The two I turn to most often are The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. And then there's the other classic, Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.
This may be harder to track down but we have several Junior League cookbooks from different regions of the south and different eras as well. Some are well worn with favorites.
The New Southern Table: Classic Ingredients Revisited by Brys Stephens. Southern Soups and Stews by Nancy McDermott. Fred Thompson's Southern Sides: 250 Dishes That Really Make the Plate. Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose. I want to add Hallelujah! The Welcome Table by My Angelou, Not exactly a southern cookbook and not exactly a cook book, but I love it anyway. I love the stories.
Edna Lewis, Edna Lewis, Edna Lewis. My copy of The Gift of Southern Cooking (written with Scott Peacock) is dog-eared. Her older Taste of Country Cooking is good, too. The reader who mentioned Craig Claiborne's book on southern cooking made a good suggestion, also. I have a couple of Lee Brothers books, and they are nice, but I'd start with the The Gift of Southern Cooking. The recipes are exceptionally well-written.
The Lee Brothers book called Simple, Fresh, Southern is a nice and nice-looking book, with updated, not too complicated recipes with traditional southern flavors. I cooked several things from it before giving it to my son who is becoming a good cook.
Not trendy, but wonderful: Craig Claiborne's Southern Cooking: http://www.amazon.com/Craig-Claibornes-Southern-Cooking-Claiborne/dp/082034334X
He'd go on to have an enormous impact on modern/sophisticated cooking in America, but his Mississippi roots remained vivid. Just struck me - sadly - that some younger 'foodie'/cooks might not even be familiar with him. Check him out.
Nancy McDermott Southern Pies, Southern Cakes and Ibelieve a new one on Stews. Edna Lewis The Taste of Country Cooking. James Villas Stews, Bogs and Burgoos and his Biscuits book. Lee Bailey has a southern flavor throughout.
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He'd go on to have an enormous impact on modern/sophisticated cooking in America, but his Mississippi roots remained vivid. Just struck me - sadly - that some younger 'foodie'/cooks might not even be familiar with him. Check him out.