Remembering the Life and Food of Edna Lewis

Southern food lovers world wide know of Edna Lewis. From her restaurant in New York to her work with young (or at least younger than she) Southern chef Scott Peacock, Ms. Lewis certainly made a name for herself as she celebrated Southern cooking traditions. Sadly, she died in 2006. Today's Atlanta Journal Constitution reprints an excellent essay written by Ms. Lewis that everyone, Southerner or not, should read. Her cookbooks are phenomenal and her essay is no less so. The online version of the article is not yet posted at www.ajc.com, but as soon as it is, I'll add a link to this post. Until then, here's a recipe reprinted from the cookbook, The Gift of Southern Cooking, co-written by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock.

Breakfast Shrimp for Supper
"Quickly sautéed shrimp over rice is a very old, traditional breakfast in the Carolina Low Country. But it would also make a nice quick-and-easy luncheon or supper dish, rounded out with a salad and maybe cornbread."

Ingredients
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 small onions, chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
4 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion or scallion
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (see Note)
1/2 cup water

Preparation
Heat the butter in a heavy skillet until hot and foaming. Add the onion, scallion, garlic, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Pour in the water, and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes, just until the shrimp are cooked through. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed. Serve hot over plain rice.

Note: If using frozen shrimp, thaw them slowly in the refrigerator. After thawing, they benefit from a 5-minute soak in lightly salted ice water with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Banana Bread with Cream Cheese

One of my favorite breakfast / brunch foods, Banana Bread with Cream Cheese is a simple but often ignored a.m. possibility. I first had in Macon, Georgia, when I worked as a special events planner. Our caterers made it a lot, and after more than three years of eating it, I was never sad to see it on a morning buffet. I have no idea what recipe those chefs used, but here's the one I developed over the years. A purest at heart, I like to serve it with plain, whipped cream cheese. For variety, try on of the flavored varieties such as pineapple, strawberry, or cinnamon swirl, or blend your own flavor. I like to make little finger sandwiches with the cream cheese and arrange them on a pretty platter with seasonal fruit. How ever you serve this dish, your guests will surely go bananas!

Banana Bread with Cream Cheese
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. sugar (or 1/2c. sugar and 1/2 c. Splenda)
2 eggs
1 c. mashed bananas (very ripe, if possible)
1/2 c. plain yogurt (full fat work best; you can substitute sour cream if necessary)
1 t. vanilla extract
1/3 c. raisins or dried cranberries
2/3 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a loaf pan or a 9 x 9 inch baking dish. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk or fork to break up any lumps. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir in bananas and yogurt. Add vanilla. Stir in raisins / craisins and nuts. Spread into prepared pan and bake until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour depending oven and type of pan. Watch carefully so you don't over bake.

Serving suggestion: slice into finger sandwich-size pieces, and make sandwiches with whipped or flavored cream cheese.