Martin Luther King Jr Day: Celebrate With Food
This year marks 40 years since Martin Luther King Jr's death. Many people weren't alive in 1968, so the details of the situation aren't clear to them. They perhaps can't imagine a society in America where the color of your skin determined where you could sit, where you could eat, and whether or not you could participate in activities. MLK's non-violent protests against racial discrimination brought these issues to the headlines and to national attention. Forty years later, while we still have much progress to make, we an also see that we've accomplished quite a bit, too.
All the while King was advocating for change, he never lost sight of his southern traditions and roots. Born in Atlanta, and a resident of several southern states, King enjoyed traditional foods of the south and encouraged southerners to take pride in the ways of life that make the south unique. In honor of King's birthday, January 21, take some time to enjoy some down home southern recipes!
COUNTRY HAM WITH RED-EYE GRAVY
Ingredients:
1/4-inch slice ham
4 tablespoons black coffee
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Directions:
Trim off the skin from the slice of ham. Sautee the ham in a nonstick skillet for a couple of minutes on each side. Remove the ham from the pan and set aside.
Stir the coffee and sugar into the ham drippings. Stir to dissolve the sugar, cover, and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Pour the gravy over the ham slice and serve.
Serves 1-2
SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS
Ingredients:
1/2 pound smoked ham
1 Tbs salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbs Texas hot sauce
1 large bunch of collard greens
3 Tbs butter
Directions:
Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add the ham, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Simmer for 90 minutes. In the meantime, wash collards greens thoroughly. Trim thick stems from the collards and slice the leaves into 1/2- to 1-inch thick slices. Add greens to the pot with the meat. Add butter and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
