About this season
A team of cooks travel the country and scour the history books to find the very best traditional and contemporary American dishes, then bring them back to the test kitchen and develop practical, approachable recipes.
Episodes (13)
1. Forgotten Cakes
Aired 6 September 2008 • 25 min
Join us as we re-create two classic cakes from the 1960s. Christopher Kimball shares tips for error-proof baking, and Jack Bishop reveals which milk chocolate won our taste tests.
2. Sunday Dinner
Aired 13 September 2008 • 25 min
3. Feeding a Crowd, Italian-Style
Aired 20 September 2008 • 25 min
Everyone loves Italian food. We share the secrets to making extraordinary meatballs and marinara and the perfect “Sunday gravy”—a slow-simmered sauce with several kinds of meat.
4. Southern Regional Recipes
Aired 27 September 2008 • 25 min
We share the test kitchen’s method for simplifying Lexington-style pulled pork, and explain how to make the perfect Memphis coleslaw—a barbecue-joint staple.
5. Autumn Supper
Aired 4 October 2008 • 25 min
Making pork roast is tricky. Which cut is best and how do you keep the meat moist? Our unique seven-hour recipe will change the way you think about the other white meat.
6. All-American Picnic
Aired 11 October 2008 • 25 min
Learn to make super-crunchy fried chicken. Pair it with our classic potato salad, or with the potato chips that won our taste test of top brands.
7. Easy As Pie
Aired 18 October 2008 • 25 min
8. Steakhouse Favorites
Aired 25 October 2008 • 25 min
Learn the technique for perfectly broiled steaks, and discover the secret to super-stuffed potatoes. Adam Ried tells us which steaks knives make the cut.
9. Barbecued Chicken
Aired 1 November 2008 • 25 min
10. Regional Chops
Aired 8 November 2008 • 25 min
Learn to grill double-thick chops and how to give them authentic smoke flavor. The test kitchen also perfects a recipe for whiskey-glazed pork chops.
11. Midwestern Favorites
Aired 15 November 2008 • 25 min
12. California Grilling
Aired 22 November 2008 • 25 min
Bridget Lancaster teaches Christopher Kimball how to cook a garlicky tri-tip roast on the grill. She also prepares California barbecued beans and Santa Maria-style salsa.
13. Diner Favorites
Aired 29 November 2008 • 25 min
Enjoy a diner-style brunch at home with impossibly tall and fluffy omelets, crusty, deeply browned home fries, and the best store-bought orange juice as judged by our tasters.