Southern Hospitality - A Tough Act To Follow

In 2011, my fiance and I travelled to Atlanta to see my parents and brother, Tim.  While I had visited during the summers when I was studying for my A-levels and degree, I never properly lived in Atlanta.  Tim, however, had gone to the Atlanta International School and had made lots of interesting friends, who I was very rarely allowed to meet.  I have a brilliant story about one such unique occasion, but I shall save that for another time.

Despite Tim's concerted efforts to stop his big sister embarrassing him in front of his American friends, the infamous southern hospitality persevered through the pond-shaped wall that separated us and, during our visit, Tim's friend Claire invited us to join her, her family and some other friends for a weekend in Tybee Island, a very short drive from Savannah.

The weekend was spectacular.  Claire's family home is a quintessential colonial house that you would hope to find in the deep south.  Its back garden led onto a private, white sandy beach, and there was a sheltered deck on the edge of the beach at which we could eat.  The house was 3 stories tall and on one level was an outside porch area, complete with wicker chairs and a bar - perfect for enjoying a refreshing mint julep!  I didn't have the opportunity to try that particular drink on this trip - Bloody Marias were on offer instead (Bloody Marys made with tequila instead of vodka).

You could tell that Claire's family was one that liked to cook and entertain.  The kitchen had a u-shaped counter, surrounded on the outside by stools so friends and family could be part of the action.  There were 2 large American fridges and 2 dishwashers - all of which we managed to fill at the beginning and end of each day!

When we arrived, we immediately got stuck in to making cocktails then helping Claire put together a fantastic feast.  We had BBQ'd pork ribs that had been covered in sauce, sealed in with bacon and half-BBQ'd half-steamed in some special contraption in the garden.  There was the ubiquitously American mac and cheese, sticky pork chops with pineapple and a tasty salad along the lines of a bacon and cheese theme.  Meat, cheese and a few of your five a day thrown in for good measure - there was no way to go wrong!

This first evening was just a taster of things to come.  We ate very well, had good chat around the kitchen hub, and spent a peaceful weekend relaxing at the beach.  One evening we went to Savannah and had oysters in a karaoke bar.  It was that same evening that we'd had to leave Tini at home to suffer her sunburn in peace.  Tim, in his slightly merry, gushingly affectionate way, gave Tini a big, painful hug as we left for the evening.  The whole room cringed and held its breath as poor Tini did her best not to scream.

Not having brought a swimming costume, I enjoyed the sea from the comfort of the beach.  We played bocci, hunted for jellyfish for a salad - which, unfortunately for us, some wee scamps helped to regain their freedom - and generally enjoyed each other's company in the idyllic surroundings.  Later we made po' boys and Cajun coleslaw.

February 2013.  This was the next opportunity I had to visit Atlanta.  Claire is now working with my parents and this gave me the perfect chance to repay her for that wonderful weekend 2 years ago.  Along with Claire and her boyfriend, Brandon (another bright spark working with my parents) and his wife joined us for a dinner party.

We started with cocktails and canapes in the lounge. I love cocktails and canapes!  To go with our retro martinis, we had scallop, bacon, avocado and peach bites, held in gem lettuce leaves.  The sweet and sour of the peach really set off the salt and cream of the bacon and avocado.

For a starter, I often like to make a caramelised pear and walnut salad with blue cheese and parma ham.  For a second canape, I adapted this to make bite-sized bruschetta.  We had soft goat's cheese, so instead of the pear I used apple and instead of walnuts I used pistachios.  The apples and pistachios are easy to caramelise - you melt butter with soft brown sugar in a pan, add a good splash of vinegar and then the apples and pistachios, cooking them until the apples are slightly softened and the caramel has coated everything.

After piquing our appetite, we moved through to the dining room for a starter of poached chicken and spring greens with parmesan and truffle oil.  For the chicken, I steamed whole cabbage leaves for 2 minutes, seasoned chicken mini fillets, and once the cabbage leaves had cooled, I used them to wrap the fillets.  I then made tight sausages from these with cling film.

When we were ready, I poached the chicken parcels, cling film and all, in boiling water for about 15 minutes.  In the meantime, I steamed yellow courgette, baby spinach and petit pois in a small amount of stock.  When I was ready to serve, I spooned the vegetables in each bowl, sliced the poached chicken at a jaunty angle and scattered over parmesan shavings.  As a last minute inspiration, my mum produced some truffle oil, giving the dish a welcome depth.

In American supermarkets, as in many British supermarkets, it is difficult to find some of the more unusual cuts of meat.  Chicken breasts, beef mince, pork chops...easy.  Lamb loin and duck breast...more difficult.  Ox tail and veal...nigh impossible.  Pork belly is one of those meats in the 'nigh impossible' category for American supermarkets.  Luckily, there are a handful of butchers dotted around Atlanta and we found a substantial piece of pork belly in one of these.

Pork belly is an amazing piece of meat - full of fat for flavour and moistness, with the added bonus of an exceptional crackling to meat ratio!  I find the best way to get perfect crackling is to first boil a kettle and pour this over the scored skin of the pork in the sink.  I pat the meat dry, rub in salt and, once in the roasting tin, drizzle over olive oil.  The pork should then be roasted on a high heat for about 40 minutes, and then drop the temperature down for the rest of the cooking time.

Valentine Warner has a delicious recipe for pork belly with fennel.  The fresh fennel roasts in the same tin as the pork and ends up a rich, sticky accompaniment for the soft, salty pork.  I served this with potatoes mashed with olive oil and garlic.  Roast a bulb whole in the oven and then squeeze the sweet, goey garlic into the mash.  Watch your fingers though!  It can get very hot.

We had Eton Mess for dessert - crushed meringues, chopped strawberries, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  This topped off an amazing feast, one which hopefully wiped its face in my efforts to repay southern hospitality of the highest order with some British cordiality...of the Ellie variety.