The state of Mississippi is filled from side to side and top to bottom with wonderful restaurants and bed and breakfasts.

If you doubt that for one second, simply check out the new &uot;Fine Dining Mississippi Style&uot; by John Bailey. This cookbook is broken down into the regions of Mississippi; the hills, the Delta, the capital/river, the pines and the coastal region. Some of my favorite Mississippi restaurants are covered in here; the City Grocery and Doe’s Eat Place in Oxford, Lusco’s in Greenwood, Amerigo’s and Schimmel’s in in Jackson, Chappy’s in Long Beach and from Natchez our very own Dunleith Plantation and Aunt Cozy’s Caf.

While only a new alien in town could possibly be unfamiliar with Dunleith, it possible to have missed Aunt Cozy’s Caf in the Canal Street Depot. Back in the summer local caterer Sara Blough and Depot owner Karen Lewis teamed up to open a new caf to offer tourists a place in the Depot to get a cup of coffee, a piece of cake and a good lunch. But as soon as the locals got wind of the delicious menu items they began showing up also.

Blough’s best selling soup at Aunt Cozy’s is Aunt Cozy’s Turnip Green Soup. Not only have I had that selection, but the salads have all been wonderful also.

So if you are planning a trip in Mississippi you should check out Bailey’s cookbook to help you plan where to stop and eat and if you are looking for lunch in Natchez, try Aunt Cozy’s. Here is her soup recipe to try along with a an absolutely divine recipe for Mississippi Mud Puddin’ Pie, that Sara swears will make a grown man cry.

Aunt Cozy’s Turnip Green Soup

1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped turnip or mustard greens

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

8 ounces tasso, sausage, diced

8 ounces ham, diced

3 potatoes, peeled and diced

3 can white navy beans drained

2 cans chicken broth

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt pepper and red pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large, heavy-bottom pot. Simmer for two hours until potatoes are tender and vegetables are soft. Serve topped with crumbled or cubed cornbread. Serves 12.

Mississippi Mud Puddin’ Pie

10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup unsalted butter

4 cups sugar

8 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon rum extract

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat, stir chocolate chips and butter until smooth. Remove from heat and cool.

Stir sugar into chocolate mixture. Whisk eggs into mixture, one at a time. Add extracts, flour and salt. Stir in nuts. Bake in a buttered 10 by 15-inch baking dish for 50 minutes until the top is crisp.

Christina Hall

writes a weekly column for The Democrat.