There simply isn’t any place quite like the American South during the late summer and early autumn. The woods, fields, and gardens of the area are bountiful in their offerings. The clean sweetness of cotton fills the air while a green, dustiness wafts in occasionally from the peanut picking. Wild game is out and about getting ready for the upcoming winter as fish jump about in the creeks, rivers, bayous, and bays. It is a serene atmosphere of dynamic diversity in motion.
One way to capture the true taste of autumn in the South is with a harvest salad. This salad is a combination of Southern living at its finest mixing gardening with foraging. Moreover, it marries some of the lesser known aspects of the Old South with the New South. Usually served as a side, this end of year salad especially pairs well with the intense and pronounced flavors of wild caught fish and wild game. It also goes well with a fine homemade Southern wine.
Southern Harvest Salad
1 Florida Sand Pear (Any Variety)
¼ Cup White Balsamic Vinegar
¼ Cup Cottonseed Oil
1 Head Romaine Lettuce
Seeds from 2 Pomegranates
1 Cup Grapevine Shoots
¼ Cup Pecan Halves
¼ Cup Raw Peanuts
¼ Cup Sugarcane Juice
1 Florida Naval Orange (Supremed)
1 Cup Smilax Shoots
¼ Cup Duckweed (Optional)
½ Cup Shredded Parmesan
¼ Tsp Sea Salt (Plus Reserve)
¼ Cup Thinly Sliced Pumpkin Squares
1 Cup Sugar (Plus Reserve)
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Water
Oil
Take the sand pear and put it in a blender until it is liquefied. Add in the white balsamic vinegar, half the pomegranate seeds, the cottonseed oil, and salt. Pulse the mixture again until liquefied and then pour through a fine mesh sieve into a mason jar. Place a lid on the mason jar and put the dressing in the refrigerator for later usage. Next, take a heavy bottomed skillet and add ½ cup of sugar with the water. Turn the heat onto high and stir well with a wooden spoon. When a light amber color add in the pecans and butter and cook for about two to three minutes. Take a metal bowl and place the remaining sugar in it. Turn off the heat and retrieve the pecans with a slotted spoon. Drop the individual halves into the sugar and quickly shake and coat. Use reserve sugar if you have to. Retrieve the candy coated halves from the sugar and place on a cookie sheet to cool. From there, take a heavy bottomed pot and to that add about a cup to two cups of oil. When the oil is 375°F carefully place the green peanuts into the oil to fry. When they float and are golden brown, retrieve them with a slotted spoon or brass spider and let them drain on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Lightly dust the peanuts with sea salt. Next, take the pumpkin slices (about ¼ inch thick by 1 inch square) and place them into hot oil. When they float to the top and are golden brown, treat them like the peanuts by retrieving, draining, and salting them. As the peanuts and pumpkin cools, take the romaine lettuce and chop it into 1 ½ inch sections. In a large bowl, toss the chopped romaine with the (optional) duckweed and the shoots from the grape vines and the smilax vines. Toss in the cooled candy covered pecans, the fried peanuts, the fried pumpkin, the pomegranate seeds, the naval orange supremes, and the cheese. Retrieve the mason jar of dressing and shake well. Pour that over the salad and toss.
