a southern feast

planning for a recent family birthday party quickly turned into a “what recipes have we been dying to try” gathering, as my sister-in-law and i reviewed all of the recent magazine clippings and dvr’d food network segments that we had stored. we settled on a southern theme and decided we’d need amped up versions of the classics: baked beans, pulled pork sliders, cole slaw, peach pie and a lemon pavlova (ok, that’s not southern, but we were all salivating at the thought of it).

all of the recipes were a success on their own, but together, they resulted in a divine southern feast. nothing hits the spot like a tangy, sweet, slow-cooked pulled pork, and tyler florence’s easy recipe certainly didn’t fail. we topped each toasted potato roll with a mound of pulled pork and a thin slice of cheddar cheese. also, i’ve never made pulled pork before, and i couldn’t believe how economical it was! the 7-lb shoulder only cost $8, and it easily fed 6 (plus leftovers)! 

the root beer baked beans from bon appetit were a little plain, but definitely hit the spot; however, next time i would use only half of the root beer, since the dish wasn’t as thick as i would have liked. the sweet and spicy cole slaw, on the other hand, took the sometimes too-mayonnaisey dish to an entirely new level! the recipe came from the blackberry farm cookbook, which was developed on the blackberry farm estate, a beautiful farm in tennessee famous for it’s award-winning food, cooking classes, and almost unimaginable picturesque setting.  their sweet and spicy foothills coleslaw carried far more flavor than it did mayo, and the kick from the spicy mustard, the sweetness from the brown sugar, and the tanginess from the malt vinegar just gave this dish so much life. and using both kinds of cabbage just made it look so beautiful!

as stuffed as we were from this feast, we all must have saved some space for dessert, since we each seemingly pretty decent sized slices of the lemon pavlova and the peach pie. the peach pie is a family recipe from my sister-in-law, jen, and the crust is just perfect! it’s salty, sweet and crumbly all at once, and can really be paired with any fruit. the lemon pavlova recipe she made, though, looked like it has been bought for sixty euros at a french bakery or something — it was gorgeous, and equally delicious! thin layers of lemon meringue over creamy lemon curd custard. the best dessert for any lemon lover. this photo does not even do the dessert justice.

now, i’m just wondering what the text themed dinner should be! any suggestions? greek? indian?