Karl Worley’s Family Reserve Biscuits
“Flour is eighty-five percent of the taste,” says Karl Worley, who with his wife, Sarah, runs Nashville’s Biscuit Love. “Whenever possible I tell folks to buy a local flour.” Worley also lobbies for the purest buttermilk you can find and real honest-to-goodness lard.
Photo: Margaret Houston
“The recipe is a starting-off point,” says Tom Colicchio, Top Chef judge and founder of Crafted Hospitality. “Add different ingredients—from bacon to truffles—and play with it.”
Photo: Jacqueline Stofsick | Food Styling: Phillip Rhodes
This recipe for a sangria riff balances the juicy flavors of white wine with bracing Campari. “Boxed or bottled apricot juice rounds out the drink,” writes Maggie Hoffman, author of Batch Cocktails. “For a lighter version, I like to top off the mix with a splash of chilled seltzer.”
Photo: Kelly Puleio
“Cream in grits is cheating,”says chef and television personality Carla Hall. “Yes, you have to stand over the stove and whisk for almost an hour, but your reward is silky grits. The only sauce here comes from the juices that the shrimp and tomatoes let out while cooking—and it’s plenty to run in rivulets into the grits.”
Photo: Gabriele Stabile
Emeril Lagasse’s Cajun Bloody Mary
“You can’t go wrong with a Bloody in the morning,” says Chef and TV host Emeril Lagasse. “Kicking them up with the extra spice will make sure you’re awake and ready for the day.”
Photo: Courtesy of Emeril’s Homebase
Upgrade the Bloody Mary bar with this crisp—and delicious—homemade garnish.
Photo: Johnny Autry
Atlanta chef Anne Quatrano shares her decadent recipe. But is it for brunch or dessert? You decide. (“Both” is also a perfectly acceptable answer.)
Easy, beautiful, and sort of like Southern cornbread studded with fresh fruit—courtesy of Amanda Brooks.
This mile-high spin on the Southern classic is as at home on the breakfast table as it is at happy hour.
Photo: eva kolenko
Zucchini bread has been a regular as a teacher gift, a potluck offering, and a welcome-to-the-neighborhood present for about as long as people have been overwhelmed by a garden full of zucchini. To give it a Southern touch, don’t skip the chopped pecans.
Photo: Phillip Rhodes
Grilled Peach Toast with Pimento Cheese
Chef Todd Richards blends two Southern classics for this sweet and savory treat.
Photo: Greg Dupree
This recipe does take a bit more time than just frying a skillet full of strips. But you know what comes to those who wait? Really good bacon.
Photo: Peter Frank Edwards
This easy-sipping “frosé” cocktail is your new go-to patio drink—and a great daytime sipper, too.
Photo: Lizzie Munro
Vivian Howard’s Apple and Country Ham Hand Pies
Add chopped country ham to a filling of dried apples boiled soft in cider and lemon zest.—then pulverize more ham in a food processor to make a powder to sprinkle on the pies while they’re hot.
Photo: JOHNNY AUTRY
Trade bacon grease for lard in a standard recipe, and the bacon’ll be in the biscuit. (But you can always sneak a few slices, too).
Photo: Margaret Houston
Cooking mistakes can be like little kitchen miracles—which is how Atlanta chef Erika Council came to develop her recipe for sweet potato pancakes.
Photo: Johnny Autry
What’s a brunch without bubbly? This handwritten recipe is preserved in the archives of the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston—and it absolutely holds up today.
Photo: Johnny Autry. Food Styling: Charlotte Autry
Huevos Con Migas
This version of the Tex-Mex favorite (which translates roughly as “eggs with tortilla strips”) keeps a host’s timeframe in mind—most of the ingredients can be assembled ahead, and then the dish is baked instead of scrambled.
Photo: Sandy Wilson
“I don’t like to use ingredients from too far away, and salmon are incredibly far away,” says Asheville, North Carolina chef Steven Goff. “What we do have here is great trout.” He cures fillets in a mixture of sweet potato vodka, dill, citrus, and spices, and serves the resulting lox over bagels and salads.
Photo: Margaret Houston
Craving something sweet? Try these sugary, nut-studded rolls with European influences and Texas roots.
Photo: Sandy Wilson
Not many people would make the leap between breakfast cereal and whiskey, but that’s just what triggered New Orleans mixologist Kim Patton-Bragg’s inspired riff on bourbon milk punch.
Photo: Margaret Houston
For an unbeatable morning snack, try mixing the creamy Southern staple into your biscuit dough.
Photo: Margaret Houston | Food Styling: Phillip Rhodes
These golden-fried ham cakes are a Basque dish any Southerner is sure to love
Photo: Simon Bajada
This dish highlights one of chef John Currence’s favorite tricks—pile all ingredients into a single bowl. “I love the idea of a one-pot meal where you just dive in,” he says. “The flavors of bacon, eggs, and grits are in each bite.”
Photo: Ed Anderson
Honeysuckle Vodka meets grapefruit, Aperol, and Champagne for a must-try twist on the mimosa.
Photo: Peter Frank Edwards
A Bloody Bull is an even richer spin on a Bloody Mary. Make it batch-style, like one G&G writer’s family, and prepare to bowl over your party guests
Photo: Jacqueline Stofsick
If you like your cornbread sweet, fine. But then call it what it is—a cake. This makes an excellent light brunch with coffee or juice.
Photo: BRYAN GARDNER
“I go classic with mustard and mayonnaise,” says Tennessee chef Trevor Higgins. “But the twist is I add a drop of Sriracha and bacon fat.” We’ll take a dozen, please.
Photo: Peter Frank Edwards
This fusion of two morning staples comes complete with spicy slaw, sweet potato butter, and a single poached egg.
