Most of Laura’s family is from the Deep South, and she grew up eating grits.

“Cheese grits casseroles were a favorite for brunch,” she says. “We had sweetened grits for breakfast, grits casseroles on Sunday, and plain grits with salt and butter for weekday suppers.”

“We southerners had corn, not wheat, for our meals. We’ve been gluten free for 2 centuries,” she says.

Not only is corn a staple in the south, but seed savers and local farmers have made sure that the old varieties remain. At Laura’s Mercantile, we feature Hickory King corn, an heirloom white corn, which we’ve milled into cornmeal, for cornbread, corn sticks, hush puppies and corn muffins, and Bloody Butcher corn, milled in the same fashion.

“I like cream-style cornbread,” says Laura. “My aunts, who I learned from, each have their own way of doing things. You can hear Mary Carolyn tell you how, right here.”

One serving suggestion which has rescued many a hostess is this: for dessert, split open a corn muffin, warm it in the microwave (a nod to modernity), douse it with limoncello, and top with a scoop of ice cream. “It’s decadent,” says an older family member whose eaten plenty of desserts.

Spoonbread also is a classic polite-company southern dish. We’ve featured several versions, all requiring bringing milk to scalding, which means near boiling…but don’t let it boil!

If you are feeling adventurous and want to go deep south, try Cracklin’ Cornbread, made with pork fat. The same can be said of Johnny Cakes. Pinto beans and cornbread are real country cooking, and with a few flourishes the dish ventures into the territory of soul food. Many classic southern recipes were developed by black cooks, now acknowledged and celebrated for their singular achievements.

For its land base, corn belongs to our hemisphere. A separate culture of corn started south of the border, and we’ll be publishing Mexican and South American recipes later this year.

To start, though, Laura chose recipes from some of her mother’s favorite cookbooks, such Charleston Receipts, published by the Junior League of Charleston, South Carolina; Bluegrass Winners, published by the Garden Club of Lexington when my mother was a member; Holiday Recipes, published by the Birmingham, Alabama, Symphony  and compiled by my Aunt Elberta, and Recipes from the Homeplace, published by the family of Melford Cleveland, who is married to my Aunt’s sister.

MT. FOLLY FARM SPECIALTY GRAINS

From USDA certified organic grains grown at Laura’s Mt. Folly Farm. Try these with the recipes below, hand-selected by Laura.