First Look: Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's New Cookbook Collards & Carbonara

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Here's Collards & Carbonara: Southern Cooking, Italian Roots by Memphis chefs Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer. The book includes recipes from both of their restaurants, the high-end Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen and the more casual Hog & Hominy, where their Italian and American Southern-inspired food earned them a spot in the 2013 class of Food & Wine Best New Chefs. Think Black-Eyed Pea Tortellini with Ham Hock Brodo and Collards (an actual recipe in the book).

There is not a lot of bullshit in Collards & Carbonara. For the most part, it's what a cookbook should be: single page recipes opposite gorgeous photography of the finished product, with a brief intro explaining each dish. There's no fuss here. The recipes themselves are deceptively simple: grilled vegetable salads, tons of homemade pastas, whole roasted snapper, veal osso buco. This is the stuff dinner party dreams are made of. And for those really wanting to up their game, the recipes for an eight course tasting menu are included in the back.

What asides the book does contain generally (and generically) describe various things that inspire the duo: Family. Italy. Southern clothing designer Billy Reid. The band Mumford & Sons. These asides don't add a whole lot to the book, but they're relatively harmless. More interesting are the anecdotes about their chef friends: a dish inspired by Chris Cosentino's Incanto in San Francisco, a sweetbreads tip taken from Carlo Mirarchi of Roberta's in Brooklyn, a bet they made with Mike Lata of FIG in Charleston.

Collards & Carbonara comes out from Olive Press September 3 (pre-order on Amazon).

· All Andrew Ticer Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Michael Hudman Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Cookbook Coverage on Eater [-E-]