Nothing says March quite like NCAA brackets and pitchers of green beer. And that’ssupposed to be the good stuff. In other news, we've got tires squealing ruts in the mud, crocuses out ahead of schedule, Homeland season 6 its waning days—and this year . . . but let’s not get into that.
We’re here, in our very small way, to save March from itself. Okay, it’s not much given the long view of history, but how about some memorable flavors to lighten 31 straight days of you-know-what—with a suite of new recipes from us, Anson Mills?
Forward, March!
A click on each image will take you to its recipe.
Sea Island Oyster Gravy
We’re so into to fresh select-single oysters we’ve been known to shuck and suck them down on a freezing dock as they roll in off the boat. Come late February, we’re tired of the cold. You too? Take this miraculous oyster recipe and its rich history indoors, rip off your weather gear, and sit down to real Southern comfort.
Hominy Grits
Today, fresh grits are milled from whole dried corn, but from their earliest cookery, Native Americans ground fresh nixtamal—aka hominy—while the kernels were wet. The results? Masa, of course. Stop short of fine masa in that process and the results are fresh hominy grits, a food form almost extinct today. After a decade and a half of trial and error involving over two dozen hominy corn varieties for chefs’ kitchens, after exploring Native cookery on three continents, and after refining our basic hominy technique to drop dead foolproof, we think we’ve nailed it. Now you can experience authentic fresh hominy grits that say “heirloom corn” with the power of sunrise, backed by massive floral and mineral elements. Chefs love these grits. Now you can, too.
Fresh Red Chile Hot Sauce
Ignore the hundreds of fire-breathing bottled sauces out there and make this fresh unfermented version instead. We developed this recipe as an homage to fresh hominy grits above, but don’t stop with grits. The sauce is quick and simple to prepare, with flavor layering and balance that approaches fine wine.
Avgolemono
Take a quiet moment with this radiant soup, and your next words might come forth in verse. What you feel and taste is the lure of Old World simplicity where texture becomes artistic expression and transports flavor like no other.
Irish Soda Bread
Bet you didn’t know that soda bread is Native American wood ash cookery gone Irish, or that baking “soda” represents the 18th century European adaptation of pre-Columbian pearl ash. This rustic boule, with its honest crust patina and beautiful, dense crumb bears very little relationship to the typical tea cake-cum-biscuit hybrid bearing its name. It can make anyone feel like a master baker.
