Charlotte Oakley

By Published On: October 9, 2013

The Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management at the University of Mississippi is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. With that comes the release of their new cookbook, “Are You Ready?” of which Dr. Charlotte Beckett Oakley of Bruce is editor.

Among her favorite recipes from the new cookbook are Bacon Pecans, Watermelon Salsa, Crazy Corn and Andy’s Apple Cake. She says these are easy recipes, with not many ingredients.

Their first cookbook, Rebel Recipes, “a great cookbook”, was published in 1989 and some recipes from it are  reprinted in “Are You Ready?”
The new book also includes submissions from Ole Miss alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends including feature stories, memoirs, and pictures. Charlotte’s job was the recipes. “It was a big project,” she said.? “It was a lot of fun, and a labor of love.”

The cookbooks are available through the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management at Ole Miss.
When she taught foods classes at Ole Miss, she would look at Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines to watch trends in food.

“Now we have Food Network,” she says, and Alton Brown is her favorite on Food Network, specifically his “Good Eats” program.
She is a Research Associate Professor Retired, who teaches one or two classes a semester, and science of foods is her favorite to teach.

Oakley comes from a family of good cooks and learned a lot about nutrition from her mother, the late Viola Beckett. She learned how to cook at school from four years of home economics at Bruce High  with the late Mrs. Bert Johnson, and she knew from the 10th grade that she wanted home economics  to be her major.

French Raisin Pie is a recipe she got from Mrs. Johnson that she continues to use today. Charlotte describes it as “rich and colonial.”
She also has in her possession Mrs. Johnson’s cookie cookbook. In the future, Oakley plans to put together a cookbook containing all of Mrs. Johnson’s recipes that she can locate.

Charlotte was featured in a 1986 Calhoun County Journal article from the University of MS containing  holiday recipes. The menu of roasted breast of turkey with sage stuffing, potato rosettes, asparagus in green cheese sauce, cranberry-orange relish, whole wheat rolls, baked apples in puff pastry, and French raisin pie with whipped cream was one typically used in clinical catering instruction at that time.

Bacon Pecans
2 cups pecan halves
6 slices thick-sliced bacon, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix pecans and bacon pieces. Spread pecan mixture in a single layer in a large baking pan. Bake until bacon is done and pecans are toasted, stirring occasionally (time will vary depending on the amount of fat on the bacon). Watch during baking to prevent burning. If the pecans cook faster than the bacon, reduce the oven temperature. Drain grease. Toss drained pecan mixture with butter, sugar, and salt. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Watermelon Salsa
2 fresh jalapenos
3 cups chopped seeded watermelon (cantaloupe or honeydew melon may be substituted)
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of four limes
3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Roast, seed and finely chop fresh jalapenos. Combine jalapenos with remaining ingredients. Chill salsa before serving. Serve with tortilla chips. (Variation: For kiwi-watermelon salsa, use equal amounts of peeled, finely chopped kiwi fruit and chopped watermelon.?Add the red onion, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, and dash of salt, omitting the vinegar, sugar, cumin and pepper.)

Andy’s Apple Cake
4 cups peeled, diced apples
2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, well beaten
Preheat oven to 350°. Mix apples, sugar, and nuts in large mixing bowl. Let stand for one hour. Stir often so that mixture makes its own juice. Combine flour, nutmeg or cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to apples. Stir in oil, vanilla and eggs. Do not use a mixer. Pour batter into greased and floured 10-inch tube or Bundt pan. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan 10-20 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate. While cake is still warm, top with Apple Cake Topping below (optional).
1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar
Combine all ingredients and spread over warm cake. (Variation:?May use canned lemon or cream cheese frosting.)

Crazy Corn
3 qts. hot-air popcorn, remove all unpopped kernels
1 cup pecan halves or other raw nuts (optional)
Spray a very large oven-safe bowl or baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add popped corn and nuts to the bowl or pan. Be sure to adjust the oven rack so the bowl will fit in the middle of the oven, before the oven is preheated.
Syrup:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Make syrup: Melt butter in large, heavy pan. Add remaining syrup ingredients. Cook while stirring over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Pour hot syrup over popped corn and nuts (optional). Stir to coat popped corn and nuts with syrup. Bake popped corn and nuts in the same bowl. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. If popped corn or nuts start to overbrown before the baking time is over, reduce the oven temperature to 200° and complete the cooking time. Crazy Corn should be crisp when cooled. Store in airtight container. (Variation: Crazy Corn can be shaped into balls when still hot and sticky. Handle carefully using large spoons or scoops to form balls. Eliminate baking step. Clean oven mitts that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or coated with butter may be used to protect hands when shaping popcorn balls.)

French Raisin Pie
(Bert Johnson)
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped and sweetened to taste
Cream margarine with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour into an unbaked 9” pie shell. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold with sweetened whipped cream spooned on top of each slice.

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