It's All American Food: The Best Recipes for More than 400 New American Classics

by David Rosengarten

This volume features the best recipes for more than 400 new American classics.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

512 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2003

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a sampler of their Italian-American dishes

Pre-bruschetta garlic bread
Italian bread - olive oil - garlic

Postlapsarian bruschetta with parsley, red pepper, olive, and caper topping
garlic - parsley - red peppers
capers - Kalamata olives
country bread - olive oil

Mozzarella in carrozza
heavy cream - anchovies - capers
bread - mozzarella - provolone
Parmigiano Reggiano - breadcrumbs

Deep-fried calamari, checkered-tablecloth style
basil - garlic - parsley
canned tomatoes - club soda - squid
marinara sauce - dried red pepper flakes

Italian baked clams
Italian bread - Parmigiano Reggiano - parsley
garlic - cherrystone clams - lemons

Quick marinara sauce
Greek oregano - dried red pepper flakes
canned tomatoes - parsley

Longer-cooked, very garlicky marinara sauce
garlic - canned tomatoes
basil - parsley

All-purpose bright red tomato sauce
onions - garlic
canned tomatoes - tomato paste
basil - parsley - oregano

The four-hour epic sauce: Grandma's long-cooked tomato gravy

garlic - onions - carrots
celery - canned tomatoes - tomato paste
basil - oregano - beef bones
pork bones - pecorino Romano

Classic Brooklyn-Italian meat sauce
garlic - onions - carrots
celery - ground beef
canned tomatoes - tomato paste - Greek oregano

Minestrone
olive oil - leeks - onions
carrots - potatoes - zucchini
garlic - tomato paste - escarole
Savoy cabbage - canned tomatoes - chicken stock
Parmigiano Reggiano - basil
ditalini pasta - dried navy beans

Pesto [like you’ll be surprised here]
olive oil - pine nuts
garlic - basil - Parmigiano Reggiano

Linguine with white clam sauce
garlic - cherrystone clams
linguine pasta - parsley

Linguine with red clam sauce
cherrystone clams - linguine pasta - garlic
anned tomatoes - tomato paste
basil - parsley


Cheese filling for ravioli
ricotta cheese - Parmigiano Reggiano
parsley - bread - nutmeg

Meat filling for ravioli
stewing beef - stewing veal - veal bones
onions - carrots - bay leaves
chicken stock - chicken livers - prosciutto
mortadella - Parmigiano Reggiano - nutmeg

Final preparation of ravioli (cheese) with tomato sauce
basil - carrots - celery
pecorino Romano - tomato paste - canned tomatoes
flour - beef bones - onions
oregano - pork bones
minor stuff out of your cupboard
ricotta
Parmigiano Reggiano - parsley
bread - nutmeg

Final preparation of ravioli (meat) with tomato sauce [only two dozen ingredients]
basil - bay leaves - carrots
celery - pecorino Romano - chicken livers
garlic - mortadella - nutmeg
onions - oregano
tomato paste - canned tomatoes
prosciutto - stewing beef - flour
chicken stock - beef bones
minor stuff out of your cupboard
veal bones - Parmigiano Reggiano
stewing veal - pork bones

Saint Louis toasted ravioli
oil - ravioli - flour
bread - Parmesan - marinara sauce

Caribbean black bean side dish
bay leaves - black beans
green peppers - red peppers
ground coriander - cumin - garlic
oregano - bacon - cloves
jalapeno chiles - yellow onions

Baked manicotti with cheese filling and tomato sauce
basil - provolone
tomato paste - canned tomatoes
oregano - eggs - flour
ricotta - mozzarella - Parmigiano Reggiano
parsley - onions - garlic

Classic American lasagna
lasagne pasta - ricotta cheese - parsley
garlic - onions - carrots
celery - ground beef
canned tomatoes - tomato paste
oregano - mozzarella - Parmigiano Reggiano

Spaghetti and meatballs [no onion!]
white bread - ground beef
pecorino Romano - parsley - garlic
canned tomatoes - basil - spaghetti pasta

Pasta primavera [just get out your 15 items]
asparagus - baby broccoli - zucchini
beans - string - peas
pine nuts - white mushrooms - whipping cream
shallots - lemons - cayenne
spaghetti pasta - Parmigiano Reggiano - basil

Lobster fra diàvolo
white wine - whole lobsters - garlic
canned tomatoes - dried red chiles
oregano - basil - dried red pepper flakes

Eggplant Parmigiana
eggplants - olive oil - onions
canned tomatoes - tomato paste
dried red pepper flakes - basil - Italian bread
Parmigiano Reggiano - mozzarella

Veal Parmigiana [there are a lot of interesting dynamic duos]
Parmigiano Reggiano - Italian bread - veal scaloppine
garlic - onions
carrots - celery
canned tomatoes - tomato paste
basil - oregano
beef bones - pork bones
pecorino Romano - mozzarella

Chicken cacciatore
chicken breasts - chicken thighs - garlic
green peppers - red peppers
canned tomatoes - tomato paste
parsley - basil - oregano
bay leaves - white mushrooms

Chicken scallopini with prosciutto, mozzarella, and Marsala [it doesn’t get better than this - no tweaks though]
chicken breast
prosciutto - butter
mozzarella - Parmigiano Reggiano
Marsala wine

Grilled pizza Margherita [weird flour - garlic - and one unusual cheese]
yeast - molasses - olive oil
bread flour - flour - whole wheat flour
canned tomatoes - basil - garlic
pecorino Romano - Bel Paese cheese - parsley

Focaccia
bread flour - flour
yeast - cornmeal

Gorgonzola and thyme topping for focaccia [this is different]
Gorgonzola cheese - whipping cream
thyme - parsley

Anchovy, Parmesan, and fresh oregano topping for focaccia
anchovies - Parmigiano Reggiano
parsley - oregano

Roasted red pepper, cilantro, and garlic topping for focaccia
roasted red peppers - cilantro - garlic

Cranberry hazelnut biscotti with chocolate
sugar - butter - oranges
flour - hazelnuts
dried cranberries - Hershey's Chocolate Kisses

Tiramisu [seems like an Irish coffee mutation]
mascarpone - bourbon
ladyfingers - cocoa powder - coffee

Hot zabaglione with ladyfingers, Marsala, and raspberries [new to me]
ladyfingers - Marsala wine
eggs - raspberries - mint


—

[greek?]

Tzatziki
yogurt - cucumbers
mint - dried dill

Skordalia
potatoes - garlic - blanched almonds

Dolmades/dolmas stuffed with rice, pine nuts, and raisins
golden raisins - retsina wine - vine leaves
olive oil - scallions - parsley
long grain rice - pine nuts
dill - lemons - chicken stock

Greek salad/shepherd's salad [rare to have it with green pepper and no cheese and no oregano]
tomatoes - parsley
green peppers - cucumbers
purple onions

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who reads cookbooks as well as uses them for recipes and inspiration, I love this book. The history of the dishes and the route the various types of regional cooking took to spread across the country and how it morphed along the way make great reading. Seeing dishes cooked the way my mom cooked them was pleasantly nostalgic. The recipes themselves are accessible and generally require no unorthodox ingredients or equipment. (The $600 ice cream maker is a notable exception.) I haven’t made many of the recipes yet, but the Southern cornbread recipe is worth the price of the book. It tastes like cornbread, not a corn cupcake (no sugar and just enough AP flour to keep it together). This book will stay on my shelf.

[LaDawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ingredients impossible for expats to source. Haven't recognised a single dish from home. Who cooks fried chicken on top of tin foil? I use it as a reminder of how things are done then go with my gut. More useful than this.

[Michael McKay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook but no index or list of recipes for Kindle

This book has outstanding dishes as they are or have been made and eaten in the USA. Various ethnic-American cuisines (Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Hungarian, etc.) regional recipes (New England, Chesapeake Bay, Texan, Californian, Southern, Cajun, etc) and American food styles (sandwiches, breakfasts, main courses, side dishes, etc.) are described and presented well. There are no photos, which I prefer to over-abundant color photos as I'm weary of 500 megabyte cookbooks on my e-reader. Hierve the complete lack of a list of recipes or an index makes it very tough to see what's cooking in the book

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally bought this because I read so many American books and am (obviously) very interested in food and cooking and wanted to know what people meant when they talked about corn dogs, sloppy joes and...well, loads of other things that we don't get in England. Anyway so it definitely scratched that itch but now I love it because the recipes remind me of certain times associated with certain books.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for any American ex-pat! Some favourite recipes of mine are Picadillo, Maryland Crab Soup and Country Captain...

[Martin Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with wonderful ethnic recipes.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the premise of this book, and find the recipes to be much more accessible than the ones in my other Rosengarten cookbook, Dean and DeLuca. The Superbowl Chili is particularly delish.