for making gritted bread.
Pap’s Gritted Bread
- 1 1/2 cup grated corn (if using fresher corn allow some of the milk to drain out)
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons of bacon grease
Mix corn, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in bowl.
Mix milk, egg, and bacon grease together and then stir into corn mixture.
Pour into a hot castiron pan that has been greased and bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes or till done. Alternatively use the batter as you would pancake mix and fry.
Just before everything was ready I ran outside and got some fresh green onions and sliced up a fresh tomato and a couple of small cucumbers.
Oh my it was a feast!
Last night’s video: Pulling Out the Bean Plants.
Tipper
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I put some corn I bought at the farmers market out to dry to make this. We’ve never heard of gritted bread until now but are definitely fans of spoon bread. So we’re looking forward to trying this recipe, which we’re going to have with some collard greens if I can find some at the market tomorrow. My mom, who is 84, and I are really, really enjoying your videos and trying some of your methods. Current favorites include green beans with new potatoes and your regular corn bread recipe. Right now Mom’s got banana ice cream going in our ice cream maker. Love y’all’s channel so much.
OMG, wished I’d been invited. LOL! Those veggies are so delicious, just seeing the picture of them had my mouth watering and wishing I had all those veggies to cook for dinner tonight. I am always happy with a good vegetable only meal. You are the most wonderful dinner planner. What you put together always goes so well together. One of my favorite summer dishes is okree, with green tomatoes, chop’d in chunks, w onions, peppers, sometimes peeled eggplant or squash in cornmeal and a couple tablespoons of ap flour and seasonings as desired. Fried , especially in bacon grease, or whatever you have on hand to use to fry in. Love to everyone and prayers for all those requested. Best to the Pressley family too.
I must say the gritted bread sounds very interesting. Thanks for recipe.
I’m so happy that your garden produced well this year. Seems like when you are eating the last of the fresh results of a great summer garden, those last few meals seem to be the best, tastiest meals of the summer. All the canned & frozen things will still be wonderful, but you just can’t beat “fresh” when it comes to garden delights!
Tipper I agree that summer is the best eating time of the year especially the corn! Purple hill peas are not as popular in my area as yours or South Georgia! Don’t know why?? Truly enjoyed all the videos of the family.
Everyone enjoy this beautiful day! If your like me, I have so much to do do outside don’t know where to start!!!
P.S. Chester go see your PCP about your BP. Your medication may need to be changed! Be stearn with your PCP..remember we don’t work for them…they work for US!
You finally got me–I have never heard of gritted bread, now I wish I had some corn to try it with when I make soup beans this week that way I can see what it tastes like and if it is something I would make again. It looks good As I watched last night’s video it was hard to believe the change in your garden because it seems just like week you were watching everything beginning to grow and fill in the garden. Time is not just marching on in spite of grief, in spite of everything time is on a jet plane now about to break the sound barrier. Needing prayers still (not just for the grief bearing but some health things have cropped up–probably due to the emotional toll) Have a week so blessed with unexpected wonders that you can hardly contain your joy. Praying for Granny, she is so precious. I look forward to the next time Paul posts her singing again.
Gaylia, I will pray for you health issues and for comfort for your grief.
Everything you cook looks great.
Gaylia, a couple of things, first I fully understand what you are writing about time, for me it seems to be on a downhill roller coaster. The other is grief and emotional toll causing health problems, I am no where near over my wife’s death, a few years ago after my wife’s death, one of my eyes completely closed, it was thought that I had a stroke. I spent several days in the hospital while they did a lot of test that showed nothing that would have caused it, when I was discharged I was told it was most likely caused by the emotional stress and anxiety I was having. Right now there are some things going on that I have no control over causing stress and anxiety for me. I will be praying for you and ask you to do the same for me.
That IS a feast!! I gotta try that gritty bread, it sounds really good. We often do a one pot meal of green beans with small potatoes, with the okra steamed at end then covered with a lot of salt and pepper! A favorite during fresh summer garden season.
Sure do wish it was possible to get gritted corn at the grocery. I notice the recipe says “grated” corn. Did you use a grater or did you shell the corn and grind it? Not trying to be too picky. Guess I’m just puzzled about working with it across the range from still wet enough to need draining and not quite fully hard. I have had gritted bread only once ever and it is, to me, distinctly different and better than dry corn meal. Sounds like you have a method that can be used any time one can get their hands on semi-hard corn? (This is not the place for hate mail nor swearing (which I don’t do anyway) but I am so irritated with AI changing my words! I feel like I need to tack on a disclaimer for every single text I do because it may have snuck up on me and “fixed” it when it has decided I don’t know what I mean. I apologize for the rant. Just please give me a little grace when it looks like I posted something weird, mean, stupid or whatever. I’ll do the same for you all. We are certainly in this together. Lord help us.
Ron, watch this video I did a few years back for more details on the gritted bread. As with most things it varies from place to place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrmmtzJdUPU
It is corn that’s too dry to use as fresh corn but not dry enough to shell and grind into cornmeal. You can make it on a grater or you can make a gritter. A gritter is a sheet of metal with rows and rows of punched holes. The back side of this multiplicity of holes are sharp. You carefully scrub the ear of corn up and down on these “teeth” to produce the gritted corn you need. Our ancestors made and used a gritter.
The milk the recipe refers to in (parenthesis) is the liquid that is released in the process. The milk that appears later in the recipe is cow’s milk.
I hope this helps. I am open to questions if I missed anything.
A feast is the best way to describe that meal! The gritted bread and a green onion would have been plenty to make me happy. It’s always a sad time of the year when the garden is dying, and we have to pull out the plants that will never provide another meal for us. Now it’s time to think about apples, squash, grapes, sweet taters, black walnuts, and all the good eating we will enjoy this fall.
I’ve never heard the term grated corn.
I’m from Oklahoma. We have cornbread nearly every week — but need information on this grated corn.
LaVonne, here’s a video I did a few years back on gritted bread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrmmtzJdUPU
This looks yummy! Reminds me of my favorite meals when I was growing up: green beans with baby potatoes, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and corn on the cob, all fresh from the garden, and biscuits or white bread torn up with bacon gravy on top.
Sounds good to me!
Tipper, the gritted bread sounds delicious! I have never heard of this, which is amazing since I have been cooking for 42 years. A funny story involves the first time I made cornbread for our family. Mama showed me everything, including how to preheat the iron skillet and carefully pour the batter. My mistake was that I grabbed the grits tin instead of the cornmeal tin! My brother told Mama I needed a repeat lesson. At first I was mortified with embarrassment, but we chuckled a lot about it over the years.
I make cornbread out of grits all the time. Grits these days are just a little coarser grind. The cornbread has more texture than ordinary but that only adds to the delight of eating it. Polenta makes good cornbread too. Same measurements, same recipe.
Good Monday morning.
That meal would be good for breakfast this morning.
That sounds like a delicious meal! I am going to try the Gritted Bread. Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds like a delicious feast! I had not heard of gritted bread before, will have to give that a try. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Tipper, your dinner looks absolutely scrumptious and is BEYOND fresh and lovely in color! I never saw a recipe for gritted corn bread, but it looks and sounds wonderful with a slab of melted butter. This month has been a month of basically eating for free out of the garden. I’ve bought bread, milk, some meat etc but spending is drastically cut and ain’t I thankful about that?! I’ve had tomato half sandwiches at least twice a day all month and the end of last month. It’s been glorious cause there are NO TOMATOES OR PRODUCE IN A STORE LIKE ONES WE GROW FRESH AT HOME! The taste is like hitting home run after home run. My giant sunflowers are bloomed out and really look spectacular! The joy a garden brings is indescribable. My cup runneth over with many good things and small blessings piled miles high! Thank you, Jesus, for the good people and good things of Appalachia…
Just like with you, a meal of fresh crowder peas such as Mississippi Purple Hull peas, fried okree, unsweetened cornbread, a fresh homegrown tomato and ice tea makes a mighty fine meal. I like to cook my peas with a chunk of fatback and I like my okree breaded and fried. I have never ate gritted bread. I seldom eat a meal that includes true cornbread, not jiffy mix, without finishing it off by eating a bowl of cornbread and milk. The size of the bowl depends on how much of the other I ate.
Looks so good! Your family eats like we do.
The deer ate our okra and peas. Electric fence didn’t stop them this year.
good morning, pray for me please, I spent part of the day in the hospital yesterday, high blood pressure, 164 over 103, sometimes it was 107, they done some blood work on me, and sent me home, but my blood pressure is still high, told me I needed to see my primary care doctor, it don’t make no sense to me that they didn’t treat me for high blood pressure,
Norman, I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with high blood pressure. I will continue to pray for you!!
Norman, this is my opinion, in Upstate SC, most all of the medical centers, including what was once known as a family doctor are now own by the major hospitals in the area. The more medical offices they can send us to is a way for them to collect or bill more you more. I have a nurse practitioner friend, she will tell you so many of the test these places want are unnecessary and serve no purpose other than allowing “Big Daddy” to make more money.
Oh that does sound like a feast! So happy you’ve had such a bountiful harvest this year. Do you have a video for Pap’s Gritted Bread?
Carolyn, thank you! Here’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrmmtzJdUPU
That sounds like a feast for sure…fit for a king. Looks so good!
Some of our kids and grandkids were here yesterday evening. I fixed the last of the huitlacoche (smut) tacos and all but one tried it. It’s been a hit for everyone. One of our twin granddaughters thought the flavor was good, but the black kernals ‘creeped her out’ a little. Until next year…
We also had a bonfire with roasted weenies and s’mores. It’s beautiful here right now with unusually cool temps. It’s such a a welcome break from the stifling heat and humidity we’ve had for weeks on end.
Our garden is winding down too. We’ll have one more run of late corn and I have tomatoes to process up once ripened. We have had tomato worms worse than I’ve ever known. Hundreds. The Amish said it was that way for their gardens too. They are so destructive that I stripped every leaf from the plants and will let what’s there ripen. I’ve never seen the beat in my life. I surely want to save what we have.
Y’all have a blessed day!