BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Southern Cooking Need some help with menu suggestions

I'm helping with a wedding at the end of this month. Short notice as usual. The main course is BBQ and we have the cole slaw and potato salad covered. I'll probably be contributing my homemade macaroni and cheese. The wonderful ladies on the Wedding forum suggested a vegetable medley, but I'm thinking we might need something else too.

Don't want to suggest the standard sides of baked beans and green beans and it needs to be a Southern dish (wedding's in GA) Any suggestions for something to go well with smoked pork, that's not the same ol same ol?

I love Paella and have a few different recipes for it. I found one not long ago that I think might be good with smoked pork at:
Roasted Vegetalbe Paella .

Is paella a southern recipe or did that originate elsewhere?

It doesn't "Sound" Southern, but I'm taking a look. Thanks for the link!

Many of my favorite recipes from Charleston, SC have names which originated in Europe and Africa. I spent days trying to find a specific recipe for a shrimp and rice dish to prepare for Christmas dinner a few years back. It's pronounced "per-low" and spelled 20 different ways. Even got my husband involved in the search. There was a unique spelling for each recipe we found.

I had to dig out another recipe and knew which cookbook it was in. Thumbing through the pages, THERE, IT WAS! The exact recipe I had searched on-line for. "Southern Living" to my rescue again. I love those people!

Hi Jane!

Thanks for your message!

Are you looking for something on the heavy or light side? I've got a few things in mind, but want to be sure I'm going in the right direction before I post.

And, you've given me inspiration for an upcoming article, so thank you for posting!

Met with the couple this evening and they nixed the veggie medley for several reasons. The Bride really wants to make her special baked beans. That adds another high carbohydrate to a menu already loaded. For most events, this wouldn't be an issue. However, the Bride is Native American and many guests have low-carb diets due to diabetes (including me).

We're also going to need another meat, but in small quantity. There are a few guests who can't eat smoked meat, and one of them is the Tribal Chief, aka wedding officiant. He's kinda important and will need something to eat.

Between the mac-n-cheese, baked beans and potato salad, I think we have "heavy" covered. If you can think of something on the lighter side, affordable to prepare for about 100 guests, I will be eternally grateful. My brain has refused to cooperate this week, even after going through 5 cookbooks!

The wedding and reception will be outside in the early evening. I have chafers for warming and ice baths for cooling, both bowl and platter styles. Thanks for any suggestions!

Pigs in a blanket are a fun appetizer/side, though not sure if that's too informal for the occasion? You can use any type of hot dog or turkey hot dog (non-smoked if you prefer).

Deviled eggs are also a popular item at southern celebrations (at least from my experience--they may be just as popular at celebrations in other parts of the country as well). There are a million ways to prepare them, and if you want, we can help you come up with some good recipes for them. They do make for a pretty presentation for guests, and are finger friendly.

Or, perhaps a coleslaw-you can get super creative with types of coleslaw dressings to mix it up a bit. One of my favorite coleslaw's is a confetti coleslaw, which is colorful and full of flavor (it has more of a vinaigrette dressing rather than a mayo based dressing).

Also, I'm working on a review of Paul Deen's Kitchen Classics cookbook for an upcoming article. Some of her recipes include:

Vidalia Onion pie, collard greens, sweet stewed tomatoes, fried green tomatoes, black eyed pea salad, baked grits, and shrimp and grits. I'll be happy to post the recipe (with proper credit to her, of course), if any of these sound like a possibility.

Or, if I need to go in another direction, just let me know and I'll look through this book (it has recipes for just about everything southern)

Scratch the coleslaw suggestion--sorry about that! I just saw that you have that covered.

Brandii, how about a Sweet Potato Pie with Pecans -- that is very Southern style fixin's. I fix that for Thanksgiving dinners and everyone loves it!

Do you have a recipe for that, or shall I go try to find mine? I do not remember all the ingredients off the top of my head.

I thought about sweet potato pie/casserole. It's definitely a staple for any special meal around here. Sweet potatos are actually better for diabetics than white potatoes. For most, they don't cause as much of a blood sugar spike. But that depends on how they are prepared.

We might need a poll on this one. My husband swears sweet potato pie is a veggie dish, but I insist it is a dessert.

I'm going to get with the bride to see if she has a relative or 2 that could pitch in some deviled eggs and a sweet potato pie or 2. I'll be tied up with the mac-n-cheese and decorations, thankfully. I like to eat them, but I HATE making deviled eggs!

OMGosh! My mother and I debate over the same thing about Sweet Potato Pie. I like it hot and refer to it as a vegetable side dish, my mother insists it is a dessert and wants to serve it cold. Cold, hot, vegetable or not? Either way I love it!