cooking

I must admit I have not read many cookbooks. I've read a bit on celebrity chef culture in Heat by Bill Buford, and whole-hog eating in The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson but usually I save my recipe foraging for the internet.
I picked up Ratio after reading an interview with author Michael Ruhlman. In the interview Ruhlman talks about simple ratios that work to make great food. For example a basic bread has a ratio of 5 parts flour to 3 parts water. A pie crust is 3-2-1 flour-fat-water. And that’s all you need, you can keep adding different flavors, different fats

Warren Brown’s Cakelove is not your average cake baking book.  He doesn’t decorate standard cakes with intricately carved fondant or instruct you to dump a bottle of pink sprinkles on top to make a birthday cake for a princess.  Most of these recipes call for uncommon ingredients and a dash of patience and skill.  Warren Brown pursues an all-natural lifestyle as much as possible, so he uses the least processed and most natural ingredients in all of his cakes.   

I haven’t tried all of the recipes in this book, but I liked his “crunchy feet” concept so much that I bought my own set of brioche

The Best Skillet Recipes is just one of many great cookbooks put out by America’s Test Kitchen.  Their mission is to test recipes over and over until they find the “best” version, using blind taste tests.  This particular test kitchen book has chapters on skillet basics, stovetop to oven recipes, skillet pasta, skillet suppers, pot pies, casseroles, and pizza, stir-fries and curries, hearty eggs, vegetables and sides, and desserts.  Each chapter has numerous recipes laid out clearly and most have easy variations.  There are plenty of informative illustrations, comparisons between store-bought

The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen is filled with recipes, craft projects, and personal stories aimed at those who want a little of the country life.   Recipes are divided up into four broad categories: Breakfast, Appetizers, Lunch, and Dessert.  The ingredients, measurements and directions are clearly presented, and most have interesting tidbits or helpful hints in the margins.  Each recipe also lists nutritional information, if you really want to know how many calories and fat that heavy cream-filled dessert has. 

If you only try one recipe in this book, make sure it’s the Sweet Onion Tartlets

This is a wonderful cookbook for people with any kind of food allergies. It is written by Erin McKenna, who developed celiacs disease after she opened her bakery in N. Y. City.

I really enjoy reading books found in the cookbook section of the library's collection. The author Sandra Lee says, "Real meals for real life".  She offers organizing tips in the beginning of her book and colorful pictures throughout her book of each delicious dish! This month has been chilly and I am looking forward to trying the Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup on page 150! Also the Tropical Fruit Salad with Key Lime Yogut sounds good too on page 173. Another page on 213 Red Pepper and Tapenade Slices sounds like a quick Friday night fun with the family. Enjoy!