(sigh)What in heaven's name has happened to southern cooking? Who ARE these silly young things who think "crisped" green beans are better than butterbeans cooked with a country ham hock or a hunk of side meat? Or salad dressing made with yogurt instead of sour cream? Or chicken "pan fried" with a tiny dollop of olive oil and breadcrumbs instead of that yummy batter made from eggs and buttermilk? I got news for ya -- there isn't any such thing as "pan fried," and chicken ain't chicken unless it's fried up nice in two inches of hot oil in a big ole cast iron pan. Actually, any good southern cook will tell you that chicken fried in lard is super scrumptuous; but we'll allow canola oil in deference NOT to the health issues but the fact that lard is so hard to find nowadays.
And what's with this brown rice stuff? Give us southerners a potato any day of the week -- in fact EVERY day of the week. Mash'em, fry'em, bake'em, we love'em. And that goes for sweet potatoes, too, which are even more versatile than white potatoes. We love cooking with condensed soups as well, even though I can actually hear those pompous chefs out there regurgitating obscenities. Don't worry. We're not intimidated.
Paula Deen is the only Food Network cook who makes no apologies for the butter, sour cream and bacon that are staples of almost every dish she makes. Paula's homage to healthy cooking is chopping up flat-leaf parsley and sprinkling it on the macaroni and cheese. She cooks SOUTHERN, folks, and there are lines around the block at her restaurant in Savannah every day of the week.
Smithfield, Virginia, contributes those ham hocks to make the best mess of butterbeans you ever put in your mouth. It's no wonder they hired Paula as their spokesperson!
(sigh)
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