American Home Cooking

Book excerpt: Nothing says American like American home cooking. From a steaming bowl of New England Clam Chowder, to Tucson Chimichangas, to Door County Sour Cherry Pie, these are the dishes that form the soul of our collected culinary heritage. And these are the recipes best-selling authors Cheryl and Bill Jamison serve up -- in their award-winning cookbook American Home Cooking. Cheryl and Bill invite you to sample a coast-to-coast feast of more than 300 recipes straight from the heart of America's own home cooking tradition. The Jamisons traveled, dined, and cooked with people all over the United States, gathering recipe inspiration along the way. They visited cheese crafters in Wisconsin, overnighted with Pennsylvania Dutch farmers, and picked up techniques for frying catfish from the first African American catfish farmer in Mississippi. They ate warm fig cake on Okracoke Island and chilled Dungeness crab freshly pulled from Oregon waters. The result is a collection of simple, full-flavored dishes that truly reflect the appetite -- and the spirit -- of America. American Home Cooking features the best dishes ever created in American home kitchens. All the recipes are supermarket-friendly, easy to make, and loaded with robust flavors, from all-time favorites like meat loaf, scalloped potatoes, and lemon meringue pie to regional dishes such as Tidewater Peanut Soup, Kansas City Sugar-and-Spice Spareribs, King Ranch Chicken, Maui Mango Bread, and Catahoula Sweet-Dough Pies. A bona-fide culinary classic, this sweeping collection offers delicious ideas for every meal and occasion, and includes sidebar quotes from American literary and culinary heroes like Mark Twain and Julia Child. Bring the best of America's home cooking tradition into your home with American Home Cooking.