A Handful of Books I Can’t Wait To Get My Hands On. . .

This idea of writing up a list of books I’m looking forward to is constantly knocking around in my brain. Thankfully, the list never stops growing, but ultimately the works I anticipate are released and that list ebbs and flows. . . Alas, there are a handful of books that have yet to be released right now that I have been looking forward to for a long while. Perhaps it is just that I am an adult now (am I?) and I understand how the world turns a little better every year, but it does seem that thanks to social media, and the Internet on the whole, we are exposed to the progress of beloved authors’ latest works. Be it a periodic Instagram post or an apologetic/grateful blog post addressing a stressed/excited absence from their virtual space – we are given insights to how things are going, snippets to whet our appetites. 

Here are the titles I cannot wait to hold in my hands on, get cooking from, and finally see in print:

Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Italian Kitchen by Debi Mazar & Gabriele Corcos

The chemistry that flows between Debi and Gabriele on the screen and in person is practically tangible – they’re the kind of public couple you can tell are doing what they do because they absolutely love it, and love each other and their daughters. When I need some soothing I can find a clip or full episode of their Cooking Channel show. Their gentle, playful nature calms me and inspires me to get cooking. I’m looking forward to relaxed Tuscan recipes alongside their sweet and entertaining stories. [Photo from: http://underthetuscangun.com/]

Get It: May 6, 2014

Delicious!: A Novel by Ruth Reichl 

Ruth Reichl is one of my favorite writers. Her food memoirs are ones I want to re-read every year, and ones I often refer back to for reliving the moments she’s written (like hiding out in Danny Kaye’s kitchen and eating his luxurious lemon pasta). To have her writing food-related fiction has me over the moon with excitement. As far as I can tell it will be a story of: sisters, magazines, letters, and a rich tapestry of all things food. I devoured her food memoir trilogy in no time and I look forward to carving out time to take in Delicious! as soon as I get it. [Photo: https://www.facebook.com/monica.bhide1]

Get It: May 6, 2014

Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry by Cathy Barrow

Many moons ago I had the pleasure of meeting Cathy Barrow at my first Duckathlon. When we met I didn’t know about her blog, Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen, or about her work with Charcutepalooza (and the-one-and-only Michael Rhulman), but soon after I began following her across the board online I realized she was my kind of food person. She does an amazing job preserving the bounty of the seasons to enjoy all year long – in every form possible, not just jams and tomato sauces (although we once exchanged treats and she sent me to-die-for strawberry rhubarb preserves!). Her book is already making me want to live out my aspirational kitchen fantasies. To top it all off Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton (Canal House) did the photography for the book. The stunning cover is enough to get me anxious for what is inside.  [Photo: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/267823509064638838/]

Get It: November 3, 2014

When You Can’t Stand the Heat but Want to be in The Kitchen…

If you’re anything like me when it comes to feeding yourself, you feel off balance if its been a while since you made a full blown meal, baked a batch of cookies for loved ones, or simply tried making something new. With this heat wave that’s been riding through Manhattan I’ve had a hard time mustering up energy to cook much of anything. Today I resolved to spend sometime at the counter making some recipes I’ve had on my mind for a while- neither of which required heat. I also noticed that many of my favorite cookbooks have a blurb from Ms. Alice Waters on their covers today while cooking from my library. First I made a trip to Fairway to gather supplies. I stocked up on things for making lunch during the week, lots of green things, ice cream, and a whole pound of coffee with the hope that I’ll find the nerve to let the beans cold-brew for 15 hours according to the recipe in this month’s Bon Appetit.

A few weeks ago I purchased watercress for the first time with the very good intention of trying out Cheryl Sternman Rule’s recipe from Ripe for watercress butter. Time passed, the greens wilted, tired and dried and no butter was made. The super green compound didn’t leave my mind when the first bunch went in the trash, though. I decided this would be a perfect hot-weather recipe to make and have on hand. Corn keeps showing up on my dinner plate demanding something more enticing than regular butter and salt so it seemed excellent timing to try Rule’s butter.

I softened my butter, cleaned then plucked away the thick stems of the watercress, peeled and roughly chopped some garlic, delicately measured out just enough honey, zested a lemon and whizzed it all together in my dear food processor. Some salt and pepper and a little tasting and recipe number one was done. I am happy to report the butter is as good as I imagined. I had a few done as the recipe calls for—on crackers, using Carr’s water crackers. These do indeed make for elegant appetizers I will gladly serve at parties in the future. I also tried it out on some toasted mini bagels I picked up at Fairway- so very delicious. If I swap this in for my regular salty French butter in the morning, will I be starting out my day healthier? I hope so! Cheryl also recommends tossing the leftover butter with hot pasta, potatoes or on bread. I’m thinking of combining it with my other recent love—soft-centered boiled eggs. So many possibilities! Just a note: when used with something hot the butter in the spread melts and heats up the watercress and turns the mixture dark green. The recipe can be found on page 226 of Ripe.

Ripe: The Fruit and Vegetable Cookbook of Your Dreams

A few months back someone Tweeted the book trailer for a breath-taking cookbook all about fruits and vegetables. The book was Ripe and the author Cheryl Sternman Rule with luscious photography by Paulette Phlipot. I immediately shared the trailer with my Twitter followers and exclaimed my excitement over this vegetarian cookbook that looked like it would put all other vegetarian cookbooks to shame. I'm happy to report my gut feeling about the book was spot on. 

Fortunately, both Cheryl and Paulette were at the IACP Book and Blog Festival so I was able to meet them and finally get my hands on the book. On my subway ride home I carefully turned each glossy, high-color page. Fruits and vegetables never looked so good. Cheryl's introduction is the perfect beginning. She explains that this, yes, is a vegetarian cookbook but that, no, she won't emphasize that fact throughout. Also, the book is not arranged by season, as many produce-forward books are. Instead the book is a rainbow of nature's bounty, organized by color and alphabetically by the names of the highlighted fruits and vegetables. There has even been discussion about fore-edge of the book since it creates a bright waterfall of color.  

Each item has a corresponding recipe: Butternut Squash - Red Curry Glazed Butternut Squash with Coconut Rice (page 76), Blueberries - Blueberry Nutmeg Cake (page 240), Mushrooms - Cremini Farro Hash with Poached Eggs (page 294). Cheryl gets to the essence of each main ingredient while giving tips for how to buy, store and generally prepare. In addition to the main recipe every item has a list of three "Simple Uses"- recipes without directions. I love this part of the book- half the time when I look through food magazines, cookbooks, or blogs I see photos and get ideas about what to make and rarely follow the given recipe if I have a sense of how to make it already. This amplifies the amount of recipes in the book from seventy-five up to three hundred. And isn't the main thing we're always trying to get more creative with in the kitchen our produce? 

So, I love this book. And I highly recommend you check it out in your book store and give in to the urge to run home with it, make a list, then run back out to the farmer's market. When I got off the subway I ducked off to Fairway on the way to scoop up a mix of produce to get started. I ended up making a few Chocolate Covered Strawberries (page 60) [a genius, fruit based lunchtime dessert during the work week] and marking the Polenta-Stuffed Chard with Bubbly Parmesean (page 222) for a later date.