Showing posts with label Home Cooking Basics. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven and My Thoughts on Low Carb Dieting

Perfect bacon, cooked all at once in the oven!

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Oven bacon is the easiest way to cook a lot of bacon at once, but first, I want to address a subject that interestingly several long time readers have contacted me about recently, and that is to ask what I think about this new low carb trend among some southern food bloggers, to which I respond, "there's a trend??"

Between family, grandchildren and work, I don't get out much across the interwebs so I wasn't aware of this, but y'all tell me there has been, and seriously, I'm not at all surprised to see some southern food bloggers taking the low carb path. Here's why.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Saturday, November 30, 2013

How to Make Homemade Ham Stock

Homemade stock made from a ham bone or ham hocks.

How to Make Homemade Ham Stock

For most Southern households, major holidays mean ham and most often ham means a leftover ham bone. If you don't have an immediate use for that ham bone, save it and freeze it, or use it to make a stock that you can freeze for later.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Creamed Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts, steamed first, then sauteed in butter and cream, and finished with a bit of salt, pepper and Parmesan.

How to Cook Brussels Sprouts

I have been trying to learn to love brussels sprouts all my life, and more so since I started blogging about food. I've tried them a multitude of ways, and quite a few different versions here lately - a simple saute, oven braised, roasted and now creamed.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Top 10 Turkey Tips - How to Open Roast a Turkey Perfectly

Top 10 Turkey Tips - How to Open Roast a Turkey Perfectly

Top 10 Turkey Tips - How to Open Roast a Turkey Perfectly

This time of year it's all about the turkey, or more importantly, not only how to roast a turkey, but how to roast a turkey perfectly so that it's at it's most juicy, tender perfection. Here are some of my favorite tips to help you achieve the perfect turkey.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Monday, November 22, 2010

7 Top Tips to Perfect Your Holiday Dressing

My top tips to perfect your holiday dressing or stuffing.

How to Perfect Your Holiday Dressing

The perfect dressing, or stuffing... however you look at it, can be a bit elusive, and to be honest it just takes practice to get it to the consistency that you like. Some people like their dressing on the dry side, others like it almost soupy. Here are some of my favorite dressing tips that I've picked up along my way of practice.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Saturday, September 11, 2010

How to Make Homemade Shrimp Stock

A rich seafood stock is made easy with shrimp shells and a few aromatics.

How to Make Homemade Shrimp Stock

Homemade shrimp stock adds amazing flavor to so many seafood dishes and it is super easy to make. I've included instructions on how to make a homemade stock from shrimp shells in many of my recipes here, but I figured it was time to give it a spot of its own for the how to tip section of my site.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Friday, March 19, 2010

How to Butterfly Shrimp

How to Butterfly Shrimp

How to Butterfly Shrimp

To clean a shrimp, you will most often, remove the head and peel away the shell, though for purposes of grilling a shrimp, the shell can also be left intact as a cover to protect the shrimp from drying out too easily. You can still devein the shrimp and leave the shell intact.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Thursday, March 4, 2010

10 Minute Quick Microwave General Purpose Roux

Easy, Quick Microwave General Purpose Roux

10 Minute Quick Microwave General Purpose Roux

You can make a roux in the microwave. Oh yes you can! It's faster than the oven, and it's easier than the stove top. And, I'm gonna show you how!!

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Monday, November 23, 2009

Fast and Easy Brining Solution

By brining, you are providing a moisture cushion for the meat - all provided by the process of osmosis.

Fast and Easy Brining Solution

Brine. Your. Turkey. (or your chicken, or your pork...) Period. Just trust me on this one.

What is brining? And why bother?

Click Here to Continue Reading »

How to Make Homemade Giblet and Egg Gravy in the Roasting Pan

A homemade gravy made from the roasting pan drippings, turkey giblets and egg.

How to Make Homemade Giblet and Egg Gravy

My Mama always made turkey giblet gravy on the holidays. It was just a given that you'd find gravy on the table with those little bits of giblets floating in it. I under-appreciated it back then, but now I know the added punch of flavor that infusing the gravy with giblets gives us. Some southern cooks add chopped, hard boiled egg to their gravy. Mama never did and neither do I, but feel free to throw some in if you like. You'll want 1 hard boiled egg, diced and stir it in just before serving.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Thursday, September 10, 2009

How to Make Homemade Gravy and Some Tips for Perfect Gravy!

Chicken Gravy made with bacon drippings & homemade stock

How to Make Homemade Gravy

If you want to learn how to make homemade gravy, here's another for the "how-to" series of posts here. I know of lot of my regular readers are foodies and certainly know how to make gravy, but I hope that those in search of info will happen across this and find some help. We all had to learn somewhere! I recently made a casserole in need of chicken gravy and just today made roast beef po'boys and needed a beef gravy, so a "how-to" seemed fitting.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Friday, June 26, 2009

How to Make Simple Syrup

Basic simple syrup mixture for beverages, cocktails and glazes.

How to Make Simple Syrup

This is for a medium thick simple syrup with a 2:1 ratio, which will cover most of your beverage needs - such as lemonade, iced tea, cocktails and coffee. You can also do a 1:1 ratio and a 3:1 ratio, depending on the thickness needed. A thicker ratio would be used in baking for glazes. A thinner ratio might be used for some cold drinks.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Classic Homemade Meatballs

A great, no-frills, meatball that can be used in casseroles, on sandwiches, for spaghetti and meatballs, and of course, our fabulously loved grape jelly meatballs.

Basic Homemade Meatballs

This is my favorite classic meatball recipe that I have been using since I started cooking, and the same one I use when I make my spaghetti with meatballs, and those famous grape jelly meatballs that we southerners are so endeared to.

It is not, nor is it intended to be an "Italian-Style" meatball, though I've included the revisions I make when I'm leaning more toward those flavors. This, rather, is a very basic meatball recipe that you can use for sandwiches and even for casseroles, though you can certainly jazz them up by adding whatever extras you like.

For most meatball recipes, I prefer them simple with very basic seasonings.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Easy Dark Oven Roux

A dark roux is essential to a good southern gumbo, but it's time consuming, you can get burned easily, or worse, burn the roux and have to start over. This easy oven method really simplifies roux making and you can make it ahead and store it!

How to Make an Easy Dark Oven Roux

See that chocolately brown jar of lovely goodness? This, my friends, is pure gold to a southern cook! What is it you say? It is a deep, dark red Cajun roux, and one that is most appropriate for gumbos or meaty stews. It's a roux that is time consuming to achieve on the stove top, taking a great deal of patience, and a lot of attention to get to the right color without burning it or yourself.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Perfect Boiled Eggs

Eggs, hard boiled perfectly, with pure yellow yolks and not a trace of green on the edges.

Perfect Boiled Eggs

Perfect boiled eggs seem hit and miss these days, but this method that I've used for years is pretty consistent to give you a pretty yellow yolk, no green edges, and a shell that easily separates from the membrane and doesn't shatter to a bazillion pieces.

Even still, sometimes they peel beautifully and other times they are downright stubborn.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Holy Trinity of Southern Cooking

The Holy Trinity of Deep South Cooking - onion, sweet bell pepper, celery and sometimes wit da Pope (garlic) - is the building block of many Deep South recipes.

How to Make The Trinity of Cooking

One thing you will see repeated over and over in Deep South cooking is the use of the holy trinity of southern cooking, or just simply "the trinity" - onion, celery and bell pepper - sometimes used in equal amounts, but not always.

My trinity is very often 1 cup (sometimes more) chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped sweet green bell pepper or sometimes red, even yellow or orange, or a combination of two or more and 1/4 cup of chopped celery, because that's the ratio I tend to like the most.

It's simply a combination of aromatic vegetables that are widely used as seasoning vegetables across the south.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Perfect Steamed Rice

No more goopy, gooey rice. Follow this method exactly and get fluffy, beautiful and perfect rice!

How to Make Perfect Steamed Rice

I have been making rice this way as long as I have been cooking. These days I use an electronic rice cooker, and I even steam hard cook eggs in the thing sometimes! But... if you haven't gotten one of those yet, first, put one on your Christmas list, but then, in the meantime, try this method exactly as it is written and you will have beautiful and fluffy, perfect rice. Here's how to do it.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Friday, November 14, 2008

How to Make Perfect Southern Sweet Iced Tea

Sweet Iced Tea - The Elixir of The South. I'm pretty sure if everybody drank sweet iced tea on a regular basis, we'd have world peace.

How to Make Perfect Southern Sweet Iced Tea

I enjoy a nice cup of hot tea pretty regularly, but iced tea is pretty much a year-round staple here in the south - probably mostly because it's so darned hot down here most all of the year. Besides, tea - unlike soft drinks - is loaded with benefits.

Tea contains high levels of antioxidants - polyphenols, flavonoids, and catechins - that help to boost the body’s defenses against diseases. Some studies have shown that tea may also lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease and may help to protect against cancer.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

How to Make Homemade Meringue

An easy, step by step tutorial on how to make homemade meringue.

How to Make Homemade Meringue

This is a tutorial that goes with my homemade banana pudding post, but it can apply to any meringue. Hope that you find it helpful!

For banana pudding, I use three eggs, which are separated. This will work for just about any pie also, though if you want to "mile-high" it you can increase it to 4 eggs with no other adjustments. You can also purchase meringue powder - the kind that are used for making icing for decorator cookies. Usually found in the craft section of your local discount store. The yolks are used in the custard for the banana pudding, but if you are not using the yolks in your recipe, just put them in the fridge and add them to some carton egg whites or use them with a whole egg to make an omelet for breakfast the next day!

Click Here to Continue Reading »

How to Make Homemade Chicken Bone Stock

Chicken Stock made from a whole chicken, chicken backs, wing tips and leftover roasted chicken carcasses, all saved up in the freezer.

How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock

Making a homemade chicken stock is a breeze, whether it's from a whole cut up chicken, chicken backs, pieces and parts, or just a leftover carcass. No bones go into the garbage around here - they are either turned into a stock or bagged and put into the freezer to make a stock later.

Click Here to Continue Reading »

As an Amazon Associate, Deep South Dish earns from qualifying purchases. See full disclosure for details.

Hey Y’all! Welcome to some good ole, down home southern cooking. Pull up a chair, grab some iced tea, and 'sit a bit' as we say down south. If this is your first time visiting Deep South Dish, you can sign up for FREE updates via EMAIL or you can catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter too!

Articles on this website are protected by copyright. You are free to print and sharing via Facebook share links and pinning with Pinterest are appreciated, welcomed and encouraged, but do not upload and repost photographs, or copy and paste post text or recipe text for republishing on Facebook, other websites, blogs, forums or other internet sites without explicit prior written approval.
Click for additional information.

© Copyright 2008-2025 – Mary Foreman – Deep South Dish LLC - All Rights Reserved

Material Disclosure: This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from the provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

DISCLAIMER: This is a recipe site intended for entertainment. By using this site and these recipes you agree that you do so at your own risk, that you are completely responsible for any liability associated with the use of any recipes obtained from this site, and that you fully and completely release Mary Foreman and Deep South Dish LLC and all parties associated with either entity, from any liability whatsoever from your use of this site and these recipes.

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE. Recipes may be printed ONLY for personal use and may not be transmitted, distributed, reposted, or published elsewhere, in print or by any electronic means. Seek explicit permission before using any content on this site, including partial excerpts, all of which require attribution linking back to specific posts on this site. I have, and will continue to act, on all violations.

Email Subscription DSD Feed