Ran into this book in a winery gift shop and was instantly hooked by the photos and unique flavor profile. I don't review cookbooks unless I make at lRan into this book in a winery gift shop and was instantly hooked by the photos and unique flavor profile. I don't review cookbooks unless I make at least 10 recipes. By my count, I've already made 20 in just a few short months. That alone is a testament to how great this cookbook is.
Yes, there are a lot of sauces involved with this cuisine. Yes, you will need to source a few frequently used specialty ingredients ahead of time (I mail ordered). Yes, there are sometimes sub-recipes of sub-recipes that require annoying page-flipping. But if you read the recipe in advance and prep the sauces a day or two beforehand, you'll be in good shape for the day of. I often ended up with extra sauce and popped it into the freezer for convenient future use. These recipes are all about the sauces. And they're sooo tasty and readily adaptable to incorporating into daily use beyond this cookbook.
It's pretty much all been a flavor explosion. The only recipe I was truly disappointed in was the rotisserie chicken as the marinade flavor didn't take at all, but I also didn't truly follow the recipe. I didn't sous-vide - cooking in plastic is just not my thing, seems creepy and carcinogenic.
What I've made:
Main: - shrimp dumplings with soy-lime sauce & rocoto oil (yum!) - mixed seafood ceviche with aji amarillo tiger's milk (yum!) - grilled tuna steaks with roasted red papper anticucho sauce - grilled Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken (meh) - Peruvian-style burger with aji amarillo yogurt & pickled cucumbers (yum but messy) - Peruvian beef stir-fry with red onions, tomatoes, scallions & cilantro (made 2x and will continue to make regularly) - braised lamb with seco sauce & canario beans (easy and fantastic) - warm vegetable quinoa salad with miso-lime dressing (can really play with this one, conceptually)
Sauces (all easy and great and useful beyond the immediate recipe): - anticucho sauce - roasted red bell pepper anticucho sauce - aji amarillo-cumin yogurt sauce (yum and super simple, will be putting into regular rotation for use on just about everything. Just give it a day or two in the fridge for the flavors to meld) - saltado sauce - cilantro-beer seco braise - miso-lime dressing
Sub-recipes: - Pureed garlic (useful for so much; store extra in freezer) - aji amarillo leche de tigre
Sides: - quick pickles - confit garlic (yum! the flavored oil is an extra bonus) - canarios beans
Beverages: - avocado daiquiri (thin it a bit and first strain it into a pourable container before pouring into serving glasses)
Great writing, a superb mélange� of memoir and food writing. She covers her life in foodie memories from earliest childhood through 1943. I was particGreat writing, a superb mélange� of memoir and food writing. She covers her life in foodie memories from earliest childhood through 1943. I was particularly moved by her accounts of the rising evil in her mostly European environment from the 1930's on. Some of her stories will move you to tears.
That being said, I'm not quite sure I'd like her if I met her in person. She's a product of her times, of course, but she comes off as overly critical of others and a bit too ingrained into the class system for my taste.
I loved her scathing description of airplane food. If only she could see us now......more
SHORT STORY: lots of praise and one huge drawback.
I purchased this book in January 2011 for two main reasons: 1) we use our slow cooker regularly (weeSHORT STORY: lots of praise and one huge drawback.
I purchased this book in January 2011 for two main reasons: 1) we use our slow cooker regularly (weekly), and 2) we subscribe to Cooks Illustrated magazine and web site and have come to trust and rely on them. Over the past two years, I’ve slow cooked my way through 21 of the 200 recipes, or 10% of the book. The recipes have been almost entirely knockouts, as one would expect from the folks at CI.
These are not 30-second “dump in a cup of ketchup and a can of cream of mushroom soup�-type recipes. If you’re looking for fast food solutions, look elsewhere. Or better yet, don’t bother at all. It’s recipes like that that have given the slow cooker a bad reputation. But if you appreciate good food and want to put your appliance thorough the paces to see what it can really do with good ingredients and a modest amount of time invested up front, this is the book for you (along with Slow Cooker Ready & Waiting by Rick Rodgers, which I highly recommend).
The big problem is the quality of the book itself. It feels luxurious; thick, heavy, waxy pages with built in bookmarks on both end leaves. But don’t do what I did and accidentally spill ¼ cup of coffee on the book (it was early and I was in a weekday rush; hadn’t yet gotten my proper caffeine fix). Backsplash is a normal hazard for cookbooks. I didn’t drop the book in the tub, folks � just got it modestly wet. The text washed instantly and almost entirely away from the exposed page. The text is not imbued in the pages, just coated lightly onto the surface. The waxy coating immediately failed and the pages that got wet quickly turned into gooey, gluey pulp. Poor quality paper. I expect better from the people who expect so much themselves from equipment, ingredients, and recipes. I like this book so much that I’m tempted to get a new copy, but I’m also stubborn enough not to. Perhaps a CI staff member will read this and take pity on me...
Super brief notes on each recipe I’ve made follow below. -------------------------------------------------------- Soups: 1. Beef and Barley Soup � the best! Double the barley. 2. Creamy Tomato Soup � excellent and easy. Double it. 3. Black Bean Soup � excellent. Even better after 1-2 days. 4. Ultimate Lentil Soup � just okay. Wouldn’t make again. 5. Split Pea Soup � perfect. Cut carrots smaller than called for.
Stews: 6. Chicken Gumbo � tasty. It’s all about the roux. 7. Chicken Stew with Sausage and White Beans � “Good�. Not particularly memorable. 8. Fancy Pork Stew with Fennel and Prunes � Superb. More meat and fennel next time. 9. Mexican-Style Pork and Hominy Stew � Okay. I’ve made better pozoles. 10. Brazilian Black Bean and Pork Stew � Fantastic! Smoky. Even better the next day.
Braises: 11. Balsamic-Braised Chicken with Swiss Chard � Excellent. Use more chard. Splash a bit of balsamic when serving, as the balsamic loses some brightness when cooked. 12. Kimchi-Braised Chicken Thighs � “pretty darn good!�. No need to defat. 13. Swiss Steaks with Onions and Mushrooms � Meh. Watery, bland sauce. Meat not very tender. 14. Pork Loin with Cranberries and Orange � super easy. Good sauce, but pork is ultimately just a boring meat.
Chilis: 15. Moroccan Beef Chili with Chickpeas and Raisins � really flavorful, but no tooth to it. Next time, use ½ ground meat, ½ stew meat. Double it. 16. New Mexican Red Pork Chili � soooo good! A keeper.
Barbecue Favorites 17. Easy Barbecued Ribs- a keeper! Don’t short change the broiling time at end. 18. Fiery Hot Wings � keeper! Loved the chili spiciness underlying the hot sauce. Falls off the bone.
Enchiladas, Tacos, and More 19. Smoky Shredded Chipotle Beef Filling � excellent. Added a bit of tapioca to thicken. Add more sauce than called for to shredded meat at end.
Casseroles 20. Sausage Lasagna � a winner! Classic.
On the Side 21. Boston Baked Beans � very nice! Use less water next time. Easy!
Note: I have not yet cooked from these sections: � Pasta Sauces � Meatballs, Meatloves, and More � Eggs and Brunch � Desserts � Basics
I have a purely personal, purely artificial rule that it takes at least 10 recipes to say one has read a co[ongoing review - 11 recipes made to date]
I have a purely personal, purely artificial rule that it takes at least 10 recipes to say one has read a cookbook. [Corollary rule - any cookbook not worth making 10 recipes from has no place on your bookshelf.]
The Recipes (ongoing)
1. Falafel (ta'amia for my Egyptian friends) (12/22/12): My husband is a falafel guru and I was anticipating comments about how they "aren't like Mahmouds in Queens", weren't crunchy enough, yadda yadda. Nope. They were perfection.
2. Zhoug (12/22/12): Love this easy-to-make condiment. Reminds me in some ways of chimichurri. I think it needed a couple more chiles. The authors anticipated this, saying, "It should also be very hot, so use more chiles if yours aren't."
3. Tahini sauce (12/22/12): Perfect!
4. Spiced chickpeas (1/20/13) & fresh vegetable salad (12/22/12): I made the two parts to this dish on separate dates. The veggie salad is easy to make and bursting with freshness. The dressing has serious lemony attitude. The spiced chickpeas are okay, kinda weird. I thought they'd come out crunchy but they didn't. A bit too much allspice if you ask me. More of a nibbler item than a side dish.
Update: the spiced chickpeas are excellent with a daub of tahini sauce.
[image] Falafel, zhoug, tahini, and fresh vegetable salad
[image] Falafel, zhoug, tahini, and fresh vegetable salad
[image] Spiced chickpeas
5. Swiss Chard and Wheat Berries with Pomegranate Molasses (12/24/12). Served as a side to a Greek lamb pastitsio on Christmas eve. Festive colors and great taste. Love the nutty chewiness of wheat berries. But - I don't think the greens needed to nearly as long as it called for. Will make again, adding greens later in the process.
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6. Clementine and Almond Syrup Cake (12/24/12): THIS IS THE BOMB!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. Wow. Wow. I added a teaspoon of almond extract because almond extract makes everything better. Used Bob's Red Mill almond flour - no need to manually grind almonds. This cake is perfection. Serve to guests.
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7. Roasted chicken with clementines & arak (12/31/12): Very, very nice. Used anisette liquor as a substitute for arak. Anisette is in same family, just sweeter and with lower alcohol. Used my Spanish cazuela, roasted for a full hour once oven came to temperature vs. the recipe's recommended 35-45 minutes. I still think it needed 15-20 minutes more time.
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8. Parsley & barley salad (1/19/13): I really need to use barley more. What a wonderfully nutty and nubby grain. Nice fresh flavors. I might double both the feta marinade and the veggie dressing next time. I doubled the barley and thought it just the right amount.
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9. Kufta b'siniyah (1/19/13): I was expecting spicy because of the chile, but they were more spicy in a baking sort of way - the allspice and cinnamon dominate. Very nice, especially with pita bread to sop up all the tahini and paprika.
But - when did pine nuts become so expensive?!? $8 for a 2-ounce bag! I got only 1 bag and didn't have enough to dribble on top so substituted almonds for the garnish.
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10. Roasted butternut squash & red onion with tahini and za'atar (1/20/13): This is SOOOOOOO Good! And easy. The squash is super tender. Who knew squash and tahini is such an amazing combo? Keeper. I used almond slivers in place of crazy expensive pine nuts.
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11. Mejadra (1/21/13): The hubby committed heresy and squirted sriracha on it. I liked but didn't love it. Allspice and coriander spices dominate. Not sure my onions were crispy enough.
[image]
12. Ka'ak (6-7/14). Made it twice for two parties. Terrific savory cookies with a thick parsley/yogurt/lemon/garlic spread. We upped the parsley and cumin. Party people loved it. Pronounce it carefully!
The Book
The book is drop dead gorgeous; it has that wonderful "pillow cover" that makes you want to take a nap on it. I want to dive into each and every photo - and there are lots of them. The authors impart the rich back story of each and every dish. There is an appropriate emphasis on veggie dishes but meat has its place.
Ingredients are not all that exotic - most can be found in a decently-sized supermarket. There are a few items that might require a trip or a mail order. We drove an hour into Kansas City and spent a wonderful hour at a Middle Eastern market gathering interesting items for future dishes. I scored kunafa pastry!
Per my above rants, pine nuts are INCREDIBLY expensive in the grocery store ($8/2 oz) and a very common ingredient in this cookbook. I ordered a 1 1/2 lb bag of Kirkland pine nuts from Amazon; am hoping they're good quality (and not the kind that give you pine nut syndrome). ...more
I received my copy on October 8th and spent a month reading and cooking from it. This review includes 10 recipe reviewDisclosure: Won on First Reads.
I received my copy on October 8th and spent a month reading and cooking from it. This review includes 10 recipe reviews with photos, followed by a summary review.
RECIPES MADE
Recipe 1: Orange, red onion & basil salad (p. 132, made 10/20/12): Easy, colorful, fresh, tasty. For more efficient grazing, I recommend cutting up the orange into bite-size chunks and the onion into slivers. [image]
Recipe 2: Potted shrimps (p. 49, made 10/20/12). We're pretty bold with our spices, but a full teaspoon of cayenne packs quite the kick. We both coughed several times as it hit our throats. Made molasses bread to go with it, as recommended. Yum, but then how can you go wrong with butter and shrimp? Easy recipe. My ramekins are 7 oz so this recipe filled only 3 of them. Would double next time. Calls for "brown shrimp", something we're not gonna find here in the states. Used 31-40 count shrimp but I think they should have been smaller.[image]
Recipe 3: A simple (chicken) dish for bachelors & widowers to impress their guests (p. 103, made 10/21/12). Super simple with tremendously tasty aromatics and sauce. This recipe has great potential and I'll be making it again soon, but a few critical changes are in order. First, the recipe calls for skin side down, but this just yields pasty wet skin. Skin side up, folks! Also, 45 minutes at 350F just ain't gonna cut it. More like 400-425F for 1:15 hrs. [image]
Recipe 4: Peas with pancetta (p. 94, made 10/21/12). Easy peasy perfection. Adding this one to our permanent repertoire. [image]
Recipe 5: A really good fish pie (p. 40, made 10/22/12). This recipe illustrates a major challenge with the book as a whole: A major ingredient is smoked haddock; indeed, it is "the backbone of this pie" - but where is one to find smoked haddock in the States? You'll find related discussions on - even those on the upper East side of Manhattan can't find it. What to do? The only smoked fish to be found in the local grocery store are all oily fish (kipper, mackerel) and this is a white fish pie. I took a cue from and introduced some anchovies to the milk broth (probably shoulda used entire can, not just 1/3rd). Also substituted nutmeg for the blade of mace, after first doing some Internet research to learn what "blade of mace" is (it's the outer hull of nutmeg, has a subtle nutmeg taste). And used a combination of white fish - cod, sole, fresh haddock in place of the smoked haddock and cod called for in the recipe. One additional variation - the recipe calls for dotting butter on top of the mashed tater topping, but I felt the recipe already had a lot of butter going on and was quite...beige....so I opted for a smattering of grated cheddar. The comments for suggest that cheese is a common addition. Served with fresh peas, which swam enthusiastically in the rich bechamel sauce. So yes - I definitely played with the recipe, but mostly out of necessity.
Verdict? Yummy, time-consuming, pot-consuming, and VERY, VERY, VERY RICH. But again, it's really hard for a recipe to fail with butter, cream, milk, scallops, shrimp, taters, etc. I think I might like to try my hand at a fish pie again, but would like to explore some of the many other variations out there. There is no one fish pie standard; there are recipes that call for all kinds of interesting additions - breadcrumbs, dry mustard, grated veggies, lemon zest, etc... Is it indeed a "really good fish pie"? This can only be answered after future explorations. [image]
Recipe 6: Steak (p. 92, made 10/25/12). First, kids, be sure to do it on the grill. Outside. Not indoors. In a word: smoke. We normal folk do not have industrial kitchen exhausts. Second, do pay heed to what I didn't: the part about bringing the steaks to room temp. Third, even at room temp, 2-3 minutes per side is not gonna do it. Took me 16 minutes in all (lowered temp after first 6 minutes), but seared to perfection thanks to my Thermapen. [image] [image]
Recipe 7: Asian steak in lettuce (p. 93, made 10/25/12). Sloppy, def not for guests. But an A1 kicker sauce. Used serranos as no Thai birds-eye chillies to be found anywhere in the vicinity. [image]
Recipe 8: Filipino beef stew (adobong baka) (p. 241, made 10/27/12). Simple and really very tasty, but husband didn't feel it earned "repeat recipe" status. Used brisket. Substituted chicken broth for water (I usually do). It begged for something green and fresh, so garnished with chopped cilantro and served with lime wedges - both excellent improvements. [image]
Recipe 9: Chicken & mushroom stew (p. 37, made 11/3/12). A true keeper! Five enthusiastic stars. And we actually still had some of our Montana morels left, although this pie would work just fine with a mix of mushroom varieties. I doubled the onions and mushrooms and was generous with the hot sauce and mustard, in keeping with my "more = better" stew rule. Subbed thyme and a touch of poultry seasoning for the tarragon, which worked great. Perfect served with peas. As you can see, two people eating at home don't care if puff pastry isn't rolled out nice and pretty.One could play around a great deal with this recipe.[image]
Recipe 10: James's "Old Bank" chili (p. 155, made 11/10/12). I had to research to find out what "passata" is - yet another ingredient in this book not readily available to most Americans. It's basically fresh tomato puree sans seeds and skin. Brits can get it in a jar, but I had to invest in a food mill and make my own from scratch. And I had to mail order harissa. I made it myself once from Claudia Rodin's cookbook, but it was HORRIBLE. So the only ingredient I couldn't get my hands on were those darned Thai birds-eye chilis that Parker Bowles loves so much - had to use jalapenos and Anaheims. Results? First, this makes A LOT of chili. And I had to simmer it for HOURS longer to reduce all the liquid. And it definitely had to be defatted. But the results were excellent. Husband thoroughly approves. Lamb adds a wonderful complexity to chili. And the recipe promises it will taste even better tomorrow. Served more harissa on the side at the table. Love that stuff. The recommendation to serve it over brown rice was dead on - adds a lovely nuttiness in contrast to the spicy harissa and chilis. [image]
SUMMARY REVIEW
My rating wavers somewhere between 3 and 4 stars depending upon whether I'm reading it, cooking from it, or eating the results:
Reading: 4 stars. The book is filled with just the sort of food I adore at any time of the year: warm and mushy comfort foods, especially those that simmer for hours. Photos are wanna-dive-into. Layout is excellent with the exception of a few recipes that continue onto the backside of a page. Cooks don't want to turn pages with sticky fingers.
Cooking: 3 stars. Some people never proceed beyond reading a cookbook but I wanna work with one and there's nothing more frustrating than unattainable ingredients. Recipes for roast woodcock and roast grouse appear within the first 30 pages. When was the last time you saw either bird at your local American grocery store? Hmm. The author promises no fancy equipment will be required, stating that, "Too often, cookbooks are written by chefs who've long forgotten the constraints of the home kitchen," but recipes with mythical ingredients are just as much a barrier.
And it's not just because I'm stuck in the middle of Missouri. I found discussions on Chowhound where folks on the upper east side of Manhattan were unable to local smoked haddock, the central feature of his fish pie. Lol! The author himself for his eel salad.
My second issue with the book is that it's not been fully adapted for the American market. Spellings and measurements have been converted, but that's not enough. For example, several recipes call for passata. This might be a staple in a European cupboard, but not in the US. An explanation is called for at the very least, or perhaps a suggestion for an alternative ingredient. Similarly, the potted shrimp recipe discusses shrimp types, calls for a type not available in the US as far as I know, and explicitly identifies Americans as not the audience for this book. The reverse holds true as well. His Mexican stew advises mail ordering for chipotles. They may be exotic in the UK, but they're available everywhere in the US. These are just a few examples.
Eating: 4 stars. The author sets a high bar in the introduction, stating that the bulk of the recipes come from a leather-bound notebook into which recipes only go after a minimum of three attempts and the hard-won approval of his spouse. He is telling us that every recipe is a proven winner. While I wouldn't go that far (see above recipe reviews), I will say that we've eaten extremely well over the past month. I plan to make at least five more recipes from the book in the coming weeks (Mexican stew, bouef en daube, onion soup, meatballs, porcini risotto), and isn't that the hallmark of a successful cookbook?...more
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