Review of the Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook

A Collection of More Than 400 Tried-and-True Southern Recipes

Jan 29, 2009

Mouthwatering Southern dishes aren't all you'll find in the new Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook.

Although the book does contain more than 400 new recipes, it is more than your typical Southern Living cookbook. A feast for the eyes, the cookbook is filled not only with full-page photographs of appetizers, side dishes, desserts, and entrees but with numerous photographs of the South itself.

Throughout the book, Southern Living writers enlighten readers to the history of various dishes and the traditions associated with certain foods and drinks. With its wide variety of recipes and unique attention to history and geography, this cookbook stands out from the many other Southern Living cookbooks that remain so popular.

Photos that Show Southern Life at its Best

Juxtaposed with the recipes for dishes like king cake, ranch potatoes, and boarding house meat loaf are pages filled with photographs of old Southern plantations, moss-covered trees, and Civil War reenactments. Complementing these photographs are descriptions of various aspects of Southern life. The chapter titled, “A World of Flavors,” for example, opens with a paragraph about the culinary traditions of early European and African settlers, who brought their unique ideas about food to the South centuries ago. The chapter about Southern heritage dishes devotes a paragraph to New Orleans, sharing with readers the history of the city’s Cajun and Creole beginnings. Accompanying the recipes designed for New Year’s Day is a paragraph called “Eating for Luck,” which explains why many Southerners believe eating black-eyed peas, collard greens, and pork on New Year’s Day brings good luck.

Easy Yet Flavorful Recipes

From casual entertaining menus to recipes sure to impress the most sophisticated guests, the Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook may just be the only cookbook you’ll ever need. With appetizer dishes like mini crab cakes, entrees like chicken cobbler casserole, and desserts like mile-high hummingbird cake, this cookbook has a dish for every occasion and every palate. And for those Southern cooks looking for lighter fare, there is even a chapter devoted solely to healthy home style cooking. Inexperienced chefs will be delighted that many of these recipes are simple to make and worry-free. The perfect seasonings and marriages of flavors, however, ensure that these dishes taste anything but ordinary.

Southern Spirits

Just as no Southern Fourth of July picnic is complete without the perfect iced tea, no Kentucky Derby party would be complete without mint juleps. The Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook contains recipes for both the iced tea and the classic Derby cocktail, along with dozens of other beverage recipes. For the summer months, the editors of Southern Living recommend whiskey snowballs, made with fruit juices, cherries, and Tennessee whiskey. When the weather turns cooler, they suggest you cuddle up by a fire with a mug of December cider, which can be spiked with either rum or cinnamon schnapps.

Tips and Tricks

Nearly every page contains a “Test Kitchen Tip,” a bit of wisdom from the experienced chefs who test each and every recipe featured in the cookbook. For example, the chefs recommend using dried wild mushrooms – rather than fresh – in soups; otherwise, the soup will be too watery. Other tips include ways to reduce the calorie count of certain dishes and how to make easy side dishes to accompany particular entrées

To find recipes from this and other Southern Living cookbooks, visit www.myrecipes.com.

The copyright of the article Review of the Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook in Gourmet/Regional Cookbooks is owned by Leigh Ivey. Permission to republish Review of the Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.