Sunday, January 15, 2012

Thinking About Southern Cooking

The thing about southern cooking is that it is excitingly nutritious. Aside from the Scottish, the Native Americans and the English are some of the influences that have brought us the southern way of cooking food. The best examples of southern cooking are Creole, Cajun and Floribbean (Florida and the Caribbean).

When it comes to the south, places such as Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland consider food as one of the aspects that make up its culture. Aside from squash, corn is another famous ingredient in these parts. One of the things that southerners learned from Native American influences was to prepare food with the use of an open flame and this is why southerners simply adore deep pit barbecue.

Almost all southerners are fans of milk and eggs when it comes to cooking. Europe is responsible for this aspect of southern food. When it comes to meals, breakfast is the most popular meal in the south and everything from large quantities of breads to cheese are served.

Bread and chicken are staples in southerners' regular meals and collard greens plus grits add to the whole experience. Here is where cobbler or pie is the conventional dessert option. When it comes to good old American soups like lentil or split pea, these are actually southern style soups.

In the south, the kinds of pies that the people love most are usually the ones made out of apples and pecans while they adore okra, green beans, and squash when it comes to their veggies. Breads may be in the form of rolls, cornbread or biscuits, while the salad is either a fruit salad or garden salad. Southerners are also particular when it comes to table settings as eating on a nice table makes the experience more pleasing.

A southerner will not be happy if no corn bread is served. For southerners, kitchens always have baking bread since the people cannot live without corn bread. Without any biscuits, corn bread, or rolls, a southern meal will not be complete.

When it comes to making corn bread, you need the basics which are flour and baking soda, baking powder, and salt. To this you will add wet ingredients including milk, eggs, and shortening. According to one’s preference, sugar may be added as well.

You will need about a cup and a half of flour to start you off then you have to combine this with some milk, eggs, and shortening. All ingredients should be mixed. See to it that you grease some muffin tins when you make the bread.

Southern cornbread is distinctly hot when served, as are southern biscuits. This means firing up the oven to 450 degrees. The real secrets here are to sprinkle some cornmeal in the skillet just before adding the dough, don’t use flour when making pure cornbread, and after cooking, turn the cornbread upside down in the skillet to keep warm.

When it comes to the dough, it is important for the dough to be as thin as possible. Southern cooking has many secrets and this is one of them. There are many other tips for this kind of cooking that applies to other southern fares.

Are you interested to learn more about southern cooking? If so, hitting the link will help a lot.