A sheet pan meal of fish, shrimp and smoked sausage with broccoli and potatoes.

Sheet Pan Seafood Dinner

A few years back, sheet pan dinners were all the rage.

I never quite got into them to be honest, mainly because with a mix of proteins and different varieties of vegetables, cooking stages are often involved in order to cook everything evenly and not overcook others.

Peeled russet potatoes, cut into chunks and gently boiled in water until tender and reduced, thickened with a slurry.

Creamed Potatoes with Thickening

Potatoes are a staple across the country I suppose, but like rice, they sure are a pretty big part of life in the South.

Not only do they act as a side dish, they can also serve as an inexpensive and filling main dish for those times when the money has fallen short of the month. In fact, this meal topped with whatever leftovers were in the house, or whatever was on hand from the pantry, actually comes from the Depression Era.

Russet potatoes, peeled and cut up, smothered with onion, smoked sausage and Rotel tomatoes and cooked in a rice cooker.

Rice Cooker Smothered Potatoes

Rice cookers may be a bit old school, but believe it or not, they're still a thing down here and for the most part, it's an appliance that is completely uncomplicated.

One simple "start" button is usually all there is to them!

You press it, it cooks your rice, kicks over to warm when your rice is done, and it actually holds the rice for a long time. As far as timing goes, it's really going to depend on your cooker, so holding on to that product manual is key to timing for the rest of your dinner.

Russet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and sliced, tossed in cooking oil and fried.

Soft Fried Potatoes

There are versions of these kinds of fried potatoes all across the country, but most definitely in the South - and, as usual, everybody prepares them differently.

There are two versions that I make the most.

• Southern-style, smothered fried potatoes with onion, made with cubed peeled russet potatoes, that are first steamed, then pan-fried in bacon drippings to crisp and turned, resulting in a tender inside, but with crispy outer edges.
  
  
• Unpeeled red skin potatoes, fried up in a cast iron skillet with sweet or yellow onion and bell pepper and nicely seasoned for a take on Potatoes O'Brien. Great for any meal and versatile - add bacon, ham, sausage, fresh herbs and even mushrooms if you like!

A bread-based dressing with the classic vegetable seasonings and the addition of mashed potatoes.

Bread and Potato Dressing

Let's see. A bread-based dressing with the classic vegetable seasonings, and the addition of mashed potatoes?

I'm not at all mad at it!

In fact, I cannot believe this isn't already something in the South for heaven's sake.

A potato salad made using half smashed and half chunky potatoes and finished with a sour cream and mayonnaise-based dressing.

Sour Cream Smashed Potato Salad

Hope y'all don't mind me sneaking in another potato salad before we roll into Fall in a few days!

Not that it matters much what the calendar says in the Deep South because yesterday it was miserably hot and humid. Not that the weather has ever stopped a craving on me, I sure do look forward to some cooler temperatures and some belly warmin' meals though - hopefully soon!

I wrote this version of potato salad in honor of my mother-in-law, who passed away a few years back. Although it's a bit different from her version, very different from my Mama's and different even from the way my father-in-law, who was also a great cook, made his, she prepared her potato salad mostly mashed, something that was very new to me.

Russet potatoes, air fry baked, then the pulp scooped out and mixed with cream cheese, butter, salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, grated onion, bacon, cheddar cheese, stuffed back into the shells and baked again.

Air Fryer Twice-Baked Potato

I tell you what, if you live in the Deep South and you don't have an Instant Pot and an air fryer, I seriously don't know why.

Those have been the two most used appliances in my house all summer long in this oppressive heat we've been experiencing down here. I mean yes, we always have hot summers down here, but it sure seems we have had an awful lot of those heat advisories this summer and even though I have a killer A/C unit, I have had the oven on only a couple of times.