The universe will never allow that same set of ingredients to be in my kitchen at the same time in the same ratios ever again. It’s impossible to recreate a dish that uses leftover something as its base. Pretty much every meal starts with the question “what needs used up?” For example, baked beans are always a mix of the condiments in the fridge: ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, some random pepper jelly, etc plus bacon if I have it, tons of brown sugar, maybe some onion. I am always annoyed when I have more condiments than will fit in the door, so if I can empty a bottle or jar then I do it.
Haha! I feel that. I have people all the time who will ask me for the recipe. First reaction, "What recipe?" Second, "Crap! What did I even do here? I legit need some time to recollect."
One of my favorite recipes is a chicken and dumplings recipe from my great-grandma. The directions are something to the effect of "an egg for each person and a half egg of water for each person, then keep adding flour until you get tired of adding flour"
When I was in kindergarten, we made these little recipe cards explaining how to make a dish. I chose chicken. My mother still has it because it said "add all the ingredients and chicken, put in oven, bake until done". She raised a proper southerner.
I always clarify my bacon grease. Full up a one pound coffee can. Put the can in a 225 F degree oven until melted and liquid Fill a big roasting pan with cold water and ice cubes. Pour the tepid. not warm bacon grease in the cold water . Let it sit till the grease solidifies. Scrape the solid grease into a clean one pound coffee can. Repeat. If you do it three times the bacon grease will be so pure you can you use it for pie crust. As good a real lard. I agree with her difference between a casserole and a salad is if it comes from an oven or a refrigerator.
my sister was bellyaching about how much casseroles were piles of junk and she never made one, until i told her that her beloved peach cobbler she makes 3 times a year was nothing but a dessert casserole. i thought she might explode. it’s true, fight me! 😆
I laughed myself silly , that was funnier then Justin Wilson , have you ever seen or heard him before he died ? Google him , he was a Louisiana Cook / Comedian very funny just liked his cooking Sherry ( wine ) too much ,
From a 60+ year old man from swamp country in Louisiana, cooking in 100+ year old cast set of cookware handed down from my great grandmother and a box of index card recipes.. your video is right on. Coonass approved!
Louisiana girl here. My husband (still alive) left my great-grandmother's Griswold cast iron skillet on the grill sideburner overnight in the rain. Over a 150 years of careful seasoning ruined, it was a black-diamond thing of awe and beauty. I had to strip it and start over. He has not been allowed to touch it since. I still think about it.
@@carolmelancon reading your comment made me sick to my stomach. I am so sorry. My husband left my cast iron out like that one time too, and it was a huge mess. I wanted to kill him. And it was just a 6 month old cast iron from Amazon. You could kill your husband today and nobody would blame you
My husband ran my iron skillet through the dishwasher. We're still married but that was a real testing point for our relationship. I asked him if he would run a Porshe through a carwash. He said yes.
My grandmothers skillet is for display and discipline use only. I use restaurant quality stainless steel because you can cook with it like cast iron but can toss in the washer without a care in the world
Every bit of this is true. I have examples. First: I took chicken salad to a pot luck at work. A coworker asked me for the recipe. I told her there wasn't one, I just made it. She asked if I could just write it down for her so I did. She came back to me confused b/c there were no amounts. She wanted to know how much of this and how much of that. I told her put in "some" until it was "enough". Second: I had someone pull my bacon grease out of my freezer and she was completely surprised b/c I saved bacon grease. I told her in the South, bacon grease is a food group and every self respecting south cook has a container of it. It is a must for vegetable dishes. Good job Talia!
More informative than any cooking class could ever hope to be. Might I suggest adding a Tip #6: When you get stuck, call your mama. It doesn't matter what you're trying to cook, Mama has already cooked it a million times and will know exactly where you went wrong.
@Kathy Peebles Same here but I'm the only one left who knows how to cook my grandaddies family chicken mull recipe, I get requests from all the family every Christmas. I've shipped it frozen to my cousins in Texas, no lie!
@@caronstout354My niece described cooking as art mixed with a bit of science. Baking was science mixed with sorcery. Let’s face it you have to use incantations on bread and pie crusts.
Also, grandparents telling you to just bake it in hot oven until done when you ask them for baking time/temp. Tho my grandpa's actual (translated) words where "Not too high and until it's cooked".
As a cook, both professionally and in the home... this is so true. I started cookin' in S. Tejas and worked my way across the states, and Southern Cookin' is on a different level.
So true 😂. I love my grandma's recipes. "Butter the size of a hen's egg", "put in a hot oven until done". I'll admit to measuring somethings when I bake, but cooking? I'm gonna wing it like granny.
@@jd-no7rw They had measuring cups and spoons back then, so if the cooks wanted to actually measure something they could. She specifically didn't write 1/4 cup because she didn't measure. Also she cooked with wood, so "hot oven" is going to be by experience, not a thermometer.
@@jd-no7rw The point of this video is not measuring your ingredients, tossing ingredients together and having a great meal....which is what my comment refers to. Don't know how you missed that....or maybe you like to complain. You do you.
When I moved to the South, I started learning how to cook, and I'm so pleased to say I do almost all these things. I swap out bacon for chicken, but that's about it. At any given time, I have three to four tubs of butter in my fridge, and there are at least a couple sticks of butter in the freezer for biscuits. And the throwing stuff together is so accurate. I didn't know what to make for dinner one night, so I grabbed some canned biscuits, stuffed them with cheese, onions, and ground beef cooked in my cast iron skillet with a smattering of chili powder and soaked in Worcestershire sauce, baked until done, and then topped it with parsley and some cheese seasoning. It became my hubby and in-laws' new favorite dish. When they asked for the recipe, I scribbled some vague instructions on a notecard and gave it to them. Nothing was measured, so I guessed
You go girl! Married 36years before my husband passed away and in all those years he only refused to eat two things. One was devilled shrimp (he gave me the recipe as I am allergic to seafood) which he afterwards called de- viled shrimp, and peanut butter and jelly coffee cake from the Bisquick cookbook.
I love southern food so much. I love thinking about all the people who have gone to doctors & when they’re told “eat more dark leafy greens.” & go, “yup. Collards are that. But I just gotta add some pepper, salt, butter, & ham hock so it actually tastes like food”
I had to laugh when you mentioned our system of measurements. I worked as a hairstylist my whole life & 20 of those years was in Northern California. We had to make out cards for each customer on what we did & any instructions, such as color mixtures, perm solutions, etc., in case a different stylist had to do their hair if I was busy or had a day off. The other stylist were SO confused with my instructions since I constantly used "our" system of measurements. Haircuts? I took off a smidgen. Hair color? I put down things like a pinch of A8 with a dash of B6. I had to actually give them all lessons in what the heck my instructions meant. Good memories! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
LOVE THIS! I'm a transplanted Southerner but I still cook the way my Grannies and Mama taught me. But you need to discuss the difference between Barbeque and a cookout. They are NOT the same. Drives me crazy
I agree..a cookout is hamburgers, hotdogs, porch chops, etc. on a grill. A BBQ involves whole hog, slabs of ribs, brisket slow cooked over low heat for hours till fall-apart tender, bbq sauce optional.
All I could do was say AMEN after this video was done. :) It was like you gave the same lecture my Mama gave me when I first moved out of the house and started cooking for myself...
You forgot one: deep fry anything and everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s battered or not. You can deep fry it. After all, this pillar of southern cooking is what blessed us with the miracle that is the deep fried honey bun.
Lol. They are not even kidding. One time we ran out of ingredients to make something for church so my mom make a coffee and everyone asked her for the recipe. She couldn’t remember how she made it. She basically just threw it all together. Southern cooking is basically “happy accidents” 😂
My family’s recipes have been put into a book by four generations. My mother took it upon herself to buy three identical blank cook books and rewrite every recipe in them for her three children. Now we have legible recipes from my great grandmother, grandmother and others. The original cookbook literally has things just scribble down, things have spilled on the book or have been written on an envelope then stuck on a random page. My mom has told me since I was a child “every thing is better with butter”. If your rue is not as dark as a Hershey’s chocolate bar it’s not dark enough (she is from south Louisiana). The book has room for more recipes and a comment section in the back with helpful tips and suggestions for pantry staples. It also has a sins section for things like minute rice for your jambalaya or quick rue in the oven (she said my grandmother would be turning in her grave if we made a rue in the oven instead of on the stove).
This is exactly how my grandmother cooked. Good memories. Thanks. To this day, I'm convinced, that cooking is more about experience, taste, creativity and love than fixed recipes.
When I would call Mom when I first got married to ask for something like how to make chicken and dumplings, she usually started with, “Well, I don’t really have a recipe.” She did dumplings basically like biscuit dough and dropped them by spoonfuls on the boiling broth and chicken. She would say things like, “just stir it till it looks right,” “cook till the dumplings are puffy and tender.” I took them to a potluck when we lived in Chicago area and everyone wanted my recipe. I started with, “Well, I don’t really have a recipe. If I write it down I can’t guarantee it will taste the same because I don’t measure.” I knew I was grown up when my daughter called to ask how to make something and I said the same thing as my mom. My grandmother told me when I was young that to learn how to make her biscuits and macaroni and cheese I would just have to come watch her. 😂
Salad : baked potatoes, bacon, sausages, grill meat, fried onion, pickles, fried or pickled mushrooms, shredded cheese, boiled eggs, mayo and little pinch of shredded greens as a decoration.
I know someone who had a ton of family recipes that said to use one cup. It wasn't an actual measure. The grandma meant an actual cup that she used for cooking ..lol.
Ohhh thanks for that memory!!! My grandma great laughed so hard at me over that one! She's never owned measuring cups! How silly of me to even think she meant a cup.
My mother was born and raised in the north. However, her approach to cooking is...well, let's just say she'd fit right in down south in many ways. For example, I once asked her for her chocolate chip cookie recipe. Her response: It's not really a recipe, it's more of a principle. Ask her how much of an ingredient goes in something: enough. I am similar. How much soy sauce in my Asian inspired marinade: until it smells right. Recipes are a jumping off point. I follow it the first time (sometimes making a few alterations) and then decide what needs to be adjusted, removed, or fixed. Never trust crock pots, timers etc. The only food to never check on is a soufflé (make sure to learn the correct heat and timing and follow both as you would the good Lord Jesus). Butter makes everything better. Bacon is yet further proof of a loving God. The right cracker crumbs blow breadcrumbs out of the water. Different crackers are good for different things. Buttercrisp Toasteds are great with fish. There are many kinds of mac and cheese; each kind has its own uses. There is something about cookies made by a loving grandmother, they're the best. Good ingredients make good food.
I love collecting cookbooks, especially church cookbooks. The only recipes I follow are ones for baking and something by Julia Child because you have to get those things precise. And I will shout from the mountaintops about the wonders and versatility of a cast iron skillet. But when it comes to casseroles, salads or anything fried? I commune with my ancestors with that. It's just something you feel when it's just right.
My daughter and were nodding and laughing over here in Tennessee through the whole thing. For me the third treasure is bouillon. Specifically Knorr chicken which I use like salt in every savory food I cook. Everyone loves it. Try it with your taters!
I'm in Tennessee. My Mom's German so my Oma started sending Knorr bouillon cubes to us in our Christmas package every year back in the 70's before it was sold here. So poor one quarter at UT, couldn't afford Ramen (not joking) so I bought one huge bag of noodles and tossed in the Knorr! I've started combining chicken and beef bouillon both in most things I cook these days - though broccoli just gets beef and turnip greens just get chicken with bacon drippings of course!
You could just cut to the chase and buy yourself some MSG. That is the reason the Knorr makes everything better. Just in case it is not obvious I literally do just that - though I actually have both Chicken Powder (with MSG) and the pure stuff. Depending on what I am cooking I might go with one or the other.
Talia , darlin you nailed it , especially the holy Louisiana trinity , my moma was half German and half Scottish and she perfected Cajun French cooking for my Dad who was pure Cajun French , look out when she got Okra Gumbo right , that was some great eating , wooooo boy !!!
Let's not forget the Pope of the trinity - garlic! My mother thinks it's the most important part, and blasphemy though it may be, she remains convinced that celery is just flavored water in vegetable form, and can therefore be left out.
I've got relatives asking for handouts when I make my smoked turkey basted in Creole butter sauce. Made it once for a church picnic and was put in charge of the kitchen immediately which ticked off the old ladies that did it for years
Crikey! I can't get decent okra up here, Seattle way. Don't grow worth a damn either. While I have very nearly perfected file' gumbo...thanks to my Army buddy's Mom from the North shore of Lake Ponchartrain...I would dearly love me some okra gumbo!
@@woodrowsmith3400 I hate to be the bearer of bad news but sassafras which what file is bad for you they don't make tea from it anymore because it's not healthy , Google it on your computer or smartphone . I did and it scared me
I do every single one of these cooking tips. My mom never owned a cookbook or one recipe card and her cooking was legendary...no- it was heavenly. Great vid, y'all. I'm going to send this to my daughter.❤
This was my mother to a T, everything you said she said at one time or another. My mom could take any recipe and turn it Southern 😂 And in our household, if we ran out of onions and Dr Pepper (her fave, had to have something to drink while cooking) lawdhavemercy on your soul 😂 I still to this day always have onions, no matter what. And another thing, a Southerners spice cabinet is a sight to behold and waaaayyyy different than everyone else's 😆 I have 2 cabinets for spices personally, I don't wanna run out of anything mid dish 😂
I have store bought cookbooks that have only been open once. But, my Calling All Cooks 1&2 cookbooks are well used. They have pages falling out, little pieces of paper stuck in the top for bookmarks. I’ve taped the binder on both books. And those wonderful Church Cookbooks with the plastic binders have been worked over just as much.
So true. I don't really follow a recipe. As my dad always says it is not the rules just a guide. And most recipes do not have much flavor so it takes a Southerner to add that delicious punch of yum to every dish.
I know how to make my Great-Maw Maw’s Potato Salad that the recipe was never written down! I’m one of a few people in the family who know how to make it and I’m teaching my Nieces how so that the recipe doesn’t get lost!
Grandma was a master of not having recipes. She used her Ecko mixing spoon to spoon out some flour, spoon out some Crisco, a little cold tap water, and she had the exact amount of dough for six hand pies (she baked them) and not a bit left over.
1. If it feels like it's missing something, add more butter and/or garlic. 2. If a soup doesn't taste quite right, but it's well salted and well seasoned, just leave it on simmer for like 10-20 more minutes. It takes a while for the flavors to meld together.
Trained to cook by an old school southerner so well versed in southern kitchen speak. My food is legendary and relatives go out of their way to eat at my house. Plus I haven't used a recipe for 20 years. I see something that looks good and I wing it with a high success rate
My mom has a casserole called “hamburger casserole” and it has hamburger meat in it, onions, any kind of pasta we can find, cheese and butter. It’s heaven to have ❤🫶🤧
Baked or broiled fish fillets, served with steamed (not boiled to mush) vegetables, Seasoned rice, corn bread muffins, and lots of softened real butter.
Loved this one, Talia, but when are we getting another installment of Talia's Kitchen? I have been cooking your Mississippi Pot Roast for a while now and I can't wait for another one of your recipes!
I was born & raised jn Northern CA but my family was from Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas & Texas. So grew up with southern foods & cooking. Now I'm living in Kentucky, my kind of folks & foods 😋😋😋😋
It's the same with some families here down under, as I couldn't tell you the exact measurements of my grandmother's recipes. I was taught to taste everything as I go, so I know what more to add and to read the food as it cooks, adjusting as necessary. As for adding meat to everything, I've been making bacon fried cabbage for years, and the family love Bacon and Chicken mac & cheese I make.
The "small army" being fed in my household are my husband, my boys, and all their friends. Plus my parents, in laws, and church functions on the weekend 😂
@spirals 73 My hair was always merely slightly wavy, but when I went through 'the change,' it suddenly developed curls ... now 10+ years down the road, they're gone - they were nice while they lasted
A pinch, a dash and cook til it's done is not just a southern thing. I learned how to make everything from my momma and that is how she cooked here in Ohio as well and my daughters learned how to cook that way from me. lol
I would love a video on the perils of discussing ambrosia recipes. Having lived in the South, I definitely recall that being a hot topic. To marshmallow or not to marshmallow, that is the question. I personally feel they are a required ingredient, with extra potluck points if they are the mini, multi-colored marshmallows! Don't even get me started on the shredded coconut debate either!!
I haven't even heard the term Ambrosia mentioned in decades. Both it and egg custard were staple desserts during the holiday season when I was young. 😢🤓🍻
I just subscribed to your channel! I just love your ability to make it so fun! Plus, my momma was southern in a past life! Her black-eyed peas with cornbread, lots of butter, and the family recipe for chowchow! Mmmmmm! I sure miss her!
There you go again ,giving away our secrets ! You nailed it !! That’s exactly how my Grandmother and my Father’s sister told me back 50 years ago when I was growing up.
As a Southern guy this is 100% true. Southern Tea: Minimum 2 cups of sugar "And then some more", tea, and enough HELLFIRE hot water to make a gallon of which you pour (still so hot) into a cleaned and reused plastic gallon jug. If you mouth doesn't pucker and at your eyes don't squint you didn't add enough sugar. Throw out the trash you just made, call up a real Southerner and let them help you.
@Amcsae we bring our water and tea bags (lipton is the best) to a boil in our tea pan and then turn the burner off. While it's cooling off just slightly, we put our sugar or sugar substitute in our plastic or glass pitcher that has just been washed out with hot water. Then, you pour the hot tea into the pitcher and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Fill the gallon pitcher the rest of the way full with cold water and stir again. Then fill up a glass with ice cubes and pour yourself a glass of tea! Been making it that way ever since I can remember and was raised here in the south.
I can't even begin. I know a few tricks that I did not understand are southern things. I'm from Maryland and I have seemingly inherited the habit of putting any grease in a coffee can under the sink. I also learned how to dredge. Which means I am not much perhaps of a deep fryer without the help of eggs and seasoned flour. I loved this video! When my mom passed away, I was able to get her cookbook called The Joy of Cooking, and, included were old grease stained recipe cards by her mom. I also subscribe to not using recipes. I like how the lady said they are for the weak 😂. Although, I have tried to pass along some of my supposed creations. I'm having the same aha moment as the lady in this video 😂.
My go-to is always to make biscuits! My mom's Kentucky blackberry jam cake recipe card lists the ingredients. No directions except three words: "bake at 350"❤❤❤
Talia, I totally love you. You are the only person that can make absolutely miss the South. I still cook exactly like this... I make it up as I go along, use LOTS of butter, bacon in whatever I can, and cook 'til its done
Thank God that's how my Grandma taught me to cook and I still do to this Day,Thanks Y'all for a Wonderful recipe for Memories❤😂‼️(one more thing there ain't no other way😂‼️)
My granny made the best Red eye gravy that you ever ate with country ham , white gravy and plenty of homemade biscuits. My favorite meal of all time! Everything Y'all do on the show just cracks me up !!! I guess you know where Mt Pilot is ?
My Malaysian-Chinese Grandma cooked the same way as this. Switch out butter for peanut oil, skillet for wok and switch some of the words for Manglish ones (agar-ation comes to mind) and it's EXACTLY the same. Good food is good food is good SOUTHERN food no matter which region you're in. So glad I moved to this part of the US - it's so much easier to transition to.
My dad had a German bakery in Chicago when I was growing up. Every recipe I have from him starts out with: 5 pounds butter, 20 pounds flour, a brick of fresh yeast.... etc. :D
As a joke years ago, I bought a kitchen teaspoon set with a smidge, a pinch and a hint. (I personally just eyeball it. I just think the spoons are funny.)
You can tell the same thing about Southerners in all countries. I, actually, come from another country but it is also the southern region. The cooking rules are the same ❤❤❤ And yes, my son put bacon and frech fries on the top of ice cream 😂
Midwesterner but can remember asking my Mom what 'oleo' was on her recipies. And lard can be included a honorable mention under bacon grease. But when married, asked my mom and my wife's two grandmothers how to cook baked popatoes, got three different answers that all ended with 'and microwave until done'. And if you go to the state fair, yes you can get fried butter and fried bacon. But fried oreos are amazing.
"Bake until done". Every old church cookbook on my shelf.
It's the guessing game that keeps on givin'
exactly 👍
🤚 amen
You got that right!! 😂
Damn. I didn’t think twice about that for a good minute or so because that’s the vast majority of my books
My husband when someone raves about a dish I made ... "Well enjoy it, because she's never going to make it the same way again."
So true.
Them: "Wow, that was good!"
Me: "Dang; I'm going to have to try to remember what I did, then..."
The universe will never allow that same set of ingredients to be in my kitchen at the same time in the same ratios ever again. It’s impossible to recreate a dish that uses leftover something as its base. Pretty much every meal starts with the question “what needs used up?” For example, baked beans are always a mix of the condiments in the fridge: ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, some random pepper jelly, etc plus bacon if I have it, tons of brown sugar, maybe some onion. I am always annoyed when I have more condiments than will fit in the door, so if I can empty a bottle or jar then I do it.
@@amyschmelzer6445 Exactly!
Haha! I feel that.
I have people all the time who will ask me for the recipe. First reaction, "What recipe?" Second, "Crap! What did I even do here? I legit need some time to recollect."
One of my favorite recipes is a chicken and dumplings recipe from my great-grandma. The directions are something to the effect of "an egg for each person and a half egg of water for each person, then keep adding flour until you get tired of adding flour"
That’s great!!!!!
When I was in kindergarten, we made these little recipe cards explaining how to make a dish. I chose chicken. My mother still has it because it said "add all the ingredients and chicken, put in oven, bake until done". She raised a proper southerner.
to the point ! great recipe 😋
That's a basic southern recipe.
@@carol22368 It's every southern recipe. 🤣
The layers in the bacon grease jar are like the rings of a tree. They have a story to tell. A delicious one.
I always clarify my bacon grease. Full up a one pound coffee can. Put the can in a 225 F degree oven until melted and liquid Fill a big roasting pan with cold water and ice cubes. Pour the tepid. not warm bacon grease in the cold water . Let it sit till the grease solidifies. Scrape the solid grease into a clean one pound coffee can. Repeat.
If you do it three times the bacon grease will be so pure you can you use it for pie crust. As good a real lard. I agree with her difference between a casserole and a salad is if it comes from an oven or a refrigerator.
Never underestimate the power of a Southern woman with some cheese, breadcrumbs and a can of cream o' somethin' soup!
add a jar of bacon grease
add a jar of bacon grease 😋
Yep the chicken one.. lol.. Great in everything.. 😂
my sister was bellyaching about how much casseroles were piles of junk and she never made one, until i told her that her beloved peach cobbler she makes 3 times a year was nothing but a dessert casserole. i thought she might explode. it’s true, fight me! 😆
😂😂😂
It's true!
Cobbler is a pie
Are pies casseroles??
I laughed myself silly , that was funnier then Justin Wilson , have you ever seen or heard him before he died ? Google him , he was a Louisiana Cook / Comedian very funny just liked his cooking Sherry ( wine ) too much ,
Yeah, I don’t get why some people wanna hate on casseroles. I mean, what is lasagna but a casserole?
As a southerner, I fully approve this message
From a 60+ year old man from swamp country in Louisiana, cooking in 100+ year old cast set of cookware handed down from my great grandmother and a box of index card recipes.. your video is right on. Coonass approved!
Your cast iron set is literally priceless!! So glad it is in loving hands. Enjoy!
Louisiana girl here. My husband (still alive) left my great-grandmother's Griswold cast iron skillet on the grill sideburner overnight in the rain. Over a 150 years of careful seasoning ruined, it was a black-diamond thing of awe and beauty. I had to strip it and start over. He has not been allowed to touch it since. I still think about it.
@@carolmelancon he's a lucky man
@@carolmelancon reading your comment made me sick to my stomach. I am so sorry. My husband left my cast iron out like that one time too, and it was a huge mess. I wanted to kill him. And it was just a 6 month old cast iron from Amazon. You could kill your husband today and nobody would blame you
My condolences
My husband ran my iron skillet through the dishwasher. We're still married but that was a real testing point for our relationship. I asked him if he would run a Porshe through a carwash. He said yes.
If I had done that, and my late wife would have found out, I would not be here today !!!!! That's a fact !! HA HA HA HA
How big a knot does he have on his head?
@@lorenstribling6096 A good sized one - An iron skillet packs a wallop.
Whadaya s’pect from someone who’d run a Porsche through an automated mangler and scratcher.
My grandmothers skillet is for display and discipline use only. I use restaurant quality stainless steel because you can cook with it like cast iron but can toss in the washer without a care in the world
Every bit of this is true. I have examples. First: I took chicken salad to a pot luck at work. A coworker asked me for the recipe. I told her there wasn't one, I just made it. She asked if I could just write it down for her so I did. She came back to me confused b/c there were no amounts. She wanted to know how much of this and how much of that. I told her put in "some" until it was "enough". Second: I had someone pull my bacon grease out of my freezer and she was completely surprised b/c I saved bacon grease. I told her in the South, bacon grease is a food group and every self respecting south cook has a container of it. It is a must for vegetable dishes. Good job Talia!
My SIL threw my bacon grease out while cleaning my kitchen. Told her that stuff is gold in this house. I was so upset 😮
Bacon grease is an "essential oil."
Absolutely!! Right on.
More informative than any cooking class could ever hope to be. Might I suggest adding a Tip #6: When you get stuck, call your mama. It doesn't matter what you're trying to cook, Mama has already cooked it a million times and will know exactly where you went wrong.
My daughter calls me, dad😊
@@tinkwilkinson9446 I believe it 100%. I ask my dad stuff about cooking as well. He's a very creative cook.
Doesn’t help when all grandparents and parents are gone. 😢
@@kathypeebles7001 Oh no! I'm so sorry!
@Kathy Peebles Same here but I'm the only one left who knows how to cook my grandaddies family chicken mull recipe, I get requests from all the family every Christmas. I've shipped it frozen to my cousins in Texas, no lie!
my home ec teacher (remember those classes?!) told us, cooking is jazz, all improvisation, baking is a minuet, with precise steps to reach perfection.
I heard years ago that "Cooking is an Art..Baking is a Science"
@@caronstout354 And music is math. ;)
Wow! So true! I hadn't thought about it like that! You're home ec teacher sounds very poetic, lol!
@@caronstout354My niece described cooking as art mixed with a bit of science. Baking was science mixed with sorcery. Let’s face it you have to use incantations on bread and pie crusts.
5th "B" Brown Sugar - use it in your breakfast, your rib rub, candied bacon, green bean bundles, glazing a ham etc, etc etc.
I like to sweeten my coffee with it. 🤓🍻
And it's liquid country cousin-molasses!
Southern cooking has one thing in common with French cooking: you can never use enough butter.
Also, grandparents telling you to just bake it in hot oven until done when you ask them for baking time/temp. Tho my grandpa's actual (translated) words where "Not too high and until it's cooked".
I had to teach my wife to cook with butter. My coworkers all lament the poundage of butter I use while cooking, but they always eat my food.
Lol.
It's not so much that "you can never use enough butter"
It's just that you can never use TOO MUCH butter. 🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈
Not really
As a cook, both professionally and in the home... this is so true.
I started cookin' in S. Tejas and worked my way across the states, and Southern Cookin' is on a different level.
See! Even the professionals back us!
@@ItsaSouthernThing yup, cause you love your Granny!!!
Cut the butter you cut the flavor.
So true 😂. I love my grandma's recipes. "Butter the size of a hen's egg", "put in a hot oven until done". I'll admit to measuring somethings when I bake, but cooking? I'm gonna wing it like granny.
Yeah, but those actually have some correlation to modern cooking, hen's egg = 1/4 cup, hot oven=400 to 450 degrees F.
@@jd-no7rw They had measuring cups and spoons back then, so if the cooks wanted to actually measure something they could. She specifically didn't write 1/4 cup because she didn't measure. Also she cooked with wood, so "hot oven" is going to be by experience, not a thermometer.
@@queenbunnyfoofoo6112 I think you missed my point, but no worries. Have a great day anyway.
That's only because baking requires it, somwhat...
@@jd-no7rw The point of this video is not measuring your ingredients, tossing ingredients together and having a great meal....which is what my comment refers to. Don't know how you missed that....or maybe you like to complain. You do you.
Girl done wrapped up 5 decades of my cookin! Laudamercy! 😂
When I moved to the South, I started learning how to cook, and I'm so pleased to say I do almost all these things. I swap out bacon for chicken, but that's about it. At any given time, I have three to four tubs of butter in my fridge, and there are at least a couple sticks of butter in the freezer for biscuits. And the throwing stuff together is so accurate. I didn't know what to make for dinner one night, so I grabbed some canned biscuits, stuffed them with cheese, onions, and ground beef cooked in my cast iron skillet with a smattering of chili powder and soaked in Worcestershire sauce, baked until done, and then topped it with parsley and some cheese seasoning. It became my hubby and in-laws' new favorite dish. When they asked for the recipe, I scribbled some vague instructions on a notecard and gave it to them. Nothing was measured, so I guessed
You go girl! Married 36years before my husband passed away and in all those years he only refused to eat two things. One was devilled shrimp (he gave me the recipe as I am allergic to seafood) which he afterwards called de- viled shrimp, and peanut butter and jelly coffee cake from the Bisquick cookbook.
I love southern food so much. I love thinking about all the people who have gone to doctors & when they’re told “eat more dark leafy greens.” & go, “yup. Collards are that. But I just gotta add some pepper, salt, butter, & ham hock so it actually tastes like food”
Doctor: take all that extra crap out and you'll be fine. You can keep the peppers in vinegar, but the extra stuff will give you high blood pressure.
@@CoasterMan13Official 😂😂 right on the money.
Z❤❤ 3:42 3:42 3:42 3:42 😂
My greens are with some salt / ham & plenty of vinegar!
you got that right -ham bone or hock is prime ingrediant to anything ..
I had to laugh when you mentioned our system of measurements. I worked as a hairstylist my whole life & 20 of those years was in Northern California. We had to make out cards for each customer on what we did & any instructions, such as color mixtures, perm solutions, etc., in case a different stylist had to do their hair if I was busy or had a day off. The other stylist were SO confused with my instructions since I constantly used "our" system of measurements. Haircuts? I took off a smidgen. Hair color? I put down things like a pinch of A8 with a dash of B6. I had to actually give them all lessons in what the heck my instructions meant. Good memories! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
LOVE THIS! I'm a transplanted Southerner but I still cook the way my Grannies and Mama taught me. But you need to discuss the difference between Barbeque and a cookout. They are NOT the same. Drives me crazy
I agree..a cookout is hamburgers, hotdogs, porch chops, etc. on a grill. A BBQ involves whole hog, slabs of ribs, brisket slow cooked over low heat for hours till fall-apart tender, bbq sauce optional.
Indeed. BBQ is not a verb! 😂
Bbq is not a verb.
I would add another B... buttermilk. You can dredge with it, use it in marinade and add to breads
Oh, buttermilk is a must for southern cooking, especially cornbread and biscuits. ;)
All I could do was say AMEN after this video was done. :) It was like you gave the same lecture my Mama gave me when I first moved out of the house and started cooking for myself...
You forgot one: deep fry anything and everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s battered or not. You can deep fry it. After all, this pillar of southern cooking is what blessed us with the miracle that is the deep fried honey bun.
Lol. They are not even kidding. One time we ran out of ingredients to make something for church so my mom make a coffee and everyone asked her for the recipe. She couldn’t remember how she made it. She basically just threw it all together. Southern cooking is basically “happy accidents” 😂
She made a coffee... ?
@@danielleking262i think "cake" fell off 😂
My family’s recipes have been put into a book by four generations. My mother took it upon herself to buy three identical blank cook books and rewrite every recipe in them for her three children. Now we have legible recipes from my great grandmother, grandmother and others. The original cookbook literally has things just scribble down, things have spilled on the book or have been written on an envelope then stuck on a random page. My mom has told me since I was a child “every thing is better with butter”. If your rue is not as dark as a Hershey’s chocolate bar it’s not dark enough (she is from south Louisiana). The book has room for more recipes and a comment section in the back with helpful tips and suggestions for pantry staples. It also has a sins section for things like minute rice for your jambalaya or quick rue in the oven (she said my grandmother would be turning in her grave if we made a rue in the oven instead of on the stove).
Wise words Taila. Wise words. And all God’s people said AMEN!
Amen.
This is exactly how my grandmother cooked. Good memories. Thanks.
To this day, I'm convinced, that cooking is more about experience, taste, creativity and love than fixed recipes.
When I would call Mom when I first got married to ask for something like how to make chicken and dumplings, she usually started with, “Well, I don’t really have a recipe.” She did dumplings basically like biscuit dough and dropped them by spoonfuls on the boiling broth and chicken. She would say things like, “just stir it till it looks right,” “cook till the dumplings are puffy and tender.” I took them to a potluck when we lived in Chicago area and everyone wanted my recipe. I started with, “Well, I don’t really have a recipe. If I write it down I can’t guarantee it will taste the same because I don’t measure.” I knew I was grown up when my daughter called to ask how to make something and I said the same thing as my mom. My grandmother told me when I was young that to learn how to make her biscuits and macaroni and cheese I would just have to come watch her. 😂
My northern born husband was amazed at how I could make a casserole out of leftovers! 😂😂
Salad : baked potatoes, bacon, sausages, grill meat, fried onion, pickles, fried or pickled mushrooms, shredded cheese, boiled eggs, mayo and little pinch of shredded greens as a decoration.
I know someone who had a ton of family recipes that said to use one cup. It wasn't an actual measure. The grandma meant an actual cup that she used for cooking ..lol.
Ohhh thanks for that memory!!! My grandma great laughed so hard at me over that one! She's never owned measuring cups! How silly of me to even think she meant a cup.
My mother was born and raised in the north. However, her approach to cooking is...well, let's just say she'd fit right in down south in many ways. For example, I once asked her for her chocolate chip cookie recipe. Her response: It's not really a recipe, it's more of a principle. Ask her how much of an ingredient goes in something: enough. I am similar. How much soy sauce in my Asian inspired marinade: until it smells right. Recipes are a jumping off point. I follow it the first time (sometimes making a few alterations) and then decide what needs to be adjusted, removed, or fixed.
Never trust crock pots, timers etc. The only food to never check on is a soufflé (make sure to learn the correct heat and timing and follow both as you would the good Lord Jesus).
Butter makes everything better. Bacon is yet further proof of a loving God. The right cracker crumbs blow breadcrumbs out of the water. Different crackers are good for different things. Buttercrisp Toasteds are great with fish. There are many kinds of mac and cheese; each kind has its own uses. There is something about cookies made by a loving grandmother, they're the best. Good ingredients make good food.
"Enough, but not too much" heard often growing up.
My brother uses crushed Pringles sometimes for deer steak and it's crazy good.
He was out of crackers.
Now it's deliberate!
I love collecting cookbooks, especially church cookbooks. The only recipes I follow are ones for baking and something by Julia Child because you have to get those things precise. And I will shout from the mountaintops about the wonders and versatility of a cast iron skillet.
But when it comes to casseroles, salads or anything fried? I commune with my ancestors with that. It's just something you feel when it's just right.
My daughter and were nodding and laughing over here in Tennessee through the whole thing. For me the third treasure is bouillon. Specifically Knorr chicken which I use like salt in every savory food I cook. Everyone loves it. Try it with your taters!
I'm in Tennessee. My Mom's German so my Oma started sending Knorr bouillon cubes to us in our Christmas package every year back in the 70's before it was sold here. So poor one quarter at UT, couldn't afford Ramen (not joking) so I bought one huge bag of noodles and tossed in the Knorr! I've started combining chicken and beef bouillon both in most things I cook these days - though broccoli just gets beef and turnip greens just get chicken with bacon drippings of course!
You could just cut to the chase and buy yourself some MSG. That is the reason the Knorr makes everything better. Just in case it is not obvious I literally do just that - though I actually have both Chicken Powder (with MSG) and the pure stuff. Depending on what I am cooking I might go with one or the other.
Talia , darlin you nailed it , especially the holy Louisiana trinity , my moma was half German and half Scottish and she perfected Cajun French cooking for my Dad who was pure Cajun French , look out when she got Okra Gumbo right , that was some great eating , wooooo boy !!!
"You gotta get tha belly goin when you stir; I gar-on-tee!" RIP J.W.
Let's not forget the Pope of the trinity - garlic! My mother thinks it's the most important part, and blasphemy though it may be, she remains convinced that celery is just flavored water in vegetable form, and can therefore be left out.
I've got relatives asking for handouts when I make my smoked turkey basted in Creole butter sauce. Made it once for a church picnic and was put in charge of the kitchen immediately which ticked off the old ladies that did it for years
Crikey! I can't get decent okra up here, Seattle way. Don't grow worth a damn either. While I have very nearly perfected file' gumbo...thanks to my Army buddy's Mom from the North shore of Lake Ponchartrain...I would dearly love me some okra gumbo!
@@woodrowsmith3400 I hate to be the bearer of bad news but sassafras which what file is bad for you they don't make tea from it anymore because it's not healthy , Google it on your computer or smartphone . I did and it scared me
Thank you Talia for the humor in it all!!! I've learned some great tips. Born and raised in the West. God bless you!!!!!!
Talia Lin is a true Southern treasure!!! 😍
Biscuits and sausage gravy should be one of the food groups 😊
A military favorite! Big demand for B & G in the chow hall.
Add country fried steak and you've got my favorite breakfast
Oh, yes! Biscuits & gravy are a food group around here. So is coffee 😂.
@@stacyrussell460 Amen, sister!☺️
It is.
I do every single one of these cooking tips. My mom never owned a cookbook or one recipe card and her cooking was legendary...no- it was heavenly. Great vid, y'all. I'm going to send this to my daughter.❤
There is no lie here. i am a mid 50's southern man and this is how i cook. There is butter and a container of bacon grease in my kitchen.
Well of course, we all have those front and center
Always save the bacon grease!
Vegetarian here surviving in the South and loving it. It's possible, just takes a little extra effort but totally worth it.
This was my mother to a T, everything you said she said at one time or another. My mom could take any recipe and turn it Southern 😂 And in our household, if we ran out of onions and Dr Pepper (her fave, had to have something to drink while cooking) lawdhavemercy on your soul 😂 I still to this day always have onions, no matter what.
And another thing, a Southerners spice cabinet is a sight to behold and waaaayyyy different than everyone else's 😆 I have 2 cabinets for spices personally, I don't wanna run out of anything mid dish 😂
I have store bought cookbooks that have only been open once. But, my Calling All Cooks 1&2 cookbooks are well used. They have pages falling out, little pieces of paper stuck in the top for bookmarks. I’ve taped the binder on both books. And those wonderful Church Cookbooks with the plastic binders have been worked over just as much.
I can recommend 2 fine Southern cookbooks- White Trash Cooking" and "Hot Flashes, Sinking Spells, and Fits & Cravings"..both by Earnest Mathew Micklin
So true. I don't really follow a recipe. As my dad always says it is not the rules just a guide. And most recipes do not have much flavor so it takes a Southerner to add that delicious punch of yum to every dish.
I know how to make my Great-Maw Maw’s Potato Salad that the recipe was never written down! I’m one of a few people in the family who know how to make it and I’m teaching my Nieces how so that the recipe doesn’t get lost!
I love it!!!! Bacon Bacon Bacon!!!!!! ❤
Grandma was a master of not having recipes. She used her Ecko mixing spoon to spoon out some flour, spoon out some Crisco, a little cold tap water, and she had the exact amount of dough for six hand pies (she baked them) and not a bit left over.
1. If it feels like it's missing something, add more butter and/or garlic.
2. If a soup doesn't taste quite right, but it's well salted and well seasoned, just leave it on simmer for like 10-20 more minutes. It takes a while for the flavors to meld together.
3. If a dish isn't brown enough, add some Kitchen Bouquet...
Can’t have too much butter, bacon(bacon grease) and garlic!
Trained to cook by an old school southerner so well versed in southern kitchen speak. My food is legendary and relatives go out of their way to eat at my house. Plus I haven't used a recipe for 20 years. I see something that looks good and I wing it with a high success rate
My mom has a casserole called “hamburger casserole” and it has hamburger meat in it, onions, any kind of pasta we can find, cheese and butter. It’s heaven to have ❤🫶🤧
Hello 👋
Baked or broiled fish fillets, served with steamed (not boiled to mush) vegetables, Seasoned rice, corn bread muffins, and lots of softened real butter.
This makes me want to make a casserole 🥘
Loved this one, Talia, but when are we getting another installment of Talia's Kitchen? I have been cooking your Mississippi Pot Roast for a while now and I can't wait for another one of your recipes!
I was born & raised jn Northern CA but my family was from Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas & Texas. So grew up with southern foods & cooking. Now I'm living in Kentucky, my kind of folks & foods 😋😋😋😋
Talia - great video, I was chuckling throughout with the understanding that what you said is very on point hehe. Well done!
I'm so glad that you said, "bacon grease". About 5 years ago I said, "You know what you don't hear enough today? I cooked that in bacon grease."
I always enjoy Miss Talia’s videos! This one is no exception. And as a southern cook, it’s so true y’all!! 😂
That Southern accent is like butter.
It makes things better.
Now I'm hungry! That casserole Talia described sounds so good right now! 😋
Talia, you are amazing! And an amazing cook, apparently! 🙂
I just love Talia. She has a real knack for being funny without breaking character.
It's the same with some families here down under, as I couldn't tell you the exact measurements of my grandmother's recipes.
I was taught to taste everything as I go, so I know what more to add and to read the food as it cooks, adjusting as necessary.
As for adding meat to everything, I've been making bacon fried cabbage for years, and the family love Bacon and Chicken mac & cheese I make.
The "small army" being fed in my household are my husband, my boys, and all their friends. Plus my parents, in laws, and church functions on the weekend 😂
Loving the new (to me) hairstyle she's sporting ... and the southern cooking is point-on :-)
@spirals 73 My hair was always merely slightly wavy, but when I went through 'the change,' it suddenly developed curls ... now 10+ years down the road, they're gone - they were nice while they lasted
A pinch, a dash and cook til it's done is not just a southern thing. I learned how to make everything from my momma and that is how she cooked here in Ohio as well and my daughters learned how to cook that way from me. lol
Diddo from Kansas. Sadly my little sister missed out on that experience so I'm continually confusing her. Lol
From just outside Chicago and was taught the same way so I say geography doesn't dictate who's a southerner or not
I would love a video on the perils of discussing ambrosia recipes. Having lived in the South, I definitely recall that being a hot topic. To marshmallow or not to marshmallow, that is the question. I personally feel they are a required ingredient, with extra potluck points if they are the mini, multi-colored marshmallows! Don't even get me started on the shredded coconut debate either!!
In some places it's called 5 Cup Salad...
I haven't even heard the term Ambrosia mentioned in decades. Both it and egg custard were staple desserts during the holiday season when I was young. 😢🤓🍻
I have my great great grandmother's Ambrosia bowl. It has only ever had Ambrosia in it.
All versions are good
I just subscribed to your channel! I just love your ability to make it so fun! Plus, my momma was southern in a past life! Her black-eyed peas with cornbread, lots of butter, and the family recipe for chowchow! Mmmmmm! I sure miss her!
My fave Southern Thing member. Hilarious 😂. Thanks. I now am ready to cook southern 😁
😂 Nice to see the team going back to the old style of humor that made them popular. Good job team.
Those five Sothern measures are directions on the road to perfection.
This video made my day!!! All true. Thank you gurl. Just awesome.
There you go again ,giving away our secrets ! You nailed it !! That’s exactly how my Grandmother and my Father’s sister told me back 50 years ago when I was growing up.
As a Southern guy this is 100% true.
Southern Tea: Minimum 2 cups of sugar "And then some more", tea, and enough HELLFIRE hot water to make a gallon of which you pour (still so hot) into a cleaned and reused plastic gallon jug.
If you mouth doesn't pucker and at your eyes don't squint you didn't add enough sugar. Throw out the trash you just made, call up a real Southerner and let them help you.
A true conissure of "Southern House Wine"
Doesn't the plastic jug melt if it's that hot? I'd think you'd have to brew it in something else and transfer it to the jug when cooler.
@Amcsae we bring our water and tea bags (lipton is the best) to a boil in our tea pan and then turn the burner off. While it's cooling off just slightly, we put our sugar or sugar substitute in our plastic or glass pitcher that has just been washed out with hot water. Then, you pour the hot tea into the pitcher and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Fill the gallon pitcher the rest of the way full with cold water and stir again. Then fill up a glass with ice cubes and pour yourself a glass of tea!
Been making it that way ever since I can remember and was raised here in the south.
Born and raised in NOLA, Mississippi, and Alabama and two cups is way too sweet for me. I like a generous 1 1/4 cup. ;)
@@auntypc4791 Taste is subjective but you know in the South we can handle a lot more of true tea than anyone else.
I can't even begin. I know a few tricks that I did not understand are southern things. I'm from Maryland and I have seemingly inherited the habit of putting any grease in a coffee can under the sink. I also learned how to dredge. Which means I am not much perhaps of a deep fryer without the help of eggs and seasoned flour. I loved this video! When my mom passed away, I was able to get her cookbook called The Joy of Cooking, and, included were old grease stained recipe cards by her mom. I also subscribe to not using recipes. I like how the lady said they are for the weak 😂. Although, I have tried to pass along some of my supposed creations. I'm having the same aha moment as the lady in this video 😂.
My go-to is always to make biscuits! My mom's Kentucky blackberry jam cake recipe card lists the ingredients. No directions except three words: "bake at 350"❤❤❤
ALL true, 100% TRUE!! *the "cook til done" gets me every time 😂
I had an oooold home ec cookbook that defined casserole. A starch+a vegetable+a meat+a sauce. Cover with crunch crumbs and bake until done.
Yep.
Talia, I totally love you. You are the only person that can make absolutely miss the South. I still cook exactly like this... I make it up as I go along, use LOTS of butter, bacon in whatever I can, and cook 'til its done
Long live to Talia.
Glad to see the terminology’s evolved and that y’all ain’t just scarin’ up a mess o’ sum’n.
Oh my goodness, this is so true y'all.
Thank God that's how my Grandma taught me to cook and I still do to this Day,Thanks Y'all for a Wonderful recipe for Memories❤😂‼️(one more thing there ain't no other way😂‼️)
Sometimes you have to be the one who starts the generational recipes. But, yes, all of this is how I learned how to cook. ❤
I lived in Georgia for 7 years. I say to you, Amen, Sista!
And here I was thinking this video would be a wise, serious, instructional video on the fine art of “Southern cooking.” 😁😊😆
It was.
@@allensturdivant3044 oh come now. You can’t just throw any old thing into a casserole dish and call it a casserole. 😁
@@thomashardy1600 Why not?
My granny made the best Red eye gravy that you ever ate with country ham , white gravy and plenty of homemade biscuits. My favorite meal of all time! Everything Y'all do on the show just cracks me up !!! I guess you know where Mt Pilot is ?
Love this channel and Talia's a winner.
My Malaysian-Chinese Grandma cooked the same way as this. Switch out butter for peanut oil, skillet for wok and switch some of the words for Manglish ones (agar-ation comes to mind) and it's EXACTLY the same. Good food is good food is good SOUTHERN food no matter which region you're in. So glad I moved to this part of the US - it's so much easier to transition to.
My dad had a German bakery in Chicago when I was growing up. Every recipe I have from him starts out with:
5 pounds butter, 20 pounds flour, a brick of fresh yeast.... etc.
:D
Grits, fried potatoes, gallette whis is fried bead oh & some eggs, good Southern supper, yes onions and more onions here in Louisiana for sure.
Very cool! I would like to see another one with desserts.
Talia's cooking tip a so relatable especially her measurements... and I'm Canadian
As a joke years ago, I bought a kitchen teaspoon set with a smidge, a pinch and a hint. (I personally just eyeball it. I just think the spoons are funny.)
I have the same set. It hangs in my kitchen next to my measuring cups. I don't think I have ever used either but they are cute!
Me too. 😄
Where can I get that set?
@@caronstout354 I think I got mine at Walmart but you can get them online.
You can tell the same thing about Southerners in all countries. I, actually, come from another country but it is also the southern region. The cooking rules are the same ❤❤❤
And yes, my son put bacon and frech fries on the top of ice cream 😂
You had me at bacon.
Bacon on everything !!!!!
@spirals 73 That sounds SO good !
Midwesterner but can remember asking my Mom what 'oleo' was on her recipies.
And lard can be included a honorable mention under bacon grease.
But when married, asked my mom and my wife's two grandmothers how to cook baked popatoes, got three different answers that all ended with 'and microwave until done'.
And if you go to the state fair, yes you can get fried butter and fried bacon. But fried oreos are amazing.
Ambrosia Salad is good too. Sometimes called a fruit salad, but in my house it's more of a marshmellow salad!
Sometimes, it's 5 Cup Salad!
This is soooooo true!!!!! My MeMaw would say add, stir, etc. until it’s Thus…🤷♀️ we basically know how to adapt!!