Good Old Southern Peas And Dumplins Food

OLD-FASHIONED SOUTHERN PEACHES & DUMPLINGS? RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Measure the flour and shortening into a large mixing bowl and place bowl in the freezer until needed. Set a colander in a large pot or Dutch oven and add the peaches to the colander, straining the liquid into the pot. Set peaches aside for now. To the pot of liquid, whisk in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, water, lemon juice, and butter cubes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make the Dumplings: Remove bowl from freezer and cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until you get a mealy consistency (fine crumbs). Gradually, drizzle in ice water while stirring, just enough for the dough to come together and form a ball. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. After the peach liquid has boiled for 25 minutes, add the peaches to it and bring back to a boil over medium-high heat. When boiling, reduce heat to medium and let cook until the dumplings are ready to drop. On a floured surface, roll out one of the balls of dough to about 1/8-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into long strips about 1 1/2-inch wide; then cut each strip crosswise into 1 1/2-inch squares. Repeat steps for the other ball of dough. Start dropping the dumplings into the boiling peaches and syrup; gently pushing them down into syrup with the back of a spoon. When all the dumplings have been added, let cook for about 25 minutes, frequently pushing dumplings down into the syrup. When done, the dumplings should look somewhat translucent and the syrup is thickened. Serve warm or cold with whipping cream or chilled evaporated milk poured over it, topped with prepared whipped cream (or Cool Whip), or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. NOTE: If your dumplings are a bit thick, you might need to cover the pot and cook for about 10 minutes, then finish cooking uncovered. I did not cover mine since I wanted the syrup to thicken more.

GREEN PEAS AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Shell and wash peas; drain.
• Combine water, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add peas and simmer 5 minutes.
• Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over low heat. Add the flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk; cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Stir the sauce into the peas.
• Top with biscuits and sprinkle lightly with onion salt. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until the biscuits are done.

GRANDMOTHER NELLY'S "HAM, PEAS AND DUMPLINGS (OLD RECIPE)

Steps:

• Dough.
• Bring water and margarine to boil in 2 qt sauce pan. Add one slightly heaping cup of flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg all at once. Stir vigorously in the pan until mixture no longer adheres to the bottom or sides of the pan. Let dough cool to luke warm. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time until the dough absorbs the egg and is no longer glossy. Do this with each egg.
• PLEASE NOTE: you can possibly eliminate the back breaking nature of incorporating each of the eggs into the luke warm dough ball which would be the case if you do this all by hand. The process of incorporating the egg into the dough is very labor intesnsive since it takes a lot to beat until the egg(s) no longer make the dough glossy after beaten in long enough. So, you can take a shortcut by using the dough blade in your food processor and putting the WARM dough (do while dough ball from pan is still luke warm but not hot), place dough ball into the processor bowl and using your dough blade beat each egg into the dough in your food processor until the dough loses its glossiness from the egg. But if you don't have a food processor you can do the egg incorporation by hand, however it is pretty labor intensive.
• Once the eggs are beaten into the dough, you now have completed the dumpling dough for this recipe.
• Preparing the Dumplings and Peas.
• Place 2 standard 12oz pkgs frozen peas into a large skillet and add WATER just to cover. Add the ¼ teaspoon of salt and the sugar and a two tablespoons of margarine. Bring peas to a simmer. Place one tablespoon of dough for each dumpling over the already simmering peas. Cover the peas and dumplings closely and keep covered while dumplings are rising).
• Keep on simmer low enough so mixture boils only lightly, not hard and rapidly. Simmer all, covered, for 12 to 14 minutes.
• To serve: Plate the peas and dumplings for each person, accompanied by generous slices of just baked ham. Each person can garnish with jelly sauce (below) to taste.
• SWEET/SOUR JELLY SAUCE FOR HAM.
• (Jelly sauce garnish that goes over the sliced, baked ham which accompanies this dish).
• INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE SAUCE:.
• Mix together either currant or plum jelly, vinegar and mustard into sauce pan and blend over low heat until jelly melts. Blend and adjust ingredients to taste and keep warm until served.
• Serve on table in a gravy bowl or similar serving container and each can spoon it over their baked Ham slices.
• Garnish portions of sliced (already baked) ham and the peas and dumplings with the sweet/sour jelly sauce (to taste).
• Enjoy.