Southern Cooking - Book Review

I'm taking a break this time and reviewing a Suite 101 e-cookbook for your enjoyment.

Get that stove on and the oven heating. You're about to experience some great cooking from around the world with a southern flair. Now, right in one place, are some tasty recipes with a southern twang in T. Darlene Cheek's cookbook, Southern Cooking: Food from Around the World with a Southern Flair.

My mother came from the south, so I was raised on southern food. She was an excellent cook and though she is no longer with us, I find myself cooking with a southern bent just like she did. I opened Cheek's cookbook with relish, as I love reading about southern cooking almost as much as the cooking itself. The journey through the book was a good one.

Darlene introduces her book by talking a little about her childhood. When she was six and asked her mother what was for dinner, she was told to cook it herself. Darlene did and presented a full-course pork chop dinner right down to the biscuits and gravy.

Imagine!

With that said, Cheek has lived in 48 states and learned to cook regional recipes from everywhere she's been, but she still finds herself leaning towards the south in her cooking. A pinch of regional recipes combined with a touch of southern cooking and hospitality fit the bill.

The twelve chapters cover appetizers, salads, snacks, soups, sandwiches, chicken, beef, pork, casseroles, veggies and sides, breads, desserts, beverages, home cooking and food preservation and misc. recipes.

She adds tomato to her coleslaw recipe and waffles her sandwiches. She incorporates habanero peppers into her Hot Wings. She provides her own tasty rendition of Green Bean Casserole and fried Hot Water Cornbread. If that isn't enough to get your taste buds working, then taste her Strawberry Jam Ham or Southwestern Chicken.

How about some red-eye gravy? I have heard of it a lot but didn't know what went into it. Now I do.

For dessert her pear mincemeat recipe sounds absolutely delicious.

Is your mouth watering yet?

It should be.

As one cook to another I recommend this cookbook. Cheek cooks a lot like I do: delicious recipes the easiest way, taking out the work but keeping in the flavor.

I sure plan on cooking some of her recipes right away. This evening we will enjoy her biscuits with dinner. They'd be excellent with her Apple Butter recipe. Or should I make the Hearthside Loaf?