All recipes

Old-fashioned Southern green beans: two pounds of fresh beans cooked low and slow with butter, onion, a cup of chicken broth and a teaspoon of sugar, lid on for an hour, lid off for 15 minutes. Exact amounts and timing for tender, full-flavored beans.

Old-fashioned Southern spoon bread: cornmeal cooked in hot milk until thick, eggs beaten in hard, baked at 375 degrees until it puffs like a souffle. Crisp on top, soft as pudding inside. Cups and grams, oven time and the one step that matters.

Old-fashioned Southern tomato gravy over hot biscuits: onion softened in butter, flour browned until it smells like toast, chopped ripe tomatoes, a cup of milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Exact amounts, the timing, and how to keep it smooth.

The classic Victoria sponge the way British show judges still want it: two butter sponges baked in 8 inch pans at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, raspberry jam in the middle and a dusting of fine sugar on top. US cups with grams.

Old-fashioned Watergate salad, the green pistachio fluff of every seventies potluck: instant pistachio pudding mix stirred into crushed pineapple with its juice, whipped topping, mini marshmallows, pecans and a little coconut. No stove, five minutes, chilled 60 minutes.

The from-scratch yellow sheet cake with cooked chocolate fudge frosting: a buttery 9 by 13 yellow cake, and a frosting of butter, cocoa and milk boiled in a saucepan, beaten with powdered sugar and poured over the warm cake so it sets with a shine. Cups and grams, oven temperature and time.

The old Yorkshire curd tart: fresh curds made at home from whole milk and lemon juice, mixed with sugar, butter, eggs, currants, lemon zest and nutmeg, baked in a 9 inch pastry shell at 375 degrees. Cups and grams, the times, and how to drain the curds.

Old-fashioned cake-style apple cider donuts: cider boiled down to a syrup, a soft spiced dough chilled an hour, cut with a glass, fried in two inches of oil at 365°F and rolled in cinnamon sugar while hot. Cups and grams.

Old-fashioned chicken and homemade noodles: a whole chicken simmered for the broth, egg noodles rolled thin, cut with a knife and dried two hours on a towel over a chair back, cooked in the broth with the shredded chicken and served over mashed potatoes.

Two old-fashioned coleslaws from one head of cabbage: the creamy mayonnaise slaw with a little sugar, cider vinegar and celery seed, and the sharp Carolina vinegar slaw with oil, sugar, mustard and no mayonnaise. Both start with cabbage shredded fine, salted an hour in a colander and squeezed dry, so the slaw never weeps.

Real Southern cream gravy made from the drippings of fried chicken: a quarter cup of fat and browned bits, a quarter cup of flour cooked until it smells toasted, two cups of cold milk whisked in slowly, simmered until it coats a wooden spoon. Salt, plenty of black pepper, and the reason yours has lumps.

The Depression breakfast in two steps: cornmeal cooked thick and stirred for 20 to 25 minutes, set overnight in a loaf pan, then sliced 3/4 inch thick and fried in a hot skillet in a little butter until the crust releases on its own. Served with butter and syrup, or butter and salt. Cups and grams.