A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day [Hardcover]

Cheryl Alters Jamison (Author), Bill Jamison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2002

There's no better way to start your day than with a hearty breakfast. And there's no better book about breakfast than A Real American Breakfast by the award-winning authors Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison.

A Real American Breakfast is a coast-to-coast feast of 275 breakfast recipes. You'll find everything from old favorites like waffles and homemade cereals to Charleston Shrimp and Grits, Mississippi Bacon Sandwich with Milky Tomato Gravy, Oregon Salmon Hash, the LEO (Lox, Eggs, and Onions), Bronx Matzoh Brei, and so much more.

This indispensable collection of bountiful breakfasts adds new tastes and variety to the morning meal. Eggs Goldenrod, Brown Butter Scramble with Avocado, and Rio Grande Egg Puffs are just some of the food fancies guaranteed to help you break out of your bran flakes routine. Traditional breakfast fare is transformed into whimsical treats such as Crunchy French Toast, New England BrownBread Griddle Cakes, and Grits and Bits Waffles. The American melting pot heritage is also seen in our national breadbasket, from Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits and Herbed Popovers to Very Blueberry Muffins.

Breakfast doesn't have to be just for breakfast. These recipes can be enjoyed any time of day. Dishes such as hearty Salmon Croquettes and Portsmouth Salt-Cod Hash make nourishing dinners. Morning meats like Pan-Seared Iowa Breakfast Chops and a Prime-Time T-Bone are great for entertaining, any time of the year. Give brunch a boost with a creamy chicken casserole and cottage fries. Dairy delights like healthful fruit smoothies are invigorating and refreshing anytime.

Filled with historical notes, old menus, and plenty of advice on ingredients as well as technique tips, this comprehensive breakfastcookbook is one that you'll want to begin your day-especially with sixteen pages of full-color photographs that show how many of the dishes will look. So make the most important meal of the day the best meal of the day with A Real American Breakfast.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What's the best meal of the day? For many of us, it's breakfast. Saluting that fact is Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison's A Real American Breakfast, a collection of 275 traditional and innovative recipes that cover breakfast comprehensively and in the best taste. Breakfast often competes with a tight morning schedule, which the book acknowledges by offering recipes that can be prepared the night before; regional, café, and bed-and-breakfast favorites are provided, as well. Dishes range from familiar eye-openers like waffles and cinnamon toast to less conventional fare like Salmon Croquettes and the Maple-Glazed Ham, Cheese, and Leek Sandwich--food that can also be enjoyed throughout the day.

Among other outstanding chapters, "Break an Egg," "Heavenly Hashes," and "Home-Crafted Cereals" score with exemplary recipes for fried eggs and bacon, red flannel hash, and crunchy granola, as well as "new" delights like Poached Eggs on Creamy Grits, Capitolade of Chicken, and Toasted Wheat with Caramelized Bananas. Other sections offer stratas and breakfast casseroles like Calabacitas Tortilla Casserole; dairy specialties, including lassi, an on-the-go chilled yogurt drink; and sweets, such as Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, Brown-Butter Apple Cake, and Chocolate Bread Pudding. With historical notes, old menus, and technique advice, the color-photo-illustrated book is the last word on the day's first meal. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

Although most cooks would agree with the Jamisons (American Home Cooking) that breakfast "can be the homiest meal of all" not everyone has the time to cook first thing in the morning. Fortunately, many of the Jamisons's 275 delightful recipes can be served just as well at weekend brunches or weekday suppers. The 14 chapters featuring eggs, pancakes, cereals and breads, as well as casseroles, sandwiches and cobblers are full of original ideas that expand the boundaries of breakfast (such as serving Strawberry Shortcake in the morning). International dishes like Swedish Pancakes and Asian Rice Porridge with coconut milk are offered alongside the more familiar and luxuriously elaborate Eggs Benedict Souffles, Spiced Lamb Sausage, and Baked Crime Brelie French Toast. There are also simple dishes such as Fruit Smoothies and Fried Egg Sandwiches for those mornings when the school bus is honking outside. With every recipe there are helpful tips on techniques and ingredients, as well as sidebars featuring American breakfast history and trivia, all in elegantly written, snappy text. Our country's breakfast traditions are wildly diverse, and the Jamisons' enthusiasm for their subject is a great incentive to get out of bed and try them all.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (February 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060188243
• ISBN-13: 978-0060188245
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Meals > Breakfast

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring collection, November 30, 2002

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day (Hardcover)

Most breakfast cookbooks are top-heavy with variations on the usual: lots of waffles, omelets, home fries, and muffins. This one is unique, because it collects a set of recipes you *wouldn't* have thought up on your own.

For instance, it's the only book in which I've found a recipe for goldenrod eggs (hard boiled eggs in a cream sauce, served over toast, with grated egg yolks and paprika sprinkled on top) except for a 1942 WWII-era pamphlet my mom had. It's the only recipe I've found for dutch baby pancakes -- sort of a cross between a pancake and a sweetened popover, traditionally served with lemon and maybe a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar.

Aside from completeness, the recipes are clearly written, entertaining (with sidebars that include breakfast menus from, say, a 1904 hotel menu), and educational.

I have at least three or four breakfast cookbooks. This is the only one I use regularly.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, July 26, 2003

By 

apoem "apoem" (Bosque Farms, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day (Hardcover)

This cookbook has recipes from across America. It has recipes that are the old traditional such as pancakes and runs the gamut to recipes from various parts of the country.

The recipes do not generally call for any out of the ordinary ingredients, they are easy to follow and the end results of every recipe I have tried turns out great.

The pictures are lovely. The pages are uncluttered and easy to read. However, I particularly like that there are sidebars with interesting facts, menus from eating establishments say from the 1940's, etc. It makes for an interesting read as well as a nice cookbook.

This is the cookbook I regularly turn to when picking out what I'm going to make for breakfast. It is well worth the money.

Enjoy.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Breakfast in Town, March 11, 2002

By 

Andrea Lamacki "book lover" (River Forest, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day (Hardcover)

I was pessimistic about this cookbook. I have been looking for an excellent breakfast cookbook for years with no luck, until now. It has the best recipes. I always want to try out pricy cookbooks so I admittedly went to my local Borders, borrowed two recipes and tried them. They were excellent. I even did the unthinkable, I made a recipe to serve at a breakfast meeting without trying it first. The overnight french toast was very different and fabulous, including the presentation idea.

I highly recommend this book!