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In case you are new to the party, our first item is a modern classic around here. If I didn't put pimento cheese onto this Lowcountry menu, I wouldn't be doing my job very well at all. The quality of pimento cheese can vary widely, but, as you know if you've had my pimento cheese previously, mine is pretty darn good. I make my own garlic mayonnaise, then fold in aged cheddar and slightly sweet pimentos. This time we'll be serving this with Carolina-style biscuits, which are pale and tender and made with cream cheese (rather than my usual cream biscuits.) PIMENTO CHEESE WITH CAROLINA BISCUITS is a very easy thing to like, and a great way to start our meal.

Let me tell you something about "CLASSIC" LOWCOUNTRY SHRIMP & GRITS. There's no such thing as "classic" here. There are more versions of this dish than there are restaurants in both Carolinas, and the only thing that everyone can agree on is that this dish needs at least 2 ingredients: shrimp, and grits. Past that, there aren't real rules, and I've done my research. Let's start with what this isn't. I'll be letting the shrimp be the undisputed star here, so no sausage (I WILL be doing a touch of bacon, but that'll be on the side and optional.) Grits without something saucy makes me sad, so none of those dry "stir fry" style versions are going to influence this. And while cheese grits are nice, I think they take away from the focus and weigh things down, so great creamy butter grits are what we're going with. So what is my version like? Lightly marinated and expertly butter-poached shrimp, sauteed onions, peppers, and garlic cooked into a simple pan gravy, a splash of hot sauce and lemon, simple herbs to finish, and creamy grits as a foundation with bacon on the side if you must. This dish really puts the "shrimp" and "grits" into shrimp & grits, with just enough punchy accentuating flavors to make sure the ghost of Chef Bill Neal doesn't come and haunt me.

You know what I sometimes love as a side dish with my southern food? Southern green beans. But too often, I feel that while they're good, they could certainly be better. So this week, we're going to skip all those emotions and go straight to making BETTER SOUTHERN GREEN BEANS. In case you don't know, the maybe-could-be-better version is green beans cooked with bacon and a little garlic and onion low and slow until they are super soft. To make them better, we're going to keep them green but still super soft (I'm a culinary wizard, I have my tricks for this), we're going to use smoked tomatoes instead of bacon since they provide all the smokiness without the heaviness, and we're going to use a super savory onion broth instead of the classic chicken broth. I'm not reinventing the wheel here, I'm just giving it a good polish.

The other menu items this week are screaming for something fresh and cooling as a contrast to the rich, savory flavors flying around here, and SWEET ONION & CUCUMBER SALAD is just the thing. I'm making this dish exactly the way I used to make it in big batches as a "chef snack" for the kitchen during the summer, back when I worked in restaurants... the result is surprisingly complex for such simple ingredients, and you'll love it. Sliced sweet onions, salt-cured cucumbers, a fistful of fresh herbs, and a simple garlic vinaigrette to tie things together. Light, simple, refreshing, and just darn good.

BANANA PUDDING is my favorite "grandma dessert" (that's a category of desserts, right?) What I mean by that is that this is the sort of thing that my grandma (and probably yours) would make for gatherings, and then everyone forgot about it until Magnolia Bakery in NYC made it famous again. The way they made it famous is by keeping things authentic without cutting corners, which is exactly how I do things around here. Homemade vanilla custard, ripe bananas, vanilla cookies, and fresh strawberries (an addition that my Aunt used to do, and I'm not going to change things around just because strawberries aren't exactly traditional.) If you're already a fan of banana pudding, then you probably don't need more convincing. If you aren't, then this one might change your mind.