9 TASTE OF THE SOUTH | OCTOBER 2019
Editor’s Letter
Biscuits are the fi rst food I remember
making as a child. From an early age, I had a love for
tender, fl aky biscuits, but the thought of pairing them with gravy didn’t
come until later in life. Thankfully, one of my wife’s weekend specialties
is warm biscuits topped with spicy sausage gravy. We eat it year-round,
but even more so once the summer’s heat begins to fade.
With all the delicious riff s on biscuits and gravy in this issue, I will
certainly be mixing a few of those into our normal repertoire. While I’m
always a sucker for a classic buttermilk biscuit (page 59), I can’t wait
to bake up a few batches of Sweet Potato Angel Biscuits and the super-
simple Cornmeal Cathead Biscuits ( both on page 60). These twists on
Southern recipes are a fun way to honor time-tested traditions.
Beyond biscuits, I think you’re in for more than a few delightful
surprises in this autumn issue. Classic crowd-pleasers, such as
Chicken Poppy Seed and Rice Casserole (page48) and Southern Fried
Chicken (page 78), are alongside some delicious takes on cornbread
(like the Banana Cornbread on page 29) and a Pumpkin-Sugarcane Cake
that’s packed with sweet cane syrup (page 74).
We also got to explore some exciting fl avor options with fresh
persimmons in the Taste of the Season feature on page 17. If you’ve
never tried these plump orange beauties or thought they weren’t for
you, now’s the time to pick up a bunch from your local farmers’ market.
As you make your weekly menus throughout the fall, I hope you
fi nd great inspiration in this issue for some memorable family meals.Chocolate
Mayonnaise
Cake
There are basically two
types of people when
it comes to chocolate
mayonnaise cakes:
those who love them,
and those who haven’t
tried them yet.Fennel
Chicken and
Dumplings
Parsnips and fennel
jazz up this traditional
chicken and dumplings.
This version can be
made ahead and
frozen for an easy
weeknight meal.Tomato-
ShrimpGravy
andCornmeal
Cathead
Biscuits
Oxford,Mississippi,
ChefJohnCurrence
servesa similarversion
ofthisdishathisBigBad
Breakfastrestaurants,
thoughhiscallsforgrits
insteadofbiscuits.Editor’s Picks
Pure Fall ComfortSoup Beans
and Herb-
Pecan
Cornbread
My wife, whogrew
up in West Virginia,
introduced metothis
classic Appalachiandish,
and now it’soneofmy
favorite thingstocook
once the weather
gets chillier.23 58
70 85