Typical American recipies for a german hobby cook

That's a bit tough ... many of the flavors of the US are influenced by immigrants. Though the "authentic" gets changed for "Americanized" versions - but it's hard to recommend those.

In the places I am from, there is ...

southern food. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob, candied yams, cornbread, honey-glazed ham, fried catfish, hush puppies, grits, biscuits and gravy, lemon meringue pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, fruit ambrosia (at least I associate all these with southern food)

Cajun food might be harder to replicate if you can't get okra - I wonder if you can other ingredients.

Tex-mex is among my favorite - chili, cornbread, BBQ (but you can't BBQ?). I don't have a name for it but you remind me of a dish I like to make. I make a flat cornbread in a deep cast-iron skillet (no more than 2/3 up the side). In another deep skillet I brown ground beef, add chopped onions and garlic and various Tex-mex seasonings (cumin, chili powder, various peppers, etc - sometimes a dash of cinnamon), add cooked back beans, heat that all up. Then add diced tomatoes (these can't be cooked long), when the tomatoes are soft, pour it all over the cornbread almost to the rim, add shredded cheese on top, and bake it until the cheese melts. But really the cool thing about Tex-Mex is that it reuses the same general ingredients - just recombined in various ways. And sometimes I take leftovers and add pasta and mix it all together (not authentic but it makes a good meal).

And all of the above need fresh sweet iced tea as a beverage.

I'm not that up on different US regions myself. I tend to mix and match things at times, and cook from various ethnic types.

Nithavela said:

That sounds quite good. I've never eaten cornbread before. If you can find the name of that recipie (or even better, the recipie itself) I'd be happy to give it a whirl. Toned down a bit, propably, my parents don't like to eat that hot.

Any good recipies for homemade iced tea, as well?

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Tea is pretty easy. Do you have access to tea bags? I buy Lipton, which is an orange pekoe tea, in little individual sized bags. I like my tea sweet and strong, and my pitcher is oversized (about 1.2 gallons) so I use more than most folks.

I set a small pan of fresh cold water over the heat (about 16 oz water but it's not necessary to measure) and get 10 individual tea bags ready (remove the paper and staples and tie the strings together). WATCH the water! Just before it begins to boil (tiny bubbles are just starting to form on the bottom of the pan and rise up) ... at that point I dunk the bags repeatedly to saturate them and leave them to steep, removing the pan from the heat. (It's best never to let the water boil, and not to reheat it if you get distracted.) I steep for about 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile I add usually about 1-2/3 cups of white sugar to the pitcher with a little water and stir to mix. It won't dissolve yet. After the tea has steeped, pour that in with the sugar water and stir until it dissolves. (My daughter used to beg to taste a spoonful of it at this point!) Then run cold water over the bags (more tea will come out) and add it to the pitcher, stirring, until the pitcher is full. Best served immediately poured over ice. Refrigerate it soon ... if it sits out it will sour. It's best to drink within 2 days ... it gets sweeter and heavy and eventually soured if kept too long.

Some people swear by adding a pinch of baking soda, but I never found a benefit to doing that. It might help if you leave any of the stages too long - it tends to mess it up if you let anything wait too long.

Oh, and some people like to add fresh anise (the whole thing) in the pitcher, or wedges of lemon. I like the pure taste of the tea. If sugar is a problem, you can sweeten with agave instead (if you can get it) but I don't know how much for a gallon - I just put a couple spoons in a glass and since it's a thick liquid it dissolves better than sugar. Granulated sugar will never dissolve completely in cold tea.

That's about all I know about sweet iced tea.


What other recipe were you looking for? Cornbread?

Oh, and if you mean the one I described, I just made it up. I know it's not helpful for sharing just to describe, but I just sort of put t together as I go. I could try to make it in a few days and get amounts written down in an actual recipe though if that's the one you want.

A popular dish of Northern origin, something not so spicy and with ingredients that should be easy to come by, is clam chowder...

Nithavela said:

No clams. We live far from the sea and my parents have an aversion for non-fresh seafood. I think one of them once spoiled their stomach with that stuff. But thanks for the suggestion.

And thank you for the iced tea recipy. I'll propably tone down the sugar a few notches, german taste buds are aquired to less sweetness. I'm actually the only german I know that enjoys root beer (which you sadly can't get anymore in germany since the EU has updated its food laws)

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Yes mine is pretty sweet and very strong. Lifetime of drinking it, so I like it that way (though I know people who use 2 cups to a gallon but that's too sweet even for me).

I actually like it unsweetened as well. But I can't stand it weak. Rather just have water.

I have a few days planned anyway, and I'd prefer to wait for a cooler day to prepare it the Tex-mex cornbread dish, but just let me know.

How about baked beans? I usually make mine with a bit of zing to go with BBQ but Boston baked beans are popular. I couldn't advise on a recipe though but I'm sure plenty are online.


Is mac and cheese a particularly American dish?

Nithavela said:

Baked beans might be a good side dish for the main course. Mac and cheese.. naaah.

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Ha! I don't like "regular" mac and cheese either. They usually advertise how "creamy" it is. I prefer mine firm, drier, and very cheddar-y. But then I'm weird.

I add sweet and spicy to flavor my beans. Usually pinto beans. Sweet is usually some combination of maple syrup, honey, brown sugar. Spicy is usually onion, pepper, ketchup, liquid smoke, dash of Worcestershire sauce, hot mustard. And I like to put slices of bacon on top to bake it. That goes well with Southern or BBQ type flavors. From other parts of the country, they are probably flavored a bit differently. Mine are thick and very flavorful, and you don't eat too much of them. It certainly wouldn't be a main dish.

To me, typical American food is fried chicken, any barbecue (I prefer ribs), and burgers! It doesn't get much more American than a burger and fries. I like to make homemade pizza, but maybe that's more Italian? I also enjoy cooking chicken noodle soup (from scratch) in the winter, very nourishing.

~Anastasia~ said:

Ha! I don't like "regular" mac and cheese either. They usually advertise how "creamy" it is. I prefer mine firm, drier, and very cheddar-y. But then I'm weird.

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Not weird at all! Creamy is yucky!

Phoebe Ann said:

Not weird at all! Creamy is yucky!

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A kindred soul!

One of my favorites:
MEATLOAF WITH MUSHROOM GRAVY

1-1/4 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork (or ground beef)
3/4 c. quick cooking oatmeal
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. tomato juice
some sweet onion, minced
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 (10 oz.) can condensed beef broth
3/4 c. water
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

Hot cooked mashed potatoes

Combine ground beef, pork, oatmeal and eggs. Mix in milk, tomato juice, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Pack firmly into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 F. for 90 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Melt butter and blend in flour. Add broth and water and cook until thickened 10 to 15 minutes. Add mushroom soup, stirring constantly until fully blended. Cook another fifteen minutes (maybe), stirring occasionally.

(I know you have to convert the amounts and temperatures.)

~Anastasia~ said:

How about baked beans? I usually make mine with a bit of zing to go with BBQ but Boston baked beans are popular. I couldn't advise on a recipe though but I'm sure plenty are online.


Is mac and cheese a particularly American dish?

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Well, I had a lot of macaroni and cheese growing up and it's on most children's menus in restaurants.

Crispy Parmesan Chicken Breasts

1/3 cup Kraft 100% Parmesan Grated Cheese (or finely grated Parmesan)
1 1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp. each paprika, salt, black pepper
6 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (1-1/2 lb./675 g)
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

HEAT oven to 400°F.
MIX cheese, bread crumbs and seasonings in shallow dish. Dip chicken in butter, then in cheese mixture, turning to evenly coat both sides of each breast.
PLACE in 17x11-1/2x3/4-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.
BAKE 20 min. or until chicken is done (170ºF).


I usually bake 40 minutes --- I guess it depends on the oven.

The recipes I've been posting are typical of many parts of the USA except maybe the southwest and California. The 1/2 cup raisins are optional.

These are the rolled oats for the meatloaf: