Lee Bros Southern Cookbook or Great Coffee Cakes Sticky Buns Muffins and More

Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Author: Matt Le

You don't have to be southern to cook southern.

From the New York Times food writers who defended lard and demystified gumbo comes a collection of exceptional southern recipes for everyday cooks. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook tells the story of the brothers' culinary coming-of-age in Charleston—how they triumphed over their northern roots and learned to cook southern without a southern grandmother. Here are recipes for classics like Fried Chicken, Crab Cakes, and Pecan Pie, as well as little-known preparations such as St. Cecilia Punch, Pickled Peaches, and Shrimp Burgers. Others bear the hallmark of the brothers' resourceful cooking style—simple, sophisticated dishes like Blackened Potato Salad, Saigon Hoppin' John, and Buttermilk-Sweet Potato Pie that usher southern cooking into the twenty-first century without losing sight of its roots. With helpful sourcing and substitution tips, this is a practical and personal guide that will have readers cooking southern tonight, wherever they live. 32 pages of full-color photographs of the recipes; fifty b/w photographs from the Lee Bros.' travels throughout the South.

Publishers Weekly

With respect for the past and an enlightened, modern sensibility, the Lee brothers roll up their sleeves and get elbow-deep in Southern cooking in all its sugary, fried goodness. The authors grew up in Charleston, S.C., where they developed a love for boiled peanuts, shrimp and grits, and she-crab soup. Now New Yorkers (and co-proprietors of a mail-order source for Southern pantry staples), the brothers are aware that certain Southern foods have quite a reputation elsewhere in the country ("grits run a close second to lard as the longest-running joke about southern food, perceived by the uninitiated to be a curiosity rather than what they are: a pillar of southern cooking"). As a result, their approach to the cuisine is steeped in research and never snobby. Many recipes are coded "quick knockout," meaning they use just a few ingredients and can be prepared relatively quickly (Fried Oysters, Shrimp Burgers). More involved recipes (Lady Baltimore Cake; Kentucky Burgoo, a meat stew) come with fascinating asides on their origins. Classy, matter-of-fact and welcoming, this volume deserves a permanent place on cooks' shelves by day and on bedside tables by night, as a browsable primer on a world and its food. Photos, line drawings. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The Lees, frequent contributors to the New York Times, Food & Wine, and Travel & Leisure, are the owners of a mail-order business called the Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalog. Their catalog, and ensuing career as food writers, had a somewhat unlikely start: recently transplanted from Charleston, SC, and homesick for the particularly Southern treat of boiled raw peanuts, the brothers cooked up a big batch in their tiny kitchen on the Lower East Side of New York City and then tried to market them. Eventually, the Times food section ran a note about the peanuts, and their mail-order business was born. They now travel all over the South seeking out regional specialties and writing about their experiences. Once they began developing recipes to go along with their finds, they started playing around with, or rediscovering, other favorite Southern dishes, e.g., Cheese-Grits Chiles Rellenos with Roasted Tomato Gravy and Clover Peach Fried Pies. The brothers are good storytellers, and their cookbook is as entertaining as it is informative. Highly recommended. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More: 200 Anytime Treats and Special Sweets for Morning to Midnight

Author: Carole Walter

With twenty years of experience teaching baking classes and three award-winning cookbooks to her name, Carole Walter is renowned for her meticulous directions, foolproof recipes, and scrumptious results. In Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More, Carole turns her attention to the types of treats that are perfect for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or dessert—the sweets people most like to make at home to enjoy with family and friends.

From pound cakes, coffee cakes, muffins, and other quick breads to scones, sweet biscuits, Bundt cakes, and buckles, Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More features more than two hundred recipes for America’s favorite baked goodies. Carole guides novices and expert bakers alike through irresistible recipes including Butter Crumb Coffee Cake, Country Cherry Honey Scones, and Raspberry Buttermilk Muffins with Streusel Topping. A bevy of old-world classics such as Almond Croissants, Double Chocolate Walnut Babka, and Cinnamon Raisin Rugelach are complemented by what are sure to become new favorites, like Crystallized Ginger Pound Cake, Glazed Orange Ricotta Cookies, and Pumpkin Pecan Loaf.

To ensure success, Carole’s signature “At-a-Glance” boxes outline baking pan sizes, oven temperatures, baking times, and any special equipment you might need. In addition, Carole includes extensive general information on outfitting your own kitchen for baking, common ingredients, and techniques. With straightforward directions and enticing recipes, Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More will have you baking up a storm of treats for every occasion.

Judith Sutton - Library Journal

A well-known cooking teacher, Walter is the author of several other excellent baking books, including Great Pies & Tarts. Her new book offers dozens of delectable, homey recipes, from Whipped Cream Pound Cake to Cape Cod Cranberry Muffins to Black Raspberry Jam Squares. Although many of them are quick and easy, there are also more challenging recipes, including brioche, croissants, and strudel, for passionate bakers. Each chapter opens with a list of useful tips, and the recipes are clear and detailed; Walter also includes an excellent guide to equipment, ingredients, and techniques.Essential for any baking collection.