Unmistakably Southern
But Definitely Delta

Martha Hall Foose shares excerpts from her new book Screen Doors and Sweet Tea Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook

Lunch Counter Egg Salad Sandwich
Ode to Waxed Paper

The egg salad sandwiches at two of my favorite soda fountains, Brent’s Drugs and (Miss Eudora Welty’s favorite) Parkin’s Pharmacy, come neatly wrapped in waxed paper, which seems a little retro these days, what with press-and-seals and zips and locks. Truth is, waxed paper is quite handy. It has myriad uses and is pretty cheap. I like unwrapping a sandwich that’s been carefully folded in waxed paper. It has a nostalgic quality and it keeps the sandwiches ever so fresh. Serves 4
4 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and coarsely chopped
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 tablespoon finely chopped pimiento- stuffed olives
1/2 cup mayonnaise, preferably Homemade
8 slices Good Sandwich Loaf,
lightly toasted
4 iceberg lettuce leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a medium bowl, with a rubber spatula, combine the eggs, celery, olives, and mayonnaise.
Divide the salad among four slices of toast. Top each with a lettuce leaf and some salt and pepper. Cover with an additional slice of toast. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to eat, for up to 4 hours.

Tomato Soup
Reminder of Summer Solstice

Around June 21, the longest day of the year marks the beginning of summer. It’s at this time in my area that the first of the good tomatoes start coming in.
When local vine-ripened tomatoes are at a good price, or the homegrown ones have accumulated on the windowsill, investing less than an hour of those long afternoons in a batch of soup and depositing it in the freezer to withdraw in the dead of winter is a fine idea. Serves 4
3 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 9 globe or 24 plum), stemmed, halved, and seeded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium white onion, chopped
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 teaspoons chopped oregano
Preheat the broiler.
Place the tomatoes cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes, or until the skins begin to char and burst. Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, remove the charred skins.
Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and then the onion. Cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender but not brown. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes have cooked down. Season with the salt, pepper, and sugar and add the basil and oregano. Serve immediately, or remove from the heat and cool completely before storing in the refrigerator or freezer.

Darkness on the Delta
Cool Bittersweet Dessert

The lyrics to “Darkness on the Delta” are painted on the risers of the stairs that come down into my home kitchen. The wall next to the old barrel-house piano off the living room is papered with faded copies of sheet music for the song by Mildred Bailey; Author Tracy, “Street Singer of the Air”; Paul Whiteman’s Rhythm Boys (No, I did not make that name up); Ambrose and his Mayfair Orchestra; and Yazoo City’s own Herbie Holmes and his Orchestra. If this flood plain had an anthem, this song would be it. As the song drifts to a conclusion, it trails off with the aspiration “When it’s darkness on the delta, let me linger ’neath the shelter of the night.”
This deep, dark-as-night fudgy dessert is a cool ending to a dinner party on a starry evening. Serves 8
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2⁄3 cup whole milk
1⁄3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Bourbon
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving
Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
Put the chocolate in a large bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk, 1⁄3 cup granulated sugar, and a little nutmeg to a simmer. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Slowly whisk in half of the milk mixture. Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens; about 5 minutes. Do not boil.
Pour the hot mixture over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the butter a little at a time, and then add the vanilla and Bourbon. Whisk until the mixture is very smooth.
Spray a 6-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray, and line with plastic wrap. Scrape the mixture into the pan and smooth with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours.
When ready to serve, invert the cake onto a serving plate and remove the plastic wrap. Dust with cocoa and confectioners’ sugar.
See www.marthafoose.com for more information.