Review The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen

I’m having so much fun reading and cooking from this cookbook. Even though I’m not from the Midwest, south actually, many of the recipes in this book call out to me to make them now. I’ve been heeding that call since the book arrived in July of 2014 and have already made forty-two recipes including one  that captured my families taste buds during tomato season- Tomato Capaccio with Horseradish Ice. I had never worked with fresh horseradish before and enjoyed reading from Amy how to handle the fumes from this vegetable. It was so worth the effort to enjoy this tasty dish made with heirloom tomatoes. I even made her recipe for Horseradish Cream with some of the leftover fresh horseradish.

Carpaccio with Horseradish Ice

I also made the Peppered Pork Roast which was truly the best pork roast I’ve ever had. Even my daughter who rarely eats pork roast raved about how moist, tender and delicious this one was. A few more of our favorite dishes from this book are the Fire and Iceberg Salad, Bread and Butter Coleslaw, (the refrigerator bread and butter pickles are easy and amazing too), New Potatoes with Herb Gravy, Steakhouse Deviled Eggs, Griddled Burgers with Spicy Mayonnaise, and the Chocolate Lazy Daisy Sheet Cake. I even made Pickled Habaneros and then used them in Pickled Habanero Egg Salad. Delicious.

Steakhouse Deviled Eggs

Lazy Daisy Sheetcake

I made the Beer Cheese Soup and  Wild Boar Sloppy Joe’s and my son fell in love with both of them. For the sloppy Joe’s I ended up using a combination of pork and ground turkey. They take most of the day to cook in the oven but the results are amazing and the fried sage on top of the finished sandwich is icing on the cake.

Wild Boar Sloppy Joes

I served the beer cheese soup in home made bread bowls and we loved it that way.

Best Ever Beer Cheese Soup

Most recently I made Johnson Family Swedish Pancakes which I filled with strawberry jam since I couldn’t find lingonberry jam and drizzled them with Maple syrup. My husband couldn’t stop raving about the pancakes.  I love that some of the recipes are ones I’ve seen her make on her show Heartland Table on Food Network while even more are not.

Johnson Family Swedish Pancakes

If you love good food and stories along with your recipes you’ll enjoy this one. I not only love the recipes I enjoyed reading this one from cover to cover and felt I was an honoured guest in Amy’s home and kitchen. I love the projects section of this cookbook as well and someday hope to made the cottage cheese. I remember my Grandma making it and how good it was still warm. There are so many more recipes in this one that just keep calling to me so I know I have many more good eats in my future.

I belong to a Facebook Page run by Jenny Hartin where we are cooking through The New Midwestern Table. If you have the book join us in cooking our way through this wonderful book. https://www.facebook.com/groups/203576403150384/