‘Southern At Heart’ starring Damaris Phillips

®Food Network

Make way Trisha Yearwood.  There’s a new southern kitchen opening on the Food Network.  After many weeks of competition on The Next Food Network Star (season 9), Damaris Phillips found herself in the spotlight.  Damaris is a  culinary school instructor at Jefferson Community & Technical College from Louisville Kentucky.   She is the true definition of southern.  I can not congratulate her enough for her winning and wonderful representation of “southern cooking and charm”.

Damaris is quirky and sassy and 100% true to her southern roots.  She describes her style as being bright and fun, even a bit old fashioned.  Her former mentors on the show describe her as: …a teacher, a great cook, a good communicator, lovely and charming,” said Alton Brown.   Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentis, both admired her, and Bobby said he loved that Phillips was from the south and “she’s got all the right pieces.”

Well we are going to get to see all those southern pieces put together on October 27  (10:30am/9:30c) when her show “Southern At Heart” premiers on the Food Network.

I got the chance to ask Damaris a few questions so we could all get to know her a bit more.  I hope I picked some of the questions y’all would have liked to ask.

 

GK:  Damaris. Did you ever feel like giving up on the show or feel you didn’t have what it takes?

Damaris: I cannot imagine a person could participate in a competition show and not have real moments of self-reflection and even doubt. Any moments of wanting to quit were really because I was afraid I couldn’t do it or I wasn’t good enough. So yes, there where brief seconds where I wanted to quit, go home, hide my head and pretend that I didn’t really want it anyway. Thankfully those moments were very, very brief.

GK:  What was the hardest challenge you had in the competition?

Damaris: Hands down, the first one. Selling yourself to the network out of the gate was beyond overwhelming.

GK:   Which of the other contestants do you feel pushed you the hardest to up your game?

Damaris: I will be forever grateful for Nikki Dinki and Stacey Poon Kinney. Those ladies were so remarkable and encouraging and talented. It is impossible to be around them and not learn.

GK:   Which of the mentors do you believe was the hardest on you or pushed you the most?

Damaris: Well, they were all tough in their own way. I am going to have to go with Alton Brown, but mainly because I have been a gigantic fan for YEARS and so doing poorly while he was witness, was rough.

GK:  Thinking back to your childhood, what is your first memory of food that made you fall in love with cooking?

Damaris: My mom making granola, the cinnamon smell. Her cooling it on top of the fridge. It was our “sugar” cereal growing up, and to this day it still feels extra special.

GK:  Who was your biggest influence on cooking growing up?

Damaris: My parents. Growing up we were responsible for cooking for the family one night a week. They encouraged us from an early age to get into the kitchen. They taught us how to “use what we had” to make substitutions and foster creativity. And they always made us try everything, so we learned to be adventurous eaters.

GK:  What is the first food you crave and have to have when you return home from a trip away from Kentucky?

Damaris: Banana Pudding… it is really difficult to find good banana pudding while traveling.

GK: Have you ever felt pressured to change your cooking style away from southern?

Damaris: No way. I couldn’t even if I tried. The food I cook is as a part of me as my accent, or taste in music, or inability to wear white shoes after Labor Day.

GK:  If you were being left on a deserted island for one month and had to pack a survival kit with only 2 foods and 3 kitchen utensils what would they be ?

Damaris: Beans and Rice. Propane burner, a pot, and matches. But could I have some salt and hot sauce, too? 

GK: Of course you can, but I really thought you would say banana pudding.  What is your favorite guilty pleasure food?

Damaris: Tater tots! I love them. I love them. I love them!

I want to personally thank Damaris for taking the time to answer my questions.  I look forward to her show and watching as I am sure she will be making all of the wonderful recipes that I too grew up eating.

I hope y’all don’t forget to tune in and watch her demonstrate for us all just why she came out on top on The Next Food Network Star.