Soul food has long nourished  cash strapped African American families through generations. From slavery to today. But with the popularity of fast food, the  once popular comfort food experience a slump in popularity for the past decade. But with the current economic woes, this popular southern cuisine is making a quiet comeback. With more cash-strapped families battered by the recession and the higher cost to eat, more families choose to prepare meals at home to save money. A University of Californian study revealed the average family of four can save over 53% off their monthly eating bill simply by preparing meals at home instead of eating out.

Soul food has the reputation of not only filling bellies, but staying with you longer. Such dishes as collard greens, black-eyed peas, southern candied yams and pinto beans have a long heritage as stick-to-your ribs dishes that has stood the test of time. More families are going back to these menu items not only for their staying power but for their low cost. For example a pound of dried beans cost an average of 79 cents a pound compared to a can of beans that cost $2.59 or purchase at a popular fast food establishment for $3.00 plus tax. This small example, gives you a glimpse of the money savings of cooking more meals at home.

This popular southern cuisine has brought many generation of African Americans through hard times and lean budgets. The popular comfort food continues to make a strong comeback, not only among African Americans, but through many non-African Americans. Free soul food recipe sites, along with cookbooks continue to grow in popularity. Cooking shows, videos and classes are starting to grow to meet the demand of a hungry public interested in preparing more meals at home.

Yes, cooking is making a strong comeback and soul food is in the middle of it. Such popular recipes as barbecue chicken and ribs, peach cobbler, southern candied yams, collard greens, black eye peas and sock-it-to-me-cake continue to grow in demand.  More people not only find cooking meals at home saves money, they’re also finding a new creative side coming out. Many are going a step farther and enrolling in cooking classes and even cooking school.

Here’s an interesting take on a fancy-schmancy recipe. Let’s turn it into Party Food!

If you’re not familiar with Bonefish Grill, it is a moderately expensive “fancy dining” seafood and steak place. Bang Bang Shrimp is referred to on their menu as a “house specialty appetizer” and I understand they sell a lot of them.

It is very good as an appetizer, but who eats appetizers at home? Not me or my friends. Not before meals anyway.

What we do eat are appetizers as party foods. Take this with you next time and I guarantee you will be the hit of the party.

Okay let’s adapt it for a party.

First off — Let’s Simplify Your Life

This recipe calls for breaded shrimp. You can bread shrimp if you want — but I have better things to do with my time. Just buy some breaded shrimp.

Buy some chicken wings while your at it. This sauce is excellent on wings and they are always good party food. These can be breaded or naked. The sauce is excellent on both.

Crank up the heat in the sauce a bit. This is not a family dinner — This is a party! Oh, okay, I’ll crank it up for you.

First the “appetizer” version…

Bone Fish Grill’s Bang Bang Sauce - Original

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise (I always use Dukes ‘cuz I’m from the South and it’s Goooood. You use whatever brand you like.)
• 4 teaspoons Chili Garlic Sauce (find this in the Chinese section of your grocery or in a Oriental Market)
• 1 teaspoon granulated Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Rice Vinegar

That’s it for the original recipe. Pretty simple and delicious. But for a party I recommend:

• Increase the Chili Garlic Sauce to 8 teaspoons or more.
• Add 3 teaspoons minced Garlic (or 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder)
• Chop some Peanuts and Onion Greens to sprinkle on top.

Now taste it.

If it’s still not hot enough, go wild and throw in some good hot sauce.

Directions (for either version):

1. Precook the wings and shrimp WITHOUT the sauce.
2. Mix up the Sauce.
3. Put the wings and shrimp in one bowl and the sauce in another and go to the party (or set aside for dinner.) Make sure you take a big platter with you (or have one for home.)
4. Toss the shrimp and wings in the sauce and place on the platter.
5. Enjoy the compliments.
6. Be careful reaching for a shrimp or wing — you might lose a finger! They are THAT good!

If you can, heat the sauce slightly before tossing with the shrimp and wings. If not, it’s okay. They are just as good at room temperature.

We may the first people living in the UK to have a BBQ in 2009 having had 2 BBQs this weekend, the first of which was the spring equinox (21st March). Be good to hear from anyone who has been BBQ’ing throughout the winter months as I know some of you do but I reckon I stand a chance to be on the cooking edge. I just love the freedom and taste that indirect cooking gives you when cooking your favourite Sunday Roast BBQ style! Use marinades and basting to give a whole Chicken, Leg of lamb or Beef joint your own personal touch. If you are planning dinner parties, social gatherings or BBQs with friends this summer then read on and save yourself a lot of the hassle that can be associated with BBQs

Cooking Roasts with your Weber BBQ - simply the best!

Indirect cooking allows you to cook perfect Roasts on the BBQ; it’s a technique that allows for very slow cooking of large joints of meat but with the most perfect skin, crisp and tasty.

A benefit is also that the host can enjoy the social aspect of a BBQ more although many a traditionalist will miss the “men round the BBQ, getting smoked out, playing with fire and tending to their meat” picture that many of us associate with a good old Barbeque.

For this type of BBQ cooking you need to have a BBQ with a lid, so a Charcoal Barrel BBQ or a Weber or Gas BBQ. The BBQ is going to act like a convection oven to cook the food slowly. No part of the meat sits above the flames but instead a heat proof container is sat above the hot coals and the meat sits above a drip tray to catch all the fat and ensure there are no flames.

The water container ensures the temperature is moderated and that the cooking chamber stays moist - we want that joint to be nice and juicy still!

Use an oven thermometer, ideally one with a 3-4 foot cord, to check the temperature is right in the cooking chamber - open the lid while cooking if you want but I can guarantee that all it will do is add 15 minutes to your cooking time! I promise, been there done it and have the t-shirt!

Charcoal BBQ - 2 options for indirect cooking.

The diagram shows the layout that we described above, the first option builds a wall of charcoal at the back of the BBQ or to either side. The second option creates a no charcoal area in the centre of the BBQ and banks of Charcoal around the edges of the BBQ.

Lighting the BBQ - use a Charcoal chimney for the best results

The idea of this type of BBQ cooking is to cook things slowly, very slowly and if you light them right you can extend your cooking time to 12-14 hours. Light half of the charcoal in the charcoal chimney, once they go white place them on top of the rest of the unlit charcoal that you have placed inside the BBQ. If you want a bit of that Smokey flavour then sprinkle some wood chips on the BBQ, be gentle though and ideally soak them overnight to stop them catching light and burning the meat.

Indirect Cooking with a Gas Barbeque.

The above process is pretty easy when using a Gas BBQ as you can simply turn off the back or either side burner. There is no need to use the drip tray but you will need the water container to ensure the cooking environment remains moist.

Gold Nuggets. Brown Mice. Crispets. Sound familiar? They should; you used to eat them! If you take a moment to remember your childhood days, spent frolicking in playgrounds and going to your local candy shop, then the memories will come rushing back to you. Retro sweets used to comprise part of your daily meals, and you probably never got tired of them. However, just as everything changes, eventually these candies became obsolete and were replaced by new brands that will never be as dear to you. If you feel your mouth-watering, and you have the sudden urge to buy those old candies, then do not fret, because, believe it or not, they are still available for purchase!

All you have to do is find a supplier, whether offline or online, and before you know it, you will have a bag of freshly-made, traditional candies sitting right in front of you. Although some brands are truly no longer sold today, you can find solace in eating some of the other familiar retro sweets.

How about some White Chocolate Fish and Chips? This creamy white chocolate variant of the popular British meal has always tickled your taste buds and will still do so today. You might remember playing with the fish before actually eating them, or giving them out to your friends. Your mouth might be watering from the memory of holding that small sweet in your hand and then placing it in your mouth. Great, isn’t it?

Black Jacks may also sound familiar to you. Another brand of classic British sweets, they are aniseed-flavoured and chewy. Those black rectangles, despite their small size, could turn your tongue black in a matter of seconds. They may not be the best meal to munch on before going out on a date, but you will laugh with your friends as you compare your tongues, and unwrap more of these delicious candies.

Flying Saucers were another popular brand of retro sweets. The name is very fitting, for they truly did resemble colourful mini-flying saucers… No doubt that they still do! You can probably recall the lovely fruit flavoured sherbert in that wafer shell. Colorful and tangy, you will be munching on a candy that’s out of this world.

Remember Shrimps? Are you thinking of the animal, or the candy? If you are a true seventies or eighties child, you can probably recall Barratts Shrimps - the crustaceans that were soft chewy instead of shelled, and tasted like raspberry. You can still enjoy them today, for they are sold in boxes. You also have the option of buying the bigger version: Super Shrimps!

The Wham Bar is legendary among candies. Unfortunately, it cannot be found in most stores today. The good news is that you can still purchase them! An iconic part of the 80s period, Wham bars were some of the best-selling candies in any sweets shop, and you could never resist buying one to take home after school. That sweet raspberry flavour that made your tongue tingle is still as chew as it was back then, and you will still be able to experience the bits of fizzy things embedded in the bars.

Hungry yet? Then stock up on candies now and create new, old memories for the future!