Whatever happened to traditional American cooking?
I know that the entire nation is concerned, if not obsessed, about weight control and cholesterol, and healthy eating. And, I know that there’s just so many ways you can publish stories about meatloaf and mashed potatoes or fried chicken. I know that the food magazines have to provide something new each issue or they loose subscribers.
I don’t mind trying new things. Over the years we’ve had family members introduce us to a cold corn salad, a pesto and goat cheese spread with dried tomatoes, and other recipes that you wouldn’t call old-fashioned cooking. But, it seems to me that you can’t open the page of a cooking magazine without finding the oddest ingredients, now. Have you ever read the food section in a Martha Stewart magazine? That woman never makes due with one ingredient where she can use twenty that you have to order either from her company or from an obscure shop in Manhattan.
Frankly, mango salsa on fish doesn’t do a thing for me. Neither does kiwi chutney.
I don’t need to learn Cordon Bleu cooking techniques. I need to learn techniques for quick, flavorful food that doesn’t require thirty steps, and twelve special pans or utensils to make.
I don’t mind lighter, healthier recipes, but enough with the cutesy stuff!