Product Description

Dori was taught to cook homegrown foods in her mother's kitchen: dishes like Smothered Chicken, Fried Green Tomato Parmigiana, Warm Honey Gingerbread, and Pecan Pie with Black Walnut Crust. And every recipe had a story to go with it.

Along with classic Southern dishes, Dori's own fresh-picked favorites, traditional hearty fare, and cooking for Northerners, Dori includes innovative ways to substitute sugar and fat using fresh fruits and vegetables to add sweetness and flavor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206214 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Narrative and cookery blend delightfully in this mix of recollection and old-fashioned family cooking. Sanders, a novelist (Clover) and grower of peaches, gives her readers a taste of her childhood, growing up with her family on one of the oldest black-owned farms in upstate South Carolina. Some chapters focus on a single ingredient, e.g., corn, peaches or "Wild Spring Greens"; others center around the foods served at country events, from "Family Reunions" to "Hog-killing Time." With the help of Willoughby, senior editor of Cook's Illustrated magazine and coauthor, with Chris Schlesinger, of The Thrill of the Grill, Sanders provides recipes for food as simple as Skillet Crackling Bread or as sweet as Pecan Pie with Black Walnut Crust. Such recipes as Pickled Pig Lips serve more as curiosities than cuisine, while others, like Yankee Okra (with basil, garlic and olive oil) have been adapted for Northern tastes: "Serves 4 to 6 Northerners or 2 Southerners." The heart here is in Sanders's memories: the introduction to "Box Suppers" describes the set menu prepared by single women for the boxes: "four pieces of fried chicken, four biscuits or rolls, two pieces of pie, and two slices of cake." Recipes, from Buttermilk Southern Fried Chicken to Sweet Potato Custard Pie in Orange Crust, provided. 50,000 first printing; 25-city author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Each of these authors offers a different perspective on Southern cooking, but all are determined to clear up some misconceptions about the food that is their heritage. And although little has been written until now about the African contribution to Southern cooking, these books make apparent the tremendous effect of slave cooks on the food of the South. Fowler, an architect-turned-food writer and cooking teacher, went back to the "golden age" of Southern cooking to refute those myths about pork fat and overcooked vegetables. The authors of four cookbooks published in the mid-1800s became his main resources, and with those women as guides, he has written an authoritative and fascinating cookbook and culinary history. Most of his recipes come from early cookbooks, with generous excerpts from their texts; all have been adapted if necessary for modern kitchens: Celery Bisque with Oysters, Fresh Pork with Sage, Annabella Hill's Stewed Tomatoes. Fowler has strong opinions but a sense of humor as well, and his narrative is absorbing; his cookbook/ reference is highly recommended. Novelist Sanders (Her Own Place, LJ 3/15/93) was raised on one of the oldest black-owned farms in South Carolina, near where she and some of her nine brothers and sisters run their farm and now-famous farmstand. Her homey recipes?e.g., Fresh Corn and Tomato Stew, Cantaloupe Peach Conserve?are organized around family stories and events. Sanders has a sly sense of humor, and her observations make engrossing reading. Recommended for most collections. Low-fat soul food may sound like a contradiction in terms, but Carter, a journalist who writes about health, shows there's more to the cooking she grew up on than cream gravies and bacon grease. She includes many recipes from her great-grandmother and grandfather, two of her greatest culinary influences, along with her mother and grandmother?Codfish Cakes, Cucumbers in Peppered Vinegar, Old-Fashioned Biscuits?as well as other Southern specialties and her own more upscale creations. She has lightened some traditional dishes, and while some may prefer to stick to the real thing, there are still lots of good recipes here. For most collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
What might at first glance seem like just another country cooking compendium turns into a delightful crazy quilt of stories and recipes. Sanders' novelist's talents are brought to the kitchen in tales and dishes; each of the 17 chapters immortalizes a cooking tradition, usually one still practiced on Sanders' South Carolina farm. A visit from Aunt Vestula, once an elegant chef for a very wealthy plantation owner near Charleston, provides the family with upscale recipes, such as cool cucumber soup, sauteed shad roe with onions and garlic, and turnip slaw. The Big Eat, signaling the end of summer harvest, supplies all farm workers with helpings of crowder peas with snaps, southern-style chicken and dumplings, celery cake, and more. Information-laden sidebars on giving Christmas gifts, meal economizing, and seed-ordering day are delectable, and her 100 recipes ensure that no stomach ever growls. Barbara Jacobs

Customer Reviews

Gotta love it!
Dori Sanders has found a way to weave food and family in a great cookbook with a history. She focuses on her memories of growing up black and humble and gives an appreciation of the entire experience. The struggles and joys shine through without bitterness. The recipes never take a back seat to the story-telling, and those I've tried are good, simple, and homey. A genuine vision of Southern living.

easy to use, easy to read, delicious to make
I first saw Ms. Sanders on Cooking Live on the Food Network. I was amazed at her Easy Peach Cobbler recipe, so I looked it up online and tried it out. I really didn't think peach cobbler could be so easy to make until I tried her recipe, and to tell you the truth, I'm not a baked fruit fan and I never really even liked peach cobbler since all I've ever had was cafeteria and buffet cobbler. It was my first attempt at making cobbler, and it came out just right. The recipe was nearly fool proof and insanely easy to make.

I gave myself a sample of my first homemade cobbler and all I can say is this- I never liked peach cobbler until I made Dori's cobbler. I love it now. I ran out and bought Dori's cookbook right afterwards.

The recipes presented in Dori's book are all relatively easy to make. It's southern cooking made non-southerner friendly. I come from an Asian background and my husband's and I are both from California, so we're the sorts that don't know what Creole is, and the only icon we can name of southern cooking is Emeril Lagasse.

This cookbook has been a dream, though. It's absolutely delightful! As another commenter noted, don't start your diet now. This is comfort food, very delicious soulful food. Like I mentioned with the peach cobbler, I'm not a big dessert fan and I never liked anything that resembled fruit pie, but oh my goodness, I downed four servings of that cobbler until I couldn't eat anymore. I've been trying to make all her recipes, finding occasions that would best match them, and all of them have come out better than I expected. It's truly a wonderful cookbook when you can't wait to try making something new from it because you've had such delightful experiences with all the past recipes.

Cooking is a joy with this book, and you don't have to be an experienced cook to enjoy making these recipes. Mothers, girlfriends, wives, husbands, sons, and fathers, if you're looking for good recipes that'll make quality food that'll wow your family, give this cookbook a try. If you're looking for a few recipes to try before making the commitment of buying this book, Food Network's webpage offers free recipes Dori shared with Sara Moulton during her guest appearance on Cooking Live. Give it a try, and I'll bet you'll be back for more!

Dori Sanders' Country Cooking
This is an excellent cookbook. Along with the splendid stories there are also wonderful easy to follow real homeade recipies. I have let my co-workers look at the book and both of them now want to purchase the book. Purchasing this book is an excellent choice.