Recipes baked in tradition: Locals share treasured holiday dishes from the Lowcountry (2024)

I didn’t grow up in the South, but my husband did. Shortly after we were married, his mother gifted me a plastic-tooth-bound church cookbook called “Blended Blessings” that opened my limited culinary knowledge to handed-down Southern recipes. The ingredients were foreign to me, and the recipe titles usually referenced a family member like ‘Aunt Susan’s famous cheese biscuits.’ Now that I live in the Lowcountry, these community-defining recipes are old friends I refer to often.

The foods that define our holiday season are likewise rooted in family, tradition, community and culture, and seasoned with a little bit of sparkle. They come from the pages of church recipe anthologies, dog-eared cookbooks by our favorite chefs, scraps of paper amassed in binders or digital reproductions tucked handily in Google folders.

Here are some authentic Southern holiday foods and the stories that shaped those recipes. Even if you’re not from here, making these treasured recipes for your family this holiday season only requires one ingredient: that the cooking always comes from the heart.

Red Rice

The history of Charleston red rice, like so many traditional dishes here, comes from the enslaved Africans who were brought to the American South. Red rice is pretty much a Lowcountry staple and Joanne Russ, who has lived her whole life in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, gets serious when she gives me her recipe. “We always have this during the holidays. The secret is making sure the rice is good and cooked,” she explains. “The trick is to throw it in the oven if you think it needs a little extra time.” She recommends using a Charleston Rice Steamer that you can pick up at a Royale Hardware.

De De’s Red Rice

Fry 6-10 pieces of bacon. Sauté 1 medium onion and bell pepper in bacon drippings. Add a 6 oz can of tomato paste and 12 oz of water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add 1½ pounds of raw rice to the steamer and let it get hot while the sauce is simmering. When the sauce is done, pour it over the rice and steam for half an hour. Crumble the bacon on top and cook for another 45 minutes.

Sands (or Crescent Cookies)

Joanne Russ also gave me her grandmother’s recipes for Sands. She says they are a variation on a Pecan Sandie (so called for their sand-like texture). “My mother only made them at Christmas and would form them into a crescent instead of the traditional round," Russ said.

Makes 5 dozen

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of butter or margarine
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp water
• 2 cups A-P flour
• 2 cups pecans (chopped)
• Powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Cream butter and add sugar, vanilla, and water.

Sift flour and stir into mixture.

Add pecans and mix thoroughly.

Using portions, the size of a walnut, roll into crescent shapes.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in the oven (300℉) for about 20 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm.

Oyster Dressing

Elaine Bucholtz knows a thing or two about oysters. Her grandfather and her uncle started the Mount Pleasant Seafood Company, and fish was always on the table. “Ever since I can remember, my Aunt Lillian Toler made this dressing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She never wrote a recipe down so mine is a re-creation of hers.”

Today, Bucholtz still goes to the Mount Pleasant Seafood Company to get a pint of shucked oysters for her recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 batch of cornbread, homemade, gluten free, or dried cornbread crumbs as desired
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 pint of fresh shucked oysters with the liquid
• 1 egg
• ½ cup turkey drippings
• Chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sage
• Parsley
• Bacon crumbles

DIRECTIONS

Cut up the cornbread into small pieces and toast.

Sauté the onion and celery in the butter.

Mix the cornbread pieces, the sautéed mixture, an egg, and turkey drippings.

Add chicken broth to create a moist consistency.

Add salt, pepper, sage, and parsley to taste. Add bacon crumbles if desired.

Bake at 350℉ for 30-45 minutes in a 9x13 dish.

Gullah Traditions

I turned off U.S. Hwy 17 in Awendaw and was greeted by Chef Charlotte Jenkins at her two-story cedar home. It was as warm as she was. She owned and ran the restaurant Gullah Cuisine with her husband, Frank, from 1997 to 2014. Today, she is considered one of the leading experts in Gullah cuisine and continues her culinary adventures as a caterer and a private chef.

At her kitchen table we rifled through a cookbook she published in 2010, named after her restaurant. Her eyes glistening as she told me stories about red rice and fish Fridays and hoe cakes, an after-school fried treat made from milk, salt, white corn meal and vegetable oil, and sprinkled with sugar. “We had them on Christmas morning as well,” she smiled, remembering.

“When I was growing up, the holidays were always full of family and food. At Thanksgiving, we would do turkey, okra soup, collards, mac and cheese, candied yams, and apple pie or sweet potato pie," Jenkins said. "Grandmama made the best mac and cheese, but she made it spicy with hot peppers.”

When I pressed her on what kind of pepper, she waved away my questions. Some secrets are not going to be spilled at this table.

Okra Soup

Okra came to the U.S. from Africa via the slave ships. We can’t find an okra soup recipe in her book, only an okra gumbo, so Chef Jenkins closed her eyes and recited this recipe to me from memory:

"You need 2 pounds of fresh okra for 4 servings. Chop up the okra first.

The Gullah way calls for some meat, like smoked ham, which goes very well and flavors it nicely. Boil the ham and when almost cooked - test it to make sure it's soft, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the chopped okra and fresh tomatoes or a can of chopped tomato or sauce. It really needs chunks of tomato for a homemade feel. I flavor my okra soup with basil and bay leaves."

Tip: When okra is cooked, it turns from white to beige.

Collard Greens with Ham Hocks

This recipe came from the cookbook “Gullah Cuisine.”

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound smoked ham hocks
• 2 pounds collard greens
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Put the ham hocks and water in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a brisk simmer for 1 ½ hours, or until tender.

Wash the collards, cut the leaves off the stalks. Place leaves in cold water and sprinkle with salt to wash out any sand. Wash thoroughly 3 times, the third without salt. Cut leaves into thirds.

Remove the ham hocks and place the collards in the same pot with the ham hock broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a brisk simmer. Cover, and simmer for 55 minutes. Add red pepper flakes. Continue to simmer for 5 more minutes or until tender.

Serve greens by themselves or with hocks and some cooking liquid from the pot, which is known as "pot likker."

Hoppin’ John

The folklore around the name of this dish of cow peas and ham hocks varies. Chef Jenkins says the name came from a chef called John who walked with a limp, while others say that an old man called Hoppin’ John became known for selling legumes and rice on the streets of Charleston. Regardless of the name origin, the field peas symbolize good luck and if eaten with collards, which represent money, add up to more than a mouthful of positive energy. It's the perfect dish for New Year’s Day, when it is traditionally eaten. This recipe also came from her “Gullah Cuisine” cookbook.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ pound dried cow peas or field peas
• 2 pounds smoked ham hocks
• 3 quarts water
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1½ cups raw converted rice

DIRECTIONS

Wash the peas and soak them in warm water for 1 hour. While they soak, put the ham hocks and water in a heavy-bottomed pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Drain the peas.

Add the peas, onion, salt and pepper and thyme to the ham and bring to a brisk simmer. Cover and simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Add the rice, stir to combine, bring to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until the rice is tender. Adjust the seasoning as desired. Fluff rice with a fork and serve.

MamaJack’s Squash Puree Giblet Gravy and Black Bottom Pie

Jacquelyn Joye leaves nothing to chance. When her husband passed away suddenly, she decided to get her own affairs in order, including cataloging her recipes. And then she took it one step further and created a cookbook for her immediate family, weaving photos into the pages so every recipe had the sweetest of endings. She called it “Joyeous Feasts.” Everyone was gifted a copy.

"I must admit, this is my most important holiday table secret,” said Joye, affectionately known as MamaJack by her grandchildren, of her gravy recipe.

What’s more Southern than giblet gravy? She shakes her head. “I always felt Southerners made their gravy too white and so I searched for a recipe that didn’t just include flour to thicken the gravy," she said.

When she first came across this Bon Appetit magazine recipe, she thought it sounded horrible. “I had never bought an acorn squash before so I didn’t know what to expect, however, the thought of having something made ahead of time is appealing when you are cooking for 15!” She gave it a try and said her family went wild for it. Now, no turkey dinner is complete without it.

Squash Purée Giblet Gravy

Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine as written in “Joyeous Feasts.”

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ pounds acorn squash
• ¼ cup honey
• 6 large garlic cloves, peeled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400℉. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Cut squash into 6 wedges, scraping out the seeds and discarding them. Arrange wedges, skin down, on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with honey. Place 1 garlic clove on each wedge.

Roast until tender and slightly charred, about 50 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes. Using a large spoon, scrape into a processor, discarding the skins. Purée mixture until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until the turkey is cooked.

Note: This first part can be made a few days before and kept refrigerated.

Strain the turkey drippings and then thicken with a mixture of flour and water.

After about 10 minutes, it should start to thicken. Add spoonsful of the squash purée to give it great texture, thickness and taste.

MamaJack’s Black Bottom Pie

The Black Bottom Pie is said to have originated in the South and represents the muddy bottom of the Mississippi River with its bottom layer of rich chocolate. Joye said, "This is almost always our Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert and is a family favorite. My granddaughter, Juliette, helped me make one this week especially for this photo.”

CRUST

“I usually make mine from scratch, which I recommend. You need a 9- or 10-inch Pyrex pie dish and a package of crumbs. Make and bake the crust according to directions and set aside.”

FILLING

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups boiling milk
• 1 ½ oz unsweetened chocolate
• 1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
• ½ cup cold water
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Brandy, whiskey or rum to taste
• Small carton of heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and beaten egg yolks in a double boiler. Slowly add the boiling milk. Cook in a double boiler to a custard. Remove and set aside 1 cup of the cooked custard.

Melt the chocolate and mix into the reserved custard. Pour this chocolate custard into the Pyrex crumb crust and refrigerate.

Soften the gelatin in the cold water and stir this into the remaining custard in the double boiler.

Beat the 4 egg whites with the cream of tartar, adding the sugar while beating. Fold this egg white mixture into the gelatin mixture. Pour over the refrigerated chocolate layer and place back in the fridge.

When ready to serve, top each piece with whipped heavy cream, slightly sweetened.

Juanita’s Sweet Potato Pie

The origins of this dish will no doubt surprise you as it did me. George Washington Carver, yes, that widely prolific scientist and inventor from the early 20th century, came up with a recipe for sweet potato pie (along with more than 100 other uses for the vegetable including postage stamp glue). But Charlestonian Dr. Melvin Brown cites his mother’s recipe as the one that graces his holiday table.

“The original recipe credit probably should be given to my grandmother, Ruth Blacknall, but this version belongs to my dearly departed mother, Juanita Brown, who was born in McClellanville, but grew up in Charleston," Brown said.

He explains that Grandma Ruthie was a Southern matron who knew her way around the kitchen. Her daughter, Juanita, was a chemistry teacher who took a pass on medical school to get married instead. “The story goes: one holiday, after watching my father gorge himself on his mother’s home-cooking, it dawned upon my mother that perhaps he was not a fan of her creations. So, she sought out Grandma Ruthie’s help on how to best her mother-in-law’s cooking.”

Using her keen chemist’s eye to out-modify the recipes her husband loved, she won him over. Her son is a devoted fan. “My mother’s cooking was indeed better. Her sweet potato pie was neither oversweet nor bland. I’m told her modifications from Ruthie’s methods were the incorporation of brown, not just white, sugar, and the addition of nutmeg.”

The recipe was passed on to Brown's sister and then to his daughter, Lilly, whom he said has done a “fabulous job of recreating this childhood memory over the past two years!”

“This ain’t Martha Stewart, so get your pie shells in the freezer section of your local market,” Dr. Brown notes.

PIE FILLING INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large, sweet potato
• ½ cup melted butter
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Boil the potato for 45-50 minutes or roast at 425℉ for 40-50 minutes. Peel and mash when done.

Using a hand mixer, incorporate all the other ingredients. Fill the pie shell(s) and bake in oven preheated to 350℉. Once done, a knife inserted should come out clean (45-55 minutes).

Chess Pie

The stories behind the name for this sweet dish are fascinating. It has absolutely nothing to do with the game. Starting in England, hundreds of years ago, pies with a heavy custard were kept unrefrigerated in a ‘chest’ where it got better with age. ‘Chest’ gets us fairly close to ‘chess.’ Another version originates in Alabama where a freed slave who sold pies for a living described it as “‘jes pie.” For Amy Murrell, a transplant from Mississippi nearly 20 years ago, Chess Pie has been in her family for four generations.

“My husband Kyle’s grandmother, Weezy Morris, would make this recipe that was handed down to her from her mother-in-law,” Murrell explained. “Kyle and I started dating in high-school and at family functions, for as long as I could remember, we had chess pie. I even remember his triple cousins writing about it as their favorite recipe in kindergarten. Weezy Morris was originally from Louisiana and was a great cook. Now it’s a staple in our household every Thanksgiving or Christmas (we rotate it with a coconut pie), and my own kids love it.” The recipe that follows is from Weezy Morris.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp cornmeal
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

INSTRCUTIONS

Beat the egg yolks with ¾ cup of sugar.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and remaining sugar. Add the flour and cornmeal and beat well.

Add the egg mixture to the creamed butter.

Add the lemon juice to the milk. This may curdle but it does not matter.

Mix everything together, including the vanilla and beat out any lumps. Bake at 350℉ in an unbaked pie shell for 45 minutes or until done (brown and set).