6 Southern Comfort Sides

Corn Pudding

Like a soufflé but less temperamental, this pudding can be served either straight from the oven or at room temperature. Don't worry if you can't find fresh corn; frozen kernels work just fine.

Hush Puppies with Remoulade

Emily Kaiser Thelin created these crispy hush puppies — cornmeal dumplings — by adapting a recipe from chef Susan McCreight Lindeborg. Emily serves them with a version of the creamy French sauce remoulade, which she spikes with Tabasco and a little ketchup.

Grits with Wild Mushrooms and Sherry Broth

Douglas Keane and his mother, Kathryn Douglas, occasionally hunt for mushrooms together on the Sonoma Coast in California. After one of their more successful foraging trips, she came up with this earthy recipe while cooking for Keane and his brother. Keane describes it as one of the most satisfying dishes he has ever eaten because the brilliant sherry broth adds a sophisticated twist to one of his favorite comfort foods, creamy grits.

Three-Cheese Mac and Cheese

Three types of cheese, plus sour cream and egg yolks, make this recipe from chef Ben Vaughn in Memphis especially rich.

Creamless Creamed Corn with Mushrooms and Lemon

"My granny taught me that when corn is very fresh, the juices are naturally creamy," Kevin Gillespie says. "I took that as the gospel." He grates half of the corn here to make a luxurious puree that thickens without cream.

Kevin's Tip: Scraping corn cobs with the dull side of a knife removes the juices.

Creamed Collard Greens

This is Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing's Southern interpretation of French creamed spinach. The collards add a pleasant bitterness to this lush side dish, but it's important to shred them finely before you simmer them in the cream or they'll never get tender.