Sunday, January 15, 2012

Introduction to Southern Cooking

The thing about southern cooking is that it is excitingly nutritious. Food cooked through the southern method comes with a mix of influences from the Irish to the French and even the African Americans. When it comes to this kind of cooking, there are several varieties including Cajun and Floribbean.

Culture is part of everything in most areas of the south including food especially in places like Maryland, Ohio River, Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma. Extensively popular in these places are squash and tomatoes to name a few things. 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.

From flour to sugar, baking ingredients are popular in the south as well. When it comes to this, Europe influenced the trend. Considering the fact that these people enjoy breakfast, they always have tons of baked goodies and side of milk and cheese early in the day.

If you think about a basic southern meal, it will come with fried chicken, collard greens, some corn bread, and potatoes. Expect also to see a piece of pie or a cobbler on the side for dessert. A number of traditional American soups, such as chicken noodle soup, lentil, and even split pea, actually originated from the South.

From green beans to okra, there are tons of veggies that southern folk adore and for their pies, nothing beats pecan and apple. Garden salads or fruit salads are eaten by southerners regularly and when it comes to breads, rolls and biscuits are conventional. They also love their tables always set properly and in order; the food just seems to be more delicious that way.

A southerner will not be happy if no corn bread is served. There is always hot bread in a southerner's oven because the people in the south simply love corn bread. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, one of the “southern trinity” members must be present – biscuits, cornbread or rolls.

As an example of Southern cooking, cornbread is prepared using self-rising flour with the added ingredients of baking soda, baking powder and salt. To the dry ingredients, you have to put in some milk, eggs, and shortening. It is okay to mix in some sugar if you like.

Aside from a couple of cups of flour and milk, you need a couple of eggs pus the shortening to make your corn bread. Remember to combine all elements for a great dough. See to it that you grease some muffin tins when you make the bread.

When it comes to the south, no corn bread is served cold. This means firing up the oven to 450 degrees. Before the corn bread is cooked, the skillet is sprinkled with cornmeal and every now and then, the bread is turned in the pan.

When it comes to the dough, it is important for the dough to be as thin as possible. This is just one example of southern cooking and some of its secrets. 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.