Amy Thielen, Damaris Phillips return to Food Network's daytime lineup

New seasons of "Heartland Table" and "Southern at Heart"

Food Network's March menu kicks off with new seasons of "Heartland Table" and "Southern at Heart."

Amy Thielen, chef and connoisseur of all things authentically Midwestern, is back in her charming cabin kitchen cooking some of the Heartland's most delicious and often surprising dishes on Saturday, March 8, at 10:30 a.m. From home-cooked meals around her central wood stove and inventive recipes inspired by local ingredients, Amy explores the food, people and traditions of her region.

The following weekend, southern spitfire and season nine "Food Network Star" winner Damaris Phillips whips up her modern southern cuisine Sunday, March 16, at 10 a.m. Her charm leads the way in the kitchen as she shows viewers her special twist on the food of the south, highlighting easy, approachable recipes designed to give viewers a personal look into her culinary style.

Thielen grew up a few miles from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota, and graduated from Macalester College. She spent seven years cooking professionally in New York under David Bouley, Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Shea Gallante. Since returning to Minnesota in 2008, she has written for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Men's Journal and Saveur, and won a James Beard Journalism Award in 2011. Clarkson Potter published her cookbook, "The New Midwestern Table," a collection of 200 Midwestern recipes, in September.

Phillips, from Louisville, Ky., graduated from Jefferson Community and Technical College with a degree in culinary arts and still teaches at the same school inspiring up-and-coming chefs to follow their dreams. Before returning to teach, she took on various restaurant and baking jobs, working in the front and back of house. One of five kids, she learned to cook at an early age and was responsible for cooking one night a week for her large family. She competed on and won season nine of "Food Network Star," and her modern twist on southern classics and her signature wit pack a one-two punch in the kitchen.