Everyone knows the glory of true movie-theater popcorn, gilded with real melted butter, crunchy and rich. But did you know there's a way to take that popcorn all the way up to 11?
Dial it up, people. Brown butter is your ticket to the most award-winning popcorn on the planet.
Green beans are a part of most every Southern family's suppers. Their key distinction is that they are cooked down in liquid until quite soft, almost to the point of "mush." In traditional Southern cooking, they are also cooked and flavored with ham hocks or pork knuckles. This take on the classic uses a smoked, bone-in ham steak for flavor, which can be found in almost every grocery store. Ground cloves provide a comforting depth of flavor, and a little sugar — a trick used by old-school Southern cooks, including my grandmother — balances the salty, smoky taste.
These beans are soulful and quite satisfying and an easy side to add to your weeknight dinner table.
My heart beats a little faster when I talk about caramel cake. The tender yellow cake, the thick, crystalline frosting that marries caramelized sugar and butter — it's an easy cake to fall in love with.
The very best caramel cakes are anything but simple; the yellow cake must only carry the whisper of caramel flavor and be both tender and sturdy enough to support the frosting, which is the real star of the show. The frosting on a caramel cake is a true masterpiece — a thick, whipped caramel that will make you close your eyes in pleasure with every bite. If caramel is your weak spot, this recipe will teach you the way, step by caramelized step.
This lentil chili tastes like everything you love about chili — filled with smoky spices and lots of rich tomato flavor — but it goes lighter than the meat-filled version, thanks to the addition of barely sweet butternut squash and hearty lentils. Lentils are the perfect candidate for a meat-free chili. They cook up earthy and meaty, and there's no browning or precooking necessary.
This hearty vegan chili comes together easily with the aid of a slow cooker. All you have to do is mix everything together, turn it on, and come back to a bowl of comforting vegan chili.
Greens and Southern cooking are to each other as apple pie is to a romanticized idea of America: completely inseparable. And without question, collard greens are one of the most well-known vegetables in the Southern cuisine canon; braising them for hours with ham hocks and other pork parts is a centuries-old tradition.
But there is so much more to Southern greens than just collards. Many leafy vegetables — from tender, quick-cooking chard and spinach to more sturdy, fibrous varieties, like turnip or dandelion greens and kale — can make for a delicious pot. It's what my great-grandmother would call "a whole mess o' greens."
