Bragg’s Food Memoir is an Ode to ‘The Best Cook’

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/04/Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:975;s:6:"height";i:975;s:4:"file";s:51:"2018/04/Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:12:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-336x336.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:336;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-771x771.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:771;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-768x768.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:768;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:49:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-311x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:311;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-265x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:265;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-e1524662463555-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:10:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:1024;s:6:"height";i:1536;s:4:"file";s:28:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-336x504.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:504;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:10:"large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:37:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-771x1157.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:1157;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-207x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:207;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-177x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:177;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Bragg__c_Steven_Forster1-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Steven Forster
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1664983944 
1524644816

Pressure cookers and slow foods might be all the rage among home chefs. But for many, cooking slowly with whatever was on hand was a way of life. It was for Margaret Bragg, whose biscuits and short ribs her son, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg, celebrates in his new book – The Best Cook in the World: Tales From My Momma’s Table.

His mother was reluctant to have a book written about her cooking. After all, she told him, there was nothing special about it. But Bragg recounts all of the ways it was special. It’s a food memoir, and each chapter ends with a recipe. When he lived in New York and Los Angeles, Bragg pined for his mother’s country cooking. And he says when his mother became ill, he was determined to preserve her recipes, along with the stories behind the food.

 

Here’s Bragg on slow foods:

 

 

Bragg says the recipes were simple and unpretentious, as was his mother’s cookware. No fancy Instant Pots or other gadgets in her kitchen, he says. Hear why he says that worked, and how restaurant collard greens just aren’t the same.

 

He soon discovered when your mother doesn’t measure out her ingredients, writing a recipe is hard. You have to know the difference, he says, between a speck and a smidge, or a dab and a dob. Confused? Bragg breaks it down.

 

One of Margaret Bragg’s signature foods was a favorite at breakfast: redeye gravy. Here’s how you make it.

 

 

 

States are cutting Medicaid provider payments long before Trump cuts hit

North Carolina and Idaho have cut their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new federal tax-and-budget law takes effect.

At least 5 dead in large-scale nighttime Russian strike on Ukraine

At least five civilians died after Russia launched a major nighttime attack on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, a barrage which officials said targeted civilian infrastructure.

With makeshift jump ropes and hide and seek, kids play to cope with crisis

From Gaza to Ukraine to South Sudan, children play to deal with the stress — and find a moment of joy.

The mother of Colombian corals

Known as the mother of Colombian corals, at 70, marine biologist Elvira Alvarado is still diving — and pioneering "coral IVF" to help save endangered reefs.

25 years after its premiere, ‘Gilmore Girls’ still draws fans to small town Connecticut

Lorelai and Rory Gilmore's fictional hometown of Stars Hollow was born after Gilmore Girls creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, stayed in northwestern Connecticut. The show premiered in the fall of 2000.

Sunday Puzzle: First and last two letters

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Minnesota Public Radio listener Erin Rhode of Plymouth, Minnesota along with Weekend Edition Puzzle Master Will Shortz.

More Front Page Coverage