Learn to cook the like a Southerner, with bacon

The Pacific Northwest is about as far away from the American South as you can get in the contiguous United States.

But folks in this neck of the woods can still learn “How to Cook like a Southerner” with help from a cookbook by that name as well as “The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig,” which focuses on pork and bacon.

Here’s a quick look at both.

• “How to Cook like a Southerner” by Johnnie Gabriel (Nelson Books, $24.99) – Bring out the buttermilk. This red, hardbound collection of more than 100 recipes comes from the owner of Gabriel’s Restaurant and Bakery in Marietta, Georgia. She’s also known as the “Cake Lady” and cousin of legendary Southern chef Paula Deen, who writes in the foreword “ … I only trust Johnnie to make wedding cakes for my family!” There are several cake recipes in this book (pound, pumpkin, cherry nut, strawberry torte, strawberry shortcake cake) as well as numerous anecdotes about growing up and learning to cook in the South. Recipes are divided into eight chapters: breakfast and brunch, breads, salads and starters, soups and stews, sides, mains, sweets, and “This and That,” which covers beverages (mulled cider, mulled wine, minted peach lemonade) and sauces (barbecue, avocado mayonnaise, chimichurri) as well as caramelized nuts and bread and butter pickles. Gabriel also offers instructions for iconic Southern dishes like cornbread, biscuits and gravy, grits, sweet potato pie, collard greens, fried okra, fried green tomatoes and hot pimento cheese dip. Some are traditional. Others are contemporary takes on Southern staples. Milk Chocolate and Salt-Covered Bacon Ice Cream, anyone? While a few recipes feature step-by-step photo illustrations, many recipes aren’t accompanied by any images. But by the end – through stories about her grandmother Big Mama, Aunt Mabel, friends and customers – you’ll feel as if you know her.

• “The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig” by Chris Chamberlain (Nelson, $24.99) – This Nashville-based food writer shows home cooks how to go whole hog in a place where L.A. stands for Lower Alabama and bacon graces everything from bourbon drinks and brownies to ice cream. His softbound book – part anatomy lesson, part travel guide, part recipe collection – celebrates not only bacon but the entire beast, snout to tail. The introduction suggests keeping a copy in the glovebox or in the kitchen, and both spots make sense. Part one provides an anatomical survey of the pig, including everything from building your own barbecue pit and sandwich to eight ways to use bacon grease. There are also recipes for rubs and sauces from throughout the South, like Mop Sauce from the popular Peg Leg Porker in Nashville. Restaurant profiles in part two give overviews and addresses for pork-specializing eateries throughout the South. In part three, restaurants share recipes, most of which feature some part of a pig. They’re divided into drinks (bacon-infused bourbon, anyone?), breakfast, bread, soups and salads, sides, mains and desserts, like Maple Bacon Brittle Ice Cream, Candied Bacon Brownie and Sweet Tea Pie (it doesn’t have bacon). Look for other specialties like Caramel-Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Pecan Filling (for breakfast), Bacon-Crusted Corn Bread, Chicken-Fried Pork Chops, Dr Pepper-Glazed Ham, Smoked Gouda Grits and Maple Bacon and Cheddar Biscuits. Most profiles and recipes aren’t accompanied by images, but the photographs that are included are vibrant and mouth-watering.