Chef Rick's Southern Cooking

Stuffed Dill Pickles

These tasty appetizers are so simple to make that I have only been able to find one printed recipe for them, in Ethel Farmer Hunter's Secrets of Southern Cooking (1948). For the best results, make sure the pickles are ice cold when you start.

Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese is one of the true joys of Southern food. It is a versatile food, eaten as an appetizer on crackers, as a sandwich on white bread, either plain, toasted, or grilled, and as a burger topping in South Carolina.

Pan Fried Croaker

Croakers inhabit the southern coastal estuaries and are called such because of the drumming or croaking sound they make by vibrating muscles on either side of their swim bladders. Fried croaker is served from Maryland to Mississippi; add a little Cole slaw and some hush puppies and you have a real Lowcountry feast. Yield: 2 [...]

Low Country Chicken Pilau

Pilau, or Purloo as the Gullah call it, is one of the classic chicken and rice casseroles of the South Carolina Low Country.

Cube Steak (Chicken Fried Steak)

Cube steak is an inexpensive cut of top or bottom round beef that has been tenderized by running it through a commercial meat tenderizing machine, then dredged in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and served with milk gravy. The same cut of beef can also be tenderized by pounding, seasoned with poultry seasoning and [...]

Thanksgiving 101: How To Cook Your First Thanksgiving Dinner

Putting together a great Thanksgiving feast for all your relatives is simple. You only need a few little things- 1. The organizational abilities of Bill Gates. 2. The pre-planning proclivity of the White House Chief of Staff. 3. The confidence under fire of Robert E. Lee. 4. The homemaking skills of Martha Stewart after 2 double espressos.

Onion Rings

A recipe for deep fried, beer battered onion rings.

Trout Stuffed with Mushrooms, Vidalia Onion and Spinach

Rainbow Trout Stuffed with Mushrooms, Vidalia Onion and Spinach.

Old-fashioned Chicken Stew

This old fashioned Southern soul food dish is a great way to take the chill away on a fall day.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

These candied sweet potatoes are baked with a brown sugar and orange juice glaze, then garnished with nuts and raisins. Yield: 4 -6 servings 2 large sweet potatoes 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup raisins 1/4 cup chopped pecans 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon Peel sweet potatoes, and using a chef’s knife, carefully cut them into bite-sized [...]