Garden fresh corn, sweet bell peppers, tomatoes and some red onion, combine with a sweet and sour vinegar and oil dressing for a wonderful summer salad!

Marinated Corn Salad with Tomatoes

As far as fresh veggies go, I've sure been enjoying my garden tomatoes This is the first year that I've not had an abundance of fresh green beans and fresh peppers though.

The peppers are way behind thanks to those pesky aphids, and while a couple of them do have some blossoms, the heat is pretty rough on them here lately. Maybe now that July is here we'll start getting some more regular rain to help with that. I guess the trade off is that this year, unlike last year, I have had a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers, so I'm happy about that! Right now is the perfect time of the year to find some great super sweet corn at the farmer's market, or at the very least, in the grocery store, so by all means, although canned works great, use fresh if you've got it!

All controversy aside on preferred ingredients for cornbread, in my mind there really is only one thing that truly sets southern cornbread apart. It's always best cooked in a screaming hot, cast iron skillet.

Southern Skillet Cornbread

Skillet cornbread is a southern staple. Baked in a preheated, sizzling hot oiled cast iron skillet, it produces a beautiful crunchy crust on the bottom, and that is what makes it so unique. But cornbread in The South can certainly be cause for debate, that's for sure.

The Great Southern Cornbread Debate

A Southern Born and Bred Southerner's Take on the Cornbread Debate

The truth is ... in my little ole humble opinion, the two things that make cornbread Southern is 1) using a cast iron skillet to make it, and 2) pouring the batter into a very hot cast iron skillet that has been coated in some kind of fat. That's the secret that makes cornbread Southern - that yummy, crunchy bottom. Believe it or not, it's less about the recipe than the method itself. Gasp! Did she really just say that??

Why yes, I did.

And listen, don't you go lettin' people tell you that it's not Authentic Southern Cornbread if it's got sugar or flour in it. That's a myth and you know what I say about that?

Summer squash is mixed with the Trinity of vegetables, cream soup, eggs and fresh bread, for a squash dressing.

Summer Squash Dressing

Here's another recipe you might want to consider for your squash bounty! It's really a basic run of the mill squash dressing that we all pretty much have, this one using toasted bread crumbs. I decided to add in a bit of Trinity and some Cajun seasoning, just to bump up the flavor a bit.

Weekend Cocktails - Whiskey Sour

I've always loved a whiskey sour - the combination of the sweet simple syrup with the tartness of the lemon juice is just so darned tasty - and just one does me fine.

Seeing as I'm not much of a drinker, most of the liquor I have is well, pretty old. I have cathedral ceilings in my family room that extends into the kitchen, so way up on top of the kitchen cabinets in the top of the ceiling is where whatever liquor we have lives. Most of that stuff has been up there since the early 2000s; some even longer. But the whiskey I used in this is found whiskey, so yep ... there's a story here!

Basic simple syrup mixture for beverages, cocktails and glazes.

How to Make Simple Syrup

This is for a medium thick simple syrup with a 2:1 ratio, which will cover most of your beverage needs - such as lemonade, iced tea, cocktails and coffee. You can also do a 1:1 ratio and a 3:1 ratio, depending on the thickness needed. A thicker ratio would be used in baking for glazes. A thinner ratio might be used for some cold drinks.

Braised steak with vegetables - a meal in one casserole!

Meal-in-One Cajun Steak Casserole

I don't know about y'all, but The Cajun still expects MEALS around this house no matter whether it's hot as Hades or not. He is just not a cold salad, sandwich, wrap, fruit soup, cool food for supper kinda guy.

I remembered this steak casserole recipe from another time I made it, sans the veggies. It's from one of my many cookbooks called Cooking with Cajun Women {affil link} by Nicole Fontenot of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

French bread stuffed with gooey cheese and smeared with a garlicky, parsley butter blend. An indulgence for sure, but so worth it!

Hasselback Cheesy Garlic Bread

Now, when I make this Cheesy Garlic Bread, I don't generally do the whole loaf, because, well... it's just me and The Cajun, and I would definitely eat the whole loaf! Besides being a book addict, I am also a lover of bread. All kinds. Especially freshly baked bread. And freshly baked French bread, most especially. And let me tell you. This bread is some kinda good. So if you're feedin' your family, or having a party, go right ahead and make the whole loaf. Since you have other folks to share it with and all.

Stuffed (Deviled) Crab

Stuffed crab, made with fresh lump crabmeat, onion, and bell pepper, seasoned with Old Bay and Cajun seasoning and bound with egg and toasted bread crumbs and baked.

Deviled Stuffed Crab

I so love stuffed crabs! My Mama almost always made these from freshly picked crabs and then stuffed the cleaned and sterilized crab shells as I have here, but most folks would just make these into patties, or put them in those aluminum crab shells, which is perfectly acceptable!

The First Tomato of the Season

While I confess, I have plucked a couple of the small Romas to toss in a salad here and there, and I did have a few Fried Green Tomatoes too, and I considered having a salad or sandwich with the first of the bigger tomatoes. But ... I could really think of no better way to honor the very first big tomato to ripen from my garden than to eat it, straight up, unadulterated, but for kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and a dab of real mayo on the side.

Homegrown tomatoes simply put grocery store tomatoes to shame. The aroma and flavor is just amazing... so juicy, so tasty. There just ain't nothin' like it. Mm Mm Mmmmm. I sure hope y'all planted some this year!!


.

A gravy made with flour, cocoa, sugar, butter, vanilla and milk, is best served right over some piping hot biscuits... yes, even if they are straight out of the can!

Chocolate Gravy and Biscuits

Okay. Chocolate and gravy. Two words that you don't likely associate together, so I know this is a totally weird concept. I do!!  But hey, don't knock it till ya try it cuz I tell you what, there are lots of google searches that land here looking for this stuff.  Give it a try and I'm guessing you'll be sold too.

A nice spicy main dish shrimp dish, with a touch of citrus.

Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp

A nice spicy main dish shrimp dish with a bit of citrus and made in the skillet. Quick, light and just delish!

Great Father's Day Meal Ideas

Photo Credit: The Daily Green

Need some ideas to put together a great Father's Day meal? Be sure to check my newest, updated list of great Father's Day recipes by clicking right here!

My Favorite Pot Roast

How about a roast? Do a Chuck Pot Roast on the stovetop, an Oven Braised Beef Eye of Round Roast with Pan Gravy or an Oven Roasted Beef Rump Roast with Mushroom Gravy instead. Add some fantastic Mashed Potatoes, Southern Style Creamed Peas, Southern Style Green Beans, or why not try a refreshing summer salad like Fire 'n Ice Summer Salad? What man would not be thrilled with this special dinner?

Backyard BBQ Chicken

Wanna keep it more casual? Take the grilling duties over and have a cook-out for dad with a Grilled Steak made with Cajun Steak Marinade and some Open Roasted Red Potatoes with Rosemary on the side. Or how about an Oven Braised Beef Brisket? Wanna just keep it simple? How about some delicious Crockpot Barbecue Beef, or Yummy Hamburger Sandwiches instead? Or grill up some Backyard BBQ Chicken, or an All American Burger, Country Bob's Cheese Stuffed Burger or Juicy Onion Burgers. Then add a Cold Baked Potato Salad, or a more traditional Southern Style Potato Salad, and maybe some Baked Beans on the side.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Does the dad in your life love veggies? Try his favorite vegetables on a Roasted Summer Veggie & Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing, or if you have a lot of squash coming in, do some Squash Fries or a delicious Summer Squash Casserole with crookneck squash. Still waiting on those tomatoes to ripen? How about some Fried Green Tomatoes?

Southern Peach Ice Cream

Need some dessert ideas? There's a whole list of 'em right here, including Texas Sheet Cake, Homemade Southern Banana Pudding with Meringue Topping, Easy Homemade Southern Peach Ice Cream, Jimmy Carter Cake, the Best Brownies Ever, or maybe a Fresh Strawberry Pie to name a few!

Nothing appealing here? Just scan through my e-Cookbook or click on that "Past Post" archive in the upper right hand sidebar to browse the past recipe posts by date - you're bound to find something that strikes your fancy!

And later on in the evening, when things have settled down, why not give a Southern Iced Tea Cocktail, Mint Julep, Mojito, or one of my other adult beverages?

Hope you find something helpful and that you have a wonderful Dad's Day with the all of the fathers in your life!!

~

Weekend Cocktails - Frozen Pina Colada

Whew! It's soooooo hot down here it's insane. The heat index temperature with humidity factored in was 105 degrees today!

It's been awhile since we've seen a good rain - about a month or near about. I know, I know, back then I was complaining about there being too much rain after days and days in a row of the stuff. Well, seems there is never a happy medium with Mother Nature around here - she either withholds completely or she smothers us. Hmmmm..... sounds like a few relationships I've had before hahaha!

I have literally been having to water my larger containers that are in full sun - like the one with the watermelon - every, single day, and sometimes twice a day! Went out one day this week at about 2 o'clock to find it all drooping all over on the ground! I almost cried because I thought I had killed it! I quickly doused it down with several gallons of water and it recovered thankfully, but I don't want to end up with weird misshapen watermelons, so I've been much more careful to make sure that does not happen again!

Well, I don't care who ya are ... a nice, tall, icy drink really helps to cool things down quick on hot, hot days like we've been havin', when not much else will work, not even cold iced tea! This icy drink really fills the bill and if ya close your eyes you might imagine that you're sittin' on the beach down in Key West. Now I have some mighty fine memories that fit that just fine!

Make it non-alcoholic, or make the adult version ... just watch out for those 'ice cream' headaches!

Frozen Pina Colada
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish: http://deepsouthdish.com/

• 1 can of pineapple chunks or slices, with juice
• 1/2 cup of cream of coconut
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of rum
• Ice cubes
• Cherry and/or wedge of pineapple for garnish, optional

Put pineapple into blender and process until pureed. Add the remaining ingredients filling the pitcher with ice cubs. Blend and pulse until smooth. Serve immediately.

Substitute water for rum for a non-alcoholic version.

Country Bob's Pepper Jack Stuffed Burgers

 

Burgers stuffed with Pepper Jack cheese and flavored with an all-purpose sauce like Country Bob's.

Pepper Jack Stuffed Burgers

I got this idea from my Mother-in-Law, when she made some stuffed burgers that she had seen in an issue of Woman's World magazine. They were delicious!

I had won a couple bottles of Country Bob's sauce, which I had never tried before, and the wheels started turning. I thought, "hey, I'll bet I can make something like this using some of that Country Bob's sauce!"

So, I took the general idea of that recipe and came up with this one. They turned out excellent and got a big thumb's up from The Cajun.

Grilled or Roasted Vegetable Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Seasonal vegetables, roasted or grilled, make a perfect spinach salad when served with a warm bacon dressing.

Roasted Vegetable Spinach Salad

This is the other salad I promised you the back when I posted those summer salads recently, and boy was it worth the wait. With the weather being so hot, I have been in the salad mode and was thinking that I had not posted a spinach salad.

Then I thought... why not take some of the great summer vegetables that are beginning to come in right now - summer squash, corn, asparagus, peppers, green beans, and tomatoes, to name a few - and incorporate them into a classic-style spinach salad!

And then, I thought... one of the best ways to bring out the flavors of vegetables is to roast them, and well, this salad was born. And, it did not disappoint.

A basic warm bacon dressing, great for spinach salad, or just about any salad, anytime.

Warm Bacon Dressing

This is a great dressing for just about any salad, but perfect for my Roasted Summer Vegetable & Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing.

Warm Bacon Dressing

Yield: About 2 Servings

Author: Deep South Dish

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 15 Min

A basic warm bacon dressing, great for spinach salad, or just about any salad, anytime.

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon, reserving 2 slices
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• Juice of one orange
• 3 tablespoons local honey
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook the bacon until crisp but not overly crisp, remove and set aside. Reserve 2 slices for garnish. 
2. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the hot bacon fat. Cook and stir over medium heat until it is heated through; hold on low, stirring occasionally.
3. Roughly chop 4 slices of the bacon and add it into the skillet with the vinegar mixture. 
4. Chop the remaining two slices and set aside to reserve for a garnish for your salad.

Similar Recipes

Everything Salad

Homemade Comeback Thousand Island Dressing

Cucumber Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Herb Dressing

https://www.deepsouthdish.com/2009/06/warm-bacon-dressing.html

Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Do not copy and paste elsewhere without explicit permission. All rights reserved.

Bacon, Salad Dressing

Salad Dressing

American

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @DeepSouthDish on instagram and hashtag it #deepsouthdish

Created using The Recipes Generator

Posted by Mary on June 17, 2009

Thank you for supporting my work! Please note that Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, do not copy and paste post or recipe text to repost or republish to any social media (such as other Facebook pages, etc.), blogs, websites, forums, or any print medium, without explicit prior permission. Unauthorized use of content from ©Deep South Dish is a violation of both the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and copyright law. All rights reserved.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

.

How to Easily Strip Corn off the Cob

This is the easiest way to strip corn off the cob, whether it's raw or cooked. The cob you see in the picture was roasted whole for my Roasted Summer Vegetable & Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing so it was hot when I stripped it, but this works just fine for when you are stripping down raw cobs for a recipe. If you're making a dish that needs the thickening of the starches from the corn, be sure to scrape the cob and extract all of those lovely juices!

Take a small bowl and turn it upside down into a larger bowl. You can also use an angel food cake pan or a bundt pan to set the corn on. The center hole holds it perfectly!

Cut the end of the cob so that it will be flat and even. Position the cob in the center of the upside down bowl, and hold the cob in place, using tongs if it's hot!
Then just carefully run a sharp knife down the cob.

Until all of the kernels are extracted.

Everything is in the bowl - and not all over the counter or on the floor!

A casserole of meatballs, topped with green peas, a cream soup gravy and stuffing.

Meatball and Stuffing Bake

This is a family pleasing meal and this dish will disappear so quick, you'll barely remember makin' it!

It's a super delicious casserole dish and something different to do with those pre-cooked, frozen meatballs everybody loves having on hand. The Cajun absolutely loved this dish - meat and stuffing? What is not to love??

 

  Small red potatoes are first baked, then chopped or sliced and tossed with bacon and onion in a mayonnaise, vinegar and ranch dressing seasoning.

Bacon Ranch Cold Baked Potato Salad

I've already shared my just-like-Mama's southern style no-frills simple potato salad but this one here is also a big favorite of mine.

Initially, this was my attempt to duplicate a potato salad served at one of our local favorite barbecue hangouts, but since writing the recipe, they've changed their version which has no eggs, is much whiter in color and seems to be heavy in sour cream and mayonnaise.

Summer squash, sliced or cut into sticks or chunks, are tossed in buttermilk, then dredged into a lightly seasoned flour mixture, and quickly deep fried to crunchy goodness.

Fried Squash

Okay, yeah, I know... fried squash ain't exactly the healthiest way to eat summer squash, but I've been pretty lucky so far with my squash plants {crosses fingers} and so, I'm trying to get a few different recipes up for summer squash. Maybe you shouldn't eat these every day, but I have to say, they sure are good enough to want to!

Cooked chicken, celery, mayonnaise and a little pickle relish, makes up a classic, old-fashioned, deli style chicken salad. It's a favorite!

Old-Fashioned Deli Style Chicken Salad

Rotisserie chicken purchased from your local grocery store deli is a great quick meal for those rushed weekday dinners. Buy the larger one and you'll have some leftover chicken, perfect for this chicken salad.

Otherwise, just prepare a whole chicken just like you do for soup or chicken and dumplings, or try my oven poached version, because this is one great sandwich!

There aren't too many versions of chicken salad I've run across that I don't love to be honest. Tarragon, even curry are a little unusual but tasty, though I lean more toward the dried cranberry and honey chicken salad, or my grown up tea room style with apple, grapes and pecans, and in my case, another little secret ingredient!

The one that many of us love the most, is this very simple, old-fashioned, deli style. I often add chopped, boiled eggs to mine.

Frozen chunks of watermelon stand in for ice cubes for this delightful frozen watermelon margarita. For a strawberry margarita, swap out the watermelon for frozen strawberries.

Frozen Watermelon Margaritas

Ahhh....it's the weekend and 5 o'clock somewhere. Oh, wait. It's 5 o'clock here!!

Remember those watermelon rind pickles from the other day? Well, if you don't feel like foolin' around with the sticky mess from eating that watermelon, here's a very adult way to use up that pulp. Just lay chunks of watermelon on a baking sheet and freeze them for several hours until firm, or overnight.

This basic and old fashioned pot roast has been my favorite way to cook a chuck roast since I first started cooking. Even though you can do it in an oven or crockpot, there is something about that roast slow simmering on the top of the stove that just makes me feel all cozy.

Old Fashioned Pot Roast

A good old fashioned pot roast calls for a chuck roast in my eyes. Chuck is an economical cut of beef that is pretty tough and fatty, but very flavorful, and requires a low and slow braise for several hours in just a bit of liquid, making it a great roast to plan for Saturday or Sunday dinner for most of us. While you certainly can cook it in a slow cooker, and I have, I love letting it simmer nice and slow on the stove or in the oven the most.

One of my favorite southern salads for the summer, this spicy, sweet and sour Fire and Ice salad, gets it's name from the contrast between the red onion, green bell pepper, horseradish and jalapenos, and the cool crunchy cucumber and sweet tomatoes.

Fire and Ice Summer Salad

A great use for that summer harvest of garden fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and jalapenos, this is another southern favorite and certainly a personal favorite of my own. I can make a meal out of this salad alone on a hot summer day.

A simple, but tasty southern favorite, this cucumber salad is made of very thinly sliced fresh cucumbers and is dressed with a boiled sweet and sour vinegar dressing.

Spicy, Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad

Just as the name says, this is a spicy cucumber salad with a boiled sweet and sour dressing made with vinegar and sugar. If you prefer not to have the heat, just eliminate the red pepper flakes, and, if you like things more on the sweet side, just use equal parts vinegar and sugar, or adjust the sugar up according to your taste.

Simple Summer Cucumber, Onion and Tomato Salad

A favorite simple salad in the summer, featuring garden fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, red or sweet onion, and dressed in a simple homemade vinegar and olive oil Italian dressing.

Simple Italian Cucumber, Onion and Tomato Salad

There is seriously nothing to this salad really, but with fresh tomatoes and cukes startin' to come in, it is definitely worth a quick mention. In fact, with this heat here lately salads are perfect for lunch, or even a light dinner when it's just too hot to think about food, but I get bored with just plain old garden salads. So, I've posted some of my favorite salads that utilize some of those fresh tomatoes and cucumbers that you'll be harvesting soon.

Classic squash casserole made with summer squash, seasoned with bacon and onion, and tossed with cheese, eggs, mayonnaise and seasonings, baked with a cracker topping.

Summer Squash Casserole with Bacon

 This Squash Casserole recipe is probably my hands-down favorite way of eating all that great summer squash that grows like a weed in the garden. Growing up, I remember my aunt always having a vegetable garden - a pretty good sized one at that - and plenty of squash!

Most times when I have ever planted squash it has always seems to come under attack of squash bugs and borers and I end up with dead plants and no squash... grrrrrr. This year the squash has been producing! Ah, the joys of the veggie garden! Ya just never know what's gonna happen I guess.

Classic Southern Fried Green Tomatoes

Sliced green tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper, marinated in buttermilk, and dredged in a cornmeal and flour mixture tossed with Cajun seasoning, then fried - they are a true Southern Classic.

Southern Fried Green Tomatoes

Everybody likely remembers the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, based on the book by Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. It certainly popularized the common green tomato for sure and lots of restaurants jumped on that green tomato wagon shortly after the movie was released.

"There's not a tomato safe
south of the Mason-Dixon line." Fannie Flagg.

Watermelon rind pickles are a multi-step process. First, the trimmed rind of a watermelon is cut into slices and soaked overnight in a salt water brine, then boiled to tenderize, and later boiled in a spiced, vinegar and sugar mixture and left to stand overnight, before preparing for water bath canning.

Watermelon Rind Pickles

I don't know what it is about the taste of sweet down south. Maybe sweet things just help to take our minds off of the heat, who knows. We sure like our desserts in The Deep South, no doubt about that. People will talk all day about not wanting to cook but then their eyes will light up at the mention of some baked goods! Some Southerners even like their mayonnaise sweet, sauces sweet, cornbread sweet, and we sure like our watermelon rind pickles sweet!

Many southerners have very fond memories of sittin' on the back porch, or more likely a picnic table in the middle of the yard - the better to hose us down - parked in front of big slices of sticky, sweet watermelon, holding a knife in one hand to cut the juicy pulp off the rind, and very often a salt shaker in the other, and havin' seed spittin' contests with or at our siblings. Yes we do that, and while I know that newly bred seedless watermelon is all the rage these days, I truly still like a good ole seeded watermelon. The only down side is their size and having the place to store it in the fridge, so the smaller seedless ones have become quite popular.

A simple pasta dish with carrots and peas and a light tomato sauce made with tomato paste.

Giada's Pasta with Carrots and Peas

This is a meatless dish that I watched Giada de Laurentiis make one day on the Food Network channel. She used linguine, but I didn't have any in the pantry, so I used a combination of Barilla Plus and regular spaghetti pasta.

Pie filling, in this case apple, is sandwiched between layers of crescent dough and a bottom layer of sweetened cream cheese, topped with cinnamon sugar. Just delicious and so easy.

Apple and Cream Cheese Crescent Squares

Okay. Ya gotta admit. Doesn't that just look dreamy?

I just happened to have a package of crescent rolls and cream cheese in the fridge when I ran across this recipe in the Best of the Best from Mississippi Cookbook and it sounded so good that it haunted me until I made it!

How to Make Cinnamon Sugar

Combine 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 heaping tablespoon of cinnamon. Place into an old cleaned spice jar with a shaker top, cap and shake well. That's it!

.