Browsing: Food & Dining

I can’t think of anything better than a bowl of gazpacho. It’s cool and refreshing, and perfect this time of the year when the farmers’ markets are full of delicious, still warm from the sun, vine ripe tomatoes.

Mississippi is no stranger to delicious food. The Magnolia State is known for its impeccable cuisine, and no matter how much of it you try, there are always more wonderful options available. Just when you think you’ve seen (or eaten) it all, you’ll stumble into a town you’ve never heard of and eat the best catfish or peach cobbler of your life. In Mississippi, food isn’t just food. It’s a story, a legacy, and a tight warm hug plated to perfection. 

I am not sure I can think of anything better than a fully dressed po-boy. There is just something magical about this sandwich style. In other parts of the country, they are called sliders, subs, hoagies, Cubans or torpedoes, but a po-boy is a Gulf Coast classic. 

Sunday supper at my house was a cherished tradition until Covid turned everything upside down. But I am determined to bring it back and maybe even do a better job of it this time around. It’s not something you want to just dive into; you’ve got to be smart about it to get it right. The secret to getting it right is detailed planning, and luckily for me, I enjoy thinking about those kinds of details.

What could be better in the morning than hot biscuits, just out of the oven, with lots of good butter? There are a lot of variations to this Southern classic and one of my favorites is biscuits, fried spicy sausage patty and fig preserves. It’s one of my all time favorites.

Chef Jon “JD” Davis of City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi, claimed the title of 2025 King of Mississippi Seafood.  

Each year, states across the nation host their seafood cook-offs, and the winners from each state travel to New Orleans in August for The Great American Seafood Cook-Off. Mississippi Seafood hosts its statewide contest each year in Gulfport, Mississippi. 

I am a big fan of Greek food, its spicy, hearty and bold and so I was delighted with the Acropolis Greek restaurant recently opened in Biloxi on Howard Avenue. Many years ago, I used to go to a Greek place run by an older Greek lady who became upset if you didn’t finish everything on your plate. She would sit at your table and question you about what you didn’t like. It was a good incentive to come with a big appetite.

Until I moved to the Gulf Coast in 1992, hot sauce was just not a part of my culinary world. In fact, there was almost nothing spicy in my diet, and I thought a jalapeno pepper was about as hot as it got. Silly me. The Coast really does have its own culinary micro food culture, from po-boys to gumbo, and hot sauce is a big part of it.

Pizza has to be one of the most popular foods in the world. It can be found from Japan to Russia and Mexico. Flatbread, its forbearer, originated in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, so it’s been around for a very long time in one form or another. It’s hard to find a county where people don’t just love modern pizza. Believe it or not, it came to us from a poor Jewish community in southern Italy

 We all know those small businesses we can’t live without – the bakery that serves the best pastries, the family-owned hardware store with the perfect tool for every job, or the quirky bookshop where you always find a hidden literary treasure. These are the kinds of places customers will drive considerable distances to visit, even if they’ve since moved far from the area. 

Biloxi bacon is a Gulf Coast classic, and I hope you give it a try, either at home or at Butcher and Baker. 

It’s curious, the cuts of beef, pork, chicken and even turkey that many thought undesirable, have almost always been cherished by the poor.  Somehow people got the idea that if it had bone in it, then it wasn’t good. In fact, the opposite is true. Bone in is always better.  Things like pork cheeks and feet, ox tails, chicken and turkey necks and, my all time favorite, chicken wings 

The name derives from the Irish Gaelic phrase, “cal ceannann,” meaning white headed cabbage. Although colcannon is traditionally made with cabbage or kale, I like to add a Southern twist and make it with collard greens. As I have said many times, if you want to make good collard greens you have to start with a good stock. Lord forbid that you use nothing but water, your results will be most unsatisfactory!

We are sort of in between seasons, so it’s hard to cook something that feels timely. It’s a little late for a hearty soup, stew or gumbo, and not quite grilling season either. My fall-back position is always seafood. It’s not too light and not too heavy but can be warming (on a gray day) and there are lots of simple and affordable recipes.  

Another popular, and relatively easy way to preserve food is by canning. If you are savvy enough to go to the local farmer’s market for fresh produce, you can enjoy those great vine ripened tomatoes all year long if you “put up,” or can a dozen jars or more. The same goes for a special vegetable your grocery store might have on sale. Stock up and you will have plenty even through the winter months. 

Is there any better comfort food than pasta? It’s warm, filling and delicious. If you get it right! You can use dried or fresh, but there are certainly easier ways to prepare a pasta dish than by making the pasta from scratch. Dried takes a little longer to cook, and fresh (bought fresh at the grocery) is much quicker, and both prefer different kind of sauces. Dried pasta (80% of pasta eaten in Italy is dried) pairs best with a hearty sauce, like a Bolognaise, while fresh pasta likes a more delicate sauce, maybe even just garlic butter and parmesan Reggiano.