The Northern Heartland Kitchen

"With this book Beth Dooley has squelched that old, out-of-touch snobbery that claimed, ‘There's no Food there.’ Food is alive and thriving here in the upper Midwest in more ways than most of us can count, and Beth has captured it all on these pages. So if you want to revel in the seasons and in the ingenuity and brilliance of local artisanship, sit back and start reading—then head for the kitchen." —Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of public radio's national food show The Splendid Table® from American Public Media

"The Northern Heartland Kitchen is a truly impressive book—thorough, smart, and enticing on so many levels. Beth Dooley has convinced me that there is indeed a delicious regional cuisine in the Northern Heartland, one informed by those farmers and crafters who fuel the new culinary world everywhere." —Deborah Madison, author of Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers’ Markets

"Beth Dooley just the wrote the book I wish I had written. The Northern Heartland Kitchen is more than just a cookbook. It is a food literacy manual that guides the reader through the diversity of the seasons with well chosen and easy to follow recipes that draw on the very best our region has to offer. While doing so, she also educates us in many of today’s most vital issues as they relate to food, nutrition, the environment, the economy and our future as omnivores in a shrinking world dominated by industrial agriculture. This book doesn’t just reflect the deep seated pride of place that all of us in the Northern Heartland feel; it revels in it." —Lenny Russo, Executive Chef, Heartland

The Northern Heartland is governed by the seasons. The long and cold winter, bright and warm summer, and crisp and refreshing spring and fall shape our physical and emotional landscape. Shouldn’t the seasons and their harvests also shape the way we eat?

Beth Dooley’s The Northern Heartland Kitchen presents delicious and practical solutions to the challenge of eating locally in the upper Midwest. Celebrating the region’s chefs, farmers, ranchers, gardeners, and home cooks, this is the essential guide to eating with the year’s local rhythms. Recipes are organized by season: fall and winter inspire Chestnut Soup and Venison Medallions with Juniper and Gin, while summer harvests contribute the ingredients for Watermelon Gazpacho and Grilled Trout with Warm Tomato Vinaigrette. Other chapters provide instructions on pickling and preserving food, as well as tips on growing your own food and getting the most out of your CSA or farmers’ market. There are also profiles of local farmers, butchers, and chefs who are using new technologies—as well as rediscovering heritage practices—to enrich regional selections.

Dooley shows that far from being a sacrifice, eating in season and locally is a tribute to the year’s changing riches—encouraging an appreciation for the unmatched flavor of a juicy July tomato or a crisp October apple with garden salads, soups and stews, free-range meats and poultry, fish and game, farmstead cheeses, wholesome breads, pastries and fruit pies. The Northern Heartland Kitchen presents delicious recipes alongside the stories and compelling research that illustrate how eating well and eating locally are truly one and the same.

Beth Dooley has been covering the local food scene in the Northern Heartland for the past twenty-five years. She is a restaurant critic for the Mpls/St. Paul Magazine, writes for the Minneapolis–St. Paul Star Tribune’s Taste section, and is coauthor with Lucia Watson of Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland (Minnesota, 2005), which was nominated for a Beard Award. Dooley teaches cooking classes at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three sons.

ContentsIntroduction: Seasonal Appetites 	Ten Good Reasons to Eat Seasonal and Local 	The Local Kitchen Buying a Piece of the Farm: Community Supported AgricultureAutumn Five Fall Dishes in Five Minutes or Less 	Roast Mushroom, Red Pepper, and Sage Pizza 	Smoked Trout, Apple, and Fennel Salad in Cider Vinaigrette 		Smoked Fish on the North Shore 	Fresh Chestnut Soup 		American Chestnuts 	Wild Rice and Wild Mushroom Soup 		Chanterelles 	Curried Vegetable Soup 	Asian Chicken Noodle Soup 		Simple Chicken Stock 	Ginger Squash and Apple Soup 		University of Minnesota Apples 	Prosciutto-Wrapped Tilapia with Sage 		Farm-Raised Fish 	Beer-Braised Pork Chops with Pears 		Seasonal Beers 	Venison Medallions with Juniper and Gin 	Hanger Steak with Fresh Horseradish Sauce 	Sure Fire Roast Duck 		Au Bon Canard, Caledonia, Minnesota 	Duck Confit 	Pheasant with Hard Cider, Apples, and Chestnuts 	Rabbit with Pancetta and Fennel 	Quick Roast Herb Chicken 	Thanksgiving Bird—Fast! 		Turkey Talk 	Turkey or Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Chive Cobbler Crust 	Harvest Stuffed Squash 		Picking Pumpkins 	Heartland Polenta with Mushroom Ragout 		Heartland Polenta 	Barley Pilaf with Chickpeas and Autumn Vegetables 		New Grain Exchange 	Spicy Savoy Coleslaw 	Silky Chard 	No Fail Kale 	Horseradish and Honey-Glazed Root Vegetables 	Caramelized Brussels Sprouts 	Roast Broccoli or Cauliflower with Garlic and Hot Pepper 	Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes 	Wild Rice Cranberry Pilaf 		Wild Rice 	Basic Sage Stuffing 	Savory Cranberry Compote 	Oven-Dried Pears 	Scandinavian Brown Beans with a Kick 	Cranberry Sorbet 		Ruby Fields: The Cranberry Harvest 	Honey Pumpkin Ginger Pie 		Honey, Oh Honey 	Autumn Squash or Pumpkin Bars with Cranberry Glaze 	Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Craisin Cookies 	Mom’s Fall Fruit Crisp 	Applesauce and Apple Butter, Savory and Sweet 		Upsetting the Apple Cart 	Rich Applesauce Cake 	Cranberry Cordial Autumn’s Bounty: Harvest MealsWinter Five Winter Dishes in Five Minutes or Less 	Roast Root Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette 	Potato, Prosciutto, and Rosemary Pizza 		Prosciutto Americano 	Carrot¬ Cashew Bisque 		Sweetest Carrots 	Squash Soup with Thai Spices 	Caramelized Onion Soup 	Hungarian Steak and Mushroom Soup 		Classic Beef Stock 	Winter Vegetable Tagine 	Squash Lasagna with Walnuts and Kale 	Spicy Bean and Hominy Stew 		Heartland Dried Beans and Native Harvest Hominy 	Cornmeal-Dusted Panfish 	Carnitas 		Hello, Goat! 	Sausage with Apples and Onions 	Chicken Braised with Mexican Spices 		The New Breed 	Bison Steaks with Blue Cheese Butter 		Wild Idea Buffalo 		Heartland Blues 	Oxtails with Stout and Onions 		Braising—A Key Technique for Winter 	Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Rosemary 	Porketta with Oregano and Fennel 	Marinated Beef Pot Roast 		We Don’t Farm with Headlights<br