Volume VI

The American Table

Sixty plates from six American regions, each cooked the way the region actually cooks it. Cincinnati chili and Charleston red rice are given the same attention as the cod, and nothing is averaged into a national version. Grams and cups on every recipe, with the per-serving numbers underneath.

Try 48 recipes free — two from every book, including this one.

What's inside

• 4 lb beef chuck, tied
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 onions, quartered
• 4 carrots, chunked
• 3 celery sticks, chunked
• 1 lb small potatoes
• 1 small rutabaga, cubed
• 3 cups low-sodium beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

1. Dry the beef and season it hard. Brown it in the oil on every face, 4 minutes each, until it is properly dark.
2. Lift it out. Cook the onions in the same pot 8 minutes, then stir in the tomato purée for 2 minutes.
3. Return the beef with the stock and bay. The liquid should come halfway up, no further.
4. Cover and cook at 300°F for 2 hours 30 minutes.
5. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes and rutabaga, and cook another hour until a fork slides into the beef with no resistance.
6. Rest the meat 15 minutes before slicing. Skim the fat and boil the liquid down if it is thin.