Seasoned In The South or Old Fashioned Country Cookies

Seasoned In The South: Recipes From Crook's Corner and Home

Author: Bill Smith

Crook's Corner is a landmark in North Carolina and beyond. Bon Appetit called it "a legend." Travel and Leisure described it as "country cookin' gone cool." A reviewer for the Washington Post said, "I have yet to eat an average meal at Crook's Corner—the food is consistently outstanding, sort of nouvelle down home." And Delta Sky rated it "the best place to eat in Chapel Hill, in North Carolina and possibly on earth."

It's that good, and it has sustained its reputation since 1982, when legendary Southern chef Bill Neal, author of three popular cookbooks, opened the restaurant with partner Gene Hamer.

For more than a decade now, Bill Smith has presided over the kitchen, bringing his creative cuisine to an ever-growing, always enthusiastic crowd who have come to associate dining at Crook's with good company, great food, and a belief that every meal is reason for celebration.

Bill Smith's recipes are marvelously uncomplicated: Tomato and Watermelon Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes with Sweet Corn and Lemon Beurre Blanc, Pork Roast with Artichoke Stuffing, Scallops with Spinach and Hominy, Really Good Banana Pudding, and Honeysuckle Sorbet. Structured around the seasons and inspired by the abundant local produce, these recipes reinvent classics of the Southern culinary tradition and offer up imaginative interpretations of bistro fare.

Seasoned in the South captures the flavors of the freshest seasonal foods and the spirit of one of the South's liveliest and most innovative kitchens.

Publishers Weekly

The Southern delicacies of Crook's Corner restaurant are well known to the students and residents of Chapel Hill, N.C. Now Smith, the chef there for 15 years, has assembled a quirky and compact selection of his favorite dishes for the rest of the world to ponder. Perhaps because Chapel Hill is a college town, the book is broken into four seasons starting with fall (though it's puzzling to find Scalloped Potatoes in autumn, Mashed Potatoes in spring and not a single spud in winter). Smith previously worked at another North Carolina spot, La Residence, and there exists an undercurrent of fine French cuisine that gives his recipes some sophistication. The cultural mix is readily apparent and exciting in his Two- (or Three-) Bird P t : in one of the few instances where liquor benefits a liver, duck and chicken organs are flavored with a jigger of Wild Turkey. The French influence is subtler in Turtle Soup, based on a dish from Babette's Feast and requiring two pounds of ground turtle meat. Of course, such pomp and circumstance can carry one only so far. Smith's summer ends with a blissfully redneck Really Good Banana Pudding, laden with half-and-half and vanilla wafers. (Oct. 7) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

First-time cookery author Smith has been the chef at Crook's Corner, a popular Chapel Hill, NC, restaurant, for the past ten years. A big supporter of local farmers markets, he has arranged the recipes here by season to help readers take advantage of what might be available there at different times of the year. And though his conversational style makes for a quick and entertaining read, this is not a primer for the beginning home cook: some recipes-Turtle Soup, for one-may be a bit daunting. Smith assumes a basic knowledge of culinary terms and does not explain such words as bain-marie, but he is very thorough where execution is concerned and provides plenty of tips along the way. Though some ingredients, like mayhaws, a local wild cherry, may be hard to obtain outside the region, he does suggest substitutions for several such items. Recipes cover everything from appetizers and entrees to side dishes and desserts and provide nouvelle flair to familiar Southern favorites (e.g., Scallops with Spinach and Hominy and Fried Green Tomatoes with Corn and Lemon Beurre Blanc). Recommended for local libraries and other collections on regional cooking.-Rosemarie Lewis, Broward Cty. P.L., Fort Lauderdale, FL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

“I don’t remember another cookbook that made me cry, laugh aloud, and drool…Herein you’ll find the good food from Crook’s, good writing, and good sense. I’m proud to be a fan.” - John Martin Taylor, author of Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking

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Old Fashioned Country Cookies: Yummy Recipes, Tips, Traditions, How-to's and Sweet Memories... Everything Cookies!

Author: Gooseberry Patch

Old-Fashioned Country Cookies Cookbook is filled with melt-in-your-mouth recipes, traditions, memories, tips and ideas...everything cookies! You'll learn how to make cookie trees, cookie garlands, cookie centerpieces, cookie gifts, tips for hosting your own cookie exchange, making cookie ornaments, fancy icings and so much more.