Synopses & Reviews
They are the stuff of Southern legend: fresh-from-the-oven biscuits, skillet-baked cornbread, and melt-in-your-mouth cookies. Whether you remember these heavenly treats from childhood or are creating them for the first time,
Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking is a tantalizing collection of Southern baking recipes, balancing the timeless appeal of rural Southern flavors and the modern sensibilities of today's baker.
The history of Southern baking is as rich and varied as its culinary offerings. Writer, teacher, and food historian Damon Lee Fowler is immersed in the traditions of classic Southern baking, and each recipe is infused with memorable Southern flavors that are just as irresistible today. From the warm flavor of Sage and Olive Oil Biscuits to moist, dense Brown Velvet Cake with Dark Fudge Frosting to luscious Bourbon Pecan Squares, this book is both a celebration of traditional baking techniques and an up-to-date guide for delicious and innovative creations.
For the experienced baker or a first-time home cook, Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking is the ideal kitchen companion. With easy-to-follow instructions and baking tips, these essential recipes will effortlessly find their way to your table. The richly satisfying Classic Old-Style Pound Cake is easy to master, and the Plain or 1, 2, 3, 4 Cake is a Southern standard with endless variations. Classics such as Savory Virginia Ham Muffins, Coconut Tea Cakes, and Sweet Potato Waffles are perfect for any occasion, and the Southern ingredients in Sour Cream Cheddar Drop Biscuits, Spicy Cheese Straws, and Lemon Pepper Benne Cocktail Bits add a contemporary twist to any social gathering. And of course, there is a delectable lineup of pies, from Lemon Buttermilk Chess Pie to Gingered Apple Custard Tart to Kentucky Chocolate Chip Bourbon Pie. There are also wonderful new recipes for legendary Southern favorites like Savannah Flatbread and Herbed Skillet Rice Bread, and real old-fashioned yeast breads, including Creole Brioche and Carolina Rice Bread.
In addition to the delightful recipes, Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking is an engaging and informative look at Southern baking heritage, tracing the evolution of our favorite foods and flavors to the welcome table of today. Complete with comprehensive resource lists, Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking brings the warm graciousness of the South to any kitchen.
Review
"I love
Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking. Damon has taken heirloom recipes and made them with modern ingredients in a modern kitchen. Here are the great breads of the past that you wish you had grown up with, Chocolate Irish Lace cookies that are 'crunchy with Irish oats and mellowed with a judicious dose of good Irish whiskey,' Hot Water Cornbread (real hoecakes), marvelous Lowcountry recipes like Savory Rice Fritters, and a rice spoonbread that is true comfort food. Damon Lee Fowler is a knowledgeable cook and baker, a talented writer and historian, and a storyteller extraordinaire. You will love reading this book!"
-- Shirley Corriher, author of CookWise
Review
"Damon Fowler has done a masterful job of blending approachable insights into baking techniques with a unique understanding of our traditional larder of ingredients. With this mix of classic and inventive recipes, he has cooked up a book that, like each of its recipes, is just plain good. I think it may be his best one yet."
-- John Fleer, executive chef, Blackberry Farm
Review
"If Damon Lee Fowler had one
ounce of decency, he would come to my house and make
all these recipes for me his very own self. I'm sure after reading
New Southern Baking you'll feel the same way. But, barring that, at
least he was kind enough to write them all down for us! I hear my kitchen calling now."
-- Jill Connor Browne, The Sweet Potato Queen, author of The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner)
Review
"Finally...an updated, comprehensive book that celebrates the South's rich home baking tradition! Packed with simply delicious recipes, invaluable tips, and historical anecdotes, this book belongs in every baker's kitchen."
-- Karen Barker, Magnolia Grill, author of Sweet Stuff
Review
"I am so grateful to Damon Lee Fowler for this magnificent book of Southern baking. Whether describing recipes for quickbreads, stove-top baking, cookies, cakes, pies and pastries, or yeast baking, his warmth of tone and intelligent writing put you squarely into a Southern cook's sensibilities. If you don't know what makes Southern baking special, and even if you do, this book will be a new and happy voyage of discovery for you and should be in every baker's library."
-- Greg Patent, author of Baking in America
Review
"I think this is a wonderful book, I really do -- these recipes are genuine. Everyone interested in good food needs this book."
-- Marie Rudisill, "The Fruitcake Lady" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Synopsis
WHAT'S SO NEW ABOUT THE NEW SOUTHERN KITCHEN?
It's the way Damon Lee Fowler, author of Classical Southern Cooking, coaxes the timeless flavors of yesterday from the markets and kitchens of today. Rather than simply reproduce traditional Southern food, Fowler presents more than 160 mouthwatering, perfect-every-time recipes that take into account how we come by ingredients, the equipment we use to prepare them, and our more health-conscious way of living. The result is food that honors the spirit, the history, and especially the taste of the classic Southern table.
Southern cooking, as most people think of it, doesn't exist. After all, there are as many ways to make real corn bread, gumbo, or fried chicken as there are cooks. So instead of dwelling on hidebound notions of authenticity, Fowler focuses on the essence of great Southern food, combining traditional ingredients in fresh ways and finding nuances of flavor and texture that may have been overlooked before.
This is an unapologetically opinionated and singular book, both colored by the tastes of the author's palate, upbringing, and experiences, and connected to every cook who has ever and will ever step into a kitchen with a Southern idea of flavor in mind. In these pages you won't find nouveau Southern dishes that simply add cilantro or jalapeno peppers. You will find Pecan-Crusted Goat Cheese with Warm Peach Chutney, combining the best of old and new Southern elements. Pan-Broiled Pork Tenderloins with Caramelized Onions honors the Southern passion for pig but uses a lean cut of meat. Asparagus Shortcake and Shrimp and Green Tomato Gumbo put a savory twist on old favorites. Pound Cake Sandwiches, made withBourbon Pound Cake; Orange-Praline Trifle; and Sweet Potato Ice Cream are all soul-satisfying endings to any meal.
With suggested menus and resources for finding the best Southern ingredients, Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Kitchen is sure to become a contemporary classic and an essential volume in every cookbook library, whether north or south of the Mason-Dixon line.