A spicy, slow-simmered red sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes and tossed with penne pasta. Here I've added a few additional seasonings, some chopped sweet onion and finished it with fresh Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Spicy Arrabiata Sauce with Pasta

The word arrabiata (ah-rah-BYAH-tah) literally translates into the word "angry" and it's the heat from the addition of red pepper flakes here that earned the sauce the name, setting it apart from other more traditional Italian sauces.

If you enjoy a little heat in your sauce, start with the lesser amount of red pepper flakes. If you are already a lover of super spicy, increase that according to your personal taste.

While you can use fresh tomatoes, this sauce is often made using shelf-stable canned tomatoes, whether home canned or commercially bought, so it's an easy pasta sauce that can be prepared from the pantry anytime.

A whole cut up chicken, soaked in a seasoned buttermilk and mustard marinade, then dredged in a seasoned flour, deep fried and finished in the oven. Pictured here with roasted potatoes and black-eyed peas.

Buttermilk Mustard Fried Chicken

Like many Southerners, I love fried chicken, especially when it's prepared well. Although pretty rewarding in the end, it is a little messy frying it at home though and frankly takes practice,  meaning you need to keep making it often to perfect the processes!

You know. Like Grandma did.

For those reasons, lots of folks satisfy those occasional fried chicken cravings with take out these days and while really great fried chicken can be found at sit down restaurants, you can also find it at locally owned gas station counters, at regional grocery store delis like Winn Dixie and Rouses in my neighborhood, at local sit down or take out buffets like Hartz, Cajun's and Broome's and fried chicken places like Popeye's and KFC.

The one problem? Have you seen the prices?

Ziti pasta, layered with a mix of shredded off the block Monterey Jack and extra sharp Cheddar cheeses, salted butter, finished with egg with whole milk and topped with additional cheese and baked.

Baked Ziti with Cheese

A lot of folks enjoy a baked ziti, made with tiny beef and sausage meatballs in a tomato-based sauce with cheeses with ziti noodles. It's a bit of a labor of love because it's a little time consuming, so that I even made a quicker, easier stovetop, skillet version that provides a very similar taste. 

Most folks also enjoy a good homemade macaroni and cheese typically made with elbow macaroni and I've got several versions available on the website.

I took some of the basic aspects of my own mac and cheese recipes and used ziti noodles instead of classic elbows for a little bit of a change!

My Ultimate Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes, made with the ease of a slow cooker, using peeled russet potatoes cooked in chicken broth, then beat with butter, heavy cream or whole milk and cream cheese. Pictured here with trinity seasoned green peas, chicken fried chicken and milk gravy.

Slow Cooker Ultimate Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

I love mashed potatoes anytime, not just holidays!

While we may tone it down a bit when we make them on the regular, admittedly, holidays are when we usually break out the fancy potatoes. You know the ones. Cream cheese. Whole milk with heavy cream. Plenty of butter!

Those of y'all who have been around any length of time already know I'm not huge on the slow cooker, mostly because I am not a very good advance planner and generally speaking, slow cookers require that! I have some slow cooker recipes here and there because I know it's one more tool to make mealtime happen.

Quick and easy individual pizzas made using Naan flatbread.

Naan Flatbread Pizza

Y'all. I am a nut for pizza!

I love them homemade the best of course, though I'll take a good fresh made grocery store deli pizza too. My husband has a favorite chain he likes and they are really good too!

But, pizza like everything else has become a bit expensive these days. We usually do a medium half pepperoni and half veggie, with a military discount to save a little money. The Cajun goes nowhere without asking for a military discount!

Social Media Roundup Comfort Food Favorites 3

Social Media Roundup Comfort Food Favorites 3 - What You Missed! Old Fashioned Homestyle Chicken and Noodles, Homemade Southern Beef Stew, Divine Casserole, Cajun Shrimp Stew, Cabbage Roll Bowl, No Peek Bacony Chicken and Rice Bake, Oven Roasted Beef Rump Roast, Seafood Pan Roast and Southern-Style Stewed Chicken.

Comfort Food Favorites 3

This sure has been a crazy month in the Deep South with all of these winter storms rolling through. We have readers from all across the country so I know that a lot of you have been affected by them too. Even here in the Deep South we've had multiple freezes lasting well into the day even, and that's highly unusual for us.

Be safe, stay warm and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

We've been sharing some good comfort meals on social media lately, so we're continuing that and if you're looking for some belly warming foods, here's a summary of what we've shared recently.

Social Media Roundup of Comfort Food Favorites 2 that you may have missed! 'Easy Apple Pie Skillet Biscuits, Shipwreck Casserole, Old Fashioned Baked Custard, Chicken Pot Pie Soup with Pie Crust Crackers, Instant Pot Hot Roast Beef, Oven Braised Bone-in Chicken Breasts with Vegetables, Classic Southern Pinto Beans, Southern Style Meatloaf, Sausage, Peppers and Onions with Beans and BBQ Pork Brunswick Stew.

Social Media Roundup - Comfort Food Favorites 2

Y'all. I can't believe we are halfway through the month of January already!

As much as it seems that life stands still when you're young, I can assure you that when you hit "a certain age" it flies. Seems like my grandchildren were toddlers yesterday and here they are teens and preteens.

I know that a lot of you are on hiatus from your favorite cooking blogs - but don't forget about us!! We're still plugging along and with this crazy weather if you're looking for some great comfort food options to warm those bellies, we've been sharing some good stuff over on social media!

Social Media Roundup Comfort Food Favorites 1

Comfort Food Favorites 1: Grandma's Old Fashioned Boiled Custard Recipe and Eggnog Base, Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole, Oven Braised Pot Roast with Vegetables, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Country Captain Chicken, Smothered Stewed Potatoes, Slow Cooker Pinto Beans, Crockpot Beef Chili with Beans and Cajun Cabbage Stew.

Comfort Food Favorites 1

Social media has been even more quiet here lately than it has been all year y'all, so we're continuing to share here what we've been sharing over there. Here's our latest roundup of social media shares from what I call my favorite comfort foods.

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Visit any of the recipes below by tapping or clicking on the recipe title or the photos below to check it out, right here on Deep South Dish website.

Let's get to it!

'Grandma's Old Fashioned Boiled Custard Recipe and Eggnog Base'

Once used regularly as a simple drink meant to sooth the sick, this rich and creamy beverage is also an excellent base for homemade eggnog.

'Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole'

A fantastic and tasty sweet breakfast casserole that you throw together the night before and then just slide into the oven in the morning. Great for Christmas morning!

'Oven Braised Pot Roast with Vegetables'

Chuck roast, braised low and slow in the oven in a light roux with pot roasted veggies - it's a classic Sunday roast.

An American-style Bolognese meat sauce, seasoned with a mirepoix of vegetables, beef and pork, tomatoes and wine, made in the Instant Pot!

Instant Pot American-Style Bolognese Sauce (Spaghetti Meat Sauce)

So, the other day I had a craving for spaghetti.

I know, crazy, right? Mostly folks have "cravings" for sweet things, but me, I'm more of a savory kind of gal, so when I get a craving it's more likely it's for some kind of savory comfort food.

Maybe chicken and dumplings. Or tacos. Lasagna. Or those little burgers like Krystal's. Roast Chicken. Chicken Pot Pie. Homemade Mashed Potatoes. That sort of stuff.

Anyway, this specific time after our recent carb-heavy holiday meal, I was craving meat and more specifically meat sauce. I started to just make my normal semi-homemade spaghetti sauce, but then, I thought...

A creamy tomato-based stew with shrimp, crawfish and crab and served over hot, steamed rice.

Seafood Pan Roast

Several years back, I was looking through a Martha Foose cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, that contained a recipe for what was called a seafood pan roast. Since The Cajun and I don't eat out much, this was an unfamiliar dish for me.

At the time, I couldn't find much about it around the internet either and even today there still isn't much out there. I went ahead and made it, but with no photos to let me know if I was anywhere on track let's just say mine didn't turn out quite right. With the cost of seafood, I abandoned it to experiment a bit more thoroughly another time.

This vintage pie recipe originated with Pillsbury and begins with a batter and apple pie filling. Once baked, the batter surrounds the apples and forms its own crust, making for a super easy pie that is outstanding!

Easy Crazy Crust Apple Pie

Apparently Crazy Crust Apple Pie originated with the Pillsbury company, likely sometime back around the late 60s to early 70s - yes y'all. That was more than 50 years ago.

I believe that qualifies this as a vintage recipe!

Folks tend to associate "vintage" recipes to those from the 50s and earlier and forget how long ago those 60s are now. Trust me I get it. It seems like it was yesterday, but nope. It's been a pretty long time now!

Russet potatoes, slow cooked with onion, celery and chicken broth and finished with cream, prepared in your slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

Potato soup is a long-held favorite of many of you, from simple and classic, to fully loaded and dressed up, to easy, shortcut versions, most folks just seem to love it.

Featured on this website, are several versions in case you've missed them:

A rich baked spaghetti that includes spaghetti noodles mixed with sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs and cheese, topped with a meat sauce and finished with a layer of Cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti

Million Dollar Spaghetti is another one of those baked casseroles that has been around for a long time, although, it's gotten some recent viral attention on TikTok in the last year.

Like I said in a previous post, with social media, all things old become new again!

Although I am not a TikTok user, or even a fan, I have to admit it is kinda cool to see old recipes getting a revival with some younger folks.

Chicken drumsticks dredged in seasoned flour and a buttermilk and egg batter and prepared in an air fryer.

Air Fryer Fried Chicken Drumsticks

While I don't eat it every day, and I rarely cook it at home anymore because it can be a bit messy, I do LOVE fried chicken.

Absolutely love it.

The chicken is tender. The coating on the deep-fried skin is so deliciously crunchy and loaded with flavor, it may well be my most favorite part. With easy access to places like Popeye's, and our local fried chicken buffet Hartz, fried chicken is The Cajun's and my top comfort food. We probably eat it more often than we should! 

A cheesy pasta casserole made with a cream soup and sour cream base and rotini pasta.

Cheesy Rotini Casserole

This recipe is based on one that was popular back in the early 1980s among The Telephone Pioneers of America and was featured in their community cookbooks, Bell's Best and Calling All Cooks.

It was called Macaroni Casserole back then, because it was generally made with elbow macaroni. I used rotini pasta for my version because I had an opened box I needed to use up. Waste not, want not! 
 

Soup Meat Vegetable Beef Soup

A rich, hearty mixed vegetable beef soup, made with The Bouilli of a soup meat roast and bone broth.

Soup Meat Vegetable Beef Soup with Bone Broth

In case you missed my previous post for The Bouilli, this is the Beef Vegetable Soup that I made after preparing the initial meal of "boiled meat with juices," served with rice.

In short, Creole Bouilli refers to the preparation of a beef roast that is slow-braised (you don't really want to boil it) for several hours, completely covered in liquid, and to which I added some seared beef bones.

While you can use any leftover roast for this soup, of course, the outstanding flavor of The Bouilli makes a knock your socks off soup. To learn more about The Bouilli, tap that link and learn all about it! 

Creole Bouilli, a boiled roast, slow-stewed with beef bones and seasoning vegetables and served over rice or potatoes with juices spooned on top for meal one, and a flavorful beef vegetable soup or second meal next day.

Creole Bouilli - Boiled Soup Meat Roast with Bone Broth

I love soup, and yes, around here it is usually featured as a main dish meal, accompanied by some kind of bread, crackers or a sandwich, rather than just a starter soup course to go along with an entree of some kind.

For the most part, I want those soups to be quick and easy, although there are times I do put a little bit more of my time into them.

Sweet potatoes, baked, split, mashed and combined with butter, spices and milk, stuffed back into the shell and rebaked. A delicious side dish anytime, but great for a holiday meal.

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

I love twice-baked potatoes! Just the expanded flavor from the additions and fluffy texture of the potato after you baked it, mash it, mix it with all the goodies and then bake it, again... outstanding! 

Bet you didn't even think of sweet potatoes. Yep, they're good twice baked too!

A classic and simple Deep South version of fish stew, made with farm-raised, Mississippi catfish, and gently stewed in a trinity-enhanced, Creole tomato sauce with potatoes.

Catfish Stew

Unlike Cajun Coubion (aka Courtbouillon), in which the creole stew is prepared through and the fish, most often redfish or snapper, is laid out on top of the stew to poach near the end of cooking, this is prepared with the catfish stirred into the gently simmering stew, and allowed to lightly break down.

Piggy Mac Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

Piggy Mac and Cheese made with leftover pulled pork, elbow noodles, a little onion, Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies and shredded cheese.

Piggy Mac and Cheese

Like everybody else, I love a slow-smoked pork butt that has been lovingly tended to and watched over for hours and hours... usually by somebody else in my case!

Let's face it. Most of us home cooks aren't going to be die hard Q'ers who spend all afternoon bent over a smoker for the perfection of slow-smoked meat, but we sure will enjoy it when somebody else does!