Monthly Archives: June 2010

Southern Kitchen – Sweet Southern Pork Tenderloin

pork

One of my favorite things to cook, is a pork tenderloin.  I probably cook a pork tenderloin once a month, if not more during grill season.  It’s a great cut of pork, very flexible in how it can be prepared, and very affordable alternative to beef that still offers a great variety in its delicate flavor.  When I’m ready to turn up my “Southerness” (Southerness would be defined as one’s ability to own their Southern heritage) and show off a great pork tenderloin I use my personal recipe for Sweet Southern Pork Tenderloin.  Plus it’s Peach Season, and it’s time to start figuring out all the great ways to use these delicious fuzzy southern fruit, so we’ll throw in our recipe for a Bourbon Peach Glaze, to finish it off.

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Shrimp Étouffée & Beignets Challenge

shrimp etouffee

When I received my third Yankee Challenge I was a wee bit nervous because I had no clue what I was being asked to cook: Shrimp Etouffee with a side of Beignets?? Hmmm, sounds a bit French and not at all Southern. Also a bit scary. Thankfully, one of my bestest friends, Katie, is a born and raised Louisiana girl. The only time I have ever had real home cooked “NOLA” food was when Miss Katie asked her Grandma to send us a huge batch of Jambalaya. It was incredibly delicious and to this day I occasionally dream about a ginormous bowl of Jambalaya drizzled in hot sauce appearing magically before my eyes. Katie was my exchange program roommate from LSU during my first year at the University of Tennessee, who happily explained both of these Cajun/Creole dishes to me.

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Southern Kitchen – Biscuits and Gravy, A Southern Classic

bisucit

Among the plethora of southern classics, biscuits and gravy is one of those quick fix comfort foods that takes me back to memories of wonderful meals in my grandmother’s kitchen.  This dish is easy to prepare, very filling and can be made for breakfast or dinner with very few (and cheap) ingredients that are probably in your pantry right now.  There are only two main building blocks of this recipe –  the biscuits and a white gravy made with the meat of your choice.  The biscuits can either be homemade or store bought.  Before we get any angry posts suggesting that using canned biscuits is un-southern, let me say that I’ve provided a basic biscuit recipe below.  But if you’re in a hurry or just plain lazy (as I am from time to time), there are some decent “whomp” biscuits out there; so named because you have to “whomp” them on the counter top to get the can open.  At any rate, I’m sure it was a busy southerner who came up with idea of biscuits in a can in the first place.

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How a Georgia Boy Learned to Cook (Award Winning) Beef Barbecue

brisket

Having been born and raised in Georgia, it has always been my not-so-humble opinion that, when it comes to barbecue, pork is the one true meat.  Anything else is heresy.  Many times have I heard my Texan friends wax rhapsodic about the joys of beef barbecue, and many times have I lumped their reveries in with all of the other cultish sounding utterances about their home state that seem to stream endlessly from their mouths. I once had to eject a tried-and-true member of the Black Cowboys of Texas from a New Year’s Eve party at my house because he got drunk and wouldn’t shut up about how great things were back in Texas.  But I digress…

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Southern Kitchen – The Great Cajun Dry Rub Experiment

ribs

Summer time means grilling season.  It’s always a great feeling to spend the night before a big grill-out prepping ribs.  Aside from pulled pork, Ribs are by far my favorite part of the pig.  The debatable secret to great Southern ribs is the fairy dust known as dry rub. Next to home made BBQ sauce, it’s a BBQ chefs personal secret.  Well it’s time to let my most recent discovery out, and share my “Dry Rub” secret.  I’ve taken my cajun seasoning obsession to the extreme, and spiced up my baby back ribs.

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