In a place as gastronomically-rich as the American South, you simply can’t always rely on sites and apps like Yelp, as easy as it may be to pull it up at a stoplight or before you leave your house: there’s too many people out there that are set in their ways and are ready to shit on whatever doesn’t conform. In the world of food and drink reviews, it’s often as simple as that. It sucks, but that’s life. Sometimes, you’ve just got to get in the car and get moving to find the best places. This is what Morgan Murphy did in Southern Living’s Off the Eaten Path: On the Road Again.
Part cookbook, part travelogue, and all delicious, Murphy’s done the legwork for you. 60 cities,15,000 total miles, and untold amounts of calories have been boiled down to 271 pages of pure awesome. Across 16 states, Murphy gives not only great places to eat, but also recipes from those establishments. The recipes range in style and degree of difficulty, but with a little brushing up on basic technique, most of these are easily created. Moreover, hardly a page goes by where you’re not tempted to drool and look around just to see if anyone will see you gnawing on the page.
Related: Matt Moore Teaches You To Cook Like A Southern Gentleman
You’ll find more than just delicious recipes and personal recollections and connections, and dining recommendations, though. For each state, Murphy’s put together “bucket list” items to do and everything is accompanied by wonderful, alluring, I’d-take-it-on-a-date-and-buy-it-breakfast photography.
Candied Bacon
Makes 4 servings
(Recipe from Kitchen 208, Charleston, SC)
- .5 c sugar
- 8 thick-cut hickory smoked bacon slices
- Vegetable cooking spray
- Parchment Paper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sugar in an 11 x 7 baking dish. Dredge bacon in sugar and shake off excess.
- Line a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with foil and coat a wire rack with cooking spray before setting it in the pan. Arrange bacon in a single layer.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden and crisp.
