Week 3: Southern Cooking - Cheese and Onion Bread

With the exception of a year here and there in my Army days, I know almost nothing about southern cooking. My friends and I were getting together for the NFL Playoff games. My best friend's wife, Sandra is a southern native, and for the last year and a half has been living in central California. She has been away from anything that resembles southern cooking so I decided to cook her something from her home. To my own admission, I know next to nothing about southern food so I turned to an expert in the field.

Who better to learn from than Paula Deen. Starting off almost every show with her trademark greeting "Hey Ya'll," she is the embodiment of a southern chef, cheery, flamboyant, and one hand in the butter dish. Despite my jests, she is an amazing woman who has built an empire from $200 and a start-up catering business. I scoured her recipes on FoodNetwork.com. It was a little difficult finding something simple, as I am a novice with this style cooking, and appropriate for a Sunday Playoff party.

Interestingly I found the perfect recipe: Lady and Son's Onion-Cheese Bread. Simple enough that I could do it and finger friendly. The mixture was easy, chop and cook the onion then combine with biscuit mix (I used Bisquick, to the insistence of my Grandmother), milk, egg, and half the cheese. Topped it with the melted butter and remaining cheese and threw it in the oven. Well ok, placed gently in the oven. Of course, the recipe calls for a garnish of parsley, but I (of course) forgot this, but it turned out really well regardless.

The biscuit/bread was a big hit and a perfect addition to the main course of grilled chicken drumsticks and my friend's Dr. Pepper Ribs, courtesy of Men's Health. I would say that I cheated a bit and added more cheese, which increased the cook time, but I'm a sucker for cheese. In the words of the late John Candy as Uncle Buck "I can't seem to get enough Cheese. I'm like a big mouse."