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Some of Deborah Madison's books might be good, especially _The Savory Way_. It's made to be simple and it's full of simple one pot meals.

Discussing what "American food" might be in terms of what preparations, techniques, etc. are indigenous is just as problematic as discussing indigenousness in terms of any other food culture. Should we rule out tomatoes, potatoes, etc. from non-American cuisines or even sauce preparations such as sauce bechamel, much used in Italy, from Italian cuisine. It seems to me that regional cuisines or food cultures are more styles or modes--just look at the adaptation of many French techniques in New Orleans cooking for instance. Is it French or American? I'd say distinctly American and Louisianian (given' the language hell today, ) in many ways in terms of style but French in technique. I think talking about the favorite foods that Americans love is easier--you just ask them. I like fried chicken, crabs liberally doused with old bay eaten outside on a table lined with newspaper with a nice cold beer for hours, cornbread, gumbo, lobster rolls, hamburgers, pizza (which, as far as I understand, is very different in style here as opposed to Naples), corn on the cob, et cetera ad infinitum...

It might not be such a bad thing for grassfed pastured beef producers though. As mentioned above, their operations are sometimes a bit small and don't need grading added to their overhead. Also, I wonder if this kind of beef would fare as well under a grading system that is based on marbling, which really good grassfed beef might not have enough of to match up even to an insipid piece of supermarket beef. I don't know whether the grading system is that great of an indicator of the quality of a piece of meat. I'm also not that knowledgeable about it--what goes into the grading besides marbling?

Though I'm technically not speaking about butcher shops per se, I do know from experience that prices for lesser cuts of local beef bought from a farm that raises the animals are not that much more than the supermarket. I can get a chuck roast of grassfed highland beef for $4.25. That's more than the supermarket but I like it more and feel better eating it because I know more about it, etc. Its not as hard to get as it might seem and if you're in a city, its even easier because a lot of different farmers will usually make deliveries or find some other way to get the meat to you. It will have to be frozen, of course, but for an individual steak, you could always defrost (very carefully) in the microwave if you forget to take it out earlier. It takes a little more planning, but less than you might think.

Just to throw in my two cents... I agree with Jackal (whose EGCI sourdough tutorial helped me in so many ways..._) and it sounds underproved to me if its busting out so radically. Slashing should allow for the expansion that occurs during the spring, but if the expansion is uncontrollable it sounds like a proofing problem. It would be much easier to diagnose if there were a picture available. Also, what leavening agent are you using and how long are you proofing?

I like mine on a good roll (firm enough to hold itself together) but just soft enough to stay out of the way. Cheddar cheese, crunchy pickle, onion, lettuce, thick slices of tomato, vinegary coarse mustard on the bottom bun, a little mayo and ketchup on the top. I like the burger med-rare, seasoned only with S&P.

I was eating alone last night, so I went back to the source: fried chicken, braised kale, coarsely mashed potatoes

That food (and the photography) looks really good.

This is a rather difficult distinction to sort out I think. I'm not sure one would talk about "European" food usually, though one does speak of "continental" food. When I think of "American" food, I think mainly of the kind of regional fare that I enjoyed as a kid and which I constantly return to such as fried chicken, cucumber and tomato salad, cornbread, crab feasts, etc. There are a lot of "American" foods in this respect and each person probably has their idea of local "American," from the bottom of South America to the nothernmost marches of Canada. I would suggest then that American can be both local and continental in that way, similar to European food.

Beautiful shrimp--I'll be eating the likes of these when I return to the coast (SC) for a short vacation for a seafood feed. Ceviche here I come. Tonight we had pozole topped with julienned kohlrabi (my cabbage substitute) and radish in honor of the purchase of my new dutch oven. plated pozole potted pozole I usually don't braise in the summer much, but I couldn't resist trying out the pot. Plus I didn't put it in the oven, deciding instead to let the dutch oven do its stuff and it work beautifully. This was a good summertime braise too; it didn't feel out of place at all.

MaggieL I'm glad everything worked out--your dinner sounds great. Preparing things "en papillote " couldn't be easier and its a very versatile preparation and very hands off. Depending on thickness, I usually cook salmon for about 8 minutes, usually 10 minutes max. I like mine a little on the rare side though. As for plating the ratatouille, since its a stewed dish, I wouldn't worry much about the plating. As long as the colors and flavors are bright, it can't be beat.

If you want to stuff it into something, squid might be a good vehicle. It's a bit modish maybe, but it would work.

What are you talking about - 'not so photogenic'?! It's beautiful! ← Thanks for the complement .

I'd say it depends on your personal preference. I myself would serve a somewhat tart salad (3 to 1 oil to acid ratio) with only an interesting mix of greens. I don't really like my salad to be full of stuff during a meal that already has so much. The tartness of the vinaigrette at the end of the meal might help to balance out the richness of the chicken kiev. I don't like as much mustard as appears in the Keller recipe and I use olive oil for the dressing. I do like to add shallots sometimes to spice things up a bit or a special vinegar. I do love to use lime as the acid and finish with toasted cumin seeds, but that might not work so well. I could write all day about this, but I'll stop now. MaggieL, I don't think those two dishes clash that much, though I do agree with the commenter on the recipe board that the recipe is rather simplistic. I might suggest doing a fish preparation "en papillote," or, "in a pouch." Its the easiest preparation and can be quite impressive. There is a thread here about it. I like tomato, maybe a bit of wine, some thyme, S&P, and some butter (preferably a flavored butter like garlic lime butter or garlic parsley lemon butter, etc) and you can add asparagus, peas, etc. to the pouch. You get an instant sauce out of this and the flavors combine brilliantly. This is a good technique to know, because you can do so much with it and you can use it with chicken as well. It's great with salmon. This could work with your ratatouille (one of my absolute favorites) quite well. If possible, cook your ratatouille as far ahead of time as possible, chill, and reheat. Its even better with some time for the flavors to blend. Rice would be good--how are you going to cook it? A pilaf would be nice. Also, a simple potato dish like parsleyed potatoes would be good. Hope these suggestions are useful.

Little Ms. Foodie's chowder left me craving summery chowder. Being in the midwest, I decided to go for shrimp since good seafood is tough to come by ( ). Spicy shrimp corn chowder Naturally leavened bread with aged goat cheese on the side Not so photogenic, but delicious all the same.

Its similar in technique to "frenching" a piece of meat, but I've only ever heard them called lollipops.

This is not a completely summery dish, but it hit the spot. cool broccoli soup chicken with mushrooms and olives with polenta

That looks amazing--I've had a serious case of oyster withdrawal since moving from the coast to the dead center of the country ( ). Lucky for me I can at least enjoy it vicariously.

That does look good--it looks like it would turn out pretty herbal and flavorful. I bet they would be good sandwich rolls too... Thanks for the reference Ann_T.

Don't worry about having to adjust these bread formulas--ambient climate, the properties of the flour, the whims of the gods, etc., all come into play when making dough. The first time you make a certain kind of dough there's always a bit of trepidation that comes with the new territory you're in, but if you follow your instincts, as you seem to have done here, it'll more than likely turn out alright. good luck

The extra starch from the potato might make it a bit sticky, but adding flour isn't problematic in itself--how much did you add? I like to add it in pinches until I can handle it and go from there. This dough does tend to be a bit finicky in my experience; having to tweak it in order to handle it is par for the course, I think. So don't worry, it should work out. As long as you've kneaded it properly and let it rise properly, it'll be good. A fresh homebaked roll is always appreciated.

It should work just as well. I believe the _Joy of Cooking_ suggests this for a fish prepartation in a pyrex covered with foil. The parchment is most useful for special presentations.

Everything looks so good--much deliciousness here. We had a simple dinner tonight; it's something we eat on a weekly basis in one form or another. I wasn't going to post it for this reason but my gf has gotten used to me taking food pictures and asked me why I wasn't doing it so I thought, why not? Rice, beans, cheddar, fried sweet potato cubes, tomatillo salsa

Sorry my post was a bit unclear; the ratios above are flour based. I thought this might be easier than giving measurements in ounces, pounds, etc.. I googled for a pain de mie recipe and came up with this. It's got a very similar profile to what I had in my last post, just without the egg. You might try making rolls out of this recipe if you want an approximation of mass-produced American rolls. As for the potato rolls, I make them with an AP flour that has around 10% gluten. I would think they would work well with slightly weaker flours as well.

If you want a fluffy american-style hamburger bun like most people would buy at the grocery store, I would suggest pain de mie rather than brioche. With all the enrichments, it will be very very tender. You could do 64% milk, 1 egg, about 10.5% butter for the enrichments. I personally don't like this kind of roll because it tends to fall apart with the addition of copious toppings but if you want the kind of bun that's marketed in supermarkets in the states, this is the one. The potato roll is good on its own with a bit of butter as a dinner roll--I like to eat bread that I would actually eat on its own and I wouldn't eat the whitebread roll on its own. But that's just me. The potato roll won't be as soft as the whitebread roll, but I think its got the right balance of tenderness and texture. The brioche would certainly work (and it would be delicious), but it might be a shame to use that luxurious bread on a hamburger where its richness is going to be overshadowed by the beef.