Prairie Home Breads

Symbolic of home and hearth, a good loaf of bread nurtures both the body and the soul. America's great bounty of breads radiates from the heartland, rich in regionally grown grains and diverse in ethnic populations. Its offerings are born of the confluence of Old World tradition, New World ingenuity, and prairie abundance, resulting in a wonderful mix of the tried and true with the new and innovative. To create these 150 recipes, the author visited artisanal bakeries, working farmhouse kitchens, rural church suppers, urban bakeries, farmer's markets, and typical home kitchens. She found yeast breads as varied as Amish Pinwheel Bread and Roasted Sweet Pepper Bread, as well as naturally leavened breads like Brewhouse Bread and whole grain breads like Northern Prairie Barley Bread. There are also buns and rolls, as well as quick breads, popovers, and crackers. This book is filled with rich stories of ethnic and regional culture, agriculture, Midwestern culinary traditions, and warm celebrations of Heartland food and the people who prepare it.