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78 recipes

Cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls came to the American Midwest with Scandinavian and German settlers, and today they are the Christmas-morning and lazy-Sunday bake of the whole country, as well as the smell that pulls people into shopping-mall bakeries. A soft, rich yeast dough is rolled around brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, baked until golden and spread with tangy cream cheese icing while still warm, so it melts into every swirl. They contain wheat, milk and egg. The usual mistake is baking them until deep brown and firm: the centres turn dry. Take them out when golden on top and the middle roll feels soft and springy, or a thermometer in the centre reads about 88 °C. Chef's tip: cut the log with a length of unflavoured dental floss slid underneath and crossed over the top; it slices cleanly without squashing the spiral.

65 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Classic diner cheeseburger

The cheeseburger is the backbone of American roadside diners and summer cookouts, from Los Angeles drive-ins to New Jersey lunch counters. This one is the thick diner style: a loosely packed beef patty seasoned only with salt and pepper, seared hard on a hot griddle, topped with slices of melting cheese and stacked with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and a tangy burger sauce in a toasted bun. The usual mistake is overworking the mince and pressing the patty in the pan: it squeezes out the juice and turns tight and dry. Shape gently, press a dimple in the centre so it stays flat, and flip only once. Beef mince must be cooked through to 71 °C, when the juices run clear. Chef's tip: season the patties only on the outside, right before they hit the pan; salt mixed into the mince turns it springy like sausage.

27 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yankee pot roast

Yankee pot roast is the Sunday dinner of New England, simmering through the afternoon in Vermont farmhouses and Boston family kitchens while the windows steam up on a cold day. A whole chuck roast is browned hard, then braised low with onions, carrots and potatoes until it falls apart under a fork, and the liquid turns into a dark, beefy gravy. The usual mistake is pulling it too soon: chuck at 'cooked' temperature is still tough and stringy, and only softens after about three hours, when the connective tissue melts. It is done when a fork twists easily into the meat and the slices pull apart. Serve with the vegetables, gravy and a hunk of bread; leftovers become hash or sandwiches. Chef's tip: dry the beef very well and brown it in two stages, fat side first, until it is the colour of a dark crust of bread; that crust is where all the gravy's flavour comes from.

235 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Brown sugar glazed ham

A glazed ham is the centrepiece of Easter lunch and Christmas dinner across the American South and Midwest, carved at the table with scalloped potatoes, green beans and soft rolls, and turned into sandwiches and split-pea soup for days afterwards. It is pork: a fully cooked, bone-in smoked ham is warmed slowly under foil, then brushed with a glossy brown sugar, Dijon and pineapple glaze and baked until lacquered and sticky. The common mistake is glazing from the start: the sugar burns black long before the centre is hot. Heat the ham first and glaze only for the last 30 minutes. Heat until the centre reads 63 °C, then rest for 15 minutes before carving. Chef's tip: score the fat in a 2 cm diamond pattern only through the fat, not into the meat; the glaze pools in the cuts and caramelises into crisp, sweet edges.

165 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Club sandwich

The club sandwich was born in the gentlemen's clubs and grand hotels of New York in the late 1800s and is still on every American hotel room-service menu and diner board. Three slices of toast hold two layers: roast turkey or chicken with mayonnaise in one, crisp pork bacon with lettuce and tomato in the other, held with cocktail sticks and cut into neat triangles. The common mistake is building it on untoasted bread, which goes soggy and slides apart. Toast all three slices until firm and golden, cook the bacon until crisp and rigid, and pat the tomato dry. Serve with chips or crisps and a dill pickle. Chef's tip: spread mayonnaise right to the edges of the middle slice on both sides; it glues the layers so the quarters stand up tall when you cut them.

27 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Waldorf saladApple, celery and walnut salad

The Waldorf salad was first served in the 1890s at a grand hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York, and it has stayed on American tables ever since, especially at Thanksgiving buffets, Easter lunches and summer picnics. Crunchy apple and celery, juicy grapes and toasted walnuts are folded into a creamy dressing that is part mayonnaise, part yoghurt, sharpened with lemon. It contains tree nuts (walnuts), egg (mayonnaise) and milk. Serve it on lettuce leaves as a starter or beside a roast. The usual mistake is dressing it hours ahead: the apples weep, the walnuts go soft and the salad turns watery. Dress it no more than 30 minutes before eating. Chef's tip: toss the cut apple in the lemon juice the moment you chop it; it stops browning and seasons the apple from inside.

21 min

American Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fudgy chocolate brownies

Brownies are said to have started in a Chicago hotel kitchen in the 1890s, and today they turn up at every American bake sale, school fundraiser, office birthday and late-night craving. This fudgy style uses lots of melted dark chocolate and butter with very little flour, so the middle is dense and almost truffle-like under a thin, shiny, crackled top. They contain egg, milk (butter) and wheat. Serve them just warm with vanilla ice cream, or cold from the tin with a glass of milk. The common mistake is baking until a skewer comes out clean: by then they are cakey and dry, because they keep cooking in the hot tin. Pull them when a skewer pushed in 5 cm from the edge shows moist, sticky crumbs. Chef's tip: beat the eggs and sugar hard for a full 3 minutes before adding the chocolate; the dissolved sugar is what forms that paper-thin crackly crust.

40 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chocolate chip cookies

The chocolate chip cookie was invented in a Massachusetts roadside inn kitchen in the 1930s, when a cook stirred chopped chocolate into butter cookie dough, and it has been the cookie of American cookie jars, school lunches and after-school snacks ever since. This version uses more brown sugar than white, so the edges crisp up and caramelise while the centre stays soft and chewy, with pools of melted chocolate. They contain wheat, egg and milk. Eat them warm with cold milk. The usual mistake is baking until they look done in the middle: take them out when the edges are golden and the centres still look pale and puffy, because they firm up on the hot tray. Chef's tip: chill the dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight; the flour soaks up moisture, the cookies spread less and taste more of toffee.

27 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

BLT sandwich

The BLT is the lunch-counter sandwich of every American diner from New York to Los Angeles, at its best in late summer when tomatoes are ripe and heavy. It contains pork: thick rashers of streaky smoked bacon cooked until crisp, layered with crunchy lettuce and thick tomato slices on toasted bread spread generously with mayonnaise. The usual mistake is using limp, pale bacon: it chews like leather and goes soggy. Cook it slowly until it is evenly browned, rigid and stops bubbling, then drain it. Salt the tomato slices lightly so they taste of summer. Serve with crisps and a pickle. Chef's tip: bake the bacon on a rack in the oven at 200 °C; it cooks flat and evenly crisp with no spitting pan.

25 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thanksgiving roast turkey

On the fourth Thursday of November, from Massachusetts to California, the roast turkey is the centre of the Thanksgiving table, carved beside stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. This recipe dry-brines a 5–6 kg bird with salt in the fridge for two days, then roasts it with herb butter under the skin for juicy meat and crackling golden skin. The commonest mistake is roasting by the clock and either serving it underdone or cooking the breast to sawdust. Use a thermometer: it is safe when the thickest part of the thigh, not touching bone, reads 74 °C and the juices run clear. Thaw a frozen bird in the fridge (allow 24 hours per 2 kg) and never stuff the cavity; bake the stuffing separately. Chef's tip: leave the salted turkey uncovered in the fridge for the last night; the skin dries like parchment and roasts shatteringly crisp.

240 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Blueberry muffins

Blueberry muffins are the morning bake of New England, where wild blueberries grow across Maine in late summer, and they sit by the till of every American coffee shop. This bakery-style version starts in a hot oven so the tops dome high, with a soft, lemony crumb, pockets of jammy berries and a crunchy sugar crust. They contain wheat, egg and milk. Eat them warm for breakfast or with coffee mid-morning. The common mistake is stirring the batter smooth, which makes muffins tough and full of tunnels; fold just until the flour disappears, lumps and all. Doneness: they are ready when the tops spring back and a skewer comes out clean apart from berry juice. Chef's tip: toss the blueberries in a spoonful of the flour before folding them in, so they stay suspended instead of sinking to the bottom.

37 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sloppy joes

Sloppy joes are a mid-century American family supper, beloved at school cafeterias, scout camps and quick Friday dinners from Iowa to Ohio. Beef mince is browned with onion and green pepper, then simmered in a sweet, tangy tomato sauce until it is thick enough to heap into a soft burger bun without soaking straight through. The usual mistake is leaving it too wet: the bun collapses at the first bite. Simmer until a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a clear trail for a second or two. Brown the mince until no pink remains; it should reach 71 °C. Serve with coleslaw, pickles or crisps, and have napkins ready. Chef's tip: toast the cut sides of the buns in a dry pan first; the crisp surface holds back the sauce long enough to finish the sandwich.

30 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Classic meatloaf

Meatloaf is the Midwest's great weeknight and Sunday-supper dish, served in Ohio and Iowa farmhouse kitchens and in diners from Chicago to Cleveland, always with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy or ketchup. This version uses beef mince softened with milk-soaked bread and grated onion, baked free-form on a tray so every side gets a sticky, tangy ketchup and brown-sugar glaze. The common mistake is packing the mixture hard in a deep tin: it steams, sits in its own fat and turns dense and rubbery. Mix lightly with your fingertips, shape it loosely on a lined tray and bake until the centre reads 71 °C on a thermometer; the juices run clear and the slices hold together after a 10-minute rest. Leftovers make the best cold meatloaf sandwiches the next day. Chef's tip: brush on half the glaze at the start and the rest for the last 15 minutes, so you get a deep caramelised layer under a glossy fresh one.

85 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Boston baked beans

Boston earned the nickname Beantown from this pot: small white beans baked all day with salt pork, molasses and mustard, traditionally put in the oven on Saturday morning to be eaten that night with brown bread and kept warm for Sunday. The pork, cured belly with its rind, melts into the beans and gives a savoury richness against the dark, sweet sauce. Chef's tip: keep the beans just covered with water as they bake; if they dry out on top they turn hard and leathery.

435 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Palm Springs date shake

The Coachella Valley around Palm Springs and Indio grows most of America's dates, and roadside date farms along the desert highway have sold this shake to thirsty drivers since the 1930s. Soft Medjool dates are blended with vanilla ice cream and milk into a thick, caramel-flavoured shake. Chef's tip: soak the chopped dates in a little warm milk for 10 minutes first, so they blend completely smooth instead of leaving chewy bits in the straw.

10 min

American Drinks

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Black and white cookies

The black and white is a New York bakery fixture, a saucer-sized, soft, lemony cookie that is closer to a sponge than a biscuit, iced half in vanilla and half in chocolate. Delis and Jewish bakeries from the Upper West Side to Brooklyn sell them by the till. Chef's tip: ice the flat underside, not the domed top, and do the vanilla half first so the chocolate doesn't bleed into it.

45 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Memphis dry-rub ribs

Memphis is famous for pork ribs served 'dry': coated in a spice rub of paprika, garlic and chilli and slow-cooked until tender, then dusted with more rub instead of sauce. Basement rib joints downtown and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest every May keep the style alive. This oven method gets close to the smoked version. Chef's tip: peel the papery membrane off the back of the ribs before rubbing; it blocks the seasoning and turns leathery.

230 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Eastern Carolina pulled pork

In eastern North Carolina barbecue means pork, slow-smoked whole hog or shoulder chopped and dressed with a thin sauce of cider vinegar, chilli flakes and pepper, with no tomato at all. It is served at pit-cooked joints around Ayden and Goldsboro with slaw and hushpuppies, and piled into soft buns at cookouts. This oven version slow-roasts a pork shoulder until it pulls apart. Chef's tip: dress the meat with the sauce while it's still warm, so it soaks right in.

440 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Appalachian apple stack cake

Apple stack cake is the old mountain wedding cake of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee: legend has it neighbours each brought a layer, and the bride's popularity was judged by the height. Six thin, biscuit-like layers flavoured with sorghum or molasses and ginger are stacked with a thick filling of cooked dried apples, then left for two days so the layers soften into a moist, spiced cake. Chef's tip: don't cut it the day you make it; the resting time is part of the recipe.

105 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

New Mexico red chile sauce

Ask for 'red or green?' in any New Mexico café and red means this sauce, made from the sun-dried chile pods that hang in long ristras outside adobe houses in Chimayó and Hatch every autumn. The pods are toasted, soaked and blended into a smooth, brick-red sauce that is earthy and gently sweet rather than smoky, poured over enchiladas, eggs, beans and burritos. Chef's tip: toast the pods for only a few seconds a side; burnt chile makes the sauce bitter.

45 min

American Basics

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St. Louis gooey butter cake

Gooey butter cake is a St. Louis institution, sold in squares at south-side German bakeries and baked for church coffee hours and Christmas mornings. Legend says a baker in the 1930s got his proportions wrong and the mistake sold out. A thin, chewy yeast-free cake base is covered with a sweet cream cheese and butter layer that bakes into a crackly, shiny top over a gooey middle. Chef's tip: take it out while the centre still jiggles; the goo is the point, and an overbaked one is just a sweet sponge.

55 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pepper cabbage

Pepper cabbage is the oil-free, vinegar-dressed slaw served alongside chicken pot pie and roast pork dinners in Berks and Lancaster counties, and at fire-hall suppers all over south-eastern Pennsylvania. Finely shredded cabbage is tossed with sweet peppers, celery seed, sugar and vinegar, so it is crisp, cold and sweet-sharp. Chef's tip: shred the cabbage as fine as you can; thick ribbons never soak up the dressing.

15 min

American Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Wisconsin kringle

Kringle came to Racine, Wisconsin, with Danish bakers in the 1800s, and the town's bakeries still ship thousands of these flat oval pastry rings at Christmas. Thin layers of buttery laminated dough wrap a pecan and brown sugar filling, and the top is glazed with white icing. It is the official state pastry, eaten with coffee at breakfast. Chef's tip: keep the dough and butter cold at every fold; if the butter melts into the dough you lose the flaky layers.

90 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Philadelphia sticky buns

Philadelphia's sticky buns descend from the 'schnecken' of German bakers, and Reading Terminal Market still sells them warm by the tray, glistening with caramel and pecans. Soft rolls of cinnamon-raisin dough are baked on top of butter and brown sugar, then flipped so the hot caramel runs down over them. Chef's tip: turn them out within 5 minutes of leaving the oven; once the caramel cools it glues the buns to the tin.

70 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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