Fire 'n Ice Coleslaw

Pair the sweet and sour elements of a coleslaw with the familiar fire and ice combination we southerners seem to be endeared to, and you've got a sweet and spicy coleslaw I think your guests will love!

Sweet and Sour Coleslaw

Far as I know there are essentially two basic kinds of coleslaw in The South, though there are a multitude of variations on each one of them too. While they are both certainly some combination of sweet and sour, one is more of a basic creamy style - primarily based on mayonnaise, milk, or buttermilk - and where marvelous things like Pineapple Buttermilk Coleslaw fall.  The other is more heavily vinegar and sugar based, with a few that cross lines somewhere between the two.

I guess most folks would simply call this a sweet and sour coleslaw, but since I used my basic Fire 'n Ice dressing from the salad of the same name, I decided I'm gonna call mine Fire n' Ice Coleslaw.  In fact, if you make up some of those Fire 'n Ice Pickles, I say chop a few up and throw them in too if ya like!

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Another terrific layered dessert, made with a graham cracker and nut crust, creamy cream cheese filling, topped with a blueberry pie filling and finished with homemade whipped cream. Heaven indeed!

My Blueberry Heaven Pie

I hope that y'all can bear one more layered dessert recipe because when I ran across this recipe in the Bless Your Heart cookbook, I knew it would be on the to-make list. Don't you just love the name of that cookbook too? Let me tell ya, if you don't own it, you should seriously consider getting it - you'll love it!

The original recipe for this heavenly pie uses canned blueberry pie filling, but since I was recently the recipient of canned fruit products from Oregon I decided to make my own homemade pie filling. I have always loved Oregon Fruit Products because for me, it's the next best thing to having fresh fruit on hand, not only for desserts, but sauces and smoothies too! It's certainly convenient for when those impromptu cravings strike.

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Chicken legs and thighs, basted with olive oil and lemon, and seasoned simply with a bit of Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper and fresh rosemary and first cooked under the broiler before a quick finishing bake in a hot oven.

Broiled Lemon Herb Chicken

Sometimes it just pays to be nice. I like to regularly share links on the Facebook page, not only to other blogger's recipes, but also to familiar corporate sites and magazines, but especially to freebies and bargains. One day recently I shared a link about a Walmart rollback price for the fabulous All You magazine, a personal favorite of mine. I was soon after that the recipient of a copy of the All You Eat Well Save Big Cookbook (available at Walmart, or used on Amazon) where I ran across this recipe for broiled chicken.

One of the great things about this cookbook is it offers the best of All You magazine's low cost recipes, for some easy and basic weeknight dinners that are fast and all under $2.50 a serving. The original recipe for this one came in at about 73 cents a serving (for 1-1/2 pounds of thighs), and even with my adaptations not much more than that, so not only is it fast and tasty, but it's also economical!

I can't even remember the last time that I cooked chicken under the broiler - I just never think about it. It's really a great time saver, seven minutes on one side, another seven on the other, and then a finish in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees F for these thighs, and dinner is on the table in no time.

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Featured Reader Recipe: Cornbread Salad

A layered salad made using crumbled cornbread and a mixture of a variety of vegetables, topped with a homemade mayonnaise and sour cream dressing flavored with Ranch seasoning. A delicious addition to your next potluck or party!

Cornbread Salad

I confess. Cornbread salad is not something that I grew up knowing about here in Mississippi, but ever since learning about it a couple years back from Tommie, a dear friend from Oklahoma, I have wanted to give it a try. While I do think it's more common over that way, Cornbread Salad seems to be making its way across the south as a whole these days. I admit, it does come off sounding an odd contrast of textures, but so many people who are familiar with it seem to love it, so hey, I'm game for anything!

I had made a full batch of cornbread to go with some lady cream peas I was making (recipe for those is coming soon) and set aside half of it specifically for this recipe. I'll be honest with y'all. I really didn't know how I was gonna like this dish, and it took me a few bites to get past my own judgment. Once I did, this salad absolutely grew on me and every time I took another serving of it from the fridge, I loved it more and more.

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Old Fashioned Creamed Squash

Yellow crookneck squash and Vidalia onion, first sauteed in a mixture of butter and bacon drippings, then stewed down, and finally creamed - a delicious taste experience! 

Creamed Squash 

I was gifted with a bag of some early spring crookneck squash and figured that I would just either saute it in a bit of bacon drippings with some Vidalia onion, or otherwise make one of the usual squash dishes. I then decided to pose the question to our Facebook family asking, "what is your favorite thing to do with yellow squash?" The readers there came through - as they always do - with lots of ideas, suggestions, and personal favorites... but one really stood out with me.

Carla mentioned that she had first encountered yellow squash at about the age of 15 in a somewhat unusual way. She was babysitting for a family back then, and the child's grandmother would regularly prepare a big supper. One day Carla took a large spoonful of what she thought was creamed corn, but which actually turned out to be squash! Thick and creamy and peppered just right, she loved it. When another reader Katherine chimed in with a similar experience, she spoke of how good it smelled and how she "couldn't stop eating it." Well, I knew I would just have to try it.

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Classic combo of peanut butter with chocolate in a delicious bar form, and topped with crunchy peanuts.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

So, yesterday I had a craving for something made with peanut butter. I came very close to making a cake with that marvelous old fashioned boiled peanut butter icing I love so much. Then I remembered these peanut butter bars I had made before and that was all the reminder I needed. These are a yummy fix for any peanut butter craving and there's chocolate involved, which makes it two of my favorite flavors together.

The original recipe for this came from the Nestle website, but you can find quite a few variations of it across the net too, often under the name of peanut buddy bars. I made a few adjustments to the ingredients and instead of topping it with a layer of melted chocolate chips, I put all the chocolate in the batter and topped it with additional chopped peanuts.

A great little bar cookie to satisfy that peanut butter craving, I think you'll enjoy these too.

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The Winners of Southern Living's Off the Eaten Path Book

Well, I do hope that y'all are enjoying the recent giveaways we've been hosting, and be sure to stay tuned because there's liable to be more surprises around the corner... ya just never know what I'm gonna be up to!

Tip: Several readers on the site's Facebook page mentioned they had missed out on the last few giveaways and I hate that because I want everybody to have a chance to win! To make sure you don't miss out on these fabulous giveaways in the future, remember to visit the main website a few times a week. Check out that "Recent Dishes" gadget on the right hand side of the page to catch up on recent posts you might have missed.

Tip: Also, since I usually put out a couple of notices for the giveaways up on my Facebook page, pop by occasionally to scroll my Wall, in case you missed them when they posted to your news feed. You can also sign up for email notices for when new posts go up, or add Deep South Dish to your favorite home page reader or sign up for an RSS Feed to keep up with what's happening here!

I do my giveaways by random draw so winners are always chosen by the luck of the draw. Off the Eaten Path is such a fun combo of travel information, trivia and recipes that I was thrilled to see the comments that came up on the random draw. It was like it was meant to be!

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A whole cut up chicken, baked in a creamy sauce, with caramelized onion, mushrooms and almonds.

Baked Chicken with Creamy Almond Sauce

This is one of those great chicken bakes that has been around forever and is a southern favorite. Yes folks, it uses canned cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups, though if you are opposed, you can certainly make your own homemade sauces. Lower sodium soups are also fine to use, but do remember that chicken tends to be bland without salt so you'll want to use your usual replacements to enhance the flavor.

This particular recipe is served with rice on the side instead of in the casserole dish so make a nice steaming pot of rice to go with it. Add a nice garden salad or a green vegetable on the side, and you'll want some rolls to sop up that delicious pan sauce too.

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Cajun Pastalaya - Pasta Jambalaya

The classic flavors of a chicken and sausage jambalaya but in a quick and easy skillet pasta dinner.

Cajun Pastalaya

Pastalaya is another one of those dishes that gets some folks kinda cranked up. The purists have a fit over anybody calling a dish that is not rice based, anything remotely related to jambalaya. Pastalaya is simply taking the basic combination of the flavors of a typical jambalaya, but in a pasta dish instead of a rice dish. I say just go ahead and enjoy it! I like to use the shell pasta - not the tiny shells, but the average, medium sized shells, but most any medium sized short-cut pasta would work too. If you prefer this a little more mild than spicy, simply sub in a good smoked sausage.

Pretty snappy to throw together too. When I decided to make this, I didn't have a chicken breast thawed, or any pre-cooked chicken in the freezer, but that's the beauty of this dish. While it's excellent with the chicken, it's good with just about any protein, including pork, shrimp and even crawfish. The great thing about smoked sausage is it can be defrosted in a snap in the microwave. I do recommend adding the chicken. Simply heat your choice of fat in a large covered pot or skillet and add the chicken, and brown well on both sides. Remove and set aside.

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GIVEAWAY! Southern Living Off the Eaten Path

"If you truly want to learn a place, 

eat the food of its people."

Being a fan of all things diner and off the path eateries, I was thrilled to be asked if I would give the brand new Southern Living Off the Eaten Path (Favorite Southern Dives and 150 Recipes That Made Them Famous) book a review.  There are indeed recipes in Southern Living Off the Eaten Path, 150 of them in fact, but, this book is much more than that.

Written by humorist, noted food critic and former travel editor for Southern Living, with a foreword by Southern novelist Fannie Flagg, Morgan Murphy takes us on a literal adventure, state by state, from the Deep South to the Old South to the Border States, you'll get a bite of some of Murphy's favorite eateries along the way.

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A well loved casserole of ground beef, and I like to also add smoked sausage, seasoned with sweet onion and bell pepper and a cream soup sauce and topped with crispy, crunchy tater tot potatoes and cheese.

Tater Tot Casserole

Tater tots. Little pillows of deep fried shredded potatoes. I mean, c'mon... how can you not love those little bite sized crunchy bites of goodness?  On the rare occasion that we eat Sonic, I guarantee I'm gettin' the tater tots.

Did y'all know that tater tots were born out of trying to "use it up?" They sure were. Those folks at Ore-Ida were looking for a way to use up the leftover slivers of potatoes and came up with the tater tot. You'd almost think those Griggs brothers were southerners!  Around since the early 50s, we consume about 70 million pounds of tater tots a year.

Ah yes... and let us not forget the fabulous famous Tater Tot Casserole! A recipe I'm pretty sure every southerner has in their recipe box. The basic tater tot casserole is very simple, including cream of something soup, cheese, milk or sometimes sour cream, seasoned simply with a bit of salt and pepper, and is usually served as a side dish.  Somebody along the way thought to add meat to make it a more substantial main dish, usually ground beef or turkey. Some folks layer the ground beef in the bottom of the casserole raw, but I prefer to pre-cook mine and drain off the fat.

Well, y'all know I can never leave well enough alone, right?

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Giveaway Winners!! Simply Suppers Cookbook by Jennifer Chandler

And, the winners of the cookbooks are:

NEW ALTERNATE WINNER: Carolyn P. who said... I would love to have this cookbook, I am a newlywed (March 26th..yay me) and am excited about trying new recipes for my husband. You have great recipes here, this Virginian loves to try new things, the same thing over and over gets boring fast!!! Thanks....the new Carolyn Phillips!!

NEW ALTERNATE WINNER: Sue who said... It would be great if I could win this cookbook! I have a shortcut to your web page on my desktop because I go on it more than once a day! I love trying new recipes, especially simple ones that I can then pass on to my kids who are on their own. Every recipe I've tried from your site has been great, so I'm sure this book is full of more of the same. I'll be drooling in anticipation until the winners are announced!

Tracey Joy who said...I love cookbooks Mary. You have shared with us to so many wonderful cookbooks. I'd love for this to be apart of my collection. It amazing at times I run out of idea as to what to make, so this will really help, lol = )

Congratulations! Please contact me as soon as possible (by 5:00 p.m. CST, Thursday 5/12) with your full name and mailing address so that I can get your cookbooks to you. Thanks for participating everybody!
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I recently had the opportunity to review the cookbook Simply Suppers by Jennifer Chandler. Jennifer is from Memphis, but has a long 15 year history in the food business, after having left an international finance career to move to Paris and attend the Le Cordon Bleu academy, graduating at the top of her class. After a stint in Washington in a restaurant group and with a top caterer, she eventually landed back in Memphis, where, for several years, she owned Cheffie's, a prepared foods market and bakery. Today Jennifer is a mom of two girls, a freelance magazine writer and the author of two cookbooks.

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A Kentucky classic from the Brown Hotel in Louisville, a Kentucky Hot Brown is an open-faced turkey sandwich, topped with a rich Mornay sauce and garnished with slices of fresh tomato and crisp bacon.

Kentucky Hot Brown

Ever had a Kentucky Hot Brown? Chances are if you've traveled to The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky you probably have, and though I've certainly been to Louisville, I've never been to The Brown Hotel, so I hadn't! In honor of the Kentucky Derby this weekend, which frankly has been kinda lost in the shuffle of Cinco de Mayo menus and Mother's Day, I thought I'd get this posted to share what all of the hub bub is about, and so I went straight to the source to find out how.

A Kentucky Hot Brown is a sort of open-faced, hot turkey sandwich that comes with a history.  Don't you just love food with a story?

Invented at The Brown Hotel by Chef Fred Schmidt back in the 20s, it was intended for the late night dance crowd who apparently had grown tired of typical breakfast fare after a long night of dancing. Chef Schmidt decided to try serving a unique open-faced turkey sandwich that included bacon, and a delicate Mornay sauce, and the Hot Brown, was born!

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Featured Reader Recipe - Pineapple Buttermilk Coleslaw

Thinly shredded cabbage marinated in a fantastic spicy buttermilk pineapple dressing.

Pineapple Buttermilk Coleslaw

Don't let that picture fool ya. I didn't want a big pool of juices for the photo, but soon as I snapped it, I scooped some of those juices out of the bottom of the bowl and poured them right on top of that serving. Y'all, I am not ashamed to say that I actually tilted my plate up to lap up all the juices of this coleslaw. Yep. I sure did. It is that good.

Don B., a reader from Troy, Pennsylvania, shared this favorite recipe with me over email and gave me license to adapt as needed, though truthfully I pretty much just followed his suggestion on adding in a little heat. The rest was just a few adjustments in the ingredient amounts, adding in some carrot and a bit of leftover pickle juice I had in the fridge from some bread and butter pickles. Y'all do save your pickle juice, right?

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Blue Bell, I Think I Love You

Let me introduce you to my little friend...

Blue Bell Southern Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream.

O.M.G. y'all.

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