Mmmmmm …. it’s Southern nibbles time!

My fetish for all things edible and Southern continues unabated following the Martha Stewart-esque wedding I attended in Charleston earlier this year (check out the pics here and here). So when I had my sister, her boyfriend and some old friends from Newie coming over for drinks and nibbles last Sunday I decided to head South yet again.

My sister texted asking what she could bring and I initially just said “grog” but she asked again more forcefully, so I thought, what the hell, and asked for brownies. Possibly way too specific, but I figure you can do that with family. Especially when they’re all too familiar with the pathological control freak you are.

I figured brownies were close enough to in-theme and would go down a treat with the eight children attending. And they did. Nice work, sis!

Then I got to work on buffalo wings, dips in bread cobs, homemade lemonade, popcorn and pretzels (ok, I bought the last two), while Husband was sent to Dan Murphy’s for bourbon (to turn the adult lemonade into “bourbonade”) and Budweiser beer.

And a fun time was had by all. Especially Husband and I, since we didn’t have to drive.

Here are some of the recipes … some old, some new, some borrowed (none blue) …

Recipe: Homemade lemonade/bourbonade

4 lemons, quartered

1.5 litres boiling water

4 tablespoons caster sugar

METHOD (LEMONADE): Place lemons in a large heat-proof bowl. Sprinkle with sugar. Pour over boiling water. Allow to cool for 90 minutes. Remove lemons. Refrigerate water until chilled. Serve with lots of ice cubes. (BOURBONADE) Add bourbon to taste … possibly would be extra-yummy if you whipped all the ice, alcohol and lemonade in a blender – sort of like a Charleston-style frozen margarita.

Recipe: Buffalo wings with blue-cheese dressing

12 whole chicken wings, separated at the joint, tips removed (Woolies does chicken niblets in trays that take all the hard work out of this bit)
20g butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup Nando’s mild peri-peri sauce (or the hot type if your kids can hack it)

Blue cheese dressing

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

100gm blue cheese, crumble

METHOD: Bring a few cups of water to the boil in large saucepan with a steamer. Place the wings into the steamer, cover and steam for 10 minutes. Remove wings and pat dry. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 200C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Roast wings for 20 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 20 minutes, until golden brown.

While the chicken is roasting, make blue cheese dressing by mixing together buttermilk, yoghurt, lemon juice and blue cheese. Then melt the butter, garlic and peri peri sauce in microwave. Stir. Remove wings from the oven and toss with the sauce. Serve warm with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Recipe: Bacon & corn dip baked in a cob

3 rashers of bacon, rind and excess fat removed

1 onion, finely chopped

olive oil

3 shallots, chopped

440g can creamed corn

300g carton sour cream

1 round cob of bread

1 cup grated tasty cheese, plus extra to sprinkle on top

chopped green herbs to garnish (I forgot that sexy bit)

METHOD: Chop bacon and saute in a heavy based pan. Push to one side and saute onions and shallots until softened. Pour sour cream, creamed corn and cheese into a bowl, add bacon mixture and stir to combine. Season to taste. Cut the top off the cob and tear into chunks. Hollow out the cob. Pour in the bacon and corn mixture. Place on a tray surrounded by bread chunks. Bake for 30 minutes until cob is toasted and mixture is bubbly. Serve sprinkled with herbs. Remind guests that the bowl is edible and that they should rip pieces off the side when the chunks of bread run out.

Recipe: Chilli crab dip baked in a cob

1 block of cream cheese, softened

1 small onion, minced

6 drops of Tabasco (or chilli sauce of choice)

2 cans of crab meat, drained (or 1 tub of crabmeat from the fridge section of the supermarket if you’re feeling flush)

flaked almonds

1 cob loaf, top sliced off and hollowed out (put the chunks of bread to one side)

METHOD: Pre-heat oven to 180C. Mix the cream cheese, onion, Tabasco and crab meat together. Pour into the hollowed out cob. Spinkle with flaked almonds. Place on a tray with bread chunks. Bake until almonds and chunks of bread are golden. Serve.