Prairie Home Cooking

August 30, 1999
Fertig (Pure Prairie and Que Queens) uses her native knowledge of the heartland (and parts of Canada) and its cultural patchwork to create dishes that go beyond the dreaded Campbell soup casseroles without losing that essential ingredient--comfort. For reliable, filling recipes that make great leftovers, this is the ticket. Hearty appetites will appreciate Polish Wild Mushroom and Potato Soup or Wisconsin Cheddar Beer Soup. For spicier fare there's Santa Fe Trail Smothered Steak. The book's strong point is the sinful, filling food category, which includes Baked Macaroni and Cheddar and Golden Nugget Custard. The breakfast section (St. Louis Gooey Coffee Cake, Gingerbread Waffles with Pear Sauce) appeals any time of day. Cooks will learn that Church Supper Chicken and Wild Rice Hot Dish, more than a casserole, is a Minnesotan potluck rite of passage. Tucked into every nook of this exhaustive collection are what may be the best treats of all--original jellies and sides (Raspberries and Red Currants in Honeysuckle Jelly) that conjure up stops at roadside country stands.

August 1, 1999
When the "back-to-the-land" movement first struck, a number of country cooking/ heartland cookbooks appeared, but that was more than a few years ago. Fertig's (Pure Prairie: Farm Fresh and Wildly Delicious Foods from the Prairie) latest cookbook includes dozens of enticing recipes for both homey comfort food and more contemporary fare, from St. Louis Gooey Butter Coffeecake to Smoked Goat Cheese on Field Greens. Many of them reflect the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the immigrants to the Midwest; others come from early American cookbooks. Readable sidebars cover a variety of topics, including the location of Laura Ingalls Wilder museums and "historic sites," and quotations from writers such as Willa Cather and Mark Twain are scattered throughout. Highly recommended. [Good Cook/BOMC main selection.]

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 1999
The cooking of America's heartland lacks the breadth and sophistication of coastal cuisines, but it yields many Americans' most beloved comfort foods: apple pie, creamed corn, and casseroles. Fertig's compilation of midwestern favorites focuses on the kinds of dishes that can easily be made in the home kitchen from generally available ingredients. She does not compromise freshness, and she avoids using canned or prepared foods despite their ubiquity in many heartland kitchens. Fertig's recipes include a few antiques such as Cincinnati's goetta, savory ground pork and oatmeal formed into cakes and fried. She does not neglect the most recent culinary developments, including a recipe for a pesto dish and some Mexican-inspired items. Even midwestern drink reflects a growing cosmopolitanism with a "prairie kir" made of homemade blackberry cordial and white wine. Recommended for library general cookery collections. ((Reviewed July 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)