The New American Cooking: 280 Recipes Full of Delectable New Flavors from Around the World as Well as Fresh Ways with Old Favorites: A Cookbook

I received this cookbook for Christmas and I love it. First of all, the concept is great. I enjoy the food of all different cultures and it is fun to have them in one cookbook. The recipes are easy and for the more unusual ingredients, there is often a substitute written which I find helpful. Finally and most importantly, everything I have made from this cookbook has been delicious and I have tried many recipes. I own many cookbooks and this book has become one of the first ones I look in when trying to find a new recipe. I have found myself frequently telling people about this book because I have enjoyed it so much. I would highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who enjoys food and cooking.

Joan Nathan has delivered a soon-to-be classic with her new cookbook, _The New American Cooking_. The cookbook is beautifully designed, with easy to read step-by-step recipes, beautiful pictures, and fun anecdotes. Nathan visited forty-six states in the preparation of this cookbook, and presents recipes from American cuisines old and new - from Appalachian Griddle Corn bread (which includes mayonnaise in the recipe for moistness) to fusion recipes such as Union Square Cafe's Tuna Burger with Ginger-Wasabi Mayonnaise. Her recipes come from chefs, farmers, restaraunteers and locals. I love Nathan's approach. In researching this book she spent time with immigrant communities old and new - she includes recipes from the descendants of Croatian immigrants who came to Minnesota at the turn of the nineteenth century to work in the Iron Mines [The Potica - Iron Range Walnut Coffee Cake looks delicious, though I haven't had the chance to make it yet.] to Cambodian Chicken Soup from Hmong immigrants who came to the states in the 1970's. These recipes make available the diverse cuisines of the U.S. today. She also includes recipes from White House chefs and celebrity chefs like Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and Jean-Georges Vongrichten (whose Molten Chocolate cake recipe, given in the desserts section, is DEE-LICIOUS.) The cookbook givess eleven chapters of recipes, listed here: Breakfast and Brunch [Try the Baked French Toast with Caramelized Fruit - I made it for a holiday brunch and it was amazing.] Bread (Includes Pizzas, Foccacia, Dosas, Crepes, sandwiches and tacos as well, and some spreads and chutneys to serve with - 26 recipes total.) Starters and Small Plates - Dips and Spreads and finger food. Some interesting Guacamole recipes - including one with broccoli and peas. Soups - An amazingly diverse chapter; includes three very different (from each other) chicken soup recipes. Like most chapters in the book, the difficulty ranges from simple (Cambodian Chicken Soup from Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley) to complex (Jean-Louis Palladin's Corn Soup with Lobster). Salads - In my mind, the most boring chapter in the book (though the Lobster Salad with Avocado adn Preserved LEmon looks amazing [and like it would take 8 hours to make]). If you've subscribed to Gourmet or Bon Appetit, or another Cooking magazine you probably have some vesion of all of the recipes in this chapter. Pasta and Grains - Great Pasta chapter. Includes several Asian Noodle Recipes, and modern classics like Zingerman's Macaroni and Cheese. Vegetables and Vegetarian Dishes - Another Great chapter with 29 recipes with origins from West AFrica to Brazil. The Abobrinha - Brazilian Sauteed Zucchini with Tomato, Peppers, adn Lime looks delicious, as do the vegetarian stews from teh West Indies. Fish and Shellfish - This is a short chapter, and suffers on two points: There are two recipes involving salmon and goats cheese, but only three salmon recipes total - in other words, t

This book is a beautiful collection of the most heart-warming stories to accompany the most delicious recipes. Ms. Nathan has successfully captured the hodgepodge that is America today, with recipes from Moo Shu to Apple Pie. I can personally vouch for the deliciousness of the Apple Torte featured on the cover, as well as the incredible Stuffed Grape Leaves. This is a cookbook that you'll find yourself coming back to again and again. For the novice as well as the expert, this book has fabulous recipes for entertaining as well as those 'homey' ones that you'll find yourself making over and over again. My copy is less than one month old and already the pages are dog-earred and stained -- the sign of a GREAT cookbook!

If you want a snapshot of contemporary American food (in all its tasty, healthy, multiethnic glory) go out and buy this book. From hoisin roast chicken, to potica, and grilled pizza The New American Cooking literally has it all. It's a cookbook that reads like a novel and every dish I have tried has come out perfectly.

Nathan's THE NEW AMERICAN COOKING, is the third of what I personally consider the ultimate in gastro-documentation. She has the uncanny knack of pulling history, cultural and personal narratives, and neo-traditional recipes into what can only be called family albums of food. What she did for Jewish cooking in America and Israel, she has done for American cooking's newest food revolution. Her subjects are always living cookbooks themselves, whose palatable and lovingly familiar recipes and traditions draw you in and make you want to become part of the hundreds of edible worlds she introduces you to. The recipes have been well tested, well written and make for enthusiastic eating. No kitchen or cookbook library can afford to miss out on what I consider to be a historic and insightful snapshot of our contemporary global-yet-local tastebuds. Joan Nathan has set the table for a national banquet.