To compile this rich collection of recipes, the folks at Betty Crocker gave a sweeping look across the U.S. and gathered together a whopping 326 recipes from coast to coast. Whether you think north, south, east or west, all of the recipes are down-home cooking, as packed with comfort and nostalgia as with taste.
Betty Crocker Country Cooking is a celebratory book. In its opening pages it provides menus for our favorite occasions when we get together. As but a few examples, you can celebrate New Year's Lunch, a Mexican Night, a Valentine's Dinner for Two, A Neighborhood Barbecue, a Birthday Brunch, a Tailgate Party, a classic Thanksgiving Day Dinner, a Christmas Cookie Swap.
Betty Crocker Country Cooking is organized by course, and begins with that mainstay of country life, a solid breakfast. There are over 100 breakfast and lunch choices, including Country Egg Scramble, Caramel-Pecan Sticky Rolls and Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwiches. For a filling lunch there are recipes such as Lentil Soup, Basil Rice Soup, Vegetable-Cheddar Cheese Soup, or a classic Green Pea Soup.
If you are looking for comfort food as a main course, you'll find such poultry choices as Fried Chicken, Baked Chicken and Rice, a no-fail Chicken Cacciatore, or a Chicken and Pepper Stir-Fry. If you want some hearty meats, try Beef Brisket Barbecue, Tender Beef Stew with Dumplings, Yankee Pot Roast, Wild-Rice and Almond-Stuffed Pork Chops, Ham and Scalloped Potatoes. If a lighter meal is planned try some seafood recipes, from an elegant Broiled Salmon with Hazelnut Butter, Seafood a la Newburg, a zesty Marinated Ginger Shrimp, or Grilled Tuna with Salsa.
Get country-market fresh vegetables and try Skillet Acorn Squash, Old-Fashioned Coleslaw, Crispy Potato Pancakes, or Avocado -Citrus Salad for great nourishment and healthy, monounsaturated fats.
Leaving no recipe forgotten, there are recipes for Traditional White Bread, and Honey-Whole Wheat Bread, along with Traditional Corn Bread and lots of Muffins.
Desserts are part of the country tradition and you'll find recipes such as such as Chocolate Chiffon Icebox Cake, Peach Ice Cream, Shaker Sugar Pie and Oatmeal Spice Cake with Browned Butter Frosting. Cookies are a mainstay and there are many cookie recipes.
The recipes have "Country Cooking Wisdom" tips as sidebars to share time-tested kitchen tricks. There are nearly 100 evocative color photographs that celebrate the glories of country cooking and guide the eye for presentation. In addition there is a Cooking Terms Glossary, a Metric Conversion Guide, and a section on Helpful Nutrition and Cooking Information that sheds light on our health concerns.
One of our favorite parts of the book is a very short note on Equipment Used in Recipe Testing. The Betty Crocker people test, test, test, and, because they want us to succeed, they give us the guidelines they used for testing the recipes. Betty Crocker Country Cooking is a through book, easily used in the kitchen.
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