Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes from Our Favorite Places

Review Quotes:

"Ouita is quintessential Kentucky, reflecting our treasured culinary culture. Her respect for the Bluegrass blends perfectly with her incredible and innovative journey with food. A presentation as delightful as Ouita's authentic hospitality. Food is love, and Ouita delivers this beautiful message on a silver tray." -- Peggy Noe Stevens, founder of the Bourbon Women Association and coauthor of Which Fork Do I Use with My Bourbon?

" Just a Few Miles South's traditional Kentucky recipes take me back to my grandmother's table. And I'm delighted that among so many treasures, the recipes for the peerless soup beans and cornbread I've devoured on so many visits to Wallace Station are included. Throughout her restaurants and this book, the use of locally sourced ingredients combined with expert preparations become edible love letters to Kentuckians. Thank you, Ouita!" -- Susan Reigler, coauthor of Which Fork Do I Use with My Bourbon? and a former restaurant critic for the Louisville Courier-Journal

"Chef Ouita is the undisputed queen of Kentucky cooking. Her understated yet elegant cooking has done more for the region than anyone else I can think of. She is a mentor, an activist, and a force! With Just a Few Miles South, she shares her love for her home and shows us what makes that place and her so special!" -- Vishwesh Bhatt, winner of the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the South

Ouita Michel is a six-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, including nominations for Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Southeast. Michel and her restaurants are regularly featured in local and national media, such as the New York Times, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Food Network, and the Cooking Channel. She was a guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef series. She lives in Midway, Kentucky.

Sara Gibbs is a chef as well as a recipe writer and editor. She lives in Central Florida.

Genie Graf is the special projects director at the Ouita Michel Family of Restaurants. She lives in Midway, Kentucky.

" Just a Few Miles South is a brilliant field guide to the food and culture of the Bluegrass, as embodied by Ouita's family of restaurants. It's a cookbook that feels as dear to me as a family heirloom, packed with the recipes I've treasured most from my time at Wallace Station and the Holly Hill Inn (as both a patron and a chef), scaled down and simplified for the home cook." -- Stella Parks, pastry chef and New York Times-bestselling author of BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

"Ouita champions many of the good things we associate with old and new Kentucky, from lard can burgoo to banh mi with bourbon mayonnaise. In this love letter to her state and her people, her cooking and advocacy entwine, making a strong case for the power of food to make a difference in our daily lives." -- John T. Edge, author of The Potlikker Papers

Introduction
Chapter 1: Breakfast
Chapter 2: Building Blocks for our Sandwiches
Chapter 3: Wallace Station's Famous Sandwiches
Chapter 4: Windy Corner's Famous Po-Boys
Chapter 5: Burgers
Chapter 6: Soups and Salads
Chapter 7: Our Famous Brownies, Bars and Cookies
Chapter 8: Pie Supper

"Michel, the chef and restaurateur behind [seven] Kentucky restaurants, shares simple and satisfying recipes from each of her eateries in this charming cookbook.... Home cooks will enjoy the simplicity and heartiness jam-packed into this collection." -- Publishers Weekly

"The boundless beauty of Kentucky cuisine is joyfully captured in these pages by a chef who has defined this region with her cooking. She is a custodian of tradition, a magician of flavor, and her restaurants are the narratives that tell us who we are in Kentucky. This book will be a treasure for generations to come." -- Edward Lee, chef and author of Buttermilk Graffiti (winner of James Beard Award for Best Book of the Year in Writing) and Smoke & Pickles

"This new compendium of recipes from across her empire celebrates the region's historic dishes...while lovingly casting a spotlight on the people who are making dishes like Bourbon Banh Mi and a Wallace Cubano into new Kentucky classics." -- Food & Wine

"With the challenges facing dine-in restaraunts this past year, this cookbook will offer a springtime solution for Kentucky food lovers who want to re-create the same flavors from Chef Ouita restaraunts at home." -- Ace Magazine

"A one-stop-shop for the dishes that all Southern home cooks need to know." -- Garden & Gun

" Just a Few Miles South features next-level fixings... sure to jazz up even the most desultory work-from-home lunch.... Brenna Flannery's line drawings make this a strikingly beautiful book in black and white, but it's also as deliciously down-to-earth as can be." -- BookPage

"With the healthy dose of local history and fare wound into this presentation, it stands out from the crowd as a Bluegrass cultural food guide and cookbook gem." -- Donovan's Literary Services

For twenty years, diners in the Bluegrass have been able to satisfy their cravings for Ouita Michel's sustainable, farm-to-table cuisine at her many acclaimed restaurants. Each restaurant -- from Wallace Station to Holly Hill Inn -- features dishes that combine Kentucky's bounty with Michel's celebrated vision. Diners can enjoy traditional southern staples like buttermilk biscuits, country ham, and Po-Boy sandwiches, or opt for unique variations on international favorites and American classics. Now, readers around the country can experience what makes Ouita Michel a culinary and cultural treasure. Just a Few Miles South serves up the recipes that patrons of Michel's restaurants have come to know and love, including the Bluegrass Benedict breakfast sandwich, Ouita's Sardou Panini, Wallace Station's Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup, and Honeywood's Hoecake Burger. Some dishes offer creative twists on classics, like the Inside Out Hot Brown, the Wallace Cubano, or the Bourbon Banh Mi. Throughout, the chefs responsible for these delicious creations share the rich traditions and stories behind the recipes. When you can't get down to your favorite place, this book will help you bring home the aroma, the flavors, and the love of fresh foods made with locally sourced ingredients -- and share it all with friends and family.

Review Citations:

• Publishers Weekly 12/07/2020 (EAN 9781950564095, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:Michel, Ouita
Ouita Michel is a six-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, including nominations for Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Southeast. Michel and her restaurants are regularly featured in local and national media, such as the New York Times, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Food Network, and the Cooking Channel. She was a guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef series. She lives inMidway, Kentucky.

Contributor Bio:Gibbs, Sara
Sara Gibbs is a chef as well as a recipe writer and editor. She lives in Central Florida.

Contributor Bio:Graf, Genie
Genie Graf is the special projects director at the Ouita Michel Family of Restaurants.She lives in Midway, Kentucky.

Contributor Bio:House, Silas
Silas House is a bestselling novelist of Clay's Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, and The Coal Tattoo, whose nonfiction has been published in Newsday, Sierra, The Oxford American, No Depression, and elsewhere. In 2008 he won the Helen Lewis Award for Community Service for his efforts in the fight against mountaintop removal. He teaches at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.