A Southern adventure

Top picks from the cookbook aisle

BY JENNIFER J. HEWETT

If you're like many chefs I know, hitting the cookbook section of the local bookstore is an adventure, with a culinary twist around every turn of the bookshelf. But if you're someone who finds this aisle a bit daunting, don't fret. Three standouts in the recently published section will have you baking, frying and sautéing your way to success, Southern-style.

Up for the challenge!
"The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table" by Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett

Based on the nationally syndicated Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) column, AJC writer Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett, food editor for the AJC, and their team of cooks have figured out a way to make impressive meals in 30 minutes, using only five ingredients (give or take the "freebies" such as salt, pepper, water and cooking oil used to prevent food from sticking or drying out).

In "The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table" (Simon & Schuster, $13), Besser and Puckett have streamlined recipes that might ordinarily be daunting by simplifying ingredient lists and directions in this user-friendly cookbook. They choose fresh ingredients that yield a flavorful dish and incorporate pre-prepped foods from the produce aisle to minimize the preparation time. Occasionally, recipes call for quick-cook items like flavored, microwaveable rice packets -- but in the end, it's worth it.

Besser and Puckett also offer suggestions for personalizing the recipes, what accompaniments round out each meal, and tips on pantry staples and kitchen organization to help you become a more efficient cook. With just a few ingredients and "The 5:30 Challenge" cookbook, you'll be on your way to a great meal in minutes.

Southern standbys
"The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking" by Louis and Billie Van Dyke

If you're hankering for food that's truly Southern, then take a step back in time to The Blue Willow Inn Restaurant in Social Circle and their latest cookbook, "The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking" (Rutledge Hill Press, $24.99).

Cookbook authors and restaurateurs Louis and Billie Van Dyke beckon us to slow down and enjoy a relaxed pace of life, filled with Southern hospitality and good food found at The Blue Willow Inn. After much renovation to the property, the Van Dykes opened their restaurant in 1991 and have been serving up Southern-style delicacies such as fried chicken, sweet potato soufflé, chicken and dumplings, fried green tomatoes and macaroni and cheese ever since.

From appetizers to dessert, the "The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking" offers a pleasing array of recipes from the restaurant, as well as family recipes entered by cooks into the Blue Willow's recipe contest, and those shared by the first ladies and governors from the South.

Simply Southern
"New Southern Baking: Classic Flavors for Today's Cook" by Damon Lee Fowler

No longer is Southern baking as daunting as it might once have been, thanks to Damon Lee Fowler's cookbook, "New Southern Baking: Classic Flavors for Today's Cook" (Simon & Schuster, $26). Fowler weaves his memories of growing up underfoot in a Southern kitchen with colorful stories and recipes that keep alive the smells of hot, layered biscuits, skillet-baked cornbread, lacy-edged hoecakes, pound cakes, tea cakes and cobblers -- and more.

Fowler's latest cookbook offers a history of Southern baking, with helpful tips for preparing the oven -- the most important tool for baking, he says. His chapter on Southern Baking Essentials helps distinguish what makes essentials like bread flour different from all-purpose flour and molasses from sorghum syrup.

Featuring more than 150 recipes including quick breads, griddlecakes, cookies, cakes, pies and loaf breads, Fowler's cookbook is a delightful culinary trip down memory lane that is sure to satisfy chefs as well as for-pleasure readers.