Taste & Technique

Taste & Technique is a wonderful resource for home cooks and passionate foodies.  Like many home cooks, Naomi Pomeroy is an accomplished chef without formal culinary training and like me, she hails from humble beginnings.  She was seven when she made her first souffle, and learned at a young age how to respect all ingredients, and that even our imperfections can taste good.

This book is also a tome, but you won't want to use it as a doorstop.  She starts with her goes-with-almost-everything sauces like parsley sauce verte, walnut-parsley pistou, hazelnut romesco.   The photos are gorgeous and will, no doubt, elevate your plating.  The recipes vary in the amount of time required, but none are difficult.

Pomeroy said she cooked her way through The Elements of Taste, The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter, and learned a lot from The New Making of a Cook (confit), Chez Panisse Vegetables (how to shop for vegetables) and Pastries from the La Brea Bakery (pate sucree).   We can benefit from her experience, dedication and hard work by cooking through Taste & Technique.

Unfortunately, the paper is cheap and doesn't always lay flat even when the book is closed.  This book is for any home chef looking to elevate his or her cooking.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Much to Celebrate in Celebrations

Hallelujah!  There is much to celebrate in Danielle Walker's cookbook Against All Grain, Celebrations.   Celebrations are a time for joy and gatherings of friends and family, but they can stressful too, because almost all celebrations involve food and traditions.  Some of these foods are terribly fattening, and we tell ourselves, relax, we're here to give thanks.

At the same time, some of these foods are just not good for us, and we need to celebrate our health too.  With Danielle Walker's new book, you can celebrate life and health at the same time.  No compromises.  Mashed cauliflower with garlic instead of mashed potatoes.  The apple parsnips soup shooters sounds like a delicious and refreshing way to greet the new year.  The recipes are easy, the plating artistic, and the photographs lovely.

Walker explains what pantry staples to stock, how to store, and what they are best used for.  For example, cashew flour imparts a neutral flavor and fluffy texture for baked goods.  The grind of the almond flour greatly affects the texture of your baked goods.  Almond meal makes a good bread crumb substitute.  You can benefit greatly from her research and experience.  Next time you have guests that are paleo or gluten-free, no need to panic.  Celebrations is also a valuable resource for anyone yearning to be healthier without sacrificing deliciousness.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Victuals

Victuals is a wonderful cookbook and travelogue.   Ronni Lundy takes you on a journey into Applachia, and shares her tasty discoveries.   Every recipe has at least one story, and Ronni went in search of those stories and recipes.  The photographs are stunning, and we learn a lot about the history of the south, the memory of place, the evolution of food.  This cookbook offers so much that I suggest reading it in sections, but cooking by what's in season and by appetite.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

The New York Earl of Sandwich

The only thing super upsetting about this cookbook is I've never eaten one of Tyler Kord's sandwiches.  You'd be upset too, after reading this book.

OK, the other thing this book upsets is...our preconceived notions of what a sandwich can be.  I didn't grow up eating sandwiches, and it was really something relegated to a school lunch.  Even then, we always liked our food piping hot, so room temperature sandwiches were met with dread and disdain. Ham and cheese. Turkey and cheese.  Nitrates and cheese.   No bologna.

If only Tyler Kord had opened his shop in Akron, Ohio!   No matter, thanks to Blogging for Books, I know better.  Roasted broccoli and lychee sandwiches.  Hmm.  A General Tso sauce over fried tofu that can make you proud and salivate instead of squirm and apologize?   Broccoli falafel sandwiches. Tyler had me at roast beef -- that is, from the beginning -- with his irreverent sear.

This book will make you laugh and crave a zucchini parm sandwich at the same time.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Cook Korean!

Cook Korean is a fun.  You don't even have to like cooking, or be an aficionado of Korean food to enjoy this comic book, but I bet after looking at these graphics, you will feel hungry and inspired.  The recipes are easy and inviting.  Steamed eggplant. Beef and daikon soup.  Watermelon soju.  Robin Ha has your palate covered.  This comic book would make a great gift to a young cook.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Modern Potluck

Potlucks are as American as apple pie.  I remember my mother being baffled by this concept.  You mean, I don't have to cook everything?

You only have to bring one dish.

One dish?!  That's it?  Anything I like.

Yes.

Are you sure?  Please read the invitation again.

One dish.  

Wow.

Wow, indeed.  Of course, as our tastes have evolved, and we've learned more information about healthy, organic, sustainable eating, potlucks have also evolved.   If, like me, you flock with foodies, well, there is pressure to bring something that is worthy of its consumption.  And not to repeat yourself too often.  Oh, that again?

Modern Potluck to the rescue.  The book is filled with easy, healthy recipes that are also easy on the eye.  There's a potato salad for every season.  Roasted beet vegetable salad that looks almost too pretty to eat.  Slow-roasted lemon-soy-honey pork shoulder.  The potluck prep tips are especially useful as it offers advice on how early to make it, where to assemble, how long it can or should stand room temperature before serving.

Potlucks are a modern way of getting together.  This is book is a wonderful resource and inspiration point for anyone who potlucks.

I received this book from "Blogging for Books" in exchange for my honest review.

the naked cookbook

The naked cookbook reminds us that diet is a way of life, from its Latin origin diata.

The recipes are inspired by Ward's own journey back to health, her travels and experiences cooking all over the world including places like the River Cottage and the Ritz.  Don't let her Cordon-Bleu training scare you; the recipes in this book are straightforward and easy.   For example, her Hainanese chicken is one of the simplest recipes I've seen for this dish, and looks no less delicious.

Stripped down, the book cover feels like cheap cardboard stock and the binding cheap glue which feels unfortunate if diet is a way of life, not about deprivation.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.