Topic American Cuisine
Sourdough is a Fickle Bitch, Part Deux
If you’ve got your starter ready, let’s make some bread. I ran across some measurements that work pretty good for me, I’m not sure where I found them so
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Sourdough is a Fickle Bitch, Part 1
To me, a kitchen is just a big chemistry set, a scattered mix of ingredients just waiting to become something unique and tasty.” Vaughn My friend, Vaughn Montgomery, is living
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Heirloom Tomato and Pesto Pizza
Our local farmers grow some pretty amazing tomatoes. There’s nothing quite like a local, summer tomato — grown outside in the fresh air (not the hothouse), ripened on the vine, free
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Premium Manhattan
A perfect Manhattan has both sweet and dry vermouths. Choosing your favorite “top shelf” bourbon, makes it premium. Try it with foods that have a little bitterness and/or smoky
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Four Cheese Pizza
I love this cheese pizza — it’s really good. The chevre and gorgonzola give it a sophisticated touch, and the fresh rosemary puts it over the top. Four Cheese Pizza makes
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Easy Pulled Pork Sandwich – In the Spirit of North Carolina
Cue is the great sacrament of our people. No transubstantiation required. It are what we are.” –North Carolinians North Carolina BBQ is serious cuisine with well-guarded secrets and highly debated,
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Edna Lewis, the Grand Dame of Southern Cuisine
My favorite excerpt from The Taste of Country Cooking by Ms. Edna Lewis: “I will never forget spring mornings in Virginia. A warm morning and a red sun rising behind a thick
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Easy Kansas City BBQ Ribs
I come from a long line of culinary cheaters,” My friend, Bennie states enthusiastically. I also condone it. If it’s between cheating a little and never attempting a dish because
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Kansas City BBQ Sauce
An excellent sauce from the Kansas City BBQ Society cookbook. Basting sauces aren’t as thick as mops or glazes, but the flavor of Jim Burnett’s is so good, I
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Buttermilk Biscuits with Kentucky Ham, Molasses Butter & Creole Chile Jam
“Grazing is a state of being in the South. In fact, many of our community cookbooks from the twentieth century are front-heavy, with so many more hors d’oeuvre and finger-food
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Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
Tasty little bastards,” is what the Kid calls them. I should probably reign in his profanity, but he’s right — they are tasty. Buttermilk biscuits. Hot from the oven and
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Fried Chicken & Domaine Ste. Michelle 2002 Luxe Sparkling
My husband says I’m trying to kill him. With food, I assume. Mm-hmm … maybe he’s just kind of a wuss. My latest culinary obsession has been all things Southern. I
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‘Cue: the Fanaticism, the Feuds, the Sheer Fortitude
In the South, barbeque is not just a food, “…it’s a cultural ritual, practiced with a kind of religious fervor among various barbeque sects, each of whom believes their
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Spicy Shrimp & Dirty Grits with Chateau Ste. Michelle 2007 Eroica Riesling
After hours of shrimp ‘n grits research and recipe testing, I decided, “I likes ‘em like my men – spicy, smoky and dirty.” There’s a zillion variations of this Low-Country
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Broiled Grits with Smoky Bacon & Sharp Cheddar
Broiled grits is an excellent dinner party dish. Made and topped in advance, this method lets you focus on your guests, not your grits. When it’s time to serve,
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Creamy Meyer Lemon & Chive Grits
Deliciously creamy and lightly lemoned, these grits make an elegant side dish to grilled fish, roasted chicken or fried green tomatoes. For basic information, cooking tips and sources, check out
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Creamy, Simple Grits
Great grits require love. A basic understanding of the cooking method is important, but with simple dishes, it’s also helpful to mentally jump into the pot, so to speak, especially near
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Grits 101
A man full of grits is a man at peace.” True, true. Grits, a simple peasant dish of warm, creamy cornmeal, are occasionally dirtied, mostly buttered, always textured, but never instant
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Southern Boiled Peanuts
Fresh peanuts seem to occupy a space between snack food and a habit, like chewing tobacco. As any diehard boiled peanut fan can attest, the salty, wet little beans
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Southern Cuisine: A Culinary Obsession
…In the South the history of the region is all pervasive and embraces the cuisine. Southern food is not just food cooked south of the Mason-Dixon line. It is
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BBQ Ribs 101 – Low and Slow
The best method for BBQ pork ribs is low and slow. I was a bit skeptical when reading this recipe — I didn’t think unattended coals would stay hot enough for three
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Charcoal Grilling 101 – No Lighter Fluid Needed
There’s nothing like meat cooking on fire. The smell is intoxicating; the taste is carnal; the experience is so prehistoric and hedonistic. I love anything cooked on an open flame. And
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