The Great American Recipe

PBS's home cook competition show The Great American Recipe has been renewed for a second season following the end of its first and the revelation of the winner—and a cookbook from the first season is now available.

Damarr Brown, the Chef de Cuisine at Virtue in Hyde Park, wasn't sure he wanted to do Top Chef at first. But after his mentor, Chef Erick Williams, encouraged him to take the opportunity, he went far in the competition. Brown discusses representation in the Chicago restaurant industry and shares his recipe for Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya.

Maya-Camille Broussard loved eating 7-Up cake at her cousin's after school. Now the James Beard Award-nominated baker, whose Justice of the Pies bakery runs culinary workshops for children and donates food, shares a recipe for that childhood treat.

Just a little over a year after it opened, Nobody's Darling already has a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Bar Program. Co-owners Angeles Barnes and Renauda Riddle share the story of their Andersonville cocktail bar, along with the recipe for their Southside Lychee Martini.

Liz Abunaw envisions the coming brick-and-mortar Forty Acres Fresh Market as "the place where you are in the middle of making a dish," like her recipe for buffalo cauliflower, "and you run out of something and you run up two blocks to go get it." 

“It’s kind of like a grassy vanilla, maybe with some coconut or floral overtones,” says author Mia P. Manansala of pandan, which flavors numerous Southeast Asian desserts. That includes Manansala's crinkle cookie recipe, which she shares ahead of an upcoming book.

The new PBS cooking competition show The Great American Recipe spotlights the stories and dishes of home cooks from across the country, and has The Great British Baking Show vibes, according to show judge Graham Elliot, who spoke to us about the series.

"If I have a bad day, I cook," says Jane Reed, whose son Chris started the catering business Bumbu Roux with her to serve the Indonesian food of her youth and the Creole food of his father's. Try an Indonesian recipe from them here. 

“People who go to Senegal say it’s what they remember the most, because it’s easy to remember: yassa!” says Madieye Gueye, the owner of Bronzeville's Yassa African Restaurant. Try a version of the simple Senegalese dish. 

Macaroons are a common treat during Passover, since they don't contain grain and are unleavened. Ursula Siker of the "Jew-ish" deli Jeff & Jude's shares her recipe as well as her love of Jewish delis and inspiraton behind her own. 

Elle Lei of the colorful Chicagoland confectionery SUGOi Sweets has been inspired by the intense seasonality of Japanese desserts ever since she lived there. She shares a recipe for a Japanese treat perfect for spring.

After any service at a Sikh gurdwara, or temple, the free meal of langar is served. Anybody is welcome, and all of the work for the meal is voluntary, an expression of selfless service. Learn about langar and try a recipe commonly served for it. 

Chicago cookbook author and food entrepreneur Anupy Singla shares a recipe for a refreshing drink to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors that takes place around the beginning of spring. "I like to have options of natural sodas and drinks that everyone can partake in," she says. 

Chicago's Masa Madre combine their co-owners' Mexican and Jewish cultures in their baked goods, including in this recipe for hamantashen with Mexican candy flavors for Purim. 

Uzma Sharif likes to infuse her South Asian culture into the chocolates she sells at her Pilsen shop and the Michigan Avenue Starbucks Reserve Roastery. That's true of this easy cardamom and ginger truffle recipe, perfect for Valentine's Day.