Small Batch Fresh Tomato Relish

This easy to make fresh tomato relish adds a great punch of bright flavor to so many dishes, you'll want to have some in your refrigerator all summer long!

Fresh Tomato Relish

With summer tomatoes heading in soon, I thought it would be a great time to introduce this fresh tomato relish. Of course, it's good even with hot house tomatoes throughout the year, but you just really can't beat the superior flavor that comes from backyard or otherwise locally grown fresh tomatoes.

What exactly is a fresh tomato relish?

It's a little like a pico, minus the lime and cilantro, but made with a dressing that is much like the well-loved tomato salads we consume here in the south all summer long - a little sour, a little sweet.

Sliced fresh jalapenos, lightly blanched, then stacked in a quart jar with sliced garlic and brined in an apple cider vinegar and sugar brine.

Cowboy Candy - Candied Pickled Jalapenos

I used to grow lots of vegetables, including sweet and hot peppers, but haven't grown any in quite a bit. Haven't really grown much of anything other than tomatoes, and maybe a few herbs here the past few years. Just can't take the heat enough to keep the garden in good shape. But, peppers are in abundance and pretty cheap during the summer months, so you don't have to be a gardener to grab a bunch!

This is a variation of a Bell's Best cookbook recipe from the 70s that uses both sweet and hot peppers, but primarily sweet peppers. I decided to make it using only jalapenos. It's often referred to as Cowboy Candy across the net, but it's simply a pickled jalapeno that's a little bit heavier on the sugar, and somewhere along the line of those candied Fire 'n Ice pickles, we all love so much.

A tangy enhanced ketchup sauce, loaded with flavor, perfect for burgers and meatballs.

Burger and Meatball Sauce

A big leap above the standard ketchup, this is one of my favorite burger sauces, but it's a great meatball sauce too.

Though somewhat of a riff on the vintage grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs we all know and love, I patterned this version after a burger sauce once used by an old favorite and sadly now gone, little bitty, local burger joint in Biloxi.

There was nothing particularly unusual about their flame-cooked burgers really, but it was the sauce that really made them ultra delicious to me. For many years I had fond memories of it, and thought I'd give a hand at trying to make one somewhat like it. This recipe was the result. It makes about 4 cups, perfect for loads of burgers, or several pounds of meatballs, though it can certainly be reduced.

A dressed-up sauerkraut dish, made from commercially bagged or canned sauerkraut, adding in some bacon and bacon drippings, brown sugar or honey, and a few simple seasonings. Perfect for sandwiches or in a sausage and potatoes skillet meal.

Dressed Up Sauerkraut

Oh dear. I know that some of y'all are thinking... "a sauerkraut recipe?" Well, first it's not really a recipe.

Making sauerkraut takes about a two week commitment and a lot of tending to with skimming and such. Too long for me and I don't like it enough for that kind of investment - but, what I will do, is take an off the shelf commercial product and dress it up a bit!

I'll be right up front with ya though. While some folks love the stuff, I've never been a super big fan of sauerkraut. As with many other southerners, while I do love the flavor combination of sweet and sour, whether in the refrigerator packages or cans, commercially prepared sauerkraut right off the grocery store shelf is just too weird for my tastebuds. Still... I sure do enjoy it on a classic Reuben sandwich. Shaved corned beef dressed with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing on toasted Rye bread - it's downright delicious.

Guacamole, made with a little Deep South regional influence, incorporating some spicy Louisiana flavor.

Cajun Guacamole

I love avocados and I especially love that they have moved into the mainstream of eating everywhere nowadays, even here in the Deep South! I can remember a time back in the day, when finding a fresh avocado wasn't so easy around here. Mostly we were forced to that neon green, pre-made guacamole in a plastic container from the dairy case, when building things like our layered Mexican dip. Fresh is certainly so much better.

Now... right out of the gate, I want to say that I know somebody reading this will likely get all up in arms about this being called "Cajun Guacamole." Just relax and roll with it y'all. In fact, go ahead and Google it... turns out it really is a thing.

A boneless prime rib roast made with a rub of olive oil, herbs, spices and seasonings and served with an au jus. Offer an optional sour cream horseradish sauce at the table.

Boneless Prime Rib Beef Roast with au Jus

Most people are terrified of cooking a prime rib roast at home and for good reason. It is a very expensive cut of meat if you mess up!

I actually felt the same way for a very long time and I didn't try to cook one myself because I was so intimidated that I'd ruin it.

But, it's also a delicious cut of meat, so it's worth the effort, and, if you follow these four essential rules, you'll have a perfect, and impressive, holiday roast.

 

A homemade substitute for store-bought chili sauce made with tomato sauce and paste, lemon juice and a mix of seasonings.

Homemade Chili Sauce

I was already nearly done with stacking groceries on the belt at the grocery store, when I remembered that a couple of recipes that I wanted to make use bottled chili sauce. Doesn't that always happen?

A quick glance near the checkout told me it wasn't gonna be close enough at hand to just do a run and grab, so rather than having to get back in a line for a couple of items (and probably finding another handful of things I really didn't need along the way), I decided I'd just go home and try to make up my own homemade version.

Classic cranberry relish, made from uncooked, fresh cranberries, oranges, apples and pineapple.

Cranberry Relish

When I was growing up, there was one cranberry sauce at our house over the holidays. The familiar, cylinder-shaped, super sweet, jellied cranberry sauce, decorated with ridges molded right from the can it slurped out of.

It's one thing in common from our holiday tables past, that so many of us Southerners still connect to nostalgically, no matter where we grew up.

 

Strips of onion, pickled in vinegar, sugar, hot sauce and pickling spices, an excellent addition to sandwiches, burgers, beans and greens.

Pickled Onions

I had several requests for the recipe I use for the pickled onions pictured with my turnip greens, so I promised to squeeze it in here over the weekend, between all the holiday posts for turkey and dressing and all those side dish goodies we're all looking forward to here in a few days.

The British have their pickled pearl onions, often served as an appetizer at local pubs, but the South, well, we have our own version of pickled onions. You'll most often find ours served family-style at catfish houses, right alongside the all-you-can-eat fried catfish, turnip greens, coleslaw, fried okra, and cornbread.

Southern Slaw Dogs with Slawsa

Slawsa Original - the gourmet topping... for everything! Perfect for those southern slaw dogs y'all!

I recently had the chance to give a condiment product called Slawsa Original a try & let me tell y'all, it is really some kind of good! If you enjoy a good ole southern slaw dog, I think you will really LOVE your hotdogs with Slawsa.

It's kinda hard to describe really, because while it's a little like Chow Chow, it's also not like Chow Chow at all, though I think it'd be perfect for beans too. A crunchy cabbage based condiment, also containing mustard, green bell pepper, onion and carrots, it's essentially a cross somewhere between a vinegar coleslaw and salsa, and it has a nice healthy kick to it too. Great for hot dogs and hamburgers, I could easily see serving it as a condiment for grilled meats, fish and chicken as well.

 

Salsa made with fresh off the cob corn and summer garden tomatoes, black beans, lime and cilantro. Just add some chips.

Fresh Corn and Black Bean Salsa

One of my favorite snacks is tortilla chips and salsa, and one of my favorite salsas is the corn and black bean variety.  I sort of fiddled around a bit with the basics of my restaurant style salsa and came up with this homemade version, both making and plowing through it several times already, all on my little own.

Quick fresh fig refrigerator jam - simply chopped figs, sugar, a little bit of water, and some lemon. Simple. Perfect.

Fresh Fig Refrigerator Jam

Seems like I just planted my Celeste fig tree but it's been more than 4 years already.

I planted it in honor of my mama not long after Hurricane Katrina made me a full-time homemaker and well, eventually a blogger of southern food too I guess now!

You can read more about Mama's fig tree on my recipe for a delicious lemon poppy seed fig glazed cake. The cake there is "glazed," or really just topped to be honest, with nothing more than a thicker form of refrigerator jam.

A spicy honey mustard sauce that is a perfect dipper for chicken strips, nuggets, even fried shrimp!

Spicy Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

I know... honey mustard is just, well, honey and mustard pretty much, but recently I had the opportunity to give Colman's dry mustard products (#affiliate) a try and let me tell you, if you want to bump your mustard up above and beyond spicy mustard, yes even those we love so much down here in The Deep South, then you'll want to give Colman's a try.  

One of only three mustard mills in the world that uses a unique blend of brown mustard seeds with white mustard seeds, there ain't a thing mellow yellow about this fiery mustard y'all!

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!

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Not a pickling recipe, but a fun way to dress up some plain dill pickles with some sweet and spicy flavor. Super easy and if you prefer them on the milder side simply eliminate the jalapeno and red pepper flakes.

Fire 'n Ice Pickles

Fire and Ice Pickles are not a true pickling recipe, so no scoffing at me okay y'all? It's just a yummy way to dress up a jar of plain ole, cheapo, boring sour dills into a pickle that has fire and ice flavor, with a combination we southerners seem to be endeared to - sweet and spicy. We have a tendency to turn a sour thing into somethin' sweet down here, don't y'all know? Yes, that can also mean personalities. It's kinda hard to frown when you get around these thick accents we have.

Kraft Garlic Cheese Roll Substitute

Oh the lament across the net a few years back when Kraft decided to discontinue the garlic cheese roll! Didn't Kraft realize that while it may not have been a big seller throughout the year, thousands upon thousands of cooks across the country used that roll of garlic cheese to make their holiday broccoli cheese casserole, spinach casserole, garlic cheese biscuits, cheese balls, stove-top garlic cheese grits, and baked cheese grits, who knows what else?!

Well, I was not a user of the famous cheese roll, but in researching this topic for my readers, I ran across a tidbit that said a grocery store manager was told by the folks at Kraft, that the squirt cheese product called Easy Cheese Roasted Garlic Cheddar flavor, was actually the same exact product contained in the roll, 1 can equal to 1 roll.

How to Make Flavored Compound Butter

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✍ COMPOUND BUTTER COMBOS

Compound butters. Or as Chef Anne Burrell - Executive Chef at New York's Centro Vinoteca, and sous chef to Mario Batali when battling in the Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium - would say, "butter with stuff."  I just love her ... don't you?

 

Mississippi Comeback Sauce. An all purpose sauce that is a cross somewhere between a rémoulade sauce and Thousand Island salad dressing, great for a sandwich spread or dipping sauce. A Mississippi original!

Mississippi Comeback Sauce

Comeback Sauce, which also has some, shall we say, rather interesting alternative spellings, was birthed in the 1930s at a Greek restaurant, The Rotisserie, located in Jackson, Mississippi. Known back then as simply their house dressing, it very quickly caught on and has earned fame, spreading across the city to other restaurants and eventually across the south. Comeback Sauce is truly the queen mother of all Mississippi condiments.

An easy cocktail sauce, perfect for boiled and fried seafood, made with chili sauce, horseradish, lemon and hot sauce.

Easy Cocktail Sauce

We eat a lot of seafood here in the Deep South and we do love, and expect a good cocktail sauce to go with it. This is a blend that is perfect for raw oysters, boiled shrimp or any fried seafood, such as fried shrimp, southern fried catfish, or even deep fried oysters.

 

Nobody seems to know where Jezebel Sauce originated or how it came to arrive at that name, but the combination of apple, pineapple, spicy mustard and horseradish have been a southern favorite for decades.

Jezebel Sauce

Nobody seems to know the true origins of Jezebel Sauce, though Mississippi is one state that lays claim to having invented it, along with Louisiana and several other southern states. I have no idea how it came to be named either, because if you know anything at all about the biblical Jezebel, you know she wasn't a very nice person, so I won't even venture to guess.