Southern

My mom always made this hearty breakfast when my husband, Peter, and I came to visit her in Memphis; it is so Southern that eating it always made me feel I was really home. (I don’t think Peter, who is from New York, had ever had either pork tenderloin or gravy for breakfast.) The roasted tomato gravy is what makes it so special; roasting the tomatoes cuts and deepens their bright acidity, adding complex layers of flavor to the savory sauce. You can mix things up by making this dish with sausage patties or leftover slices of Grilled and Roasted Filet of Beef with Crispy Roasted Shallots (page 193) instead of the pork tenderloin. Either way, you’ll want to use the biscuits to sop up the last drops of gravy.

Fried green tomatoes are one of those Southern classics that inspire fanatical devotion. For good reason: green tomatoes have a lovely tart flavor that mellows and warms in the heat of the frying pan, and, because they are so firm, they keep their shape and texture even after they’re cooked. They are most often eaten on their own, as a side dish, so it wasn’t until I visited a small grocery store in Greenwood, Mississippi, that I tried a fried green tomato BLT for the first time. It immediately struck me as such an obvious combination that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t already thought of it myself.

My sister used to make these rich rolls for her husband and kids when they went duck hunting. She would prepare them the night before, wrap them in foil, and refrigerate. Then, when Pat and the kids got up to go hunting—sometimes as early as four in the morning—they would just pop the rolls in the oven to melt the cheese and hit the road. The way everything melds together on the soft, steamed rolls is so irresistible, I’m pretty sure the rolls never made it to the duck camp, or even out of the driveway. For nonhunters like me, these rolls, served warm or at room temperature, are great for tailgating, picnics, and road trips.

These splendidly soft dinner rolls, which my aunt June used to make for special occasions, are the Southern equivalent of brioche, minus the egg. I’ve added fresh sage for an aromatic boost.

Southerners take sausage and egg biscuits for granted. They are just about everywhere in the South—we make them at Foster’s, and you can even buy them at country convenience stores, where you might find a stack wrapped in cellophane in a basket by the register. If you haven’t already had sausage and egg biscuits yourself, I hope this recipe will make you a convert. For extra flavor, cook the eggs the way my dad did, by frying them directly in the sausage grease left in the skillet rather than using butter. Feel free to scramble rather than fry the eggs if you prefer.

When my friend Kate joins us for Thanksgiving, she brings these yummy refrigerator rolls. The best thing about them is that you can throw together the dough up to a week ahead of time, store it in the fridge, and bake the rolls whenever you want, which helps make for stress-free holiday planning. When I make them, I like to add sweet potato for the beautiful color and flavor it imparts. And, since I’ve always been a fan of the combination of sweet potatoes and pork, I often use this version of the rolls to make pulled pork sandwiches, tucking Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork Butt (page 177) and Quick Cucumber Pickles (page 287) inside. Note that you’ll need to let the dough rise for two hours between mixing and baking.

The addition of tender yellow squash lends nice texture and sweetness to these savory little balls of fried goodness. If you plan to serve them in the traditional manner with fried fish—try frying them in the same oil as the fish; this will add an extra layer of flavor and make for less cleanup.

You can buy lemon-flavored olive oil, but to ensure freshness, why not make your own? Like making vinaigrette, it’s so easy.

The contrasting flavors, textures, and colors make this vibrant summertime dish a feast for the eyes as well as the mouth. It is tops served with a fried egg for breakfast, and you can turn it into a filling lunch or dinner by scattering the cakes with grilled shrimp or chicken breast.

This moist and flavorful cornbread dressing—or what you non-Southerners may call stuffing—appeared in Martha Stewart Living, and it remains one of our most requested recipes at the Market. The mix of pillowy egg bread and crusty, grainy cornbread is a real winner. Try stirring in leeks and wild mushrooms in spring or oysters and hot Italian sausage in winter.

Cornbread sticks are a Southern specialty and an example of function following form. I imagine that whoever dreamed them up was probably just trying to be cute by fashioning a corn-shaped mold for cornbread, but the end product, with its high ratio of crispy crust to soft innards and perfect shape for dipping in chili or pot likker, is a whole different animal. In this version, I kick things up a notch by adding sharp Cheddar cheese and spicy jalapeño pepper. If you don’t have (or care to purchase) a corn stick pan—cast-iron only—you can, of course, use a skillet.

Some Southerners will happily argue till they are blue in the face defending the honor of unsweetened cornbread, a preference that tends to divide the South from the North. But I find that a touch of sugar adds a layer of complexity that is well worth breaking the rules. More important to me is the baking vessel: specifically, a cast-iron skillet, preferably one that is slicked with bacon grease.

With the airiness of dinner rolls and the flaky, buttery layers of traditional biscuits, angel biscuits—which get their extra lift from a little yeast—truly deserve their celestial name. I add chopped watercress for its mild peppery flavor and a pop of color.

Growing up, my sister, Judy, and I coveted one simple dish above all others for breakfast: hot biscuits topped with lightly mashed strawberries and lots of sweet butter. I use a dead-simple recipe for cream biscuits adapted here from the Times-Picayune of New Orleans.

As anyone who has actually made biscuits from scratch will tell you, they are fast and oh-so-easy—no culinary wizardry required. Of course, you needn’t go out of your way to divulge that fact when serving these rich, flaky biscuits to a chorus of oohs and ahhs. Sometimes, certain things are better left unsaid. Serve warm with lots of sweet butter, honey, molasses, or jam.

When Paul Prudhomme’s first cookbook, Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, came out, I think I made every last one of his gumbos in the span of a few weeks. To this day, his are the recipes I always refer to when I make gumbo. More often than not, however, I don’t have time to make ultra traditional, slow-cooking gumbo, so I’ve adapted my own quicker—and often lighter—versions that take a fraction of the time but still pack loads of soulful flavor. Served over rice with ice-cold beer, it’s all the excuse you need to throw a block party.

Traditional oyster stew was one of my dad’s favorites, and he used to make it all the time, especially when we visited my sister in Biloxi, Mississippi, where we could get really fresh oysters. Taking a cue from oysters Rockefeller, another hallmark dish from Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans, I brighten my version with fresh spinach. And, to achieve the same smooth, creamy texture with less fat, I blend potatoes with just a touch of heavy cream to make the broth. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if desired. This soup should be served hot as soon as it’s done, lest the oysters continue to cook in the broth.

This flexible broth is one of the things I always try to teach when I’m giving cooking classes because it’s easy to throw together a fast, flavor enhancing broth using whatever you already have on hand—the trimmings from the herbs, aromatics, and vegetables you are cooking with and the bones or shells from any meat or seafood on the menu. Just throw a pot of water on first thing when you start to cook and add to it as the ingredients are prepped. Here’s a basic recipe made with the shrimp shells and trimmings from the preceding recipe, but remember: you can apply the concept to any of the soup recipes in this chapter. Most anything goes, but stay away from vegetable trimmings that might become bitter or have an overly strong flavor, like eggplant and broccoli.

Every summer when the Carolina shrimp are in season, Nana’s, which is one of my favorite restaurants in Durham, makes a delicious shrimp chowder that is the inspiration for this light and succulent soup. Nana’s version is rich and creamy—closer to a traditional potato chowder—but because I love the sweetness of the corn and shrimp together, I make mine thinner, more like a corn chowder. To give this dish extra oomph, I add the shrimp at the very end, so they are tender and extra sweet, and top with Crispy Fried Oysters Four Ways (page 117).