Growing up in the small town of McRae (about three hours southeast of Atlanta), Rebecca Lang learned about Southern cooking at her grandmothers’ apron strings. One granny could whip up a batch of divinity without a recipe and kept a dish of fried fatback on her stove for snacking. The other was famous for Friday night fish fries and iced tea as sweet as syrup.Though her family matriarchs left an indelible imprint on Lang’s culinary philosophy, today the 34-year-old mother of two small children hardly has time for elaborate meals and complicated recipes. In her latest book, “Quick-Fix Southern: Homemade Hospitality in 30 Minutes or Less” (Andrews McMeel, $16.99), the Athens author presents an indispensable blueprint for time-starved foodies: 115 recipes of astonishing simplicity and maximum flavor such as Real Tomato Soup, Divine Chicken and Dumplings and Double Chocolate Scoop Pie. Grounded in the classics but crafted with panache, all of Lang’s recipes require a half-hour or less of hands-on kitchen work.
“Quick-Fix Southern” is an invaluable resource for well-seasoned cooks and novices who need gentle guidance in finding their way around the kitchen. It is a rebuttal to anyone who believes Southern food requires hours of labor and vats of fat. And it is a celebration of fresh summer produce that is coming into season now. Peach Salsa, Quick Icebox Pickles, Lazy Girl Berry Cobbler, Watermelon Margaritas. Makes you want to run to the farmers market, right?
Arriving at Lang’s house on a recent day, we found the perky, petite author barefoot and ready to cook up a spread: Stuffed and Baked Chicken (with country ham and goat cheese); her grandmother Sarah Dopson’s signature Okra Fritters; and Lazy Girl Berry Cobbler, which brought back memories of Lang’s time as an apprentice with Southern food icon Nathalie Dupree.
The author of “Southern Entertaining for a New Generation” (Cumberland House, $17) and “Mary Mac’s Tea Room: Stories & Recipes From Atlanta’s Classic Southern Kitchen” (Looking Glass Books, $28), Lang knew in college she wanted to be a food writer. But there was no map of how to get there.
So she got a journalism degree from the University of Georgia (1998) and then a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University, which then had a Charleston, S.C., campus (2000). Before heading off to cooking school, however, she worked with Dupree. “I just called 411 and asked for Nathalie Dupree’s number,” Lang says of her pluck — and luck. “That one phone call changed my life.”
She has worked as an assistant food editor at Oxmoor House, the publishing company affiliated with Southern Living, Oprah magazine and other brands; and today she represents Southern Living magazine in the cooking segments of the nationally syndicated show “Daytime.”Quick-Fix Southern,” with its Short-Cut Barbecue and Fast Brunswick Stew, is her answer to being a busy food professional and mother of 5-year-old Camden and 21-month-old Adair. (Husband Kevin is an Athens attorney.)
“I just feel like a lot of people who are about my age end up going through the drive-through or getting something out of the freezer that’s already prepared,” she says.
“I really wanted this to be a manual for easy weeknight suppers. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. But you can still have homemade food. And it can be something you are proud of and that’s made from scratch.”
“Quick-Fix Southern” is an invaluable resource for well-seasoned cooks and novices who need gentle guidance in finding their way around the kitchen. It is a rebuttal to anyone who believes Southern food requires hours of labor and vats of fat. And it is a celebration of fresh summer produce that is coming into season now. Peach Salsa, Quick Icebox Pickles, Lazy Girl Berry Cobbler, Watermelon Margaritas. Makes you want to run to the farmers market, right?
Arriving at Lang’s house on a recent day, we found the perky, petite author barefoot and ready to cook up a spread: Stuffed and Baked Chicken (with country ham and goat cheese); her grandmother Sarah Dopson’s signature Okra Fritters; and Lazy Girl Berry Cobbler, which brought back memories of Lang’s time as an apprentice with Southern food icon Nathalie Dupree.
The author of “Southern Entertaining for a New Generation” (Cumberland House, $17) and “Mary Mac’s Tea Room: Stories & Recipes From Atlanta’s Classic Southern Kitchen” (Looking Glass Books, $28), Lang knew in college she wanted to be a food writer. But there was no map of how to get there.
So she got a journalism degree from the University of Georgia (1998) and then a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University, which then had a Charleston, S.C., campus (2000). Before heading off to cooking school, however, she worked with Dupree. “I just called 411 and asked for Nathalie Dupree’s number,” Lang says of her pluck — and luck. “That one phone call changed my life.”
She has worked as an assistant food editor at Oxmoor House, the publishing company affiliated with Southern Living, Oprah magazine and other brands; and today she represents Southern Living magazine in the cooking segments of the nationally syndicated show “Daytime.”Quick-Fix Southern,” with its Short-Cut Barbecue and Fast Brunswick Stew, is her answer to being a busy food professional and mother of 5-year-old Camden and 21-month-old Adair. (Husband Kevin is an Athens attorney.)
“I just feel like a lot of people who are about my age end up going through the drive-through or getting something out of the freezer that’s already prepared,” she says.
“I really wanted this to be a manual for easy weeknight suppers. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. But you can still have homemade food. And it can be something you are proud of and that’s made from scratch.”
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