I’m a little obsessed with Vidalia onions. I love the sweetness with the onion edge. I buy them in bulk when they are in season, and I tie them up in pantyhose to hang in my pantry for winter storage. Really. Vidalias are sweet and smooth without any of the burn of other onions, so it is easy to make them the star of a dish. The flavor is mellow and rich, creating a unique soft … [Read more...] about Vidalia Onion and Goat Cheese Soufflé
Southern specialties
Southern Cornbread Chicken and Dressing with Gravy
My life sometimes requires comfort cooking. Not comfort food, but comfort cooking, though the two are not mutually exclusive. Comfort food for me is old classics that bring back happy memories, sometimes bittersweet, or that make a down day worthwhile. Often, that means food prepared by someone other than me. Comfort cooking is me, in the kitchen, alone. Usually silent … [Read more...] about Southern Cornbread Chicken and Dressing with Gravy
Buttermilk Bacon Cookies with Bourbon Caramel Frosting
Two of my very favorite Southern ingredients are creamy buttermilk and pig. So, I just couldn’t resist adding the salty crunch of bacon to a classic, tender buttermilk cookie. Swirling on a bourbon-y version of classic caramel icing makes this a real Southern overload cookie. I created this recipe several years ago for a party. I wanted to combine my favorite flavors for … [Read more...] about Buttermilk Bacon Cookies with Bourbon Caramel Frosting
Sorghum Buttermilk Pie
In case you haven’t noticed, I love cooking with buttermilk. It tenderizes, flavorizes, tangifies and creamifies anything it works with. I go out of my way to seek out good, thick country buttermilk. It is the most important ingredient in fried chicken, biscuits and cornbread. I use it in dressings, gravies, marinades, cookies cakes and pies. It is always on my … [Read more...] about Sorghum Buttermilk Pie
Shrimp and Corn Cobbler
Shrimp and corn pie recipes appear in a number of Southern community cookbooks, and I’ve tried a few. But I have always thought they lacked a little oomph. But the delicious combination of shrimp and corn deserves attention, so I put my mind to it and decided on a tangy filling and an old-fashioned biscuit top to make perfect transitional comfort food. When summer has wound … [Read more...] about Shrimp and Corn Cobbler