Southern

To accompany Ice-Cream Bombes with Brandied Dried Cranberries and Cherries

There's Carolina Red Barbecue Sauce in this, a "must" with the pork.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

It may be corn season, but canned or frozen corn kernels work just as well as fresh in this corn salad. A mixed green salad rounds out the menu nicely.

Similar to pumpkin pie, but not quite as sweet. Serve with whipped cream, if you like.

Pumpkin pie was introduced to the holiday table at the Pilgrim's second Thanksgiving in 1623. Decorate this American classic with some whipped cream, or serve the cream alongside.

In the South, this dish is called Limping Susan. To make the version known as Hoppin' John, add cooked black-eyed peas.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. From Maryland to Georgia, crabs are a prized part of the African-American diet. If the crabs need to be boiled before other steps in preparation (as are the pickled shrimp above), a commercial crab boil such as Old Bay seasoning is often used. For the lucky few, though, there's homemade crab boil, an all-purpose seasoning that, besides for shrimp and crab, can also be used for crawfish.

This quick one-pot meal is especially good with garlic toast or corn bread.

These peel-and-eat shrimp are great fun. Just make sure to have plenty of napkins on hand.

Using sweet soda pop in dessert recipes is a southern tradition.

Greens are a direct part of African-Amercans' African heritage. Dishes using leafy greens abound in the cooking of the African Atlantic world. They turn up as a couve in Brazil, as a callaloo in the Caribbean, as sauce feuilles in French-speaking West Africa, and simply as greens in the southern United States. The African-American twist with greens is in the manner of cooking. We cook 'em long and slow —down to the proverbial "low gravy"— (but then again that was the way all vegetables were cooked in much of the past). The real innovation is in the eating: We savor not only the greens but also their cooking liquid or "pot likker," a rich source of vitamins and iron.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Tender biscuits that are rich and flavorful.

Greens boiled with pork have been part of the southern table since the beginning. Some of the flavorful cooking liquid, called pot likker, is spooned over the greens before serving.

This rendition of the traditional southern side dish is served chilled.

To ensure a perfect blend of spices, chef Jason Girard makes his own Cajun seasoning, sold under the brand name BlueChef. We tested a variety of Cajun spice blends for this recipe and liked the McCormick and Spice Hunter brands for their balance of flavor. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min