The New Prairie Kitchen by Summer Miller

New Prairie Kitchen
by Summer Miller [641.505 Mil] 

Food writer, Summer Miller, believes in buying locally grown foods and supporting restaurants that use these fresh ingredients. She decided to find out what is available within a 200-mile radius of her Omaha home. In the process Miller met many interesting people and she shares their stories and recipes.

On a road trip to Hastings, Nebraska she met John and Charlotte Hamburger who own the Back Alley Bakery and learned that the bakery started because of a bet. John challenged a friend to see who could bake the best loaf of bread. They built a wood-fired brick oven in the back room of an old building and started baking. People heard about the project (or perhaps smelled the enticing aroma of baking bread) and lined up in the alley for samples. Eventually the duo stopped giving away the yeasty delights and started selling them. Thus was born the Back Alley Bakery. John shared a recipe for Honey-Oat Bread that is made with Wild Yeast Starter. The recipe for the starter is also included.

Another journey took Miller to the Cleverly Farms near Mingo, Iowa. Larry Cleverly left the farm to work in New York. After 20 years of city life he realized that “New York is not a town to grow old in” and returned to Iowa and started farming the land that his grandparents bought in the “roaring twenties”. Over melon slices and coffee, Cleverly shared his philosophy about growing good food with Miller.

This is a fascinating book with interesting recipes and stunning photos of the Great Plains.

[ official Scalded Milk — Summer Miller blog ]

Recommended by Donna G.
Virtual Services Department

Have you read this? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!