Tyson also will be signing at McIntyre’s Fine Books in Fearrington Village at 2 p.m. Sunday, and at the Southwest Durham Regional Library, 3605 Shannon Road, at 3 p.m. Sept. 25.
By Cliff Bellamy
cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744
Years ago, when I used to bike around Durham, I had two favorite routes. The shorter route took me through Hope Valley. The other, more extended, route took me from Chapel Hill Road to Morehead Avenue to Buchanan Boulevard, and eventually to Ninth Street.
The different neighborhoods along these two routes shared something in common – the same smells of the same good Southern food cooking during late afternoon or early evening.
That love of Southern cooking inspired Stephanie L. Tyson and her partner and co-owner Vivián Joiner to open their restaurant Sweet Potatoes in Winston-Salem in 2003. Now Tyson has written a book with some of the restaurant’s dishes, “Well, Shut My Mouth! The Sweet Potatoes Restaurant Cookbook” (John F. Blair, Publisher). Tyson will be giving several demonstrations and readings locally (see info box).
In her introduction to the book, Tyson writes that she learned cooking first from her grandmother Ora Porter, “the best cook I ever knew,” whose cooking was “a pinch of this and a pinch of that.”
Southern food “is comforting. It’s basic, and it seems to cross the racial divide,” Tyson said in a phone interview. “That’s the one thing we have in common in the South … which is why our restaurant is so diverse, because people have food in common, and it’s the thing that brings everybody together.”
Tyson and Joiner divide duties at Sweet Potatoes, located on Trade Street in the arts district in Winston-Salem. Tyson takes care of the kitchen. Joiner takes care of the business side, as well as presenting the food to customers “in a way that is worthy of the passion [Tyson] puts into each menu item,” Joiner writes in her foreword to the book.
While they are proud of the restaurant’s Southern stamp, their food draws on their wide ranging travels and experience with different cuisines. They come from different backgrounds. Tyson grew up in Winston-Salem. Joiner hails from Washington, D.C., but her father is from the Hilton Head Island area of South Carolina, and some of the recipes (like the one for Gullah Gullah Stew) reflect that family history, Tyson writes.
Tyson first studied to be a singer and actress, and after seven years in New York, went back home, before moving to Washington. There she went to culinary school at Baltimore International College, and also met Joiner. Their food travels took them as far west as Arizona. They spent three years in Key West, where Tyson writes that she got inspired to be more creative in her food.
Tyson also worked in Mediterranean, French and other cuisines, and that experience comes through in their recipes. One example from the restaurant menu is Spaghetti with a Drawl, which has Creole sauce, smoked sausage, country ham and chicken tenders.
When they opened Sweet Potatoes, the first restaurant in the arts district, they wanted to open a place that, in Joiner’s words, “would give a sense of comfort.” Tyson said it is common to see customers doing the I’ll-have-what-she’s-having method of ordering, and even sharing tastes of food.
Tyson said that while she appreciates different cuisines, she is glad to see Southerners claiming their common food heritage. “God bless Paula Deen for giving us back our drawl,” Tyson said. Bagels are good, but there’s “nothing wrong with a biscuit or a little cornbread, and if it’s got a little crackling, that’s OK, too,” she said.
Banana Pudding
Serves 8 to 10.
In the restaurant, we make these in individual serving cups. My grandmother would make me one individual serving in a big ole bowl (which explains my hips)!
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
approximately 1 pound ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
Vanilla Cookies (recipe below)
whipped cream
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs and yolks well and add the sugar and flour. Pour in the milk and place over a pan of boiling water; the pan should be just wide enough to hold the bowl without its being submerged in the water. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until the pudding starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. In a 9-by-13-inch casserole (or your favorite bowl), layer sliced bananas. Top with Vanilla Cookies. Repeat for an additional two layers, ending in a layer of bananas. Pour the pudding over the bananas and wafers, then top with a final layer of cookies. Chill and top with whipped cream.
Vanilla Cookies
⅓ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the beaten egg and milk. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts and the salt. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix until smooth. Refrigerate for half an hour.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out very thinly. Cut dough with a floured 2-inch round cutter and place on a greased sheet tray. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool.
— From “Well, Shut My Mouth! The Sweet Potatoes Restaurant Cookbook,” by Stephanie Tyson (John F. Blair, Publisher)
Pimento Cheese
Makes 4 cups
A Southern classic.
2 cups mayonnaise
4-ounce package cream cheese
1½ tablespoons onion powder
1½ teaspoons granulated garlic
1¼ teaspoons paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon sugar
½ cup grated white cheddar cheese
2 cups grated yellow cheddar cheese
¾ cup diced pimentos, rinsed
Combine the mayonnaise and cream cheese in a mixer until smooth. Add the onion powder, garlic, paprika, cayenne, salt, white pepper and sugar. Mix until combined, then fold in the cheeses until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the pimentos.
Serving suggestion: Use as an elegant dip in your most festive dish with crudités, or use in a sandwich on white toast with a piece of perfectly charred fried bologna.
— From “Well, Shut My Mouth! The Sweet Potatoes Restaurant Cookbook,” by Stephanie Tyson (John F. Blair, Publisher)
