This volume features the best recipes for more than 400 new American classics. ""Rosengarten's exuberance is infectious, his research thorough, and his knowledge endless. This book pays homage to our country's peculiar and deliciously diverse culinary treasures in new and encyclopedic style. If there is one book that deserves a spot on my top shelf and bedside table this year, it is this masterful tome." It's All American Food The Best Recipes for More Than 400 New American Classics By David Rosengarten Little Brown and Company Copyright © 2005 David Rosengarten All right reserved. ISBN: 9780316159203 Chapter One CLASSIC BROOKLYN-ITALIAN MEAT SAUCE There's nothing all-purpose about this sauce: you serve it on pasta when you want a few ladlefuls of liquid meat! It is exactly what I grew up with in Brooklyn, when the choice at most Italian restaurants for spaghetti sauce was tomato sauce or meat sauce. Later we all learned that this meat sauce has its roots in the renowned Bolognese ragu. But you'd never mistake one for the other. The ancestor from Bologna has a mix of meats in it (sometimes including chicken liver), and much less meat. This Brooklyn-Italian meat sauce has tons of ground beef alone-and, after an hour or so of cooking, a surprising amount of wonderful, hearty flavor. Yield: About 3 quarts 2 tablespoons olive oil1/2 cup finely minced garlic1/2 pound onions, peeled and finely minced1 carrot, peeled and finely minced1 stalk celery, finely minced3 pounds ground beefSalt2 (28-ounce) cans of tomatoes in juice1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste1 teaspoon sugar2 tablespoons dried oregano 1. Place the olive oil in a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauti, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and sauti, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes. 2. Push vegetables to one side of the pot and add about one-third of the ground beef Salt the beef to taste. Cook until starting to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir the beef occasionally, breaking it up as you do. Push it to the side (or over the vegetables) and repeat with the second third of the beef After that starts to brown, push it aside and repeat with the remainder of the beef When all the beef is done, mix the beef and vegetables together. 3. Add the tomatoes with their juice to the pot. Add the tomato paste, sugar, and oregano. Mix well. Simmer for 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes against the side of the pot as you do. 4. When the sauce is done cooking, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or freeze CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR ALL PURPOSES One of the handiest things to have in your dessert repertoire is a fast, easy, reliable, delicious chocolate cake-and that's exactly what the following recipe gives you. You can serve it just as it is-or you can embellish it with your favorite frosting. You can make two of these cakes and put a layer of buttercream between them. You can serve the cake with ice cream, with whipped cream, with mascarpone, with fruit. You can also freeze it, and serve it next month. One of the secrets to its good nature is the inclusion of mayonnaise-yes, Hellmann's(r), or another good brand! The great news is that mayo, though undetectable as mayo in the finished product, adds a lovely mouth feel to any chocolate cake. The following recipe uses a little butter, milk, egg-and mayo-to devastatingly delicious effect. Yield: 8 servings 1 tablespoon unsalted butter1 tablespoon all-purpose flour1 cup sugarl cup good-quality mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's(r)2 teaspoons vanilla extract2 cups cake flour1/2 cup cocoa powder1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon kosher salt3 large eggs1 cup whole milk 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish with the butter. Sprinkle evenly with the all-purpose flour. Set aside. 2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar, mayonnaise, and vanilla with a whisk until blended. 3. In another bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. 4. In another bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then add the milk, whisking to blend. 5. Whisking slowly, add one-third of the flour mixture to the mayonnaise mixture. Add half of the egg-milk mixture, whisking, then another third of the flour mixture. Keep whisking, then finish with the remaining half of the egg mixture, and the last third of the flour mixture. 6. Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack. CRAWFISH CORNBREAD When a Cajun friend mentioned this wonderful but little-known dish to me, I had the wrong idea-for this is not a "bread" at all. It's more like a gratin, or a souffli. It's really most like a killer casserole that's crispy on top, soft and warm and sweet within. It's an amazing side dish in a Louisiana meal, particularly with fish, chicken, and sausage dishes. Yield: 8-12 side-dish servings 1 cup