Toni Tipton-Martin’s Unveils Much-Anticipated Second Cookbook

Just in time for the holidays, culinary journalist and community activist Toni Tipton-Martin has released the follow-up to her James Beard Award-winning book The Jemima Code. Tipton-Martin amassed a collection of antique black cookbooks dating back to 1827, and in Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, she shares techniques and recipes beyond traditional African American and Southern soul food.

Tipton-Martin offers Creole and Southwestern flavor inspirations gleaned from Texas chef Artaway Fillmore – who in 1929 published what is now "one of the rarest black cookbooks" – with her roast turkey with chile-pecan sauce recipe. The cookbook includes the lovely roast turkey recipe, but the real gems are the rub and sauce. Note: Add the chile rub to the turkey prior to roasting, and reserve the pan drippings for the chile-pecan sauce.

Chile-Pecan Sauce

Servings: Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

giblets and neck (reserved from a whole turkey)

1 small onion, quartered

1 celery stalk with leaves, quartered

1 garlic clove, crushed

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons pan drippings from a roast turkey

2 tablespoons onion, minced

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 small Scotch bonnet pepper, minced, or to taste

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ cup toasted pecans, chopped

salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine 3 cups water, turkey giblets and neck, onion quarters, celery, crushed garlic clove, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer while the turkey roasts, adding water as necessary to keep the water level.

Remove the stock from heat when the turkey is done. Strain the stock through a colander and reserve. Discard the solids.

Pour off and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the pan drippings from the turkey roasting pan. Place the pan over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion, minced garlic, and chile pepper, and sauté until softened, about 1 minute. Sprinkle in the chili powder and cumin and sauté for 2 minutes.

Gradually whisk the reserved stock into the pan in a slow, steady stream, scraping up browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Cook until the sauce is reduced by one-third, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the pecans and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Chile Rub

Servings: Makes about ½ cup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon each of chili powder, ground cumin, brown sugar, kosher salt, black pepper

1½ teaspoon each of chipotle chile powder, dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder

Directions: In a small bowl, combine the spices.

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Recipes adapted and reprinted, with permission, from Toni Tipton-Martin’s Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2019. Photographs by Jerrelle Guy.