Tag: cooking

Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers by Julia Turshen, David Loftus (Photographer)

Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers by Julia Turshen, David Loftus (Photographer)

Now & Again is a cookbook that utilizes leftovers from the dishes within its pages to create new and exciting meals using the same ingredients in different ways.

I thought the premise was a good one. People who find themselves cooking meals for one or for a large family may have trouble with wasting perfectly good food. Not because the meal isn’t tasty, but because it is tricky to get the proportions correct during the preparation.

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I liked the pork chop recipe from Now & Again. By following the written instructions, the meat was juicy when I ate it, which is a fair indicator of the skill of the chef who authored the book. At least, that’s what I believe.

However, the apple cake I attempted from this book was probably one of the worst things I’ve ever baked. The author said the cake should have the texture of banana bread. That was not the case for me.

To borrow a term from The Great British Baking Show, the cake was stodgy. The texture was all wrong. And it seemed to stick going down my throat. I took one bite and threw the rest away.

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Banana bread, as most lovers of baked goods are aware, has a moist and cake-like texture rather than the feel of traditional grain-based bread.

So, other than a failed baked good, I recommend this cookbook for anyone looking to make the most of their grocery budget and prepared portions.

Happy eating and thanks for reading!

Gourmet Cooking for One or Two: Incredible Meals that are Small in Size but Big on Flavor by April Anderson

Gourmet Cooking for One or Two: Incredible Meals that are Small in Size but Big on Flavor by April Anderson

April Anderson, founder of Girl Gone Gourmet, has compiled a beautiful book of smaller portioned “gourmet” recipes. Photos of each dish are found opposite the instructions.

It is a pleasure to turn the pages and an even bigger one to utilize the recipes found within.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of excellent cooking skills, must be in want of people to eat their food.

All joking aside, I love to cook. I find it profoundly relaxing to turn on some music and start chopping vegetables or heating the oven.

Here’s my two slice sun-dried tomato and sausage lasagna from page 31!

There’s a definite rhythm to cooking- like an ancient domestic hymn. Humanity must eat. Some of us have the good fortune and privilege of eating well.

However, when you’re by yourself, it can be difficult to control the portions. Most recipes assume at least two or more people are going to eat the food. It can be problematic and wasteful.

For example, I’ve made dishes and given three-quarters of it away to family, and still have three or four meals left for myself.

Anderson has scaled back her recipes in order to amply feed one, or so she writes. She reminds readers to have fun!

“Last but not least, I want you to enjoy yourself, because I believe time spent in the kitchen cooking for yourself is time well spent.” pg 10

My pork chops were yummy!

I tried a couple dishes in here (sun-dried tomato and sausage lasagna pg 31 and pork chops with savory apple bacon hash pg 123). They were tasty, but I still had way too much food for just me.

The moderate kitchen skills are required to make these dishes. You’re putting together sauces and browning meat, seasoning and slicing.

I took my time with it and didn’t have any difficulties. Beginner chefs might be a little overwhelmed, but if you take your time, you can do it.

Recommended for foodies who can find their way around the kitchen and aren’t afraid to try recipes that might be challenging. Make sure you have some containers on hand because you will probably still have leftovers.

Thanks for reading!

The Story of the Great British Bake Off by Anita Singh

The Story of the Great British Bake Off by Anita Singh

A sparkling and fun book for fans of the television program, The Great British Bake Off. It is my favorite show to binge watch when I have some free time. Or when I’m not reading. Which, let’s be honest, is not all that often but it does happen.

You wouldn’t think another competition-type show would be engaging, but this one is. The contestants are so kind to each other and earnest in their presentations. Not only do you cheer for all of them, but it makes you want to emulate them in your own kitchen.

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Why don’t I go bang up a bread sculpture that looks like a lion? Oh, that’s right. Because it’s really hard to do, that’s why. But these guys all make it look so easy. Chocolate lava cakes, frosted buns and towers made out of spun sugar seem to magically flow out of the kitchen. We all know it’s not that simple.

Anita Singh takes readers from the creation of the show to the change in most of its hosts in the most recent episodes. We are also treated to funny anecdotes from some of the contestants and assorted behind-the-scenes gossip.

As an American reader, I enjoyed learning more about Paul and Mary’s backgrounds before they joined the show. I mean, perhaps they had enjoyed some success across the pond, but I had never heard of them. I have more context now.

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My favorite part of this fan book were Mel and Sue’s confessions about practical jokes they’ve pulled on Paul. I won’t spoil it for you, but one of them involved his Aston Martin. Le gasp.

Recommended for readers who have watched most, if not all, of the seasons of The Great British Baking Show. I suppose you could still enjoy it without doing so, but all of that viewing time helps you to enjoy this book even more.

Thanks for reading!

Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books by Cara Nicoletti

Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books by Cara Nicoletti
voracious

Voracious is so much fun. It is a foodie’s honest and open-hearted memoir in which she weaves literary themed recipes each chapter and gives a brief summary of the novel that included it.

Pair this with Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist and you’ve got the makings of a bookworm’s dream feast!

The chapters from Cara’s childhood were some of my favorites because they were so relatable. “I cooked and read my way through awkward middle school years, first love, devastating heartbreaks, loss, and change. As I grew older, though, reading and cooking became the forces that broke me out of my shell, allowing me to form strong relationships and connect to the world around me.” pg 5, ebook.

Or this part, when she and her friends find Grimm’s Fairy Tales in the attic: “We were heavily into mysteries and ghost stories at the time, and when we found the book we were certain that we had discovered some dark secret that my parents had tried to keep under lock and key.” pg 13, ebook.

I know that feeling- when I was ten or eleven, I found a copy of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine that Grandma had loaned to my mother and I had read half of it before Mom discovered me, contently turning pages in the summer sun.

She took it away saying, “This is too old for you.” Some humbug mothers, hmph. I learned to hide when I was reading anything that I thought she wouldn’t want me to. Can’t keep a bookworm down.

In this passage, Cara talks about the culinary conundrum of gingerbread houses: “You toil and sweat, smelling good smells and touching sticky dough and mixing sweet icing for hours and your only reward is visual. It seems so wrong.” pg 15, ebook. I’ve always thought that too!

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If I try any of the recipes in here, it’s going to be: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (pg 34, ebook) or To Kill a Mockingbird: Biscuits with Molasses Butter (pg 93, book).

I think that some of the huge list of offerings in this book are only for “brave” kitchen people. Cara includes recipes for homemade doughnuts, ice cream, chocolate eclairs… things that I don’t think I’ll ever gear myself up to attempt. But, she makes me want to try and I suppose that is half of the battle.

Highly recommended for anybody who likes to eat, read, or do both at the same time. I would guess that’s pretty much everybody.

Thanks for reading!