SOUTHERN MY WAY: SIMPLE RECIPES, FRESH FLAVORS

TURNS HOME KITCHENS INTO SMALL TOWN FARMS

Atlanta Author and Founder of Fire & Flavor Releases New Cookbook Filled with Seasonal Recipes and Southern Culture

For Immediate Release (Athens, GA) – This November will mark the debut of author Gena Knox’s new cookbook, Southern My Way—a journey among the Georgia fields, farmhouses, and families that kindled her passion for Southern cooking. Along the way, readers will also meet local artisans who are responsible for keeping local foodways and farming traditions alive and learn how to incorporate these fresh offerings into everyday meals.  Southern My Way: Simple Recipes, Fresh Flavors features more than 250 pages of seasonal recipes, streamlined for busy lives and accompanied by full-color photographs that portray a lifelong love affair with Southern food and culture.

“It wasn’t until I had grown up and lived far from home that I understood how lucky I was to come from such a strong tradition of kinship with the land,” says Knox, who was raised in south Georgia’s farm country.  “I want home cooks to read my book and feel as though they shared the same culinary experiences that I did as a child, like riding through the fields to check on crops with my father or making homemade biscuits alongside my mother in the kitchen.”

Knox is passionate about sharing her modern take on Southern specialties, which adds a contemporary spin without sacrificing the quintessential flavors.  As a result of her upbringing, Knox seeks out foods from local farmers in order to help preserve their traditions and encourages others to do the same.  Through her new cookbook, readers can get a taste of how farming can shape both culture and community, just as Knox did while spending summers selling boiled peanuts on the side of the road and working in a peach packing shed. Southern My Way also shares Knox’s ingredient-focused style of cooking, which relies on fresh, seasonal ingredients to carry each dish with little added fuss. Her recipes, ranging from toasted pecan goat cheese with Tupelo honey to balsamic roasted chicken and vegetables to gingersnap ice cream sandwiches, are easy enough for novices but also will appeal to seasoned cooks.

“My newest passion is actually one of my oldest: immersing myself in locally grown foods and the Southern cooking I grew up on,” says Knox.  “I put my own stamp on these dishes by adding contemporary flavors and removing some of the heavier components.”

Knox’s culinary roots run deep—she even pursued a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture due to her love of gardening.  After graduating from college, she chose to follow her passion for food, starting a fresh salsa company in Colorado that soon turned into a catering business. Before long, she returned to Georgia to take a landscape architecture job on the coast, where she began experimenting with plank grilling.  Unable to find quality planks that delivered the flavor and moistness she wanted, she decided to make her own. Thus, Fire & Flavor was born.  The company took off, and the all-natural product line has since expanded to include grilling papers and skewers, salt blends and rubs, and brining mixes.  Knox’s culinary instincts and knack for creating approachable dishes led to her first cookbook, Gourmet Made Simple, which was published in May 2008 and helps take the challenge out of gourmet meals for home cooks.

Now, due to the overwhelming popularity of Gourmet Made Simple, Knox is serving up a second helping of her culinary inspiration with the release of Southern My Way. Atlanta photographer Erica George Dines shot the four-color food and farm photography that accompanies Knox’s mouth-watering recipes.  Dines also specializes in gardens, interiors, architecture and portrait photography and is a regular contributor to regional and national lifestyle publications.  Her images have appeared in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles and Garden & Gun.

Published by Gena Knox Media and distributed by BookMasters, Inc. –, Southern My Way: Simple Recipes, Fresh Flavors will be available in major bookstores nationwide and online at www.genaknox.com and  www.amazon.com beginning November 1, 2010.   The cookbook will also be available as an e-book through www.zinio.com.   For more information, visit www.fireandflavor.com or call (866) 728-8332 for sales inquiries.

GENA KNOX LAUNCHES SOUTHERN LIFESTYLE WEBSITE

Food writer Gena Knox serves as tour guide to the South at her new website, www.genaknox.com

For Immediate Release (Athens, GA) – Gena Knox, your ambassador to Southern food and traditions, invites you to tour and taste the flavors of the South on her recently launched website, www.genaknox.com. With classic Southern hospitality, Gena offers website guests a culinary passport to explore the recipes and people that make the region so unique.

“I am thrilled to launch my new website which introduces visitors to the authentic South,” says Gena. “I look forward to taking readers on a journey to discover all the exceptional things we have to offer from local farmers to Southern cooks.”

At the heart of the website are Gena’s recipes, featuring her own style of healthy Southern dishes in addition to the traditional ones she grew up on. The site includes an ever-growing list of recipes, from Southern Shrimp Burgers and Mama Ra’s Baked Beans, to Butterbean Bruschetta, and Poached Pears with Honey Yogurt. Gaining inspiration from her Southern travels and always brimming with seasonal ideas, Gena’s new blog will be updated often with new recipes and menu ideas.

“As I create and test new recipes using our local ingredients, I take a fresh approach to regional Southern cuisine by giving it a modern twist, making it a little lighter than the traditional style but, without compromising the authentic flavors” says Gena.

Sharing her passion for this beloved region, Gena’s blog also includes interviews with Southern gastronomic greats, and updates on her own garden and chicken coop. Guests can watch videos from Gena’s test kitchen and food-inspired adventures as she travels across the South to visit with local growers, artisans, and fellow cooks that embody Southern tradition and charm. Her first video takes viewers step-by-step through her delicious, prized Oven Fried Catfish with Summer Succotash – perfect for warm summer nights! Upcoming videos include a visit with local ceramic artist, Rebecca Wood, who makes dinnerware from the local red clay, a technique video on making homemade mayonnaise, and a lesson from Gena’s mom on how to make her famous Buttermilk Biscuits.

And for those who wait all year for the grilling season, as the Founder and co-owner of Fire & Flavor, and grilling blogger for the AOL Food website, Gena expertly offers grilling tips and recipes. Whether you are using charcoal or gas, looking for classic or innovative flavors, have all afternoon or need to get dinner on the table ASAP, Gena has something for all. On her new site Gena shares her family’s secret recipe for Grandaddy’s Barbeque Sauce, crowd pleasers like Barbecue Chicken Burgers with Coleslaw, and personal favorites including Grilling Chicken with Strawberry Avocado Salsa.

From traditions, to family, to favorite foods, you’ll get to learn more about Gena as she opens the front gate to invite you into her world of Southern recipes, anecdotes, advice, videos, photographs and more. Visit Gena at www.genaknox.com.

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For media inquires, please contact Caitlin Friedman,
YC Media, 212-609-5009, caitlin@ycmedia.com

For Immediate Release
Contact: Aimee Bianca
YC Media
212-609-5009 ext 4
aimee@ycmedia.com 

GOURMET MADE SIMPLE

A Fresh Approach to Flavor with Gena Knox

Simply delicious and simply straightforward, GOURMET MADE SIMPLE: A Fresh Approach to Flavor with Gena Knox ($19.95 paperback original) is full of delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes that will tantalize your taste buds and impress your family and guests.  Gena Knox gives you the inside scoop on how to create fabulous and flavorful meals without the elaborate fuss you often find in gourmet recipes.

Gena has always believed that, “by preparing fresh ingredients with good food instincts and easy to follow recipes, preparing healthy, delicious meals will become fun and amazingly uncomplicated.”

In her debut cookbook, GOURMET MADE SIMPLE, Gena shares 88 of her favorite mouthwatering recipes which are both easy enough for a work night, yet elegant enough for a dinner party.  She covers all the bases by presenting recipes for appetizers (Smoked Strawberry Mozzarella Crostini), salads (Marinated Fig and Arugula Salad), fresh fast food(Planked Fish Tacos with Corn Salsa and Guacamole), simple gourmet (Herb Crusted Lamb Chops with Feta Topping and Cedar-Wrapped Salmon with Balsamic Sauce), sides (Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes) and desserts (Cappuccino Pots de Crème).

Gena also encourages innovation by offering creative ingredient substitutions, and provides seasonal menu planning suggestions for when you’re entertaining or having a casual weekend dinner.  Knowing that readers rarely have extra hours to spend in the kitchen, over half of the recipes in GOURMET MADE SIMPLE can be prepped in 10 minutes or less, and almost all in 20 minutes or less.  

In addition to sumptuous recipes and gorgeous full-page photographs, Gena offers invaluable advice on pairing food with wine, helpful tools of the trade, good food instincts and essential kitchen skills.  Further, Gena shares her expertise as the founder of Fire & Flavor Grilling Co. and includes a full eight-page grilling guide for indoors-and-out using flavorful grilling planks and papers.

Above all, GOURMET MADE SIMPLE allows Gena Knox to share her true passion for food and take the challenge out of gourmet cooking.  With her step-by-step guides, colorful insights, and fantastic recipes, GOURMET MADE SIMPLE will help you create sophisticated and flavorful meals in a snap.

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For more information or photos, please contact Aimee Bianca, YC Media, 212-609-5009, aimee@ycmedia.com

Title: GOURMET MADE SIMPLE
Author: Gena Knox
Pages: 191
Price: $19.95 paperback original 
ISBN: 978-0-615-17548-5 ]]> http://genaknox.com/2009/06/gourmet-made-simple/feed/ 0