Side Dishes

How to hard-boil eggs so the shell slides off: eggs lowered into water that is already boiling, 12 minutes at a gentle boil, 15 minutes in ice water, peeled from the fat end. With the deviled egg filling: mayonnaise, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish.

Old-fashioned Southern fried apples in a cast iron skillet: thick tart apple wedges with the skins on, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon, steamed under a lid then cooked down to a dark syrup and turned gently so they stay whole. Exact amounts and times.

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.

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.

Old-fashioned fried potatoes and onions in a cast iron skillet: potatoes sliced thin and dried on a towel, cooked under a lid for the first 8 to 10 minutes, then uncovered and left alone to brown, turned once, with the onions added for the last 10 minutes.

Tall old-fashioned buttermilk biscuits with sides you can peel into layers: frozen butter grated on a box grater, cold buttermilk, the dough folded like a letter four times, cut straight down without twisting, and baked touching in a cast iron skillet at 450°F. Cups and grams.

Plain old-fashioned mashed potatoes done right: russets in salted water, drained and dried in the hot pot, mashed by hand with butter first and then hot milk a little at a time. Why cold milk and an electric mixer turn them to glue.

Old-fashioned Southern fried corn the way it was made every August: fresh kernels cut shallow off eight ears, the bare cobs scraped hard for their milk, and everything cooked slow in butter in a cast iron skillet until thick, creamy and catching on the bottom. No cream, no flour, cups and grams.