I chose to review this book from Netgalley as one of those books acting as a catalyst for getting me back into reading and reviewing after a long hiatus. The cover is one of the things that drew me to this book. A delicious spicy chicken sandwich with dripping sauce and pickles. I can almost taste it and feel the crunch of the chicken crust and the bite of the dill pickle, wiping a smear of sauce from my chin.

Inspired by his Oakland restaurant Kowbird, the author Matt Horn begins the book talking about the humble chicken, and its background and history as a staple in Southern cooking. I never knew that someone could have so much to say about chicken, and with such passion and adoration! He would argue that the chicken is not so humble and is such a versatile protein that can be downplayed or elevated and is a perfect representation of cooking in the south.

The book starts with an introduction to Southern cooking and the chicken's place in it. The collard greens and fried okra, chicken roasted or fried or in chicken and dumplings. This cookbook is broken into eight chapters: "Why did the chicken cross the road?", "The southern roots of Kowbird: Chicken, culture and community", Chicken Mains, Southern Sides, Desserts, Southern Sauces, Gravies for Chicken, and Seasonings for Chicken.

The first chapter walks you through the "chicken's journey through the culinary landscape". It's the ability for chicken to transport you back in time to your grandmother's kitchen with the smell of chicken stew simmering on the stove. Memories of picnics and Sunday dinners. And the author lauds the chicken's ability to "unite": "In a world brimming with differences, the love for chicken is a universal thread. It's a silent reminder that simple joys and flavors bind us all, regardless of where we come from or where we're headed."

The author then offers up a primary on chicken breeds, temperaments and reputations of each, and for what kind of dishes each breed is preferred. His restaurant Kowbird is about community:
"Kowbird is more than just a nod to my Southern roots, though it is about building bridges, reviving communities, and fostering entrepreneurship."

The chapter on "The Southern Roots of Kowbird" explores "chicken, culture and community". The author acknowledges some other culinary establishments around the country from which he's garnered inspiration, such as the hot chicken from Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville or the chicken at Honey's Kettle. He explores the origins of ingredients like black-eyed peas and deep-frying techniques being attributable to the slave trade and enslaved Africans. How many Southern dishes were born of hardship:

Many Southern dishes-- often labeled soul food-- originated during times of hardship, particularly during slavery and the subsequent eras of segregation and economic disparity. Enslaved peoples often made do with the least desirable ingredients, which they transformed into nourishing and delicious meals with creativity and resourcefulness: pork intestines became chitterlings, pig's feet became a pickled delicacy, greens slow-cooked with ham hocks were sublime, and cornmeal transformed into grits.
This cookbook offers up main dishes like Chicken Brunswick Stew, the Kowbird Chicken Smash Burger, and Georgia Peach Chicken Thighs as well as Southern staples like Southern Fried Chicken and Chicken and Dumplings. Dive into Southern Sides like Southern Green Beans with Bacon and Biscuits with Honey Butter. Finish off your meal with Desserts like Sweet Potato or Mississippi Mud Pie, 7Up Cake or Peach Cobbler. Additionally, you have recipes for things like Country Sausage Gravy and Memphis Dry Rub.

My final word: This is such a thorough southern cookbook of everything chicken! It has beautiful photography, passion, history, and above all else, pride. This is a chef who takes pride in his Southern roots and wants to share the flavors and love and novelty and versatility with the world. If you love Southern cooking, or if you just love the humble chicken, I strongly recommend this cookbook!

Will definitely be buying a hard copy of this cookbook! Chicken is probably my most used protein and I really appreciated the new approaches to that ingredient, but I also never felt like I was going out and buying an ingredient that I would never use again. Really solid cook book.

As the book promises, you've never had chicken like this before! Packed with amazing chicken dishes that will take you to the heart and soul of Southern cooking, with some detours along the way. I loved the inclusion of so many side recipes to accompany the dishes too and a section on rubs and spice blends to elevate the chicken dishes too. The chicken is not all fried, there are stews, wings, burgers and so much more as well. A great book for those of you who enjoy dude food and elevate food made from simple ingredients and everyone's favourite protein!

Kowbird: Amazing Chicken Recipes from Chef Matt Horn’s Restaurant and Home Kitchen
Matt Horn
Chicken is my favorite meat, so I was excited to receive a copy of this book from NetGalley for review. Matt Horn is a celebrated chef at his restaurant Kowbird. He takes great pleasure in developing chicken recipes along with herbs, spices and sauces and techniques. His instructions are easy to follow. His book Kowbird is filled with 65 delicious recipes and photographs. He shares tips and tricks for creating his dishes. There are recipes for every occasion from weekday to weekend to special occasions. While the food has a gourmet taste the recipes are fairly simple. There are also recipes to round out the meal and complement the chicken. Desserts, bread, side dishes are included with the chicken recipes.

I love this one. I do find some of the Cajun recipes a little off for me as I am from Louisiana, but the fried chicken and the coq Au vin blanc was particularly interesting to me.

A beautifully photographed cookbook, with an awesome 80s nostalgia feel to the photographs. Each recipe is written in a simple manner making the reader feel confident and capable. The beautiful history of chicken in cooking and the feelings and senses it evokes especially in southern cooking

What a wonderful book! It's filled with fun facts about chicken and recipes that made my mouth drool! I can't wait to try some of the recipes and salute my Southern heritage!

I was provided a copy of the book from Harvard Common Press via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Real food from America's South, Kowbird is a cookbook that will talk to many Americans and introduce a bunch of new comfort foods to everyone else.
I am part of this second group and greatly enjoyed discovering those recipes. Most are a little too heavy for my taste, I will replace buns with crusty French breads, and add large sides of greens, but this didn't remove any of my enjoyment because this book is all about comfort and cosiness.
What I loved most of all is the friendly tone of the writing, inviting you to share a meal between friends and family. It is full of genuine love and that just feels so comfy.

An excellent cookbook!
The way the food is described will make your mouth water, and just when you thought you couldn't get any hungrier, you see the pictures!
I have just about every other recipe marked for trying!

A brilliant recipe book with clear instructions! My boys love chicken and this recipe book is perfect for them! Lots of recipes to still try!

This is an excellent compilation of chicken recipes and other classic southern fare, especially the stuff you’d get in a great restaurant like his, with plenty of sauces, sides and simple but delicious recipes. There are photos of most of the recipes and they are simple and straightforward.

There is no nutritional information for the recipes and there is a complete lack of healthier recipes. Everything is fried, vegetables are sparse, and while Horn talks in the introduction about the evolution of soul food to include vegetarians and sustainability, he doesn’t include these kinds of recipes. That’s a shame, as I would love to taste the dishes he could come up with for readers who love these flavors but want to embrace a healthier lifestyle. Still well recommended for the occasional indulgence.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

If you weren’t hungry before looking at the pictures in this cookbook, I can guarantee you will be when you’re through. Between the easy, authentic Southern recipes to the mouth watering pictures, Kowbird will surely be your new favorite for week nights, date nights, special occasions and everything in between. Go ahead and buy this book - you won’t regret it.

Colorful pictures of each recipe make this cook book pleasing to the eye. The Southern recipes and the easy-to-follow instructions make it a great cook book. Combine the two and you get a book I want on my coffee table.

A book of chicken recipes with a southern US flavour although there are a few desserts sans chicken. Recipes are easy, straightforward and most ingredients will be easy to get anywhere although green tomatoes, in the UK, are seasonable at best or if you grow your own. I've never seen them in shops in my bit of Scotland. Nothing hard about any recipe, many of which will be in other cook books. Measurements include metric and well illustrated with colour photographs. Some useful recipes for rubs and the like at the back. A good cookbook if you especially like chicken and want new ideas in one place. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Overall a very good cookbook with simple, easy to follow recipes that produce good and consistent results. If you want to cook something other than chicken, then this is probably not the pick for you, but if you like chicken and are a fan of Southern cooking, this has many good staple recipes and will be a perfect addition to your reference materials.

The cookbook does feature sides and desserts, so it's not just main course chicken dishes which is often the case when you pick up a chicken cookbook. And there are also rubs and sauces which is a real bonus. I like to try different spice mixes because I'm always hunting for the perfect one, and having a cookbook that offers some of the really solid kind is a bonus.

I have the fried green tomatoes recipe ready to go when we finally get some in store, because it's not the same with a ripe red tomato. And I tested a few recipes and found them tasty and really easy to prepare. I personally don't like bone in chicken, so I substituted boneless and skinless in the recipes I tested, and I found that so long as you stick with the cooking temperature, they turned out just as well as I would assume the real deal does. But if you can and do like to cook with bone in, then no need to substitute. The cornbread pot pie was yummy! I am a fan of pot pies and have made a few variations on this cornbread one, and this recipe was as good as (if not better than) my normal go to.

All in all, well worth picking up and definitely has some good options. I don't consider the recipes all that hard either. Probably going to get my daughter to test out a few, and she's a novice cook.

As a German, this book is very interesting.
The recipes are very different from what we know, but all sound delicious.
I would definitly recommend it to anyone, who wants to get more familiar with recipes from the american south.

Both thoughtful and insightful, Kowbird is a love letter to the humble chicken. Horn shares his love and expertise in an engaging and approachable way. The recipes are elevated but not pretentious, making this cookbook a must have for foodies and home cooks alike.

OK - I'm hungry now!!
The photography in this book is stunning, and makes every single recipe look mouthwateringly gorgeous!!!
I cannot wait to try these recipes myself!! (Some recipes are a bit naff - bit obvious, but theres some more unique and interesting ones too)

I received an ARC of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful cookbook. The pictures are great. The recipes are varied and all look delicious and none of the ingredients would be hard to find.

I grew up south of the South and went to college in a proper Southern college town where I discovered honest fried chicken and fixings (not the stuff you find at a fast food chain) so it was a bit of a revelation to find so many authentic Southern chicken recipes, as well as sides, and sauces come from a restaurant in the California Bay Area. I picked this book expecting the fried chicken but the recipes go so far beyond, including staples like chicken and dumplings, variations like creole chicken jambalaya, and classic sides like sweet potato casserole. All of the recipes list prep and cook times and have succinct easy to follow instructions . The couple of recipes that I tried so far have come out well and take me back to my college years. I am looking forward to trying more recipes from this excellent book.
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.