A Taste of the South, in New York

I love it when friends from the northeast travel down south. I have heard great reviews about the coolness of Austin, the rebuilding of New Orleans or a perfect family vacation in St Simons Island. Renee Cohen, a friend and neighbor in suburban New York, had such an experience when she recently traveled to Charleston for a friend’s 50^th birthday party. As a chef and cooking instructor at her school, CuisineArts, she decided to share some of the dishes she discovered on her trip with her students, me among them.

This class, “Low Country Cooking” featured these dishes:

Candied pralines

Shitake Deviled Eggs

Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

Tomato Tart

Low Country Boil with Citrus Remoulade

Oyster Po Boy Sliders and Fixin’s

Low Country Shrimp and Grits

Fried Chicken with Sweet Smoky Paprika and Sweet Potato Waffle

Edna’s Cucumber Salad

Renee’s Collard Greens

Truffle Mac and Cheese

Ambrosia

Renee adds her own twist to all of her recipes, making them uniquely hers. After three hours of chopping and mixing and frying, the eight of us sat down to a wonderful lunch, sharing a taste of the south with my friends from New York.

MaryDell Harrington, a member of the C-team, is a homesick Texan living in NY. She blogs with her friend, Lisa Heffernan at Grown and Flown: Parenting from the Empty Nest and would love you to visit her there.