"Southern cooking is the Mother Cuisine of America." -Nathalie Dupree Through more than 600 recipes and hundreds of step-by-step photographs, Dupree and Graubart make it easy to learn the techniques for creating the South"s fabulous cuisine. From basics such as cleaning vegetables and scrubbing a country ham, to show-off skills like making a soufflé and turning out the perfect biscuit-all are explained and pictured with clarity and plenty of stories that entertain. Traditional Southern recipes and ingredients are also given modern twists to make them relevant for today"s healthy lifestyle. With more than 750 recipes and 650 variations, making a perfect piecrust, a heavenly biscuit, mouthwatering vegetables, or crispy fried chicken is attainable for any home cook. The recipes and directions are easily accessible to kitchen novices as well as seasoned cooks-there is plenty here for everyone. Nathalie Dupree is the author of twelve cookbooks, including two James Beard Award winners: Nathalie Dupree"s Southern Memories and Nathalie Dupree"s Comfortable Entertaining. Her latest books include Shrimp and Grits and Southern Biscuits. She has hosted more than 300 television shows and specials that have shown nationally on PBS, The Learning Channel, and The Food Network. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina. Cynthia Stevens Graubart is an author and former television producer whose culinary television production career includes Nathalie Dupree"s New Southern Cooking. Cynthia is also the co-author of The One-Armed Cook, as well as the co-author of Southern Biscuits. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.