Southern Spring Supper

Living in a neighborhood, one of my favorite things is having friends who can walk over any evening to enjoy a meal and game night together.  Trying to embrace my new Southern locality, I've been finding delicious Lowcountry recipes to try, but also taking some of my own and giving them some Southern flair.

This meal I created has three equally delicious components, and let me tell you, it makes a ton of food!  We enjoyed it as a Sunday supper with friends, and then as leftovers a couple of times during the week.

The main dish of the meal, Southern Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese, takes my mom's macaroni and cheese and adds layers of flavor and spice.  On the side, I served a copycat recipe for Hall's Chophouse Creamed Corn.  Mike and I first went to Hall's for his 31st birthday, and while the steaks were amazing, it was the sides, mainly this corn and the lobster mac and cheese, that put it over the top for us.  The final side is a simple spinach salad dressed with Sweet Tea Vinaigrette.

Let's get started!

Southern Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese
1. For this recipe, start with my mom's mac and cheese recipe (link here), making it with cavatappi pasta and adding 1 tablespoon of sriracha to the cheese sauce.
2. Additional ingredients: your favorite barbecue pulled pork and cornbread.  This is where "semi-homemade" comes in.  We use a dry pulled pork (not already sauced) from the refrigerated dinners/pre-cooked meats aisle and Jiffy corn bread.
3. Microwave the pulled pork with your favorite barbecue sauce (we use one with chipotle for a little more spice), and bake the corn bread according to directions.
4. To assemble, layer macaroni and cheese, then pulled pork, then cornbread crumbles on your plate.

Hall's Chophouse Creamed Corn
Click here to check out the copycat recipe for this cheesy goodness!

Sweet Tea Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons of loose leaf tea (or 4 tea bags)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup canola oil
Directions:
1. Boil the tea in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes.
2. Remove the tea bags/strain out the loose tea.
3. Whisk the sugar into the boiling tea until it all dissolves.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. Whisk vinegar, honey, mustard, and oil into the sweetened tea, and refrigerate before dressing salad.

If you make or all of this delicious meal, make sure you let me know!