If you’re looking to take a culinary journey across the Palmetto State, look no further than the new edition of “Best of the Best from South Carolina Cookbook” (Quail Ridge Press, 288 pages, $16.95).

“Best of the Best from South Carolina Cookbook” features 360 recipes gleaned from more than 60 of South Carolina’s most popular cookbooks, accompanied by historical photographs and little-known facts about the state. Recipes for tantalizing dishes such as She-Crab Soup, Beaufort Tomato Pie, Classic Charleston Breakfast Shrimp and Lowcountry Boil are a concise representation of the state’s most treasured fare.

Compiled by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley, South Carolina’s “Best of the Best” is featured in the Best of the Best State Cookbook Series, which has sold more than two million copies. McKee says the cookbooks offer at-home chefs across the country the opportunity to re-create signature recipes.

“I started collecting recipes in my home state, and that is how ‘Best of the Best from Mississippi’ became the first ’Best of the Best’ cookbook in 1982,” she said. “Then, the idea of publishing a ‘Best of the Best’ cookbook for each state became a passion. My golfing buddy, Barbara Moseley, and I have been hitting the road ever since, traveling from state to state in search of recipes.

“Our mission has been to discover what people in each state like to cook and eat.”

After 22 years of traveling and research, McKee and Moseley have read hundred of thousands of recipes from more than 10,000 cookbooks, and they have visited every state in the United States. To continue their motto, “Preserving America’s Food Heritage,” the duo has begun revisiting states to discover outstanding new cookbooks with more wonderful recipes to share.

“Journey with us through the pages of ‘Best of the Best from South Carolina Cookbook,’ and you cannot help but catch the flavor and excitement of the Palmetto State as Barbara and I did,” McKee said.

“Best of the Best from South Carolina” includes recipes from cookbooks with unusual titles and unique sources. Contributing cookbooks are listed with detailed information in the back of each edition.

For example, the cookbook “There’s a Hair in My Soup” features a collection of recipes from customers of a hair salon in Greenwood, while “Hudson’s Cookbook” contains recipes and Lowcountry folklore from Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks in Hilton Head.

For more information about the “Best of the Best from South Carolina Cookbook,” call 1-800-343-1583 or visit the Quail Ridge Press Web site at www.quailridge.com.

Here are a few of the tasty recipes published in the new “Best of the Best from South Carolina Cookbook,” featured by permission of the publisher.

Blue Crab Cakes with Tomato Chive Butter

Recipe selected from “Great Cooks Rise ... with the May River Tide.”

Blue Crab Cakes

1 pound lump crab meat

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

3 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Cayenne pepper to taste

Place first five ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix gently to combine. Add breadcrumbs, and season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Let mixture stand 3 to 4 minutes so that breadcrumbs can absorb some of the moisture and the cakes will stay together. Form 6 equal-size cakes, and refrigerate 30 minutes before cooking. Sear in a small amount of hot oil, turning when golden brown, until the cakes are heated through. Yields 6 crab cakes.

Tomato Chive Butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons minced shallots

1 cup tomato juice

1/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of white pepper

1/3 cup chopped fresh chives

Warm olive oil in a heavy pan, and saute the shallots until they are translucent. Add tomato juice, and cook until mixture becomes thick and bubbly. Add cream, and cook until mixture thickens again. Turn heat down, and add butter a little at a time until all incorporated. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Butterfly Pie

Recipe selected from “Savor Summerville Cookbook.”

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons melted margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup quick-cooking oats

2/3 cup flaked coconut

1 cup raisins

1 cup crushed pineapple, undrained

2 unbaked pie shells

Beat eggs at high speed for about 10 minutes, until lemon colored. Gradually add sugars, beating well between each addition. Blend in margarine and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pie shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set. Cool and refrigerate. Each pie serves 8. Best served with whipped cream.

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