Southern Foods We Love

Since today is Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you some of our deep, abiding food loves--as well as a few hot and heavy crushes. These foods will make almost any Southern heart go pitter patter:

• Okra  Fried, grilled, pickled ... it doesn't matter; we'll take it.
• Buttermilk Biscuits  Cat-head sized, but we're not particular.
• Sawmill Gravy  Hello? You need it for your biscuits.
• Fried Pork Chops  Another canvas for sawmill gravy.
• Casseroles  Any kind, but we like our mamas' recipes best.
• Tomato Sandwiches  Summer wouldn't be summer without them--but only if they're slathered in Duke's Mayonnaise.
• Green Beans  These are only a favorite when they're cooked in fat-back (as if there's any other way).
• Pimento Cheese Homemade. ONLY homemade.
• Carolina Slaw Burgers  If you don't end up with it all over you, you're doing it wrong.
• Lexington-Style Chopped BBQ  Yes, we're taking sides in the BBQ wars.
• Chess Pie  If your teeth don't fall out and you don't go into diabetic shock, you'll probably ask for seconds.
• Sweet Tea  It's not a food, but what else are you going to wash down all this mess with? Nothing else, that's what.

Gosh, I'm starting to realize this list could go on and on. Does it make us culinary sluts that we spread our love around to so many dishes?

I hope we don't get a reputation.

Cast Iron Will

There are several foods I wouldn’t even consider cooking in anything other than cast iron. Cornbread. Collard greens. Country ham and red-eye gravy. Fried chicken.

In the South, well-seasoned cast iron cookware is a welcome inheritance (no doubt because of its sentimental value, and the fact that acquiring a good seasoning is a long and sometimes smelly process). I have two skillets, one from each of my grandmothers, that have no doubt spent their share of mornings on the eye of a woodstove frying eggs, ham, sausage and bacon. They are black as coal and smooth as silk from years of use.

In the last few years, it seems more people are taking notice of the benefits of cooking with cast iron—something we Southerners have known all along. This article from the New York Times attests to the fact that plain ol’ cast iron is just as good, if not better, than expensive, gourmet cookware.

For heat retention, durability and versatility, cast iron can’t be beat. From stovetop to oven to table, all it takes is a little attention. Here you’ll find some tips for the use and care of your cast iron.

From new twists on old favorites to just the simple old tried-and-true comfort foods, cooking in cast iron links us to the past. If you’re ready to get started, Southern Living has some tasty recipes to try. And if you want to read more about cooking in cast iron, check out this blog.

In these days of always-improving technology, it’s nice to know that something our grandmothers (and even great-grandmothers) used every day is still relevant. Cast iron cookware is one of those things that only gets better with age.