BY ANN CIPPERLY
OPINION —
Nestled in a country setting with dense forest and dirt roads outside Opelika, Peggy Dodd’s home is a reflection of her two main interests: cooking and sewing. In the kitchen, cast iron and copper skillets that once belonged to her mother and grandmother decorate a wall. Peggy uses the pans for preparing hearty comfort food for her family.
During Peggy’s childhood, the family lived in Fort Worth, Texas, where she was born, and then moved to several places over the next few years, including Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Georgia. When she was 17 years old, the family moved to Auburn, when her father, Arvle Marshall, began teaching at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Her mother and grandmother were both good cooks and influenced Peggy. Her mother had a big vegetable and herb garden every year, and Peggy learned to use herbs to enhance dishes. Her mother would find a vegetable she wasn’t familiar with, such as jicama, and grow it in the garden. The family tried a wide variety of vegetables.
Her mother enjoyed gardening so much that if a vegetable in the kitchen started to sprout, she planted it in the garden.
Peggy met her husband, Terry, at Auburn. After he graduated from Auburn University with a degree in chemistry, they moved to Sandersville, Georgia. Terry worked for different companies over the years, including West Point Stevens. They then moved back to Georgia with their four sons, Will, David, C.J. and Eli.
When Terry passed away in 2015, their youngest son was 15 years old. After Eli graduated from high school, Peggy returned to Opelika to be near her parents.
Peggy’s parents were living in a restored 1850s house that had been moved from Oak Bowery to Second Avenue near where Burger King is located. The house was moved again to the country in Opelika on 30 acres. The house was partially restored when her parents purchased it, and they finished the renovation.
Arvle built a house for Peggy next door to them a couple hundred yards away. Peggy sketched how she wanted the house to look, with a big front porch and lots of windows throughout. Arvle built the kitchen cabinets and performed much of the finishing work as he worked with the contractor.
Peggy wanted a home that felt like an older house, with ten foot ceilings and rich moulding. The largest room in the house is her sewing studio, where she enjoys working on her other hobby.
Two of her sons, C.J. and Will, live nearby on the family compound. Eli lives in Ball Ground, Georgia, while David lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. She also has a grandchild. Since her mother passed away, Peggy cooks dinner nightly for her father, C.J. and Will, as well as friends joining them.
Peggy is sharing recipes she has cooked for her family over the years. She has adapted them over time.
“When I find a recipe I want to try, I’ll make it one time exactly as written,” Peggy said. “Then I’ll make notes to adapt it, adding more garlic and less of one ingredient or another. I have altered all the recipes.”
The Beef Stew Pie with Blue Cheese Crust is one of her favorites, and her sons always request it. It is similar to a beef stew with a bottle of stout or red wine added. Peggy adapted the crust by using rolled Pillsbury Pie Crusts and blue cheese crumbles.
Peggy places the blue cheese between two pie crusts and rolls it out, folds it in quarters and then rolls the pastry out again. The crust is placed on top of the stew and baked. The stew is also good with plain pastry or without any crust.
She often doubles recipes and freezes the extra dish for later, especially when she makes lasagna. The meat sauce can be used on spaghetti or any pasta dish. She makes Focaccia bread to serve with Italian dishes.
Among her other dishes are five recipes for chicken, including Chicken and Rice Casserole, Chicken and Vegetable Soup, Chicken and Dressing and others.
Peggy and her father are both involved in the Lions Club of Auburn. Peggy arranges the annual banquet the Lions host every summer with spouses. She also enjoys singing in the choir at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Opelika.
Peggy is looking forward to cooler weather and being in the kitchen cooking her hearty comfort dishes for her family. Clip and save the recipes for treating your family during the fall and winter months.
BEEF STEW PIE WITH BLUE CHEESE CRUST
Can prepare the stew with pie crust without cheese or without any pie crust.
3 lbs. stew meat or chuck roast cut into 1-inch chunks
½ cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cups sliced cremini or shiitake mushrooms
2 lbs. red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cups sliced carrots
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 cups beef stock
1 Tbsp. beef base (Better Than Bouillon)
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
1 bottle Guinness dark stout, dark beer or half as much red wine
For pie crust:
2 uncooked pie crusts (I use Pillsbury, or you can use your favorite recipe)
8 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
Mix together salt and pepper (maybe a tsp. of each) in flour. Toss meat in flour mixture to coat well. Set aside.
In a large oven-safe pot, cook onions and mushrooms in a little oil until onions are translucent and mushrooms have cooked down a little. Transfer into a bowl and add a little oil back to the pot.
Brown meat in oil, 1 lb. at a time. Between batches, add a little water and scrape up bits stuck to the bottom, then pour into a bowl with the cooked meat.
When all the meat is cooked, put it and onion/mushroom mixture back in the pot and add everything except stout. Cover and simmer low for about 90 minutes. Add beer and keep simmering, covered for another 30 minutes or so.
You can also cook this low and slow in an oven at 300 degrees for several hours. Just seal the top tightly with foil and put the pot lid on top.
While that is cooking, make the pie crust:
Sprinkle one pie crust with blue cheese and top with the second one. Roll out rather thin, then fold over in quarters and roll out again, making a crust a bit bigger than the pot. When stew is done, and about 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve it, top stew with pie crust. Bake at 375 until the crust is brown. You can make the crust ahead of time, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
You can transfer the stew into individual sized oven-safe bowls and top with pie crust cut into rounds to fit the top of each bowl.
If you don’t like blue cheese, just top with a plain crust, or leave it off and serve as a stew. It freezes really well.
CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE
Meat from half of rotisserie chicken, chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups brown or white rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Table Blend seasoning or your favorite seasoning
Salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly grease/spray/oil two 8 x 8-inch casserole dishes or a 9 x 13-inch pan.
Mix together soup, sour cream and seasoning well. Mix in chicken and peas, then add rice. Salt to your taste. You can use your favorite seasoning blend.
Bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
CHICKEN AND DRESSING
I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and make it every Thanksgiving.
1 recipe buttermilk biscuits, stale
1 recipe buttermilk cornbread, stale
1 whole chicken (or 1 rotisserie chicken)
6 cups chicken stock (two 32 oz. cartons are 8 cups)
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 dozen boiled eggs, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Buttermilk biscuits:
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups (more or less) self-rising flour
1/3 cup Crisco
Cut Crisco into flour until it’s the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Stir in buttermilk to make a good dough. Don’t work it too much. Pat out into a 9 x 9-inch square and cut into squares. Put them on a greased cookie sheet, not touching, and bake at 400 until browned. Do this a couple of days before making the dressing.
Buttermilk cornbread:
Follow the recipe on a bag of cornbread mix. Do this a couple of days before making the dressing.
For the dressing:
Boil chicken in a pot of water for an hour or so until it’s cooked through. Take it out and let it cool in a large bowl.
Remove meat from chicken and chop. (Save bones to make stock later on). Chop boiled eggs. Cook onion and celery in a skillet with a little oil until translucent; add them to chopped chicken.
Crumble biscuits and cornbread into chicken mixture. Can add about a tablespoon of poultry seasoning or salt and pepper, if desired. Mix everything together well. Pour in chicken broth and mix it well. The mixture should be wet. If it’s dry, add more broth.
Put the dressing into two deep baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees until it’s browning on top and bubbly.
You can freeze this for later. I usually bake one pan and freeze one.
CHICKEN SOUP WITH VEGETABLES
2 quarts chicken stock
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs or 2 breasts, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 fennel bulb, cut in ½ and sliced thin
1 turnip, quartered and sliced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
½ cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced
½ cup orzo pasta, cooked
2 generous handfuls of baby arugula, washed
In a large pot, brown chicken pieces in a little oil, then add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Pour in chicken stock and add carrots, celery, fennel and turnips. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes. Taste it and add salt and pepper to your liking.
Add peas, green beans and tomatoes and simmer until peas and green beans are cooked but still bright green. To serve, put a generous spoonful of orzo pasta in a bowl and ladle soup on top. Add a handful of arugula and serve.
Note: You can adjust vegetables however you like. Use potatoes or rice instead of pasta. Leave out something you don’t like. Add something else you do like. Use fresh chopped tomatoes instead of sundried. If you add canned diced tomatoes, drain them first. Use dried Italian seasoning blend instead of oregano. Use meat from a rotisserie chicken instead of thighs or breasts. It’s a very forgiving recipe.
DRESSING FOR POTATO SALAD OR COLESLAW
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. white sugar
Put everything in a pint jar and shake until well mixed.
It makes enough for one bag of coleslaw mix or 2 lbs. of cooked potatoes.
To make potato salad:
2 lbs. red potatoes, cut into chunks, cooked and cooled
3 eggs, boiled and chopped
3 green onions, sliced thin, including tops
2 stalks celery, cut in ½ lengthwise and sliced thin
¼ tsp. celery seed
1 recipe of dressing
Mix everything together and chill.
MEATLOAF WITH VENISON OR BEEF AND PORK
1 cup fine breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. Italian Herb Seasoning Blend (or 1 tsp. each dried oregano, thyme, parsley)
1 lb. ground venison or lean ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
Topping Choices:
8 strips bacon, cut in half, or Ketchup and Mustard Sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
You will need two loaf pans, or a 9 x 13-inch casserole pan.
Combine breadcrumbs, eggs, milk and seasonings in a large bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so to let breadcrumbs soften. Mix in meats and vegetables until well blended.
Form mixture into bread pans or make 1 large long loaf in a casserole dish. If not using the Ketchup and Mustard Sauce, lay bacon strips on top of each loaf. Bake for an hour or until a meat thermometer reads 175 degrees.
Ketchup and Mustard Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup yellow or Dijon mustard
Mix ingredients together. About 20 minutes before the meatloaf is done, top each one with half the sauce.
Note:
The addition of the carrots and celery make the meatloaf really moist. I finely chop them in a food processor. You can also add bell pepper if you like that.
ROASTED CHICKEN WITH RICE
1 whole chicken, make note of the weight
1 lemon, cut in quarters
Olive oil
Mrs. Dash Table Blend seasoning or your favorite blend
Kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Put quartered lemon into the cavity of the chicken.
Coat the outside of the chicken in olive oil, and generously sprinkle seasoning and salt over the chicken. If the seasoning has salt in the blend, don’t add extra salt.
Put chicken on a roasting rack over a roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes per lb. of chicken (a 5 lb. chicken cooks for one hour). It will smoke, so you might want to have the fan on. After it has cooked, let the chicken rest for another 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Cook your favorite rice. I like to use a wild rice blend. Use the schmaltz (roasted chicken fat) and juices that collected in the roasting pan under chicken to season the rice before serving it, if desired. Just pour it in while the rice is cooking. Serves four to six.
LASAGNA
1 box of oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 recipe of meat sauce, recipe follows
1 recipe of cheese filling
8 oz. pkg. whole milk mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Meat Sauce:
1 lb. of ground beef or ground venison
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, don’t drain
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes, don’t drain
2 Tbsp. minced fresh basil
2 Tbsp. minced fresh oregano (or 2 tsp. of each herb, dried)
Salt and pepper to taste.
¼ cup dry red wine, optional
Brown meat and onions together until meat is no longer pink and onions are translucent, add garlic and cook for another minute or so. Don’t let the garlic brown, as that will make it bitter.
Then pour in tomatoes and stir in herbs. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Simmer for about 30 minutes, covered and on low. Stir in red wine, if using, and cook for another 10 minutes.
Cheese Filling:
16 oz. carton of ricotta cheese
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
1 egg
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
Assembling Lasagna:
Lightly oil a 9 x 13-inch casserole pan. Put a ladle full of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan and spread to thinly coat. Add a single layer of lasagna noodles (It’s ok to break a few to cover the bottom of the pan.)
Spread sauce to cover noodles well. Drop spoonfuls of ricotta cheese on sauce and spread to make a layer. Repeat a layer of noodles, sauce, then cheese filling until pan is full and all have been used.
Cover top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Bake at 375 degrees until the cheese starts to brown and is bubbly. Let cool for 10 minutes or so before serving.
CROCKPOT 40-CLOVE GARLIC CHICKEN
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 yellow onion, sliced
4 stalks of celery, cut into 4 inch pieces
4 long pieces of fresh tarragon, or 2 Tbsp. whole dried tarragon
Salt and pepper
½ cup white wine
3 heads of garlic, broken into cloves, unpeeled
In a crockpot, put sliced onion, celery on top and tarragon on top of celery. Place chicken pieces in one layer on top. Salt and pepper chicken to taste.
Pour white wine around chicken, being careful not to wash off seasoning.
Tuck garlic cloves around chicken pieces.
Cover the crockpot tightly with foil and put the lid on. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours. Serve with rice. The garlic is delicious smeared on pieces of French bread or focaccia.
