This sweet potato cornbread recipe comes together quickly. After just 12 minutes in the microwave—though it also works with a leftover baked sweet potato (or even canned sweet potato purée)—the tubers emerge soft and steamy, ready to be mashed by hand and whisked into the wet ingredients. If you have trouble finding buttermilk, combine milk … Read more
If this isn’t the world’s best potato salad recipe, it’s certainly a strong contender. Created by legendary New Orleans chef Leah Chase, the dish gets its subtle kick from white rather than black pepper. The type of potato you choose will have the biggest effect on your potato salad: Russet potatoes will break down a … Read more
There are as many styles of cobbler as there are cooks: ones topped with pie crust or biscuits, others dotted with floury dumplings. This old-fashioned blackberry cobbler recipe takes an easier route. To make it, you melt a stick of butter in a cast-iron skillet, pour a quick batter into the hot pan, and then … Read more
Where there’s American coastline, there’s a regional seafood boil: the clam bakes of New England, the crab boils of Maryland, the whitefish boils of the Great Lakes, the crawfish boils of Louisiana…we could go on. Most iterations comprise fresh shellfish and hearty veg, spiced with proprietary seasonings in a festive, crowd-ready, one-pot feast. This particular … Read more
When time is tight and you need something to feed a crowd at a picnic, potluck, or bake sale, this Texas sheet cake recipe is the answer. The fudgy single-layer cake gets its lush crumb from melted butter and a tangy boost from buttermilk. The genius of the recipe is in its timing: Right after … Read more
Step 1 Whisk 2 cups buttermilk, 1½ tsp. smoked paprika, ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 tsp. garlic powder in a shallow bowl; season with freshly ground black pepper. Add four 4–6-oz. catfish fillets, patted dry, to marinade and turn to coat. Let sit at … Read more
Derby pie is a nut pie (traditionally walnut, often pecan) that’s similar to a classic pecan pie except that it’s studded with chocolate chips and flavored with a heavy glug of bourbon. It was invented in 1954 by Walter and Leaudra Kern at the Melrose Inn in Prospect, Kentucky. Sticky-sweet and gooey, yet sturdy enough … Read more
Step 1 Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°. Toast 1⅓ cups unsweetened coconut flakes in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet, stirring halfway through, until golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Let cool. Step 2 Generously coat a 10”-diameter tube or 15-cup capacity Bundt pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray, … Read more
Though I’ve lived almost my entire life in the South, I was an adult the first time I encountered fire crackers, a so-called Southern staple, at a neighbor’s Christmas party. A year or so later I read Sheri Castle’s paean to the Alabama favorite in Southern Living. Reading it made me nostalgic for something I … Read more
Wings top of my list of party snacks. And when I think of perfect wings, it’s not the spicy burn of Buffalo that I’m after. My mind goes South to another city: Atlanta, the capital of lemon-pepper wings. The zingy mix of lemon and pepper probably started eons ago in India, but as a seasoning, … Read more