Y'all Come Back Now! Heah?

Today was the perfect day for football in the South. The temperate day with a beautiful blue sky and of course the Crimson Tide on tv could only mean one thing...Food Orgy! I actually cooked breakfast this morning. (a very rare occurrence) Since I normally do not eat right out of the chute each day I was not really hungry (at all) when the " football is on right now so that means food is needed" rush hit. Fortunately I had thought ahead and right after the breakfast dishes were in the dishwasher I started cooking a dutch oven filled with sloppy joe's and a small batch of cupcakes. (I did mention the dips and chips to go with said joe's and cakes didn't I?) I am not exactly certain when the feasting began but I am pretty sure it was with ESPN's Game Day prior to Auburn's 11 ish kickoff. I lost count of the number of eating experiences everyone had (all at different times) but at some time tonight after the Georgia/South Carolina game the "What's for Dinner" question was asked. With all the other food already ingested the only thing I wanted was a salad. Since Son3 was out for a little social activity The Hub reluctantly agreed to it. He is sometimes less than overwhelmed with the idea of just a salad for the evening meal. He has adopted the John Pinette stance. "Salad is a promise something good is going to come."

Fortunately there had been a surge of pins on Pinterest about the famed Mississippi Come Back Sauce. When I first saw it there was this small ding in the back of my head that recognized the name but I couldn't remember where I had heard of it before.Finally I remembered it was in an old Sweet Potato Queen's book. I had to hunt to find it , then had to search through several until I finally found the correct book. Lucky for me I made it this morning while I was making some dips for the games.

Hal and Mal's Come Back Sauce from The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love

(For the record I seriously doubt this is the actual recipe from Hal and Mal's. If I had a restaurant I would share a recipe that was close but I would also leave out some particular ingredient that would make it good but not quite the same. If Hal and Mal are smart enough to run a successful brew pub they are smart enough to be a tiny bit deceptive when "sharing".)

2 cup mayonnaise ( For the love of all things Holy, use Dukes)
1 cup ketchup
1 cup chili sauce
1 cup vegetable oil
1 onion,minced
juice of 2 lemons
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt

Mix everything together and pour into a wide mouth jar with a lid. let it set for 24 hours then enjoy as a dressing, with seafood, as a dip with french fries or anywhere you would normally use mayo. ( I can't wait to try this on a turkey sandwich)

What I did differently: I did not want a heavy garlic flavor so I used just 1 large clove of garlic. I minced both the garlic and the onion into a super fine mince. If you did not want to go to all the trouble of mincing I don't see why you couldn't just use a blender or food processor. I couldn't find the dry mustard easily and did not want to dig through all my spice jars so I just squirted about 2 teaspoons of regular yellow mustard in it. The rest I followed to a "t" except I don't actually measure anything.


The Verdict: Though it is basically just a gussied up version of thousand island dressing it was delicious. The salad I made was just mixed lettuces, green zebra tomatoes, red pepper strips, scallions and a few cubes of a sharp cheddar cheese. The dressing absolutely made the salad beyond delicious. ( And I didn't even wait the full twenty four hours for the flavors to marry.)

As I was sitting here typing Son3 returned with the remnants of food he had picked up at McD's on his way home. I begged for a couple of fries so I could preform a scientific test using the sauce for dipping. It is so much better than ketchup!

This is something that I will be keeping in my fridge all the time. I am not sure how long it will last ( shelf life) but I will keep tasting it ( cause I am unselfish like that) so I can let you know about how long it stays "good". I think when this batch is gone I will try making a much smaller amount and make it often. I never want to be without this!

p.s.I see the need for putting it in a wide mouth jar. You're going to want a big spoon to fit in it so you can ladle out a boatload of this deliciousness.

pp.s Once again Blogger will not let me post a picture. As soon as it cooperates with me, I will add it.