Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland by Beth Dooley, Lucia Watson

Product Details

Synopsis

Embracing the traditional cooking of the diverse peoples of the Upper Midwest-from the Ojibwe and Dakota to the immigrant communities of Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Italians, and Hmong-Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson present more than two hundred recipes for the modern kitchen, many with seasonal variations to take advantage of the freshest fruits and vegetables available.With this inspiring array of recipes, you can start with Radish and Cucumber Salad, feast on Grilled Coho Salmon with Lemon-Ginger Marinade, and then top it off with the Best Sugar Cookies. Along the way, Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland is sprinkled with historical photographs and the lively stories behind recipes handed down for generations. Beth Dooley is a writer and teacher whose books include The Heartland: New American Cooking, Prevention's Quick and Healthy Pasta, and Peppers Hot and Sweet. She is a contributing editor to Mpls/St. Paul Magazine, and her work has also appeared in Fine Cooking and NPR's The Splendid Table. She lives in Minneapolis. Lucia Watson is the well-known chef of Lucia's, one of Minneapolis's top restaurants, and a 2004 James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef/Midwest. She has been published in Fine Cooking and teaches cooking throughout the Midwest. She lives in Minneapolis.

Annotation

More than 200 delicious seasonal recipes from the upper Midwest--Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and North Dakota. The wonderful variety of dishes tells the story of the Scandinavian, German, Eastern European, Scottish, and Welsh immigrants who settled the land and helped define the regional character of the cuisine. 80 photos.

Publishers Weekly

Collaborating with writer Dooley, Minneapolis chef and restaurateur Watson offers both a stylish understanding of home cooking and a realistic perspective on its preparation. Wild game sausages are trendy; their version skips the labor-intensive stuffing of sausage casings. Instead, the authors recommend making grilled patties, and layering the smoky sausage with roasted red peppers and potato bread for a hearty sandwich. Though they usually choose seasonal ingredients native to the heartland, specialties such as toasted hazelnuts and fresh morels give their cuisine more sophistication than the typical Midwestern farm family cookbook. Sidebars of text culled from farm-town newspapers and old church or community cookbooks give perspective-and humor-to the book. Visitors to the Midwest can take away this cookbook as an inspiration to re-create the region's food, while natives can find plenty of family favorites tucked in among more modern dishes. This is the 14th volume in the Knopf Cooks American series. Photos not seen by PW. Better Homes and Gardens Book Club selection. (Oct.)

Biography

Lucia Watson was born in Minneapolis. She received her undergraduate degree in French from the University of Minnesota. Lucia is a well-known chef and restaurateur who owns one of Minneapolis's top restaurants, Lucia's. She has studied with Madeleine Kamman at the School for American Chefs, has run a successful catering business, and teaches cooking throughout the Twin Cities area. Her family has deep roots in Minnesota and both her grandmothers were outstanding cooks -- heartland cooks -- who passed down their talent, their passion for cooking, and their recipes to Lucia, who uses them in her own cooking.

Beth Dooley was born in New Jersey. She received her undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and a master's degree in writing from the University of New Hampshire. Beth is an experienced cook and food writer. A transplanted Easterner, she has lived in Minneapolis for fifteen years, writing for several of the major food companies located in the Midwest and for local and national magazines. Her books include It's the Berries and Peppers Hot and Sweet, both published by Garden Way. She is married and has three children. Lucia and Beth have coauthored articles for several magazines, including Fine Cooking.

With more than 80 photographs and illustration