Turnip Greens & Tortillas A Mexican Chef Spices Up the Southern Kitchen

Eddie Hernandez does not follow the rules. He sidesteps traditional cooking styles and brings a mix-and-match quality to his cooking. He follows his grandmother’s advice: “Be creative. Don’t be wasteful. Take pride in your work.” The recipes that result from this grandmotherly training give us some delightful Southern and Mexican crossover dishes. What’s more southern than fried chicken? Hernandez pairs Blue Cornmeal Crusted Chicken with a Mint Jalapeno Drizzle. Put together his Mex-American Black-Eyed Pea Salad with some rice and you’ll get Hoppin’ Juan, a cold dish take on the traditional Hoppin’ John. If I haven’t convinced you yet to take a look at this tasty cookbook, let me say just this: Watermelon Jicama Relish. My copy of Turnip Greens has a lot of yellow sticky notes marking recipes to make. Recommended By Tracey T., Powells.com

Southern fare with a Mexican flair, by the chef/co-owner of the restaurant empire that Bon Appetit called a "Top American Restaurant"
USA Today called Taqueria del Sol "a runaway success." Bon Appetit wrote: "Move over, Chipotle " The fast-casual food of Eddie Hernandez, the James Beard-nominated chef/co-owner of the restaurant, lands on the commonalities of Southern and Mexican food, with dishes like Memphis barbecue pork tacos, chicken pot pie served in a "bowl" of a puffed tortilla, turnip greens in "pot likker" spiked with chiles, or the "Eddie Palmer," sweet tea with a jab of tequila. Eddie never hesitates to break with purists to make food taste better, adding sugar to creamy grits to balance the jalapenos, or substituting tomatillos in fried green tomatoes for a more delicate texture. Throughout, "Eddie's Way" sidebars show how to make each dish even more special.