Down Home with the Neelys Brings Soul Cuisine To The Small Screen

Photo Credit: www.foodnetwork.com

by Carrie Dagenhard
08/05/2008

Down Home with the Neelys is part cooking show and part sitcom. The program, which premiered on Food Network on Feb. 2, 2008, takes a page from Paula Deen’s southern fried cookbook by serving up a variety of mouth-watering and artery clogging dishes. Their recipes include barbecue pizza, Get-Yo-Man chicken, and macaroni and cheese topped with smoky bacon and potato chips.

Although their show just premiered in February, Patrick and Gina Neely are no strangers to culinary fame. The couple co-owns Memphis-based barbecue chain Neelys Bar-B-Q, which was founded by Patrick and his brother Tony in 1988. The Neelys made appearances on a Good Morning America, The Today Show and Paula’s Home Cooking prior to landing their own spot on the Food Network line-up.

The couple turned their show into a family affair by sharing coveted family concoctions and including appearances from Patrick and Gina’s mothers, brothers, and daughters. Family members laugh and poke fun at each other while each adding their own unique twist to classic southern and soul food recipes.

The couple infuses humor into the show by dishing out corny jokes alongside their delectable cuisine. They flirt, argue, and call each other “mama” and “papa” over the course of every episode. Gina adds hot sauce to her macaroni and cheese sauce because, as she says, “you know my man like it hot” and announces to the audience that Patrick is “always stealin’ my sugar.”

The program adds additional southern flare to Food Network, but don’t even attempt an episode on an empty stomach. Doing so may lead to a spur of the moment trip to Mama’s Boy or one of the many local Athens rib joints--at least until a road trip to Memphis can be arranged.