Two young chefs, Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing, drew from their Louisiana and Mississippi roots to create “Southern Comfort: A New Take on the Recipes We Grew Up With” (Ten Speed). Their handsome debut cookbook, with appealing photos by Ed Anderson, is packed with more than 100 recipes covering breakfast, cocktail fare, salads, vegetables, pasta, fish, meat and dessert.

Readers will encounter such dishes as Creole-Spiced Shrimp Salad, Sweet Tea-Roasted Duck in Date Sauce, Hush Puppies with Caviar and their signature Oysters Rockefeller "Deconstructed." The pair rely on modern techniques but pay heed to traditional Southern culinary philosophy and ingredients.

Their background includes serving as chefs in 2003 in New York City at the highly rated Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar. In 2005, they retraced their steps to Louisiana to open Longbranch followed two years later by MiLa in New Orleans.