SOUTHERN COOKING SIZZLES - The Mansion, situated on a full city block in Atlanta, was built in 1885. The High Victorian, Shingle Style home was once the residence of railroad builder Richard R. Peters. It now serves as an elegant restaurant where creative and unusual contemporary Southern cuisine gently flavored with chile is featured. Guests can enjoy a savory meal in one of the eleven unique dining nooks or in the courtyard lush with flora and budding flowers.
"The ornaments of a home are the friends who frequent it."
- Richard R. Peters, Atlanta, GA, 1885
Richard R. Peters was just 36 years old in 1946 when he journeyed from his native Philadelphia to Atlanta to start what was to become a flourishing railroad building business. Ten years later, using his newly accumulated wealth Peters purchased a 400-acre tract of prime land at the bargain price of $5 per acre. The land had initially been used for its timber value, providing fuel for a steam-powered flourmill. By this time, four of every nine persons in Georgia were slaves and about one-tenth of the people controlled nine-tenths of the wealth.
In 1861 Georgia banded with other Southern states in seceding from the United States to form the Confederate States of America. Peters remained in Atlanta throughout most of the Civil War (1861-65) and moved briefly to Augusta with his family in 1864 -the same year Union General William T. Sherman and his troops led a ruinous cavalcade through the state, burning factories, railroads, plantations, and much of Atlanta. The Confederacy surrendered in 1865, ending the war. Georgia gradually recovered during the Reconstruction years (1865-77) as new banks, businesses and railroads were established. During this period, Peters returned to Atlanta to rebuild his business. He also took a leading role in readmitting Georgia to the Union and was instrumental in gaining Atlanta as the State Capitol.
Just prior to his death (date unknown), Peters began construction of a High Victorian, Shingle Style mansion in 1885 on the property he had purchased years earlier. The elegant home flaunted a high-pitched roof, wrap around porches, and towers. Inside, each room was varied both in design and type of wood used - none of the rooms were rectangular but rather the scheme was small niches and recesses. Many rooms were embellished with tooled leather panels and elaborate gesso embossing. A stone hearth was inscribed with "The ornaments of a home are the friends who frequent it." The grounds, with sweeping cypresses, spouted fountains, a courtyard and gazebo, and gardens amassed with trillium, lady slippers, orchids, and Cherokee roses, which is the state flower.
Unfortunately, Peters died before the home was completed. Rather, it was his son, Edward who was the mansion's first resident. The estate remained in the Peters family until 1970 when it was sold at auction to Ponce de Leon Investors, LTD, who leased the house for the Annual Decorator's Showcase, and then for a brief time to a drug rehabilitation program. Several years later, the home was converted into an elegant restaurant, "The Mansion," which serves tasty New Southern style cuisine, many of which is made pungent with hot sauces and our endearing chile pepper pod.
At a recent conference in Atlanta, other attendees and I were treated to an extraordinary meal in one of The Mansion's opulent dining chambers. Tasty temptations included hearty slices of gently spiced beef tenderloin and roasted chicken breast hidden beneath a peach sauce, pecan rice, and for dessert - exquisite tasting keylime tarts on a bed of plump raspberries and lacy swirls of cream. If you travel to Atlanta, put The Mansion (located on Piedmont at North Avenue) on your schedule. And don't leave the Peach State without sampling their trademark peaches and pecans, either fresh or in recipes.
The culinary journal of the South is characterized, though not always recognized, by black people from Africa preparing meals for white people. Blacks introduced a wide variety of spicy ingredients (e.g. garlic, okra and vinegar). Until then, Southern cooking had been heavily influenced by the English - simple and often bland - white sauces, jelled and marinated cold vegetable melanges, and hunks of meat - poultry, hams, and roasts. After the Civil War, a Louisiana family introduced Tabasco Sauce, which once again changed the flavor of Southern cooking. Soon, cayenne pepper added additional zip to recipes, and today, chile peppers embellish traditional Southern cuisine including Georgia peach sauces and Georgia skillet cornbread. In fact, many of the dishes I sampled during my stay in Atlanta were inoculated with either hot pods or hot sauces. In addition, Mexican-style eateries are assaulting Atlanta's restaurant market and the burrito is the number one munchy. Indeed, chiles are bombarding the American arena - altering and enriching cuisine. Chile isn't a fad. It's a trend. Chile por vida. Chile for life.
SPIKED GEORGIA PEACH SAUCE
2 (16-oz) cans of peach halves, in syrup
3 T cornstarch
1 T lemon juice
1 T butter
1 T (or to taste) Serrano or yellow hot wax chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
Drain peaches, reserving syrup. Combine syrup and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until syrup is thick and clear. Add peach halves, peppers, lemon juice and butter. Cook until thoroughly heated. Serve warm over baked or grilled plump, boneless and skinless chicken breasts. (For more chile flavor, refrigerator sauce overnight. Heat before serving.)
SOUTHERN SKILLET CHILE CORNBREAD (serves 8-10)
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 T baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 cup corn oil
5 large eggs
1 quart milk
1 (4-ounce) can green chile peppers or 1 (4-ounce) jalapeno peppers, chopped
(4 fresh green minced, stemmed and seeded chiles or jalapenos can be substituted.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Sift the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the corn and chile. In another bowl, beat together 1/2 cup of the oil, the eggs, and the milk. Stir into the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. In a 10-inch round cast-iron pan, heat the remaining oil until almost smoking. Pour in the batter and at once place the pan in the hot oven. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clear. Turn the corn bread out on a board and slice. Serve with honey or butter.
