Tag Archives: cooking

Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook by Lindsay Landis

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Food blogger Lindsay Landis has invented the perfect cookie dough. It tastes great. It’s egg free (and thus safe to eat raw). You can whip it up in minutes. And, best of all, you can use it to make dozens of delicious cookie dough creations, from cakes, custards, and pies to candies, brownies, and even granola bars.

Included are recipes for indulgent breakfasts (cookie dough doughnuts!), frozen treats (cookie dough popsicles!), outrageous snacks (cookie dough wontons! cookie dough fudge! cookie dough pizza!), and more. The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook features clear instructions and dozens of decadent full-color photographs. If you’ve ever been caught with a finger in the mixing bowl, then this is the book for you. (description from publisher)

Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook by Leemei Tan

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Rich in aromatic spices, herbs, and flavorings, Asian food explodes deliciously in your mouth. Now, thanks to Leemei Tan, shows how home cooks can easily master the art of preparing this delectable cuisine in Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook.

 Tan explains how to make perfect sushi, creamy curries, spicy stir-fries, and crisp tempura, and work with noodles, kaffir lime leaves, or wasabi. More than 100 recipes feature a marvelous range of tastes, textures, and aromas from across the continent. From Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup and Japanese Sake Steamed Salmon to Thai Papaya Salad and Indian Saffron Chicken Pilau, these imaginative recipes will inspire and delight. (description from publisher)

Ripe by Cheryl Rule

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Eat fruits and vegetables not because you’re told you should, but because you want them in every sense of the word. Because they are beautiful. And satisfying. And you want their freshness, flavor, and simplicity. That’s why Ripe is arranged by color, not season.

Author and food writer Cheryl Sternman Rule and award-winning food photographer Paulette Phlipot, have teamed up to bring inspiration to hungry home cooks. Their goal is not to deliver another lecture on eating for the sake of nutrition or environmental stewardship (though they affirm that both are important), but to tempt others to “embrace the vegetable, behold the fruit” because these foods are versatile, gorgeous, and taste terrific. Starting with red and progressing towards a calmer white, Ripe is arranged by color to showcase the lush, natural beauty of fruits and vegetables. Each is accompanied by a lighthearted essay, breathtaking photography, and one showcase recipe, along with three “quick-hit” recipe ideas. With 150 photos and 75 recipes, this unique cookbook will quicken your pulse and leave you very, very hungry. (description from publisher)

The Tuscan Sun Cookbook by Frances Mayes

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In all of Frances Mayes’s bestselling memoirs about Tuscany, food plays a starring role. This cuisine transports, comforts, entices, and speaks to the friendly, genuine, and improvisational spirit of Tuscan life. Both cooking and eating in Tuscany are natural pleasures. In her first-ever cookbook, Frances and her husband, Ed, share recipes that they have enjoyed over the years as honorary Tuscans: dishes prepared in a simple, traditional kitchen using robust, honest ingredients.

A toast to the experiences they’ve had over two decades at Bramasole, their home in Cortona, Italy, The Tuscan Sun Cookbook evokes days spent roaming the countryside for chestnuts, green almonds, blackberries, and porcini; dinner parties stretching into the wee hours,  and garden baskets tumbling over with bright red tomatoes.

Lose yourself in the transporting photography of the food, the people, and the place, as Frances’s introductions and headnotes put you by her side in the kitchen and raising a glass at the table. From Antipasti (starters) to Dolci (desserts), this cookbook is organized like a traditional Italian dinner.

Frances and Ed also share their tips on stocking your pantry, pairing wines with dishes, and choosing the best olive oil. Learn their time-tested methods for hand rolling pasta and techniques for coaxing the best out of seasonal ingredients with little effort.

Throw on another handful of pasta, pull up a chair, and languish in the rustic Italian way of life. (description from publisher)

One Sweet Cookie by Tracey Zabar

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One Sweet Cookie by Tracey Zabar is a delectable collection of cookie recipes from New York’s best chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers. Cookies are the perfect end to a wonderful meal from one-bite meringues and macaroons that melt in your mouth to linzers and tuiles that are the ultimate fanciful confections.

Tracey Zabar has selected distinctly original cookie recipes from seventy-five of the very best culinary talents in Manhattan. Some are the chefs’ personal recipes, while others are the signature creations of top restaurants such as Le Cirque, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Artisanal and City Bakery. This irresistible array of more than ninety cookie recipes for the home baker includes butterscotch and oatmeal cowboy cookies from Chef Mario Batali and his son Benno; coconut macaroons from master baker Sarabeth Levine; a chocolate chip cookie invented by Chef Todd English of Olives that combines his children’s favorite chocolate flavors with walnuts; Chef Jason Weiner of Almond’s rugelach; and Eli Zabar’s tempting buttery sugar cookies. There are also international cookies-Jammy Dodgers from England, wedding cookies from Puerto Rico, Kipferl from Austria, and Lamingtons from Australia.

This beautifully photographed book will not only appeal to discriminating dessert lovers but also to fans of New York City’s culinary scene, the cookie-swap aficionado, and the bake-sale maven.

Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini

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What happens when a classically-trained New York chef and fearless omnivore heads out of the city and into the wild to track down the ingredients for her meals? After abandoning Wall Street to embrace her lifelong love of cooking, Georgia Pellegrini comes face to face with her first kill. Realizing that the only way we truly know where our meat comes from is if we hunt it ourselves, Pellegrini embarks on a wild ride into the real world of local, organic, and sustainable food in Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time.

Teaming up with veteran hunters, she trav­els over field and stream in search of the main course-from quail to venison and wild boar, from elk to javelina and squirrel. Pellegrini’s road trip careens from the back of an ATV chasing wild hogs along the banks of the Mississippi to a dove hunt with beer and barbeque, to the birthplace of the Delta Blues. 

More than a hunting narrative, Girl Hunter also teaches you how to be a self-sufficient eater. Each chapter offers recipes for finger-licking dishes like: wild turkey and oyster stew stuffed quail pheasant tagine venison sausage, fundamental stocks, brines, sauces, and rubs suggestions for interchanging proteins within each recipe Each dish, like each story, is an adventure from begin­ning to end.  An inspiring, illuminating, and often funny jour­ney into unexplored territories of haute cuisine , Girl Hunter captures the joy of rolling up your sleeves and getting to the heart of where the food you eat comes from. (description from publisher)

Artisian Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day

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Did you know pizza was a patriotic treat invented to display the colors of the Italian flag under Queen Margherita? Hence, Pizza Margherita. In fact, over there in the roots of original pizza, there are only a couple ingredients, and there are now very protective regulations about its creation and service. What, no Taco or Supreme? I must eat it all the the restaurant…no leftovers? They’re not playing around!

Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day  by Jeff Hertzberg — what is that about? Though I haven’t given it full lab work, I suppose it is feasible after the author’s caveats.

You’ve premixed a big batch of dough (eight 12” pies) ahead of time and stored it in your fridge, where it will keep well as a living, breathing, yeasty organism for up to a couple weeks.  You’ve preheated the oven to 500 degrees. You’ve rolled the dough out by hand super thin.

When ready to rock, claw out a wad of that goo, sprinkle with a few yum-yums and slip it off your pizza peel onto the white-hot stone.

The simple genius of it is, even with your most unsatisfactory efforts you’ve STILL got a pizza for pretty much no money. Five pounds of flour is a little over a dollar.

The author mentions in the forward there is a remarkable dearth of recipe books focusing exclusively on pizza. While it could use more photos, there are a lot of great ideas in here, even if you’re not going to pursue the five minute-approach.

Try a topcoat of tomato slices when people are foisting them on you. How about corn or rye flour in the mix when you want a hint of a Reuben sandwich or tortilla taste?

I saved someone else’s bread maker from the landfill and run it on half a cycle. It isn’t five minutes, but I’m not exactly being gouged 24 dollars either.  It’s funny how the barometer for culinary forgiveness gets fudged when it was your hands kneading the dough.

Summertime and the Grilling is Easy

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Summer is here at last which means it’s the perfect time to grill. Looking for some inspiration for something a little more interesting than burgers and bratz? Check out some of the new grilling books at the Davenport Library!

Latin Grilling by Lourdes Castro – From the steamy jungles of the Yucatán to the verdant valleys along the Andes, Latin Grilling goes beyond typical barbecue fare and familiar Mexican and Tex-Mex standards to present more than 90 recipes that showcase the diversity of Latin American cooking. Acclaimed cooking teacher Lourdes Castro takes you on a culinary tour of the Americas with ten fiestas featuring authentic Latin flavors tailored for home cooking and backyard grilling.

The Japanese Grill by Tadashi Ono – Packed with fast-and-easy recipes, versatile marinades, and step-by-step techniques, The Japanese Grill will have you grilling amazing steaks, pork chops, salmon, tomatoes, and whole chicken, as well as traditional favorites like yakitori, yaki onigiri, and whole salt-packed fish.

Deen Bros Get Fired Up by Jamie Deen – Over 125 recipes for the beginner to the expert, The Deen Brothers offer something for everyone. There’s lots of basics to get you started, with plenty of fresh new twists to keep things interesting, all served up with lots of Southern flavor.

Summer Cooking (and Eating!)

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Summer is here at last and that means the Farmers’ Markets and your backyard garden are filled with the bounty of the season. Take advantage of the harvest with some help from the following books:

Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing – Interspersed with short essays and gorgeous photographs of Reusing’s farm and kitchen, this friendly cookbook celebrates simple food cooked with love through the seasons.

Cooking from the Farmers’ Market from William-Sonoma – As you would expect from Williams-Sonoma, this cookbook is beautiful and stylish and offers multiple recipes for each fruit and vegetable featured. Recipes are sophisticated but not out-of-reach.

Harvest to Heat: Cooking with America’s Best Chefs, Farmers and Artisans by Darry Estrine – Here’s a slightly different approach – following the growers and creators using the best ingredients. The emphasis is on family favorites and local delicacies across America.

Seasonal Recipes from the Garden by P Allen Smith – Low-key and approachable, this cookbook makes you feel like you’re exchanging recipes with a good friend. The recipes are favorites of P Allen Smith and his family and celebrate the backyard bounty of the garden.

The Art of Preserving from Williams-Sonoma – Keep some of that summer goodness for the cold days of winter. Not only does this book show you how to make delectable jams and jellys and salsas and relishes, it gives you multiple ways to use them in tasty dishes.

Ace of Cakes

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I feel a little guilty admitting this, but I literally could watch the Food Network all day long.  One of the shows I really enjoy is Ace of Cakes, where the folks at Charm City Cakes make the most unique desserts you can imagine.  So naturally when I was looking through the cookbook section of the library a few days ago and stumbled upon Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes by Duff Goldman and Willie Goldman, I had to pick it up.  I really just wanted to look at the pictures of all the amazing cakes they have made on the show, but I found myself really reading through the book because there was so much interesting information about how Charm City Cakes got started and what inspires the staff of bakers and decorators.

The coolest part of the book is definitely the pictures of all the crazy creations they have made over the years.  I wish I were as creative as these people!  Their cakes are like nothing I have ever seen before.  There are cakes to please every personality type and every interest you could have, and a lot of them don’t even look like cakes!  The full page of Star Wars themed cakes really warmed my little geek heart (though I was sad that they didn’t include my favorite Ace of Cakes creation, the cake in the form of Han Solo frozen in carbonite).  For the creative types, the book will inspire you to try out some new and cool things with cakes.  I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to bake or enjoys watching the Food Network.