Bebe Maxwell

“If you’re raised between the Barefoot Contessa (sister Mildred Dauphin) and Paula Deen (other sister Lynn Fales), what do you do?” said Bebe Maxwell of Derma.  Because Bebe always baked cakes and brownies, Mildred made her a cookbook of family recipes when she and Jim married.

“My sisters are wonderful cooks, but also love a pretty presentation,” said Bebe, who also always sets her dining and kitchen tables seasonally. Their mother, the late Ruth Bryant, was also a wonderful cook, and she always “stressed a colorful plate (of food), so we always had that.”

Bebe says she comes from a family of great cooks, including niece Elizabeth Bryant Nichols, daughter of her brother, Kitt. Elizabeth is a pastry chef, who just spent three weeks in Russia  teaching in a culinary school.
Bebe moved back to Mississippi from Louisiana 11 years ago, and her favorite cookbook is Cookin’ N’Orleans Style. From this book is the banana nut bread recipe, one of her favorites, that she bakes a lot, and also the eggplant casserole.

Another favorite of hers is Fall Delight, a recipe she got from Nancy Vance at My Friend’s Place in Houston, in which she substitutes sweet potatoes for pumpkin.

One of her family’s favorite dishes is River Road Shrimp, and she says the Chicken Spectacular is a good dish to make and take, or to serve for a big group. She also makes spinach-artichoke dip frequently for company.
Her mother always kept pecan pie made, and Bebe makes them, too, saying she takes them to people a lot. She mixes all of her pecan pie ingredients except the pecans in the blender, then stirs them in.

She always makes bread pudding when her kids come home, also a Cookin’ N’Orleans Style recipe, and says she thinks the secret to it is the apple sauce.

For the holidays, her family enjoys the traditional turkey and dressing, but they also usually cook a whole rib-eye, and most of the time when son-in-law Caleb (Amanda) Kratz comes he makes crawfish pie and seafood gumbo. Son Jimmy (Mindy)?Maxwell lives in Oxford and the Kratzes in Houston Tx., and when the four grandchildren visit they love for her to cook cheese grits and bacon.

“We are a beef family,” she said “Daddy (the late Kitt Bryant Sr.) always raised a lot of beef.” They also usually garden. When sister, Mildred, stayed a few days recently, they enjoyed a lot of company and visiting, and eating–Boston butts (pulled pork) cooked on the Green Egg, pimento cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, chicken and dumpling soup, and lots of good green salads.

Bebe is a member of Colonial Dames, Loosa Schoona DAR and the United Methodist Women.
Once when hosting the Dames, she served soup, green salad, Cornish hens and a vegetable medley.
A menu for UMW might include chicken cordon bleu, green bean bundles, twice baked potatoes.
Once for a February meeting, she cut out heart shaped croutons for the salad, and served red velvet cake.
She, Betty Dismuke and Becky Spencer alway host the Christmas UMW?party, at which they served pork loin and cranberry salad, with other members bringing side dishes.

River Road Shrimp
In heavy black skillet, pour 1 1/4” olive oil. Sprinkle lots of freshly ground black pepper. Add two bay leaves, three drops of Tabasco, one tablespoon of rosemary, a tinge of salt and six pods of garlic. Heat this mixture slowly for about 10 minutes. Add 2 lbs. of large, beheaded shrimp. Turn up the stove and semi-boil for 10 minutes. About midway, add 1 tsp. salt. Turn and stir the shrimp often. Add one cup of dry white wine (vermouth). Be careful in adding cold liquid to hot mixture to prevent splattering. Simmer two more minutes, then remove. Let sit and cool in sauce. Use hot French bread to dip in sauce while eating shrimp.

Fall Delight
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 can Eagle Brand milk
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pecan pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks melted butter
Mix above ingredients and put in ungreased 9×13. Sprinkle top with one box dry cake mix (yellow) and smooth very well. Melt 2 sticks butter and cover top, being sure all cake mix gets moistened. Top with one cup chopped pecans. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes.

Chicken Spectacular
1 box Uncle Ben’s long grain and wild rice mix
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 can cream of celery soup
1 medium jar pimiento
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans French-style green beans
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can sliced mushrooms, optional
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook rice according to directions on box using broth from cooked chicken. Mix together all ingredients and pour into 9×13” casserole dish. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes.

Eggplant Casserole
2 large eggplants, unpeeled and sliced in 1/4” slices
1 lb. bacon, cut up into 1” pieces
1 large can Italian bread crumbs
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1-8 oz. can Delmonte tomato sauce
1 large can crushed Italian plum tomatoes
Salt eggplant slices and allow to drain on paper towel for at least one hour.?In large skillet, lightly brown eggplant slices in a little Crisco oil. Drain well. Drain all remaining oil from skillet. Add bacon and cook until done, but not crisp. Drain all drippings but one tablespoon. Return bacon to pan, stir in crushed tomatoes, bread crumbs, garlic and cheese. Cook about three minutes. Mix well. Layer eggplant and dressing in large Pyrex baking dish until all ingredients are used, ending with a layer of eggplant. Spread with sauce. Sprinkle with extra cheese. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.

Great Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick melted Parkay margarine
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Dash salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups Pioneer baking mix
Powdered sugar
Beat sugar and eggs. Stir half the melted Parkay, bananas, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir well. Blend in Pioneer and 1 1/2 cups walnuts if desired. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan or round cake pan. Drizzle with remaining Parkay. Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar (unsifted). Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes.

 Baked Chicken
6 boneless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup white wine
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Herbal Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix
Pinch cayenne, kosher salt, paprika
Place chicken in sprayed dish or pan with sides. Sprinkle chicken with cayenne, kosher salt and paprika. Place cheese on each breast. Mix soup, sour cream and wine, and spread over chicken. Sprinkle with stuffing mix and top with melted butter. Bake at 350° for 75-90 minutes.

Bread Pudding
1 1/2 loaves French bread
2 cups Pet milk
Small jar applesauce
Cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Soak French bread and Pet milk. Add eggs, sugar, vanilla and applesauce. Place in 9×13 pan. Sprinkle top with butter and cinnamon. Bake at 325° for 25-30 minutes.
Whiskey Sauce: 1/2 stick melted butter, 1 Tbsp. Pet milk, 1/2 box powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. whiskey. Mix and pour over warm pudding.

Pecan Pie
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of pecans
2 pie shells (8”)
1 1/2 cups white Karo
1 stick oleo
1 tsp. vanilla
Place all above ingredients (except pecans) in blender. Mix and pour into pie shells, then add pecans. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes until middle doesn’t shake.

Cranberry Salad
1 cherry Jello
1 small can crushed pineapple
1 cup nuts
1 can whole cranberries
1 cup celery
Dissolve Jello in cup hot water. Add cranberry, celery pineapple (including juice) and nuts. Mix well and pour into salad mold.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip
2 pkgs. frozen spinach
1/2 onion chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick of butter
1-8 oz. can artichoke hearts, quartered
4 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese
4 oz. sour cream
2 oz. Parmesan cheese-Monterey Jack cheese grated on top of spinach mix
Salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste
Saute onion and garlic in butter. Cook spinach (in box) in microwave five minutes. Squeeze out excess moisture. Add spinach to sauteed veggies. Add rest of ingredients. Top with Monterey Jack cheese. Bake in 350° oven for 25 minutes. Serve hot with restaurant-style Doritos.

Pot Roast
1 large very lean beef roast
2-3 cups water
2 cloves minced garlic
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine or red wine vinegar
Desired amount of potatoes, carrots, onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Place roast in large crockpot on low heat. Add water, garlic, salad dressing mixes, Worcestershire and red wine. When meat is tender, probably overnight, remove. Put desired amount of potatoes, carrots, onions in meat juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn crockpot on high. When vegetables are done, put roast back in crockpot for an hour or more.

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 lbs. boneless pork shoulder blade roast (fresh port butt) cut into four pieces
In 4 1/2-6 qt. slow cooker pot, stir onion, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, paprika, Worcestershire, mustard, salt and black pepper until combined. Add pork to mixture and turn to coat well with sauce. Cook six hours in slow cooker.