Intelligent Advice On southern wine

10 Responses

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1. Donoghue says

   Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking is a great cookbook for Southern foods. These are recipes to make in a cast iron skillet, not a microwave. The recipe for shrimp and grits, the signature dish at the late author’s restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, is itself worth the cover price. Somewhat like Carol Field’s “Italian Baker,” this book offers some insight into the history of the recipes but is not full of fluffy digressions. My copy is dog-eared and bears a few sauce stains after years of use. It is nicely organized into sections such as soups, breads, rice, vegetables, fish and shellfish, meats and desserts. Besides shrimp and grits, I’m very fond of the recipes for chess pie and Sally Lunn bread. Like THE JOY OF COOKING, this book offers precise directions on the finer points of cooking that make a difference between a good dish and a great one. Highly recommended.

   July 29, 2010, 3:15 pm
2. Knudsen says

   My husband and I have had this cookbook for several years, and given many copies of it as gifts. Bill Neal hasn’t simply listed recipes, he has written a historical summary of many traditional southern foods. All are interesting, and most shed light on how certain recipes came into being.

   That said, the 150+ recipes themselves are terrific! Our favorites are Herb Crust Pork Loin with Onion Gravy (much requested by frequent visitors!) and the famous Shrimp and Grits, Crook’s Corner Style… Crook’s Corner was Bill Neal’s restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC. Living ten minutes from it means we have been able to enjoy the “original” Shrimp and Grits, which is unique and outstanding. Neal claims the restaurant serves that dish 10,000 times each year! Fortunately, the recipe is fairly easy to make at home as well, and just as tasty.

   The book includes such southern basics as spoonbread, Brunswick Stew, gumbo, peanut soup, crab cakes, and fried chicken. Most of the recipes are not complicated, but some do require effort and time. Devoted cooks will recognize that the results are well worth the effort! Some of the recipes are quite simple, however, like the Raspberry Fool… with divine results! Neal is quite detailed in his instructions, so they are not hard to follow, as well as including some serving suggestions and recommended equipment.

   There are no photographs in this cookbook, but they are not needed. (This from a die-hard “all my cookbooks must have color photos” fanatic!:) Bill Neal paints a complete picture of what the dish should be. Your imagination and taste buds will do the rest.

   Happy Eating!

   July 30, 2010, 2:57 am
3. Lerner says

   No sense going into a long, elaborate and flowery review of this well-educated, native southern boy’s book. If you’re really interested in doing authentic, down-home southern cooking — not the Yankeefied stuff some try to foist off as southern food — then just buy this book.

   Trust me, I know real southern cooking when I taste it: My mother learned to cook from my grandmother, who was born and grew up in Kentucky. I grew up on their cooking, but didn’t have sense enough to record the recipes. Wasted a small fortune on wantabe southern cookbooks. Then I found this book, cooked a bunch of the recipes and they were exactly like back home at my mother’s and grandmother’s tables.

   Just buy Bill’s book. The price is right. You’ll never regret it.

   July 30, 2010, 2:53 pm
4. Augustine says

   If you are looking for some of your grandmother’s favorite recipes…this is where you will find them!

   July 31, 2010, 2:47 am
5. Gu says

   Sure, it is a series of TV episodes linked together to form a full length DVD, but Come on! It is only $9! There is a lot of information, pretty scenery, and stops at various wine regions. I know the sound quality is kinda poor, but Come on! It is only $9! COME ON!

   July 31, 2010, 3:22 pm
6. Ngok says

   I’ve been searching across the globe for DVD’s on wine and winemaking, and thanks to Amazon this briliant work of art has hit the ticket. Fair enough the technology used to produce both DVD,s dosen’t do its content justice but the insight, history, and general information about Italian wines and its regions is a must for any wine enthusist. As an amateur wine maker (with an Italian background), the scenes of vingerons unloading their crop straight into the crusher, and seeing the wine pouring into demijohns made me feel like grabbing my passport, jump on a plane and giving them a hand.

   August 1, 2010, 3:20 am
7. Finton says

   I grew up as an child in the Applachian hills of North Georgia and had heard of this book from a cousin. I borrowed her copy and related to so many things that were talked about in this book. I remembered a lot of the recipes that my Mother had cooked that were explained in detail. I liked the book so much that I ordered copies for all my siblings. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the people that came here from Ireland, Germany, Scottland, or England. I would also reccomend it to anyone interested in how our people survived when they first came to this country.Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, and Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Appalachian Cooking (10th Anniversary Edition)

   August 1, 2010, 2:43 pm
8. Austin says

   I wonderful book for the ones who can or want to remember them “good ol’ days” and to learn just how Grandma made them biscuits and how Grandpa cooked that possum. I have bought an extra book to give to a friend.

   August 2, 2010, 3:20 am
9. Ibrahim says

   Header says it all. If you have an interest in the life of an earlier time, this book will paint a picture you’ll enjoy again and again.

   August 2, 2010, 2:52 pm
10. Jackson says

    This is the most amazing cook book ever! It takes you to the Appelatian mind set and teaches you, step by step how they do things and why. It moves you from history to recipes in a seamless way. You will love this book if you love the history behind the cooking, and then want to cook the things you just learned about. Awesome!

    August 3, 2010, 3:13 am

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