Memorial Day is coming and marks the official start of summer party season. Millions of people will be firing up the grill for the long weekend and beyond, and here in the South, they’ll be making endless pitchers and jugs of ice cold sweet tea to keep things cool. So I decided to combine the two for the perfect summer meal. I’ve always found that brining is a great tool … [Read more...] about Grilled Sweet Tea Glazed Pork Chops
Southern specialties
Hot Milk Cake and Strawberry Caramel Sauce
Leaf through the pages of any old Southern community cookbook, and you are likely to come across a version of this cake. And it might not draw your eye, being so plain and simple. I am sure I flipped past many times before I actually stopped to read one. But once I get intrigued, I search these recipes out and combine, refine and test them until I have an updated version … [Read more...] about Hot Milk Cake and Strawberry Caramel Sauce
Country Captain with Coconut Rice
Country Captain is an old Low Country dish that dates from the days when Charleston and Savannah were important stops on the spice route, and the British influence of trade with India held sway. Early dishes from the Southern repertoire include lots of interesting spices, and the older the recipe, the more exotic it may seem. Recipes for Country Captain appear in … [Read more...] about Country Captain with Coconut Rice
Bacon Fried Pecans
I don’t know who makes these decisions, but there is an endless list of “National Days” celebrating foods, dishes and ingredients. I recently saw that it was National Pecan Month, so I thought I better pull out a preparation for the iconic Southern nut. These are a salty, crunchy snack for the bar, or on top of a salad, and once again prove that everything is better with … [Read more...] about Bacon Fried Pecans
Country Ham Biscuit Bites with Cheese
My love for biscuits is well documented (13 recipes on the site at last count), and my love of country ham equally evident when you peruse my recipes. I have always enjoyed a warm, buttery biscuit with a slice of salty country ham tucked inside, so the next logical step seemed to be incorporating the ham directly into the biscuit. And these are heavenly morsels of Southern … [Read more...] about Country Ham Biscuit Bites with Cheese
