Prince’s country cooking came from mom

Pamela Prince enjoys cooking classic country food.

She grew up with five older brothers in the Forestdale community and being the only girl in the family, Prince was close to her late mother, Georgia Kirkland, who inspired her to become a nurse. 

“My mother was a very caring, loving individual who went to nursing and did not complete nursing school, but always dreamed of becoming a nurse,” said Prince, who has been a nurse at Neshoba General for 32 years.

In 1992, Prince graduated from nursing school, and in 2008 she went back to school at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned a family nurse practitioner degree.

Prince’s mother came from a large family, and she always cooked large portions, which is something Prince said she also does. 

Prince said her cooking inspiration comes from her mother’s recipe book, which she and her five brothers made copies of after their mother died. Prince also learned how to can vegetables and make different jams from her mother. 

Her mother inspired her with her Southern cooking staples of homemade biscuits, chicken and dumplings and cakes. All of those were some of Prince’s favorite things her mother cooked. 

Now Prince gets to share her mother’s cooking through meals that she prepares for her family. 

Prince’s four children are now grown and her grandson, Henry Thomas Stokes, turned 1 year old recently, and the family celebrated on Saturday.

Prince and her husband, Marshall, are expecting grandchild number two in March. 

The Prince family is enjoying fall by getting all the ingredients for Marshall Prince’s stew recipe. 

“When I was getting my recipes together to send to the Democrat, I had just gone and gotten everything needed for Marshall’s stew recipe,” Prince said. 

Any of the remaining stew gets frozen and eaten throughout the winter. 

In Prince’s free time, she enjoys going to the family’s cabin at the Tombigbee River in Alabama. 

GARLIC SHRIMP PASTA WITH SPICY SUN-DRIED TOMATO CREAM SAUCE

½ lb shrimp (Use unfrozen uncooked shrimp. If you have to, you can use unfrozen cooked shrimp.It will work here too) 

4 oz sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil 

¼ teaspoon salt 

¼ teaspoon paprika 

4 garlic cloves minced 

1 cup half-and-half or whole milk 

1 teaspoon dried basil 

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper 

1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly shredded 

8 oz fettuccine pasta (use gluten-free brown rice fettuccine for gluten-free version) 

Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil before 

Using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained oil for sauteing as described below: 

In a large skillet, sauté minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar) for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant. Add shrimp, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, paprika, and cook on medium heat for about 2 more minutes. Add half-and-half, basil, and crushed red pepper to the skillet with shrimp, bring to boil and reduce simmer. Whisk the Parmesan cheese into the hot cream and stir to melt cheese, on the lowest heat setting, until cheese is melted. In the meantime, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain (reserving some pasta water). Add cooked pasta to the creamy mixture, add more salt, basil, and more crushed red pepper if desired, to taste. If the sauce is too thick, use the reserved pasta water to thin it out. 

MARSHALL’S STEW RECIPE

In a large stew pot boil chicken with 1 stick of butter. Remove chicken and debone. Cube and sear 1 small pork loin and sear 1 lb lean stew beef. Add meats, one large onion chopped, 6-8 potatoes cubed to chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add 2 lb bags of frozen mixed vegetables. Add salt and pepper and Tony Chachere seasoning to taste. Simmer and add chicken broth to desired consistency. Serve with cornbread, rolls or crackers. 

SAUSAGE ROTEL CROISSANTS

One pound of sausage 

One block of cream cheese 

1 can of Rotel 

2 cans croissants 

Brown sausage and drain. Add cream cheese and Rotel, mix well. Spoon 1 large spoonful of mixture in a croissant, fold edges over to form triangles. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.