County recipes

This easy chicken etouffee brings Cajun country straight to your kitchen with a golden roux, the holy trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper, and a kick of red pepper flakes. Ready in 40 minutes, served over hot rice.

Old-fashioned braised chicken with carrots, celery, onions, and bell pepper in a creamy milk gravy. Country farmhouse cooking at its simplest, feeding a crowd of 12 from one pot.

Traditional dry salt cure for a 14-pound ham using rough salt, brown sugar, and saltpeter. Includes a 3-week curing process with optional smoking instructions for homemade country ham.

Lapin en gibelotte braises rabbit in white wine with bacon, garlic, and a bouquet garni, then finishes the strained sauce with cream. Old-school French country cooking with no shortcuts.

Provencal braised beef marinated overnight in red wine with garlic, cloves, allspice, and vinegar, then slow-braised with bacon, carrots, brandy, and orange zest. A deeply flavored French country casserole.

Mediterranean portobello burgers pile grilled mushroom caps, feta, Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and greens onto crusty sourdough. A meatless vegetarian grill dinner ready in under 30 minutes.

Cheesy creamy garlic soup caramelizes a dozen cloves of garlic with onion, deglazes with white wine, and purées French bread into a velvety bowl finished with cream and Gruyère. A French country soup with serious depth.

Breaded round steak browned in bacon drippings, then baked low and slow with Parmesan, oregano, and whole onions. A hearty country-style cube steak dinner that turns a tough cut tender in about an hour.

Louisiana crawfish étouffée smothers tender tails in a buttery trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper with a kick of pepper. Serve over hot rice for Cajun country at its finest.

Traditional Scottish currant shortbread squares plumped with orange juice and baked into a buttery, sandy crumb. Six ingredients, an old-country recipe, and a finish made for an afternoon cup of tea.

Old-fashioned raisin pie with brown sugar, walnuts, and a hit of orange drink mix in the filling. The double-crust country dessert often called funeral pie for its long shelf life.

Riewe Schales is an Amish turnip and potato casserole with grated root vegetables, yogurt, milk, and onions baked under whole wheat breadcrumbs. A hearty Pennsylvania Dutch side dish from plain country cooking.

German brown bread, a no-yeast quick bread with sour milk, maple syrup, baking soda, and graham flour for a dense, wholesome loaf. The old-country style brown bread for hearty breakfasts.

Steak and kidney pudding, the British pub classic: cubes of round steak and kidney slow-braised with onions, Worcestershire and herbs into a rich gravy, then topped with flaky pastry and baked golden. Hearty old-country comfort.

Bresse farmhouse chocolate cake is a French country dessert: a thin, almost-flourless bittersweet chocolate cake that falls intentionally, then gets slathered in a glossy reduced-cream ganache and dusted with cocoa sugar.

Irish cheddar crouton gives the tons of flavor and crunchiness into this delicious onion soup.