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Apart from Native American cooking, the dishes of New England are our country's most venerable. Brooke Dojny's
The New England Cookbook offers more than 350 recipes, including traditional favorites such as Boston Clam Chowder as well as unexpected pleasures such as Athena Diner Avgolemono. Many of these come from the immigrants who have made New England their home over the years. Because Dojny has cast her recipe net widely, the book is comprehensive; readers interested in a complete view of Northeast cooking, and those seeking simple recipes for good food--plain to reasonably fancy, old-fashioned to contemporary--will welcome the book.
In chapters devoted to dish types, from starters to desserts, Dojny reveals a compelling culinary repertoire. Among her selection, cooks will want to try Vermont Chicken and Leek Pie with Biscuit Crust, Rosemary Grilled Bluefish with Rosemary Lime Butter, and North Fork Crusty Pan-Seared Scallops. A chapter on sandwiches and pizzas includes such savory temptations as Portuguese Chourico, Peppers, and Onion Grinder and Famous New Haven White Clam Pizza; one of two bread-baking chapters offers breakfast specialties such as Berkshire Puffed Apple Skillet-Baked Pancake. Dojny's dessert recipes are particularly attractive, presenting the likes of Hester's Sour Lemon Pudding Cake, Hungarian Crêpes with Walnut Filling and Warm Chocolate Sauce, or the eloquently simple and good Best Maine Blueberry Pie.
With anecdotal sidebars and a list of sources for down-home ingredients, the book invites the solid, flavorful American cooking that is our principal culinary heritage. --Arthur Boehm
From Publishers Weekly
In this ambitious cookbook, Dojny (AMA Family Health Cookbook) mines her Norwalk, Conn., childhood to bring Americans a hearty dose of Yankee tradition. She emphasizes seafood from the coast, with heavy infusions of Hungarian, Italian and Greek cuisines and the occasional light departure (Laos-in-Vermont Crispy Raw Vegetable Spring Rolls). The narrative conjures a quaint atmosphere of roadside diners (Athena Diner Avgolemono), county fairs and clam shacks. Strong points include classic starches like Golden Corn Pudding and Classic Parker House Rolls, and the poultry and dessert (Lucetta Peabody's Baked Fudge Pudding Cake) sections. Some recipes, however, do not provide sufficient information about preparation times, storage and substitutions: for example, Narragansett Beer Battered Fish 'n' Chips, while scrumptious, may need water to lighten the batter when unforewarned cooks have no flat beer; and in most of the chowders (Thick and Creamy Boston Clam Chowder, Milky Maine Steamer Chowder, and Nor'easter Baked Fish Chowder) the author doesn't advise which stock is the best optionAclam broth, clam juice or fish stock. But Dojny's many homely dishes (Hungarian Beef Goulash, Vineyard Chicken and Corn Chowder) well suit a bleak day on Nantucket. Author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
