Baked chicken gets a jazzy sauce from those bottom of the jar jams, jellies and preserves lurking in the back of your fridge.

Bottom of the Jar Gooey Baked Chicken

Ever had a jar of preserves or jam that seems to just keep getting shoved aside in the fridge and ignored? Use it up to create a nice sauce to jazz up some plain ole chicken! Rachael Ray is the one who introduced me to the "bottom of the jar" theory, and I use it often since it's a great way to create a super-easy sauce, and add a punch of flavor to an otherwise plain baked or grilled chicken, and other meats.

Classic Turkey Club Sandwich with Cajun Mayonnaise

A classic turkey club sandwich with deli turkey, crisp bacon, garden fresh tomatoes, romaine lettuce and finished with a spicy Cajun mayonnaise.

Classic Turkey Club Sandwich

Recently we were having a discussion on the Facebook page about what to eat when it's too hot to cook and two of the most popular responses were tomato sandwiches and BLTs - both of which I love. I couldn't help but think of an old fashioned club sandwich though, so the next time I cooked some bacon, you know I planned a few extra slices to have ready for one! Sliced turkey breast, crisp bacon, garden fresh tomatoes and lettuce, sandwiched between lightly toasted bread with a bit of mayo - what a great summer sandwich! Be sure to sprinkle just a bit of salt and pepper on those tomatoes too to really bring out their garden fresh flavor.

Cajun Mayonnaise Recipe

A great all purpose mayonnaise with a Cajun kick, that goes great on just about any sandwich.  Try it on this Classic Turkey Club!

More Sauces


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A diner classic, Patty Melts are made with very thin, oval shaped burger patties, and served on thin grilled rye bread, with caramelized onion, and Swiss cheese. Just amazingly delicious!

Classic Patty Melt

Patty melts have been around forever and are a classic diner food, but I don't hear much about them anymore. I happen to love them though and what's not to love? A thin burger - read that again, thin burger - on grilled rye with caramelized onion, sandwiched between melted cheese - it's pretty much good ole comfort food.  When's the last time you had one?

My Mama's Shrimp and Fettuccine recipe, made with shrimp and andouille sausage, cooked in a buttery sauce tossed with fettuccine, fresh herbs, artichokes and pimentos.

Shrimp and Fettuccine

This recipe for Shrimp and Fettuccine was in my Mama's collection and written in her hand which always makes me nostalgic and miss her even more than usual.

She had written at the bottom of the recipe, "this dish will make them scream for more," which always makes me smile. Well, I don't know about all that, but I can say that this is definitely a restaurant quality pasta dish that, despite the inclusion of artichokes, The Cajun gobbles up and declares delicious!

That's a winner to me.

To me a good Cowboy Burger should have a smoky element and a spicy element - Worcestershire, BBQ & steak sauce, just a dash of Liquid Smoke, and a bit of cayenne and chipotle chili powder. Top it with thick cut peppered bacon.

Cowboy Burgers

I love burgers on the grill and there are about a million ways to make them I suppose. Some people are burger purists - insisting that burgers must be meat and nothing more, putting all of the additional flavors on top of the cooked burger.  Others don't mind mixing flavor accents right into their burgers. I personally like burgers both ways, and this recipe is one of those mix-in types.

I have no idea how Cowboy Burgers came to be named, but I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with football and everything to do with hard working ranch hands. They do usually involve some element of steak sauce and bacon at minimum.

Classic Old Fashioned Soda Fountain Banana Split

A classic, old fashioned soda fountain banana split, made with a banana, pineapple, strawberry and chocolate syrup toppings, one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, whipped topping, chopped nuts and a cherry garnish.

I pondered a bit on what kind of creative and unusual foodie banana split I could come up with, but you know what? To me, there is really only one banana split. A classic, old fashioned, soda fountain banana split. Let's face it, I'm a simple, country cook and no foodie gourmet, so what else would you expect from Deep South Dish?

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A granita made from juiced watermelon and strawberries and frozen and scraped, for a tender, icy and cold treat perfect for summer.

Watermelon Strawberry Ice Granita

I tell you what, the good Lord sure knew exactly what he was doing when he planned for ripe and juicy tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelons right in the midst of The Dog Days of Summer Down South.

They are, every one, cooling foods, loaded with water and we've sure been eating our share of them here lately, no doubt. If you're heated up, I promise you that a big ole slice of ice-cold watermelon will cool you down right quick and well, I thought, why not take some and turn it into a granita?

Y'all, it's like instant air conditioning.

A rolled pastry dumplings with an infusion of heat and herbs.

Zesty Herbed Rolled Pastry Dumplings

These rolled dumplings for chicken and dumplings came about during one of these rainy periods we'd been having lately when I was poking through this rather overloaded freezer of mine, when I ran across a few chicken carcasses, some homemade stock and some already cooked chicken ... all taking up far too much room. After a bit of discussion on Facebook between soup, stew or chicken and dumplings - well, chicken and dumplings won out. I guess rain or snow, sleet or hail, or even oppressive southern heat and humidity ... you just can't separate us southerners from our chicken and dumplings!

 

  Cucumber dill cream cheese sandwiches are a classic southern finger food at parties, weddings, a ladies brunch, bridal and baby showers, but truthfully, they are just as wonderful just to enjoy anytime served with a side of sliced garden tomatoes for a light, cool lunch.

Cucumber Dill Tea Sandwiches

It sure is hot isn't it? And it's not only hot in The South, it's pretty much hot everywhere here lately it seems. Well, these little tea sandwiches are cool as a cucumber, literally!

Commonly found at weddings, bridal showers and parties of all kinds in The South, they are a delightful and cool lunch and a great way to use some of those summer cucumbers. Most often served on thin, white bread, crusts removed, and sliced into quarters, and honestly, a bit addictive.

Fresh shrimp dipped in a batter, then in a seasoned flour, and fried to a golden, crispy crunch.

Batter Fried Shrimp

Fried shrimp is a Deep South favorite, no real surprises there. Batter fried shrimp is just another delicious alternative from classic southern fried shrimp that we enjoy in this area.

Grilled Pimento Cheese Turkey Burger with POM Coca-Cola Glaze

 

A moist flavorful turkey burger, filled with sweet onion, apple, pepper jelly, fresh herbs, a touch of oatmeal and finished with a pomegranate glaze, pimento cheese and coleslaw.

Turkey Burger with POM-Cola Glaze

I represented POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice in the POM Wonderful Recipe Battle with a Take 2 rematch against another blogger representing Coach's Oats. The recipes were required to be both savory and summertime BBQ related, and make use of both products.

I have certainly shared my love of POM Wonderful, it's amazing antioxidant properties and great taste, both straight up out of the bottle and as an ingredient in beverages and cooking, but Coach's Oats were new to me. Well, I know that some of you are big fans of steel cut oats, so I tell ya, these are definitely worth a look y'all. Imagine a 100% whole grain oatmeal with the texture of steel cut, that is stovetop ready in 5 minutes, and can also be microwaved! Yep! Not 30 to 45 minutes - but only 5 minutes - thanks to a special process called Cracked n' Toasted™.

Basic lima bean and corn succotash gets a boost from summer bounty with the addition of sweet Vidalia onions, fresh tomatoes, bell pepper, okra and some smoked meat.

Southern Summer Succotash

Hope everybody had a wonderful holiday weekend with friends and family, and an extra day off today to recover. All the carbs and meat of late have me in the mood for some veggies and what a great time to introduce some summer succotash!

To be honest, I love a simple succotash mixture of baby butter beans and corn, maybe with a bit of onion and garlic, always some butter, and sometimes just a splash of cream. You can make succotash using fresh, frozen or even canned vegetables, so it's pretty much a year round dish you can serve anytime.

Take lime and mint, the classics of the mojito, and combine them with strawberry and watermelon, for a cooling summer beverage.

Strawberry Watermelon Mojito

Just a quick fly-by since I promised to post this in the 4th of July recipes post.  My computer is runnin' slow as Moses tonight anyway. I'm pretty sure its memory is a bit sluggish and I know how it feels.

Hope everybody is having a great start to what is hopefully a long holiday weekend - Happy Independence Day!

A refreshing summer beverage, that borrows the classic lime and mint of the mojito, and marries it with strawberry and watermelon - a great adult cocktail for any summer celebration. Here's how to make one.

 

Grilled chicken is first brined in a salt water solution, then given a light rub, and finally glazed with a root beer reduction.

Root Beer Glazed Drumsticks

I have been wanting to get a root beer glaze up for awhile and finally got around to it - just in time for the 4th! You can use whatever chicken parts you prefer, drumsticks just happen to be my most favorite part of the chicken - so juicy, tender, and full of flavor, especially with a brine.