Southern Living 1001 Ways to Cook Southern Review and Giveaway

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Heather says:

If you’re wondering why I have yet to skewer anyone in the Home Ec 101  Cookbook Reviews, you may want to check out my cookbook review policy. I will be supplementing the books I receive from PR companies with those I purchase on my own.

I’ve lived outside of Charleston, SC almost all of my life. I will never be a binya, I will always be a comya, not matter how much I love the town, the people, and most of all the food. I’ll live with it. Southern Living has been a staple in my life, ever since I’ve been old enough to notice there were magazines in waiting rooms. All of that said, I’m not going to start serving white rice on Thanksgiving, because white rice is an everyday dish, not a special one, Mr. Carnell.

I was sent a review copy of the 928 page Southern Living: 1001 Ways to Cook Southern. That’s a lot of recipes, my friends. I suppose when you write a book and include 1001 recipes, there is a chance you’re going to push the definition of any cuisine.

A few non-Southern recipes caught my eye as I was flipping through, specifically spaghetti with meatballs and fish tacos -putting Cajun seasoning on something doesn’t make it Southern anymore than a cat having kittens in the oven makes them biscuits. I may be way off base, but I have always associated fish tacos with the West Coast.  Truly Southern or tangentially so, there are a lot of excellent recipes in the cook book.

Side note – they have my favorite shrimp and grits recipe from The Hominy Grill, one of my favorite Charleston restaurants. I’ve been going there since they first opened in 1996.

I like that the editors attempt to explain some of our intra-regional debates about recipes like how should coleslaw be made? What’s the story behind sweet tea? There are explanations of what to expect with bbq when you’re in Texas vs when eating in North Carolina. However, I didn’t see any mention of macaroni and cheese. Well, they had a macaroni and pimento cheese, but that’s not really the same thing.

The pictures are gorgeous. – The fried chicken recipe did have me chuckling. I have never seen a pan that clean after frying a batch of chicken. Still, the recipe is sound and it reminds me, it’s just about time to make fried chicken again.

Who is this written for?

I’d recommend it to new cooks looking to expand their repertoire. There are a lot of solid, basic recipes that don’t require a ton of effort. The Southern Living test kitchen offers lots of advice throughout the book.

Who is this not written for?

Don’t buy it as a gift for your soon-to-be-in-laws, if they are from anywhere below the Mason Dixon or east of Albuquerque, unless you know they don’t have solid opinions on Southern Cuisine. It just might be seen as patronizing.

Is it a particularly healthy cookbook? No, not so much, but they do offer some lighter recipes.

Check the margins for annotations like “For kids’ “Casual Gatherings” and “Southern Lights.”

Do I find Southern Living’s 1001 Ways to Cook Southern a good value? Yes, despite our slight disagreement over what constitutes Southern Cuisine, I would still spend the $23.07 on Amazon, as it has the potential to liven up my menu for many months.

Would you like your own copy of 1001 Ways to Cook Southern? Good. I’m passing along my review copy to one lucky reader. This giveaway will run through December 26, 2010 @ 9pm Eastern. This giveaway is open to readers in the United States – it’s a heavy book.

You have three ways to enter this giveaway. Each reader is limited to one entry of each type:

  1. A plain, old-fashioned how ya doin style comment. Just tell me how excited you are to enter.
  2. A comment with a  link to a tweet on Twitter sharing this post.
  3. A comment with link to a blog post or Facebook entry referencing this post. (just copy the url of the timestamp for Facebook)

Can’t wait to win and want to send it as a gift? Go ahead and order 1001 Ways to Cook Southern through Amazon, you could get it in time for Christmas, if you hurry.

The winner will be announced on the Home Ec 101 Facebook page on Sunday evening. The winner will also be notified via email by Monday morning.

Good luck!

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52 thoughts on “Southern Living 1001 Ways to Cook Southern Review and Giveaway”

  3. I'd love to win this cookbook and put it to use! I'm about to move away from the South but have grown quite fond of Southern food during my short time in the area. I'd love to have this cookbook for days I'm craving it. Does it have a recipe for fried pickles?

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  16. I am from the south of Germany, where the cuisine is also much different from the north. So it would be wonderful to have a cookbook of the South of the USA. Btw, I love your blog and read it every day and find it very helpful.

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  17. Would love to have the cookbook. It would be great. But… you still have to have rice on Thanksgiving! How can you not? You are trying to destroy my entire vision of Turkey Day dinner.
    My recent post Christmas at Charleston Place

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  18. Living in Luxembourg/Western Europe, I don't get the chance too often to find a book about the Southern Cuisine in the stores. Since I am looking for new dishes and recipes to add to my cooking routine, I would be thrilled to have the book!

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  20. I'm asian but have always had a particular interest/fascination with Southern cuisine! Thanks for this exciting giveaway opportunity!

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  21. Being a Mississippi native and now an Alabama resident, Southern Living is the "last word" in cooking in our family. I'd LOVE this cookbook to add to my collection of Annual Recipe cookbooks! Thanks for reviewing the book and giving me a gift idea!
    Lee

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  23. I'm a true Southern girl who married a military guy and has now been all over the world, but my guy and our kids still prefer Southern cooking. Sounds lkike a book I need in my collection.

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  25. I'm a huge Southern cook!! I LOVE cookbooks!! I would love to own this one and can't wait to sit and go through it page by page–as I try recipes, I usually comment on the page–that way, my daughters or nieces (when grown) will know recipes I tried and what I thought of them. My grandmother did this to a cookbook that I now own, but it use to be hers–I treasure it!! I'd really like this book!!

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  26. Just mentioning the fried chicken has my mouth watering. Now I've got a hankering to make a batch.
    Shrimp and grits is one of my favorites too.

    It's starting to get busy around here with all the cooking, cleaning and baking and I don't know when I'll get another chance to peek in this week. So I want to wish you a very merry Christmas to you and your family Heather!

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  28. I love coming to this site, Heather! And I'd truly love this book. I have southern relatives, my mother was from North Carolina, but she died when I was 17 and didn't have time to get some of the recipes down pat (except for Chicken and Dumplings). This book would be a valuable addition to my sparse cookbook collection!

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  29. The recipes sound finger licking good.

    I am not in the South, but my mother was born in the south and grew up there and she is always talking about it with my siblings and I.

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  30. No macaroni and Cheese recipe? WOW that's a true staple for any speial meal in my house. Born and raised Southern and would love to add this to my cookbook collection and have some new dishes to test out. My Husband and kids might be leary? Oh well they will have to learn to love taste testing if I win!

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  31. I would love to have this book…trying to become as good of a cook as my mother who is truly wonderful southern cook. Maybe trying some new recipes from this book would help me practice! Thanks!

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  33. Just moved away from the South, unfortunately. Would love to have a book that teaches me how to cook cajun anything. Tony Cachere anyone?

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  35. I am always looking for a new cookbook to add to my collection. The old recipes need some new competition. This sounds like just the thing as I know next to nothing about Southern cooking.

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  41. As a Southern cook for way too many years, I often have this same conversation with myself, wondering what is Southern and what isn't. I no longer cook fried chicken (too messy) but still love to make smothered steak with onions, rice and gravy. I make lots of biscuits, but not too many pound cakes these days. I've almost decided (as it seems have the editors at So. Living) that ergo, because I live in the South, because I cooked it in the South, it is Southern Cooking. Wasn't that simple?

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  42. "Southern" is a style that I have dabbled in only lightly, and not with great results… yet. So this is definitely an interesting way to try and start to make something where southern and edible can be uttered in the same sentence.

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  47. This would be an awesome book to cook from…my family loves my cooking & I need new recipes, especially if they're loaded with butter! Thanks for hosting & Merry Christmas to you, your family, and to the readers of this blog.

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  48. Oooh, I would love a new cookbook, and being from NJ, now PA, I have no idea what constitutes Southern cooking, so I won't be too picky! Merry Christmas!

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  50. I love Hominy Grill. A lady I used to work with recommended it to me when I told her my (future) husband and I were going to Charleston to scout houses to rent on Folly Beach for our wedding. Now we eat there every time we go to Charleston! Would also love to win this cookbook so maybe I can help out with the cooking around the house… : )

    Reply

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