homecooking

by

The Global Pantry Cookbook review

There’s a food/cooking channel on Youtube that has several videos about “hacks” and “cheats” to quicken and/or elevate your home cooking.  I like that it’s not about gadgets, or some weird viral cooking method.  It’s more like “here, let’s replace traditional pasta with instant ramen to cut the time on this recipe.”  Or, “take a traditional recipe with potatoes but swap the potatoes with potato chips which will still taste good and cook quickly.”

“The Global Pantry Cookbook: Transform Your Everyday Cooking with Tahini, Gochujang, Miso, and Other Irresistible Ingredients” by Ann Taylor Pittman and Scott Mowbray reminds me of those videos.  Like the title suggests, here we’re taking a pantry ingredient (possibly a new-to you pantry ingredient), and using it creatively or using it to its fullest potential.

The book is broken down into: 

  • Wow-a-Crowd Snack and Apps,
  • Crunchy, Vibrant Salads,
  • Soups and Comfort Stews,
  • Rich and Hearty Beef and Lamb,
  • Pork is an Umami Superstar,
  • Poultry, Mostly Chicken,
  • Entirely Elevated, Irresistible Fish and Seafood (Sustainable, Too),
  • Meat-free Mains for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner,
  • Totally Satisfying Sandwiches,
  • Noodles, Pasta, Pizzas, and Breads,
  • Easy Vegetables and Starchy Things
  • Seductive Sweets and Frozen Treats

Some of the recipes that particularly appeal to me are: 

  • Shrimp boil hush puppies,
  • 5 Flavors of super-crunchy wokcorn (basic, sesame kettle with furikake, tahini za’atar, nacho-ish, white chocolate-strawberry),
  • Roasted cauliflower salad with quick-pickled raisins,
  • Spinach, grapefruit, and avocado salad with sesame vinaigrette,
  • Damn fine meatloaf with spicy onion glaze,
  • Hamburger steaks with rich onion gravy,
  • Rustic tomato galette with smoky bacon, melty cheese, and sweet onions,
  • 10 minute pan-seared scallops with yuzu kosho sauce,
  • How to build a damn fine veggie burger,
  • Tender multigrain walnut pancakes with plum compote,
  • Ground beef bulgogi sloppy joes with fiery napa slaw,
  • Korean fire chicken pizza,
  • Coconutty banana pudding with candied black walnuts,
  • Salty tahini and pine nut ice cream

The first recipe I tried was for “simply the best-est and moist-est turkey meatballs.” The ingredients are “soft but not squishy white bread”, evaporated milk, ground turkey breast, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, dried oregano, garlic, egg, and oyster sauce.  I make meatballs regularly enough that I had some doubts about the soft white bread.  I’ve always used dried breadcrumbs like panko.  I had some homemade soft bread that was a few days old, stored in the fridge.  Even though it was not in the instructions, I decided to put the specified amount of bread, sliced, on a plate to dry out for a few hours.  I’m glad I did but it ultimately did not help me with the end product.  This recipe has a lot of liquid in it.  The book warns you that “the mixture will be very soft” but it was gloopy.  I used a portion scoop but my meatballs barely held shape.  I had hoped it was just a matter of baking them up, but it was not.  I don’t think the photos do it justice, but instead of meatballs, I had meaty UFOs.

I am mildly amused that it’s stated in the book’s introduction, “we cross-tested each other’s recipes to make sure the steps are clear, times are accurate, and flavors are as they’re supposed to be.”  I want to know if there was any third party testing. lol!

Issues with the shape aside, the overall flavor was really good.  The oyster sauce is used as a glaze, which makes that very first bite tasty while giving a nice shine to the surface.  For personal preference, I think I will cut back some of the salt that goes into the meat mixture.  I found the saltiness of the oyster sauce to be very noticeable since it hits the tongue first, so the whole tasting experience was almost too salty. Meanwhile, my mom (who also got to eat some) absolutely loved them as is.

The second recipe I made was for broiled leeks with toasted pine nut sauce. The pantry ingredient for this one is Banyuls vinegar, which I had never heard of before. It’s a long-aged French vinegar, but the books says you can use a sherry vinegar. Sherry vinegar is quite possibly my favorite vinegar so I used the substitution. (Although I now want to purchase a bottle of Banyuls out of curiosity.) Overall, this dish is very easy to make. You make a sauce with toasted pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, the vinegar, salt, fresh garlic, and black pepper. The sauce is served over broiled leeks. I had pine nuts hiding in my freezer so I took this opportunity to use them. The only thing that I did wrong is that I initially forgot to add hot water to the sauce to make it thinner, otherwise it’s a thick nut butter. So my plated photo was before I remembered to add the water. (Yes, I actually scraped off the sauce, added water, mixed, and then reapplied. lol!)

This was so good! But you do have to like pine nuts to like this recipe. I had sauce leftover which ended up making a lovely sandwich spread. (I used it for both turkey sandwiches and tofu sandwiches.)

And then, though there is no photographic evidence of it, I made the quick pickled raisins. The raisins are supposed to be served with a roasted cauliflower salad but I didn’t buy any cauliflower. I’ve made (and liked) quick pickled raisins before but never with sherry vinegar. (Banyuls was the original ingredient listed.) Also, this version added paprika to the liquid, which I had never done before. Overall, I enjoyed them, and added them to whatever I was eating for a pop of acidity and sweetness.

I had fun with this cookbook, and look forward to cooking from it some more. Other comments? Not every recipe has a photo, in case that matters to you. Ingredients are mostly listed in the volumetric system. Having said that, the baking recipes does offer weighed measurements in ounces for all of the flour which I really appreciate. Since this book revolves around pantry ingredients, you can easily find all the recipes for each pantry ingredient in the index. For example, I can easily see that ghee is listed in 8 recipes.

I think all home cooks who like to work with different ingredients from around the world will enjoy “The Global Pantry Cookbook.”

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Workman Publishing for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This book is available for purchase through your favorite retailer, and will be released on October 10th.

Reference Links:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/scott-mowbray/the-global-pantry-cookbook/9781523516858/

https://www.anntaylorpittman.com/

https://www.instagram.com/scottmowb/?hl=en

by

Smitten Kitchen Keepers, cookbook review

In this day and age, is there a home cook who hasn’t heard of Smitten Kitchen and/or Deb Perelman?   The site is one of the longest running cooking blogs that I can think of, launched in 2006.  Perelman has two cookbooks that have done very well, and she also contributes to other well known food media companies like Food52 and Bon Appetit.  And this month, she’s released her third cookbook, ‘Smitten Kitchen Keepers: New Classics for Your Forever Files.’

The chapters (and sub-chapters) are:

  • Breakfast anytime,
  • Salad,
  • Soups and stews,
  • Vegetables (small vegetables/medium vegetables/big vegetables),
  • Meat and one perfect plate of shrimp,
  • Sweets (cookies/bars/tarts, crisps, and a well-deserved crème brulee/cakes),
  • Sips and snacks

Everything in the book sounds approachable and tasty, but here are some of the recipes that appeal to me:

  • Peanut butter, oat, and jam bars,
  • Chocolate chip buckwheat pancakes,
  • Bialy babka,
  • Challah cheesecake buns,
  • Double shallot egg salad,
  • Winter squash soup with red onion crisp,
  • Skillet white beans “Caesar”,
  • Deepest dish broccoli cheddar quiche,
  • Cabbage and kielbasa with rye croutons,
  • Steak and corn tacos,
  • Slow-roasted chicken with schmaltzy croutons,
  • Luxe s’more bars,
  • Mango curd tart,
  • Carrot cake with brown butter and no clutter,
  • Strawberry summer stack cake,
  • Chocolate olive oil spread

Since I had half a loaf of sourdough to eat up, my first foray into this book was for the charred Brussels sprout toast with ricotta.  You start by toasting your bread slices with some olive oil, and then rubbing it with a garlic clove (so you’re basically starting with crostini).  Then, you brown shredded Brussels sprouts on the stovetop, seasoning with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  Spread the ricotta on the toast, top with the cooked greens, more seasoning if needed, and garnish with nuts.  Admittedly, I forgot the nuts but I was still pretty happy with the overall results.

And because I love homemade sweets, next I made the oatmeal date shortbread.  It’s a chill, slice, and bake cookie.  Ingredients are flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla extract, butter, oats, dates, and orange zest.  I decided to go with the variation in the notes section, which is to swap some of the dates with white chocolate.  There is no additional liquid or egg, so this a fairly traditional shortbread base.  When it’s done, you get something buttery and crumbly like a shortbread cookie should be, with a bit more texture from the oats and add-in’s.  I worried a little that the dates and white chocolate would be sickeningly sweet but thankfully that was not the case. I shared this with friends, and everyone enjoyed it.

If you’re a Deb Perelman fan, this book will not disappoint. If you’re looking for a cookbook that is generally unfussy but features a little bit of everything, this book is for you. Since the colder season is upon me, I think the next recipe I make might be the winter squash soup with red onion crisp. What do you think?

Disclaimer – I kindly received a digital copy from Knopf for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own. The book is available for purchase now through your favorite retailer.

Reference Links:

https://smittenkitchen.com/

https://knopfdoubleday.com/

by

Nom Nom Paleo Let’s Go, cookbook review

I’ve been following Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo for a very long time now, well before she and her husband published their first cookbook, and now they’ve published their third.  Amusingly, I can only remember making two of her recipes in the past, both of which she didn’t develop: her sister’s Phenomenal Grilled Green Chicken, and Leon’s Caper and Anchovy Miracle Sauce.  Both are delicious, and I’m not sure why I haven’t re-made them. (Probably because there’s 1,000+ recipes I want to make.)

I’ve eyed her Instant Pot recipes for a long time, but I didn’t have an electric pressure cooker.  Recently, a friend gave me her old but very unused Breville Fast Slow Cooker, so I’m determined to experiment more with pressure cooking.  I’ve always meant to cook more of Tam’s recipes since they are all gluten-free. If you’ve read my reviews for “Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple,” or for “Baked To Perfection,” you already know that there are several GF people in my life. The easiest way to cook GF is simply to use a GF recipe.

Luckily for me, a review copy of the third book, “Nom Nom Paleo Let’s Go: Simple Feasts and Healthy Eats,” made its way to me. I took this opportunity to get off my duff and just do the thing.

The book is divided into the following chapters:

  • Building blocks,
  • Plants and eggs,
  • “Rice and Noodles”,
  • Seafood,
  • Poultry,
  • Meats,
  • Treats

Some recipes that I aim to make: 

  • Umami stir-fry powder,
  • Instant pot green soup with tangy cashew cream,
  • Garlic mushroom noodles,
  • Chicken velvet and spinach soup,
  • Greek chicken and potatoes,
  • Sheet pan “peanut” sauce chicken and broccolini,
  • Cheesy chicken and kale casserole,
  • Instant pot balsamic beef stew,
  • Pot stickers,
  • Fruit galette,
  • Pistachio cardamom cookies,
  • Dan tat (Hong Kong egg tarts)

Some of the recipes are only in the book, some are in both the book and on the website.  I ended up making four recipes total, two of which are in the book only.

I started with the stir-fry sauce and the tsukune (Japanese chicken meatballs).  You need the stir-fry sauce for the meatballs and, thankfully, it’s easy.  I used some canned pineapple juice from Trader Joe’s for this endeavor.  I could have juiced my own oranges instead, but I thought the more subtle flavor of the pineapple juice would appeal to me more.  It’s a great all-purpose Chinese-inspired sauce.  Besides the meatballs, I found myself using it to season some quick vegetable soups.

The tsukune was good too.  Her cooking times were spot on, and my end result looked a lot like the photo.  (Although, no one will know it.  I forgot to take a photo of it before all the meatballs were gone.)  My only criticism, and it’s more personal taste, is that it was a little too salty for me.  That’s an easy fix.  I’ll use less next time.  It such an easy recipe that I can’t imagine *not* making them again.

The next recipe I made was inspired my defrosting my freezer.  I had some old cashew nuts stored there, and I wanted the container gone.  So, I got to making cashew cheese sauce.  I’ve made cashew cheese sauce before, but the NNP version was a bit different.  After soaking the nuts, you cook some onions, add garlic, tomato paste, and turmeric.  I don’t think I’ve done that with previous cheese replacements.  Then, you blend everything with nutritional yeast, hot water, oil, and a bit of lemon juice.  I was a little skeptical of the turmeric.  Even though it was a small amount, I didn’t think I was going to like it in this recipe.  (I think turmeric is overused in many modern recipes.)  But it was nicely balanced by the other ingredients, and I wasn’t put off by it in the final results.  My sauce didn’t look as nice as the photo but that’s my fault.  I forgot about the oil when I originally tried to blend it, and it was desperately needed.  I did my best to dump it back into my blender and smooth it out.  Mine also looks a bit browner because I was short on cashews and added skin-on almonds to help make up for it.  

Is it cheesy?  Well… no.  But it hits the spot.  And, it is definitely good eats.  I found myself trying to slather it on food every chance I got.

The last recipe I made (at least for now) was the old-school tacos.  It’s pretty straight-forward.  Cook some diced onion, add ground meat (I used ground turkey), add garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, and salt.  Then add some tomato salsa and finish cooking.  It’s nothing glamorous but it’s a good staple recipe.  I might try to alter the spices a little next time for personal preference.  I also ate this with the cashew cheese, which is a recommended optional topping.

With a score of 4 out of 4, I recommend this book.  Seriously though, I didn’t have any doubts.  There are few food blogs that still seem to strive for quality and consistency.  (So many blogs out there feel like they’re cannibalizing each other, or suffocating themselves with ads to make money.) And the book is just fun with lots of photos done in a comic book layout to match the comic book versions of the Tam-Fong family. In terms of content and ease of use, I think this book appeals to a wide variety of home cooks. The book is out now, and I hope you pick up a copy. Cheers!

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Andrews McMeel Publishing for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  

Reference Links:

https://nomnompaleo.com/purpose-stir-fry-sauce

https://nomnompaleo.com/tsukune

https://nomnompaleo.com/letsgocookbook

by

How to Stop Wasting Flour

How to Stop Wasting Flour (when making sourdoughs)

This is something that’s been bothering me since the beginning of quarantine when everyone couldn’t find yeast to buy and started their own sourdough projects. So much so that I felt a need to write about it.  People are making a sizeable quantity of sourdough starter and then throwing away the discard because they’re following a recipe exactly.  Or getting so overwhelmed by discard that they give up making sourdough completely.

So, there’s the obvious solution – googling recipes for sourdough discard.  This is fine.  This is great!  I do it all the time.  But there are still a couple of suggestions I have that further stretch your sourdough discard, and you’ll have no waste at all.

 

Suggestion #1 – Stop being pedantic

The world of sourdough is a lot more flexible than you realize.  If you don’t want to do the experimentation, there’s a good chance someone has already done it for you and even documented it on the internet.  

For example, I love the Foodgeek Youtube channel.  He often posts experiments that I hadn’t realized I needed answers to.

 

 

Suggestion #2 – Make less starter

The recipe I was originally given makes 400g of starter, and the bread recipe needs 160g of starter.  It’s a lot more starter than I need for one loaf of bread.  So, if I’m going to make a loaf of bread, I only make 200g of starter.  And that gives me 40g of starter to seed my next loaf.  Realistically, I only make bread about once a month.  I feed my starter every week and store in the fridge between feedings because that’s the flavor I like best.  So, if I’m not planning to make bread, I only keep 100g of starter on hand.  That’s 300g of flour and water that I am not wasting.

Another Youtube channel I like is Bake with Jack.  Jack prefers to use the “scrapings” of his starter which would mean no discard at all.  I don’t trust myself to do this but I’m also not making bread regularly enough for this method.  But you do you.

 

Suggestion #3 – Freeze your discard

This has been game changing for me.

If I’m keeping 100g of starter on hand and only need 10g of starter for each feeding session, I still have 90g of starter that becomes the discard.  Guess what?  I freeze it.  I have a spare jar where I’ve marked where 1 cup is.  Every time I have discard, I’ll stir to knock out the extra air, and place it in my discard jar.  This jar lives in the freezer.  When I accumulate 1 cup of starter, I can then make my favorite sourdough banana bread recipe.  It takes me about 4 weeks to build up 1 cup of discard.  This way, I don’t get annoyed at feeding my sourdough starter.  And I don’t get tired of making sourdough bread, or making any recipe using discard.  

You don’t have to make banana bread.  In general, the discard recipes I’ve seen use .5 cup, 1 cup, or 1.5 cups of discard.  I say make markings for all three on your discard jar if the jar doesn’t come with its own volume markings, and then bake with the discard whenever you see fit.  If you have a favorite recipe using discard, then just tailor your freezer storage around it.  

And bonus, if anything should happen to your starter, you will always have a backup plan safely stored in the freezer.

 

 

On that note, here’s my favorite banana bread recipe…

  • ½ c sugar
  • ½ c oil of choice (I use avocado oil for its mild flavor) 
  • 3 large ripe bananas (does not need to be fully ripe with a black peel, and you can even use under-ripe if needed)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 c sourdough starter (thawed if previously frozen)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1½ c unbleached all purpose flour  
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 6 Tbsp chopped walnuts
  • 6 Tbsp chocolate chips, semi-sweet or dark

 

In a mixer, beat your egg and bananas.  If your bananas were slightly under-ripe, let this sit for 30 minutes.  Why?  I learned from Stella Parks that there is an enzymatic reaction where egg yolks will convert starches into sugar thereby ripening your banana for you.*  So I now like to make this my first step.  You don’t have to use a mixer, you can do this by hand but I like how well the mixer mashes the bananas for me.

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Prep a loaf pan.  I will usually use a piece of parchment inside a 9×5 loaf pan.  You could use butter or non-stick spray.  You can probably use a slightly smaller loaf pan if that’s all you have.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

Mix in the sugar and oil into the banana mixture.  Then mix in the vanilla.  Mix in half of the sourdough discard.  When it’s mixed in, add the other half and mix.

Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  When it’s almost combined, turn the mixer off and switch to a spoon/spatula.  Add in the nuts and chocolate chips, and handmix until combined.

Bake this for about 60 minutes or until a cake tester/toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely, and then serve.

* = https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/how-to-rapidly-ripen-a-banana-without-baking.html

 

Please note, this post is about sourdough discard from a starter that is past its infancy stage.  I have not fermented my own starter completely from scratch.  All the sourdough starters that I’ve worked with was discard from an existing starter, and I was just perpetuating it.

I hope you find this post to be helpful.  Let me know what you think or if you have a favorite sourdough discard recipe that I should try out.

by

Fresh from Poland, a cookbook review

I don’t know much about Polish food.  That’s the thought that drove my interest for “Fresh from Poland: New Vegetarian Cooking from the Old Country” by Michal Korkosz.  I also didn’t know much about Korkosz to begin with, and had no idea he won the 2017 Saveur Blog Award for best food photography (both Editors’ and Readers’ Choice) at the ripe age of… 19!  

So it stands to reason that the photos in this book are lovely.  There’s a lot of natural lighting, cozy backgrounds, and the overall feeling of finding pleasure in home cooking.

The main chapters are:

  • My Polish kitchen
  • My Polish pantry
  • Breakfast
  • Breads and Baked Goods
  • Soups
  • Main Dishes
  • Side Dishes
  • Perogi and Dumplings
  • Desserts
  • Preserves, Jams, and Pickles

 

Things I’d like to try… when I’m not following Stay-At-Home/Self-Quarantine orders because of a pandemic:

  • Parsley root and walnut spread
  • Rye crumble with honey fruit
  • Creamy oatmeal with kajmak, apple and walnuts
  • Whole wheat challah with almond streusel
  • Sweet blueberry buns with streusel
  • Almond soup with floating clouds
  • Lentil, butternut squash, and zucchini stew
  • Buckwheat stir-fry with kale, beans, and goat cheese
  • Pierogi with buckwheat, bryndza, and mint
  • Pierogi with lentils and dried tomatoes
  • Blueberry pierogi with honeyed sour cream
  • Yeast rogaliki with rose petal preserves
  • Yeast-buttermilk cake with berries and streusel

 

But I am doing my best to stay indoors because of covid-19 which means that I was very limited in what I could make.  

The first recipe I made was for oatmeal buns.  The main ingredients are quick cooking oats, butter, all purpose flour, instant yeast, old fashioned oats, and honey.  These were all things that I already had in my pantry. Having said that, the all purpose flour I was using was of mysterious background.  Some months ago, I transferred it from its original bag to a Cambro bin, and put it in the freezer. I didn’t label the bin with the brand of flour. Not long after, I wasn’t baking much and forgot about the flour in the freezer.

Like… really forgot about it.  When I started making sourdough bread again back in January, I bought some King Arthur Flour all-purpose and had been using that for all my cooking/baking.

Anyway, long story short, I had some trouble working with this recipe most likely because of my flour.  But I managed to bake something closely resembling the photo. (Except that my oatmeals buns lack color.  I forgot the egg wash.  *sigh*) And I liked them! I gave some to my mom to share with my grandmother, and they both approved.

The second recipe I tried was the tomato apple soup with poured noodles.  The main soup ingredients are butter, garlic, dried marjoram, a sweet apple, vegetable broth, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and sour cream.  The poured noodles are made from egg, sour cream, and all purpose flour. I enjoyed this too, and it was quick to put together. It’s less decadent than the creamy tomato soup recipe that I like from Jill Winger (which makes it a better “everyday” recipe), and the use of marjoram was new to me.  I’ve only used basil in the past for tomato soup. I’m not sure the apple did much for the recipe but maybe it’s because New England is not in apple season.  (Translation, my Gala apple did not taste like much to begin with.)

As for the “poured noodles, I like the idea but my execution was lacking.  And by lacking, I mean I only made about 5 or so solid pieces of “noodles” (they’re more like dumplings) and the rest just disintegrated into something looking like soft scrambled eggs.  I’m not sure if I perhaps mis-measured something or if maybe I just needed extra flour. But I’m willing to give it a go one more time as I really like the idea of putting dumplings in tomato soup.  (Ooh, maybe I should do a recipe mashup next time. This tomato soup with Gena Hamshaw’s chickpea dumplings. It should work.)

I think what surprised me most about this book was that I forgot it was technically a vegetarian cookbook.  The variety and appeal of the recipes don’t leave you wanting for meat recipes.

Overall, yes, I recommend this book, and I can’t wait for stay-at-home orders to end so that I can explore this book better.  

 

Disclaimer – I kindly received this book from The Experiment Publishing for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  

With COVID-19 self-quarantine in effect, my scope of recipe testing was limited.  Some modifications may have been made.

 

 

Reference Links:

https://rozkoszny.pl/en

https://theexperimentpublishing.com/ 

https://www.workman.com/products/fresh-from-poland

by

Atsuko’s Japanese Kitchen, a cookbook review

If I had to name a cookbook that both embodied home cooking and simple elegance, it would be Atsuko’s Japanese Kitchen by Atsuko Ikeda.  It’s the reason why I was looking forward to this review.

Back when I first started to cook, I was drawn to Japanese cuisine.  Shabu shabu, Japanese curry, miso soup with a proper dashi, etc. were the things I was trying to make in my home kitchen.  Somewhere, I stopped cooking Japanese food (with the exception of the occasional nabe). I’m not sure why. Maybe because it stopped feeling new to me?

But Ms. Ikeda does an excellent job of taking those familiar Japanese dishes and adding a modern flair, taking a familiar homemade dish and giving it a breath of newness.  Some examples are:

  • Smoked mackerel and dill onigiri
  • Mushrooms with blue cheese, yuzu ponzu, and truffle
  • Molten eggs with lightly seared marinated steak (molten eggs seem to be jammy eggs)
  • Mushroom and soy milk soup

 

That isn’t to say that there are no traditional recipes in this book.  For a few days, I couldn’t decide whether to test out her chicken and eggs on rice (oyakodon) recipe, or her beef and potato stew (nikujaga) recipe.  (And then I chose neither for this review.)

The book is divided into fairly standard chapters:

  • My Japanese kitchen
  • Regional Dishes
  • The secrets of Japanese cuisine
  • Small dishes for sharing
  • Soups and Noodles
  • Easy one-plate meals
  • Special occasion meals
  • Sides and Dressings
  • Desserts

 

The recipes I’m interested in making that I haven’t named already:

Glazed lotus root and chicken meatballs – I was introduced to this recipe years ago, and I may have lost the recipe.  I love renkon (lotus root) and you don’t see this stuffed renkon recipe in English written cookbooks often.

  • Ceviche-style scallops with citrus sauce – On paper, it reminds me of a dish from Tyler Kinnett, Executive Chef at Harvest (one of my favorite restaurants in the Greater Boston area).
  • Chicken in nanban seasonings with tartar sauce – Somehow, I never heard chicken nanban until recently.  It’s apparently the Japanese version of sweet and sour chicken.
  • Fried and steamed salmon in miso garlic sauce – The photo for this recipe really appeals to me.  It’s listed in the special occasion meals chapter but the ingredient list isn’t daunting, nor are the instructions.
  • Pumpkin salad – Kabocha squash, Japanese mayo, Greek yogurt, raisins, and almonds.  It sounds intriguing.
  • Azuki bean paste pancake sandwiches – It never occurred to me to make my own dorayaki.  I love red bean desserts!

 

And a shout out to the photographer, Yuki Sugiura.  Every recipe is accompanied was a gorgeous photo to inspire!

For my review recipe, I ultimately picked the chicken teriyaki with lime.  (The recipe serves it over quinoa rice, but it’s been hot here in the Greater Boston area so I chose not to cook another dish.  I ate it with store bought naan, and salad. I’ll make the rice next time.) I like Japanese teriyaki but I just never make it at home, but I was really curious how the lime matched the dish.

Aside from the chicken and the lime, I had all of the ingredients in the recipe.  (Full disclosure, I swapped the leeks with onion.) It was easy to make, so I can vouch that it’s a perfect dish to make at home.  Ms. Ikeda claims “after trying this recipe, you might never purchase ready-made teriyaki sauce again.” I’m inclined to agree! I thought this was delicious!  And the touch of lime elevated the recipe from being boring and ordinary.

If you’re interested in Japanese food, or if you’re looking for some new ideas that can be used for everyday cooking, I highly recommend this book.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I wasn’t. In fact, I think I’ll make the fried ginger pork for dinner this weekend.

Disclaimer – I kindly received this book from Ryland and Peters for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.

 

Reference Links:

https://rylandpeters.com/products/atsukos-japanese-kitchen?_pos=2&_sid=d98f195e2&_ss=r

https://www.atsukoskitchen.com/

by

Cherry Bombe, The Cookbook, a cookbook review

9780553459524

When I first saw the cover for Cherry Bombe, The Cookbook, my first thought was “is this just a collection of cherry recipes?”  A quick look proved me very, very wrong.

From its website:

Cherry Bombe celebrates women and food through our biannual magazine, the weekly Radio Cherry Bombe podcast, and our Jubilee conference. What rocks our world? Sharing the stories of everyone from industry icons to notable newcomers, encouraging creativity in the kitchen, and bringing the Bombesquad together whenever possible. Our first cookbook, featuring 100+ recipes from 100+ of the most inspiring women around, will be out this October from Clarkson Potter.

Oh.

And per the book’s index, there only appears to be six recipes with cherries in them.  (Just in case you were dying to know.)

So then… what is in this book?  That’s the real question, isn’t it?  I’m happy to report that I literally got the last review copy available from Blogging for Books to satisfy my curiosity and yours.

The thing about this book:  It’s pretty diverse in terms of recipe selection and sophistication.  It makes me really look forward to cooking from this book.  (No recipe testing yet at this time.  My attention is still held by Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker book.)

The chapters are standard: Mains, Soups and Salads, Sides, Apps/Snacks/Sips, Cookies/Cakes/Pies, and Sweet Treats.

Here’s a sampling of what I’m looking forward to and why:

  • Pink Spaghetti with Beet and Ricotta Sauce – I like beets but rarely cook them.  Plus, this recipes has only 10 ingredients, two of which are salt and boiling water.  It seems very approachable.
  • Filipino Vinegar Chicken – What Filipino food I have, has always been pretty delicious.  I would love to become more familiar with it.
  • Shroomy Cheeseburgers with Maple Thyme Caramelized Onions – Just the title alone sounds amazing.  While more complicated than the burgers I normally make, nothing immediately looks scary or impossible.
  • Chicken Meatballs in Roasted Lemon Broth – The broth is nothing that readily makes sense to me.  Broth ingredients are lemons, olive oil, shallot, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, chicken broth, dried mint, potatoes, cipollini onions, and spinach.  I can’t imagine how this tastes, so I feel the need to make it.
  • Roasted Asparagus and Scallions with Burrata – I recently had dinner at The Amsterdam in Rhinebeck, NY.  My plate was fish with grilled bok choy, grilled scallions, and green goddess dressing.  I was surprised at how mild the grilled scallions were.  I imagine that roasted scallions will the same, and I bet it’s delicious with asparagus and burrata.
  • Best Friend Cheesecake – Overall, it’s a straightforward and basic cheesecake recipe.  That’s not a bad thing.
  • Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie – Submitted by Joy Wilson, aka Joy the Baker.  Also, sweet potato pie will always be my favorite pie ever.
  • Irish Soda Bread – Interestingly, this falls into the Sweet Treats chapter.  I think it appeals to me just because this recipe is baked in a 9×5 pan.  I like baking in my loaf pan.  I bake a lot of recipes in it that were meant to be muffins and such.

Other comments about the physical book, and not the content:  I suspect that the cover will be prone to wear and tear.  I haven’t even owned this book for 24 hours yet, but the corners of the front look like they’ve seen better days.

Every recipe has an accompanying photo.  The general style of the photography reminds me of current day Bon Appetite – a bit more HDR looking, a bit too brightly lit.  It’s not my favorite style, but I know it appeals to others.

As I ponder which cookbooks to cull from my collection, I feel confident that Cherry Bombe will stay in it.  There’s just too many recipes I legitimately want to try.

Related Links:

https://cherrybombe.com/

https://cherrybombe.com/cherry-bombe-the-cookbook/

Disclaimer – I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post.