Heartland: The Cookbook [Hardcover]

Judith Fertig (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 12, 2011

Heartland is a culinary celebration of the bounty of the Midwest, where farm-to-table isn’t a movement, it’s a way of life. 150 delicious recipes, stories, literary references, and photography take the reader on a journey layered with sensory experiences through the heart of American cooking.

Although much of the nation is only beginning to embrace the farm-to-table movement, residents of the Midwest have been living off the bounty of the land since the pioneer days. Judith Fertig's Heartland melds contemporary cooking with an authentic and appreciative approach to the land, presenting 150 recipes for farm-bounty fare with a modern twist. With a focus on ethnic food traditions as well as seasonal and local flavors of artisan producers, heirloom ingredients, and heritage meats, Heartland embraces the spirit and flavors of the modern farmhouse. Inside, offerings such as Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blackberry Syrup, No-Knead Caraway Rye Bread, and Brew Pub Planked Cheeses comingle with recipes such as Wild Rice Soup with Flyover Duck Confit, Heartland Daube with White Cheddar Polenta, and Italian Fig Cookies.

In addition to the mouthwatering recipes and time-proven wisdom, Heartland includes an ample mix of humorous storytelling, literary and cooking references, and lush full-color landscape and food photography that showcases the heart of American cooking from the nation's heartland.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Heartland of America, the Midwest, is still the agricultural core of our country, its "pastoral face," where amber grain waves and the deer and a few antelope still play. Many Midwesterners are only a generation or two removed from the family farm, and their deep roots are reflected in the food they love and share. Heartland: The Cookbook, Judith Fertig's culinary ode to the Midwestern kitchen, celebrates its farm-to-table traditions, grounded in the bounty of the land and laced with the ethnic accents and pioneering spirit of the settlers. With its beautiful full-color photos of vistas and vittles, the collection also serves as a visual ode to the heart and soul of middle America. The recipes run the gastronomic gamut, from Winterberry Breakfast Pudding, Haymaker's Hash and Prairie Panzanella to Sunflower Cookie Brittle and Shaker-inspired Ohio Lemon Tart. Judith has made sure that prep techniques and cooking methods are streamlined for our time-challenged lives--Farmhouse Butter is "churned" in a Cuisinart, Rosy Rhubarb Syrup will keep, unsealed (and without canning hassles) in the fridge for a year and No-Knead Clover Honey Dough turns itself into coffee cake, yeast rolls and challah. --BookPage

The Heartland of America, the Midwest, is still the agricultural core of our country, its "pastoral face," where amber grain waves and the deer and a few antelope still play. Many Midwesterners are only a generation or two removed from the family farm, and their deep roots are reflected in the food they love and share. Heartland: The Cookbook, Judith Fertig's culinary ode to the Midwestern kitchen, celebrates its farm-to-table traditions, grounded in the bounty of the land and laced with the ethnic accents and pioneering spirit of the settlers. With its beautiful full-color photos of vistas and vittles, the collection also serves as a visual ode to the heart and soul of middle America. The recipes run the gastronomic gamut, from Winterberry Breakfast Pudding, Haymaker's Hash and Prairie Panzanella to Sunflower Cookie Brittle and Shaker-inspired Ohio Lemon Tart. Judith has made sure that prep techniques and cooking methods are streamlined for our time-challenged lives--Farmhouse Butter is "churned" in a Cuisinart, Rosy Rhubarb Syrup will keep, unsealed (and without canning hassles) in the fridge for a year and No-Knead Clover Honey Dough turns itself into coffee cake, yeast rolls and challah. --Book Page

About the Author

Judith Fertig is a food lifestyle writer and cookbook author. She has written for Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Saveur, Vegetarian Times, and the New York Times. Her previous books include Prairie Home Cooking and Prairie Home Breads, as well as six BBQ titles she coauthored with Karen Adler. She resides in Overland Park, Kansas.

Online:

alfrescofoodandlifestyle.blogspot.com/

bbqqueens.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449400574
• ISBN-13: 978-1449400576
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cookbook author Judith Fertig grew up in the Midwest, went to college and cooking school in Europe, and now lives in Kansas City. Her cookbooks reflect her love of bread, baking, barbecue, and the fabulous foods of the Heartland.

You can read some of her cookbooks like novels--the fabulously photographed Heartland, the award-winning and James Beard Awards-nominated Prairie Home Cooking, the encylopedic All-American Desserts, and Prairie Home Breads.

Others reflect her ongoing reign as a tiara-totin' BBQ Queen, along with co-author and co-queen Karen Adler, from BBQ Bash, 300 Big & Bold Barbecue Recipes, and Weeknight Grilling to 25 Essentials Planking and 25 Essentials Grilling Fish. Do you know the 4 BBQ Queen Waves for when you're famous for barbecue??? (Here are a few hints: Wiping the windshield, screwing in a lightbulb, fluttering the air. . . .)

And some of her cookbooks just make you want to get in that kitchen and stir up something new--with one-bowl, no-knead bread in 200 Fast & Easy Artisan Breads or with your "electric assisant" in The Artisan Bread Machine.

Check out her blog at http://www.alfrescofoodandlifestyle.blogspot.com/ for even more recipes, photos, and a peek into her kitchen.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars FLAVORS AND FACES OF THE MIDWEST April 17, 2011

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The Heartland, referring to the Midwestern states is well named as those states are in the center of our country. Of course, we're currently speaking of 12 states - Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, south Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. For those of us who were born in anyone of these states, although we have moved far away, that home state is still held in our hearts. We would agree with geographer James Shortridge who is quoted in the Introduction, "The Midwest is America's pastoral face, etched into our consciousness as a permanent physical location, despite the presence of industrial cities.' True for this reviewer.

What is also true for me and perhaps for you thoughts of home in the Midwest bring to mind good, hearty, healthful food. Not the kind we now find at drive-ins but the delicious homemade dishes we remember, and here they are again in this comprehensive, beautifully illustrated cookbook HEARTLAND. However, the author has put a definite twist on these recipes as all are made with very modern cooking methods ensuring not only easier preparation but a much shorter preparation time than our mothers knew.

You'll find recipes for breakfasts and brunches, appetizers, salads and soups, main dishes and desserts. There is 272 pages of pure enjoyment as in addition to recipes Fertig has included anecdotes, historical data, and quotations - all with a Midwestern flavor. In addition, for this reviewer much of the pleasure of opening a new cookbook is being introduced to valuable resources through the author's noted references. I discovered La Quercia in Norwalk, Iowa. This is a gem of a shop offering artisan crafted dry cured meats and other mouth watering difficult to find items. We've particularly enjoyed their prosciutto (wonderful on a crostino) and pancetta. Our order was carefully packed and swiftly delivered. You'll find them at www.laquercia.us.

Midwesterners are a diverse group so you'll find many ethnically inspired dishes in HEARTLAND. Plus, those wonderful quotations, such as "Moonlight butters the whole Iowa night. Clover and corn smells are thick as syrup." from one of my favorite authors W. P. Kinsella.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Travelog and coffee table book...with some recipes June 2, 2011

By Derrick Dodson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The majority of this book is pictures, and not that many of those are of the recipes. Fields of wheat, a cow by a fence, people dancing at a fair, a quaint farm house. It's all beautiful, but it has nothing to do with "The Cookbook." The recipes themselves seem pretty good, but they are few and far between in this tome. There are over 300 pages, and I'd venture a guess that there are around 100 recipes, each averaging little more than a page in length. I looked at the main courses chapter out of curiosity and found 17 recipes in 46 pages. A few of those recipes spilled over onto a second page, but a few were short and shared their pages with more beautiful photography. It about evened out, so barely more than a third of the chapter was actually a cookbook. Some of the recipes were also, in my opinion, of little actual value. I personally have no plans to render lard at home or smoke already smoked bacon. Again, that is all personal opinion, but that's really all I can offer. I was looking forward to a cookbook. I got a beautiful book of photography from the heartland that had a few recipes thrown in in between the florid quotes and discussions of farming.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a Cookbook April 11, 2011

By Books and Chocolate TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

I truly enjoyed reading this book because it was more than a collection of recipes. Heartland is a celebration of the Midwest with beautiful photos, stories, facts, and quotes that pay tribute to not only the food but the land and people as well.

At first I thought this would be a cookbook I wouldn't use because the first few recipes were for making rendered lard and smoked goat cheese, neither of which I'm likely to make. Thankfully I didn't stop there because there were so many more that I will try such as apricot cream cheese strudel, no-knead sour caraway rye bread, porch swing lemonade, old-fashioned buttermilk chocolate pound cake, rise and shine breakfast casserole, and pan roasted chicken with tarragon creamed corn.

As a cookbook, Heartland offers updated traditional recipes with an artisan twist for breakfasts, dinners, breads, preserves, desserts and drinks. In between the recipes are the stories of the people and places that define the Midwest, tributes to local farmer's markets, and quotes celebrating a simpler lifestyle. The beautiful photos of landscapes, farms, and food make it a book anyone would enjoy even if they don't cook.

I received a copy of this book for review by the publisher but the opinion of it is my own and was not solicited, nor was a positive review required.