Prairie Home Cooking: 400 Recipes That Celebrate the Bountiful Harvests, Creative Cooks, and Comforting Foods of the American Heartland

by Judith M. Fertig

Book Overview

For the waves of immigrants who, over the last three hundred years, have transformed the prairie from a vast sea of grasses into the vibrant human landscape we now call the Midwest, sitting down to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558321446
• ISBN13: 9781558321441
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press
• Length: 434 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 7.7" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A terrific collection of heartland, heart-warming recipes

Judith M. Fertig's "Prairie Home Cooking" is a wonderful compendium of heartland recipes that will make you feel like a modern-day Laura Ingalls Wilder in the kitchen. It is the kind of book you want to sit down and devour while sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of tea and nibbling at a homemade oatmeal cookie. The recipes are wide-ranging, taking their cue from the many immigrants who settled the American west and midwest. There are many German and Scandinavian recipes here, which is in keeping with the immigration percentages, but there are lots of Native American, Russian, Italian, and other "flavors" in the mix as well. Sara Love's superb illustrations deserve special mention. These block print pictures lend such a homey, heartland atmosphere to the book and complement Fertig's comfortable-as-old-slippers voice beautifully. This book is a treasure!

History Lesson and Old-Fashioned Cooking

Prairie Home Cooking is the kind of cookbook you curl up and read with before ever entering the kitchen. Wonderfully written, it interweaves heartland history with beloved recipes. Growing up in the country, this cookbook took me back to simpler times and the comforts of food made with love. As I plan my move back to the prairie and grow my own food, this book will serve as my never-ending reference and companion. The Blue-Ribbon Brownies recipe (page 373) will make you the most popular baker around! My ancestors, being German, probably made many of the recipes in this cookbook. I am honored to replicate them. Prairie Home Cooking is my very favorie cookbook. A huge variety of recipes- something for everyone!

Another hit from my favorite culinary icon!

As a fellow native of Kansas City, I see Ms. Fertig's work everywhere- in newspapers, in bookstores, and on television. And like other Midwesterners, I admire her efforts to give our regional cooking the status it deserves. This book eliminates any doubts about the quality of Midwestern cooking. It has been a huge success locally, and the nationwide attention it is receiving is equally justified. Ms. Fertig mixes ethnic dishes such as Bratwurst with Caramelized Onion and Apples with modern classics like Vegetable Garden Pot Roast to yield a truly well-rounded image of the Midwestern culinary tradition. For those skeptics out there, one bite of the heavenly Blue Cheese and Toasted Pecan Spread will convert you! I've had the pleasure of attending some of Ms. Fertig's cooking classes, and her penchant for humor and storytelling are clearly reflected in her book. I strongly recommend it for any avid cooks who wish to get in touch with their roots. This is the epitome comfort food.

EXCELLENT CULINARY TOUR OF THE MIDWEST AND MORE!

This is a lovingly researched and written work about heartlandcookery. I attended a reception for the author of this book and tasted several outstanding recipes including: Church Supper Chicken and Wild Rice Hot Dish, Sour Cream and Onion Kuchen, Winter Garden Vegetable Salad, and Sour Cream Raisin Bars. These were as good as anything my grandmother used to make, which is high praise. I've had great results and compliments on some of the recipes that I have made:Blue Cheese and Toasted Pecan Spread and the Smoked Goat Cheese on Field Greens salad. The German Cheese Tart is one of the prettiest and best-tasting desserts I've ever made! I've also enjoyed reading the text of the book, too. I think the author's recipes and instructions are clear and have found nothing in error. I highly recommend this book.

Loved this book about "fly-over country"!!

What a wonderful cookbook about a part of our country that is dismissed by others on either coast as not worthy to consider writing about. Ms.Fertig's delightful stories, recipes, and resources make this book a gem. I have tried many of the recipes, among them - Hearty sausage and kale soup, wild mushroom pot pies, braided cheddar ale bread - and found them easy to follow and, what's more, Delicious!! I have purchased 5 of the hard-cover books for Christmas presents for my friends and nieces.