Fresh Midwest
Modern Recipes from the Heartland
-
- $30.99
-
- $30.99
Publisher Description
A cookbook from the heart of Minnesota, inspired by an archive of recipes from the author’s grandmother and great-grandmother.
An Epicurious Best Cookbook of 2022
In this debut cookbook, recipe developer and Minnesota native Maren Ellingboe King perfectly combines the nostalgia of traditional midwestern dishes and influences of her Scandinavian heritage with an emphasis on local, unprocessed ingredients. Ellingboe King celebrates the growing diversity of her home state with a modern take on traditional recipes by using fresh produce, more spice, and more heat, all while retaining the simplicity and approachability of her family’s recipes. Readers will find Apple Gjetost Grilled Cheese, Lefse Pinwheels, Caraway Roast Chicken, Venison with Lingonberries and Juniper, Cardamom Stone Fruit Cobbler, and, of course, several variations of the hotdish. At a time when so many of us are at home and cooking more than ever, Fresh Midwest is the perfect combination of comfort and inspiration with most recipes designed to be made in an hour or less.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this solid debut, King, a recipe developer and Minnesota native, updates dozens of dishes "straight out of the Midwestern comfort food canon" with a mix of influences from her Scandinavian heritage and her family's own go-to recipes. An adaptation of cheesy potatoes (a staple, she writes, "at church potlucks across the Midwest") riffs on her grandmother Nancy's recipe, while renditions of Scandinavian classics—such as lefse (a mashed potato flatbread), a smorgasbord featuring smørrebrød (a Danish, open-faced sandwich), and Swedish meatballs—reflect the flavors of Minnesota's large Norwegian and Swedish populations. King also cleverly integrates Scandinavian influences into other traditions: her kraftskiva incorporates both the traditional flavors of Swedish crawfish boils as well as Cajun-influenced spices, and she adds aquavit (a popular Scandinavian spirit) to French-style moules frites. Readers will appreciate King's straightforward recipes just as much as her charming headnotes and essays, an entertaining blend of anecdotes and fascinating cultural context (in an introduction to her Bootlegger Jell-O Shots, King shares that "the bootlegger cocktail was created by the Minnesota country club set during Prohibition to mask the taste of harsh bathtub gin"). The result is a wonderful introduction to Midwestern cooking and its rich traditions.
