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

Under the Covers: Exploring Below the Dust Jackets of Cookbooks

I’m not sure what compelled me to get under there. Maybe it was a lustiness that arose from the shirtless, tanned, fish-tossing-in-a-rough-ocean photo towards the beginning of the book that make me remove the dust jacket on Chef Ludo Lefevbre’s first book, Crave: The Feast of the Five Senses. Since that first time, I’ve wiggled my hands under the cover of many a hardcover cookbook to see what I might find or quickly bent back a front over to peek between the glossy paper and cardboard cover. Often enough the results are uninspired, a design space forgotten. But once in a while I hit the jackpot and discover lush photographs or gentle textures and reap my reward by carefully running my fingertips over the book with a glassy-eyed gaze. My heart swells, my stomach growls and my grin widens.

Chef Ludo’s interior is elegant enough, a blacked-out background with khaki-colored text. Organic swirls mimic the title on the cover, the black and off-white print play up his then edgy-rockstar cooking style:

Others simply utilize the space to mimic their cover art, such as Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours, Paula Wolfert’s The Food of Morocco, and Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home. Not exactly inspired, but better than nothing:

Some go as understated and tasteful as desired… not just on book covers…

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. 

"An Everlasting Meal" and "Ratio" WINNERS!

Thank you to everyone who entered and shared the giveaway of these great books from Tamar Adler and Michael Ruhlman. They are fantastic tomes that I recommend you make part of your own collection. It was wonderful to read over all your thoughtful comments about how you integrate economy and grace into your own kitchen routine as well as which of Ruhlman's ratios piqued your interest. 

I divided all the entries into those for An Everlasting Meal and those for Ratio then used random.org's random number generator to choose the two winners...

Giveaway!: Tamar E. Adler's "An Everlasting Meal" and Michael Ruhlman's "Ratio"

My initial plan had been to hit 1,000 followers on Twitter and finally giveaway one of my favorite books of the past year: Tamar E. Adler's An Everlasting Meal. Unexpectedly, Michael Ruhlman stepped in like a knight in Twitter armor to tip my follower count beyond 1,000 (more than 20 people) in less than 30 minutes. So rather than just give away one favorite book, I thought why not also give away one of my favorite Ruhlman books as well? In addition to Tamar's book I will be giving away a copy of Ratio.

So here we are! I had been hearing a lot about Tamar Adler's book before I actually bought myself a copy. Similar to how it took me a few months to decide to pick up Lauren Shockey's Four Kitchens.  What gave me the go-ahead to check out Tamar's book was after she started following me on Twitter (before I even knew she was on Twitter!). I took that as a bit of a sign to find out for myself what all the buzz was about An Everlasting Meal. Gladly, I was very quickly enchanted by her writing style, the easy way she instructs her audience to fearlessly get in the kitchen, cook what you have, and make the most of every bit of food you buy. Economy and grace, indeed. 

On the Twelfth day of Christmas... Twelve Amazing Cookbooks!

The last day of my 12 Days of Christmas gift guide is full of my favorite things- cookbooks! Like the 11th Day, you should be able to run out to the book store and pick up most of these great books, making them perfect last minute gift ideas. Again, I recommend a gift receipt if you are giving these books to friends and family with plentiful cookbook libraries. Enjoy! 

Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing. During the Kitchen Arts & Letters book sale this spring, I scooped up this first book from Andrea Reusing. It is visually beautiful and filled with drool-worthy recipes. She gently takes her reader through the seasons with simple yet innovative ways for using whats available. This is for your friends who love amazing recipes and food photography. 

Cook This Now by Melissa Clark. I've come to sing the praises of Melissa Clark plenty of times this year. She's a delight as is her newest book Cook This Now. Like Reusing's book Clark's is full of seasonal recipes focused on local food that really make you want to make all the recipes ASAP. Read about why I love her and then get this book for the people on your list who do most of their shopping at the farmer's market or co-op. 

French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano. It is disheartening to me that this book is classified as "diet" or "weight loss" because it is one of the greatest cookbooks I own. Guiliano's outlook is just to eat really good food, in simple ways with moderation and above all joie de vivre. This is not a diet book! It is full of fabulous recipes that make you feel good about yourself just reading over them, while making you hungry as well. I really recommend this book for any Francophiles, lovers of simple food and fans of Mireille's other books. Check it out for yourself- its one of the best.

Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook by Mary Risley. Tante Marie's made my list of cooking schools on the Sixth day of Christmas and the Tante Marie cookbook would make a great gift paired with a gift certificate for the school. I liken this book to a sort of Julia Child's cookbook with a Californian flair. It is highly instruction with lots of notes on the given recipes. She includes plenty of basics along side original recipes. A perfect book for someone who cooks a lot but wants to learn more techniques. 

In the Small Kitchen by Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine. I think I came upon the Big Girls, Small Kitchen blog via a giveaway. Their book is a tasty volume of recipes perfect for college student and recent graduates getting into their own kitchens for the first time. Not to be misleading by that, these are full fledged recipes perfect for everything from feeding a party of 8 to oneself. This gift will keep on giving, too, for once they discover the book they will then have the blog to keep up with that has fresh recipes, cooking tips, entertaining ideas and giveaways. Wrap this up for your favorite 20-somethings who are home for the holidays. 

The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Written by the woman who got Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking published, this book has recipes perfect for the single chef who believes in a little indulgence. This book has been pretty revolutionary for me, the constantly solo cook. There are so many recipes I want to try but always hesitate to pare down from 6 or 8 servings to 1 or 2 just to have something like bœuf bourguignon. Jones gives perfect recipes for one, many French inspired and all delicious. An excellent option for your dear friends who live alone but absolutely love to cook. And not to be morbid at all, but the reason Jones is left cooking for one is due to the lateness of her husband-- this book could uplift someone who has lost their loved one and get them back into the habit of cooking.

Twenty by Michael Ruhlman. Oh Michael Ruhlman, how do I love thee? Let me count the techniques.... This is one of two Ruhlman books on this list because he is just that amazing. I found out about Ruhlman watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Christmas special last year. I thought, who is this handsome man with such amazing hair? I immediately Googled him and found his wonderful blog and the opening recipe for home made English muffins. He's so smart and logical and makes great food even more amazing. This book discusses twenty techniques- methods and ways of using key ingredients like salt and water. The photos are descriptive and stunning (taken by his wife Donna). Give this book to everyone! Even if they don't cook out of it (try not to though) it would be a fabulous coffee table book. (I got this for someone on my gift list and its also on my wish list- Twenty for everyone!)

In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters. Staying in the vein of technique, In The Green Kitchen gets the best chefs and friends of Alice Waters together to create this volume of simple recipes for making everyday food. Recipes for things like pesto, simple tomato sauce and how to make and dress a salad from the masters of each. It is a basic yet luxurious volume of recipes, again, perfect for anyone but especially lovers of local and organic ingredients.

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. I heart Michael Ruhlman part two. I picked up Ratio in late spring after reading so many blog posts about making your own bread. Shortly after I bought my kitchen scale for macarons and trying some of Ruhlman's recipes out with the extreme precision a scale allows. Amazing! This slim paperback is misleading, thinking it might be a funny little work on how things equate when it comes to food. What you get is a book bursting with recipes simplified to their most basic that come together quickly and perfect every time. A nice one for new and experienced cooks alike.

Crave by Ludo Lefebvre. I couldn't very well get through a proper cookbook list without Chef Ludo, could I? I've sung the praises of Crave a few times in the past, but this is an especially special present because it is out of print. Luckily, if you can't find it you can just look forward to the forthcoming LudoBites Cookbook (I know I can't wait!). This book is an inspiration that encourages me to play with flavor combinations and techniques in my own cooking. Superb for any Chef Ludo lovers (or, as we're called "Ludo Bitches") or people who like big colorful cookbooks with creative recipes. [I know Kitchen Arts & Letters had a copy of the book, which may have sold, but I'd try there first!]

The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert. My birthday is right around the corner (New Years' Day!) and I'm throwing myself a Moroccan themed party. I gifted myself her brand new book on Morocco and have been raving about it ever since. It is a complete look at Moroccan food and an examination of how people dine in Morocco, what spices they use and more. I can't wait to cook from it next week. For any Moroccan food/culture enthusiast in your life, this is the book for them. Also great for travelers and lovers of North African food. 

Ideas in Food by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot. This book is full of crazy ideas for amazing things to do with food. I don't have the book but I follow the Ideas In Food blog and they always have ways of stretching the way we normally think of ingredients. A really great idea for any chef stuck in a rut and totally perfect for your friends working the line in restaurant kitchens to keep them inspired and on their toes.

As I finish writing this "Auld Lang Syne" has come on my iTunes. I hope you've enjoyed all 12 days of Christmas here on The Culinary Librarian and that you got some great ideas for gifts to friends, family and probably yourself. Thank you for reading!

Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays, 

the merriest of Christmases and 

the most magical of New Years!

On the Fourth day of Christmas... For the Macaron Lover

Macarons have been such a huge part of my life the past two years. I have developed a small library of books on the subject, any of which would make superb holiday gifts to the macaron enthusiast. All these books are a joy to look through, so even if your macaron lover never plans to make them, they will still enjoy reading about the process and possibilities. 

First is the new Les Petits Macarons which I was so impressed with I have already given out a copy to a lucky Culinary Librarian reader! This is a very "giftable" book, as well. An inch thick and about 6" square this book would look great open with macaron batter smears on it or kept pristine as a coffee table book. You can read more on why I love this book in my posts about it here and here. 


Next up is Mad About Macarons! by Jill Colonna. I won this book from Jill from her blog- I found out I had won while I was IN Paris! I really like how straightforward Jill's recipes are. This would be an excellent book for a baker who really wants to get to baking macarons right away, it is the least fussy with plenty of mouthwatering photos. Pair this with a simple kitchen scale like this. 


One of my favorite macaronneries in Manhattan is MacarOn Cafe. Both locations of this little cafe are chic and welcoming. I especially enjoy spending a little time at the 59th/Madison Avenue location before heading to events at FIAF. Anyway, Cecile Cannone has a book for how to make macarons her way titled Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from Macaron Cafe. I've only attempted her recipe once in my early macaron-making days but it is a good little volume covering all their favorite flavors. This holiday season they are offering this clever little macaron kit that includes a copy of the book, piping outlines, almond flour and powdered sugar, pastry bags and a tip and food colorings. The perfect gift set for anyone ready to make macarons at home! 


And finally I offer to you my first macaron book that I received last year with my food processor (most recipes will recommend processing the almond flour and powered sugar together): I Love (Heart) Macarons. This is also a good starter volume with especially helpful troubleshooting and then decorating/presentation ideas. This book along with Macarons and Mad About Macarons! all include recipes for using up those endlessly leftover egg yolks- an absolutely necessity! This is the least expensive of all the books and wouldn't be a bad idea to pair with any of the above books. 

I own all of these books and consult each of them for different things during my macaron making processes. You can mix and match different shells with fillings from other books and combine decoration ideas, etc. I'm glad to have each in my library and any true macaron lover would certainly be overwhelmed to receive all at once as a gift, but would truly be grateful to have all of them over time. I also happened upon these cute macaron ornaments yesterday while shopping at Sur La Table- so wrap up these four books in paper, tie them together with ribbon and slip one of these ornaments into the bow-- Parfait! 

On the Third day of Christmas... Ruth Reichl

For the third day of Christmas I want to share a gift I already have and cherish entirely, the gift of Ruth. 

Within the time frame of the past year I've become a serious fan of Ruth Reichl. Sure, I love her ethereal tweets and I think Gilt Taste is great, but its her trilogy of memoirs that has made me a proper fan of Ruth. I devoured Tender at the Bone while on vacation in Cape Cod, I gobbled up Comfort Me With Apples shortly after and now I'm onto Garlic and Sapphires, hesitating to move too quickly through it for I know there is no immediate book to follow (I will probably get to For You Mom, Finally at some point, though). When I read in the recent WSJ interview with her that there are three more books on the way I was overjoyed.

She is an inspiration to me, to the possibilities of my own life - in my career, in my love life, in my geographical location. Her three memoirs follow her journey from childhood through to the offer to be editor of Gourmet. Reichl is one of the true greats we are lucky enough to have among us in our lifetime. Her three books together will make an excellent present (whether they know it or not) to any food lover or aspiring writer. Start by getting Tender at the Bone from Gilt Taste that comes with a bookplate signed by Reichl herself (half wishing I didn't already own a copy so I could get this!). 

On the Second day of Christmas... Ultimate Ice Creams

The second day of Christmas adds two more items to my wishlist: an Ice Cream maker and the Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams cookbook.

Among some combination of an unair-conditioned apartment and reading a slew of tweets over the summer about everyone running their ice cream machines I decided I will require one of my own someday soon. I've had my eye on the Cuisinart one which goes for around $50 on Amazon and which I've heard good things about from others who have it. It would be highly impractical for me to acquire one now since I lack even counter space for my beloved Cuisinart Food Processor(last year's major present) in that same steamy apartment. Someday.

If you are thinking of getting an ice cream maker for someone this season, be sure to pair it with the Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams book. The joy of tasting Jeni's ice creams has yet to be mine, but the best way to try these raved about treats if you don't want to order them is to make them at home using the cookbook (coolbook?). (Sidenote: mailing these ice creams would make a really excellent gift, less so around the holidays and more so on birthdays, Valentine's day, special occasions, when someone you love is under the weather etc.). I first heard about Jeni's after seeing a tweet from Suvir Saran about a macaron ice cream sandwich. Jeni's isn't the only one slipping ice cream between those maddeningly wonderful French cookies, but she was the first person I heard of who was (You can also have the sandwiches shipped!).


A few other things that would pair well with these two: plastic quart containers (for storing the ice cream when its made), a great scoop, sundae toppings, cones and maraschino cherries.

"Les Petits Macarons" signed copy WINNER!

Bonjour my macaron lovers! I am happy to announce I have selected the winner of the signed copy of the Les Petits Macarons book. Thank you to everyone who entered and who shared the giveaway with friends and followers. There were a handful of entries by email in addition to those left as comments on the giveaway post. I used a random number generator to pick a number between 1 and 25, 25 being the total number of entries. Here are the results: 

Entry #25 is.... 

GIVEAWAY! Les Petits Macaron: Trials In the Kitchen

Last month I spent a bit of time thinking about what my next giveaway would be. Naturally, another book was a given, but which one to choose? Recently I have been churning through books at lightning speed and allowing myself a weekly stock up at Kitchen Arts & Letters. Finally I thought since you know how much I love macarons and because I would be going to the Les Petits Macarons book party this month-- a signed copy of the beautifully designed and comprehensive book would be parfait! So here we are. 

My initial plan was to quickly turn out some amazing, homemade macarons and show them off to all of you in the same week that I bought the book. As plans of macaron-makers worldwide tends to go, that's not what worked out. Making macarons is a bit of a challenge because there are so many factors at play each time you make them, especially if you don't follow the directions of your recipe (like not bothering to age your egg whites or let them sit out at room temperature for 2 hours before whipping). The most successful macaron baking sessions come when you really know your cooking tools, especially your oven. This past week I have learned that my oven heats unevenly as well as inconsistently. Not impossible to work with for macarons, but definitely more difficult. I have also found some joys this week, like how decadent and sexy (yes, sexy!) French-style buttercream is. The keys to baking macarons at home are knowing your oven, following the recipe, exercising patience and remembering no matter how ugly your macs turn out, they are still probably going to be delicious! Now I shall tell you The Story of Les Trois Macarons with the giveaway details at the end:

Confidence in the Kitchen: Kat Flinn's Kitchen Counter Cooking School

When I heard Kathleen (Kat) Flinn was working on her second book I was very excited. Her first book, The Sharper Your Knife The Less You Cry, moved me to tears and made me laugh as I read over her astute descriptions of Paris and school at Le Cordon Bleu. After finishing Sharper I was hungry for more of her work. I had connected with her emotionally from reading Sharper at a time when I was particularly vulnerable to missing Paris, having returned from my semester abroad just the year before. Whatever she would be offering next, I knew I would be reading. What I found is a great book that tells a good story, teaches basic kitchen skills and above all encourages fearlessness in the kitchen, just as Julia Child would.

After completing her degree at Le Cordon Bleu, Flinn kept hearing the same question over and over: "Where is your restaurant?" At a few points throughout the book Flinn mentions being in the "foodie bubble-" a place where people can mention somewhat obscure foods (namely, ramps) and be understood by fellow members of the bubble. When I read that people asked repeatedly about restaurant work I found myself, a foodie bubble member, wondering why? In this day and age when the food industry extends so far beyond restaurants, why would so many people still think finishing culinary school equals a restaurant career? 


In The Kitchen Counter Cooking School we see one of the many paths that can start with culinary school. We begin with a little grocery store voyeurism. On a shopping trip at the grocery store Flinn spots a cart full of packaged foods- pasta sides, ready-to-make rice and jars of gravy without any unprocessed, whole food in sight. After finding the owner of the cart, Flinn offers some advice and to take the shopper around the store showing her some kitchen basics that would replace some of her packaged foods. Flinn even buys the woman a copy of her book and makes margin notes on the recipes for her to keep and use at home. The woman is receptive, and grateful, and the experience stays with Kat. 

8 Things to Love About and Learn From Melissa Clark (aka A Good Appetite)

A few Fridays ago I had the pleasure of attending Melissa Clark's pre-release book party at The Brooklyn Kitchen for her brand new cookbook Cook This Now. Melissa has written tons of cookbooks, many with highly-regarded chefs and television celebrities, but this is one that is all hers (In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite is on my Christmas List). The book is a fresh journey through the 12 months of the year, emphasizing the great local produce the seasons provide. Her year begins just where mine does - January (my birthday is January 1st so its the start of my year in every way possible). Some people might think this is an odd time to start a cookbook based on the seasons, thinking March or April when the growing season begins would be a wiser time (as Animal, Vegetable, Miracle does), but Melissa introduces us to Cook This Now with farmer's stomping their feet at the cold January farmer's market. She tells us the winter market is for the "hard core," then makes a spot on comparison of the winter market to a "small town," populated by people you get familiar with and learn their quirks, versus the "big city" of the summer market when everyone is hustling and bustling with little time for small talk. Its a great way to start. Clark beautifully shows the bounty of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. 


It is rather recently that I came to be such a great fan of Melissa Clark. Her name is one I've heard plenty in the past few years, previously always tied with The New York Times. Now she stands entirely on her own for me. After making her fast, fresh ratatouille for the Slow Food $5 Challenge I was hooked. She has great kitchen tips, mouth-watering recipes and when you read her writing it feels like she is talking to you as a friend. 


All that being said, I want to share 8 things to love about and learn from Melissa. Her book party at The Brooklyn Kitchen/The Meat Hook was an impromptu cooking class and chat with the attendees. I came away from the evening ready to wake up and head to the Union Square Greenmarket the next morning and get in the kitchen right after. May she inspire you as much as she inspires me. 


1) Learn: A gorgeous cookbook doesn't need to be filled with glossy pages with a photo for every recipe. Cook This Now is lovely; the pages are a natural pale color (not bleach white), the font is fun and expressive, and the two sections of photos are breath-taking. This isn't an extra-heavy $40-50 cookbook and I love it even more for these facts. 


2) Love: The Recipes section of Gilt Taste because it is replete with Melissa's recipe that use Gilt Taste's amazing products. Check it out, especially that Honey Roasted Duck.
(While you're there be sure to read Jonathan Dixon's piece Miles Davis' Chili)

Creamed Spinach Ravioli and Eating for Beginners Giveaway!

This past October I attended the New York Public Library event The Locavore's Dilemma where I met Melanie Rehak and bought her book "Eating for Beginners." As you may have read in the post about the event, I thoroughly enjoyed reading her book and taking an adventure through the food system with her. Today I am writing about Rehak's book again because I've been given the opportunity to giveaway TWO copies of "Eating for Beginners" that has freshly arrived in paperback form! Her publisher was kind enough to send me two copies to giveaway to you, my readers! I know any of you will relate to Rehak and enjoy her prose and story, as well. The book is also a mini cookbook with one or two recipes after most sections. For the giveaway, I thought it would be a fun idea to make one of her recipes in a wild and crazy way and share it here. 



In autumn I made the tasty, heavily buttered and baconed Brussels sprouts that were a discussion point at the NYPL event and they came out great (page 186). The other recipe that always stood out to me from her book was her "Lucky Dog Creamed Spinach" (page 14, you could say I have a thing for green leafy vegetables slathered in butter). All of the recipes have a fun title like this that usually reflect where the ingredients came from or how the recipe came about. Lucky Dog is a farm that supplies produce to the place Rehak works throughout the book, applewood restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn. As part of Rehak's locavore education, she takes to tracing the ingredients in the restaurant back to their source and learning how they get from farm or sea to table. When she visits Lucky Dog she spends the cold, damp, pre-dawn day picking spinach out in the field. Upon arrival to work at the restaurant the next day, the very same spinach she helped pick had been delivered and ready to be used for the restaurant's dinner service. Rehak makes it into creamed spinach and Lucky Dog Creamed Spinach is born. 


Since there is a half pound of butter in her recipe and I wasn't expecting company- I decided I would quarter her recipe, make it for one and actually created creamed spinach raviolis from it with wonton wrappers I bought the other day. As odd as it sounds, the spinach mixture works really well as a ravioli filling. The béchamel around the spinach makes for a silky, hearty and flavorful inside to the raviolis. Don't have ricotta on hand? Use this instead! You could also add bits of meat or other vegetables to this. Little bits of bacon would add a meaty pop to each bite. 

Kitchen Arts and Letters Book Sale!

The day before the Duckathlon I spend my early afternoon loitering around in Kitchen Arts & Letters, New York’s resident cookbook store. I told you about this place last May after my first visit, but I thought it deserved a post all to itself. Just a few days after reading about a serious weekend-long book sale at Rabelais Books in Portland, ME I got a newsletter in my inbox saying KA&L would be having their own! Rejoice!

The sale was confined to a table in the back of the (not large) store. Because the space given for the sale was small, books were being brought out from storage in shifts, hence the loitering. Every cover had a colored sticker in the upper left hand corner and signs with prices were hanging above the table. Prices ranged from $1 to $10.

I got there an hour after the sale began and saw some good ones had already been scooped up by shoppers; most notably A Return to Cooking by Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman. The narrow space took a bit of maneuvering to make sure you could look through what was already out but most importantly see what was coming out new. I admit I was watching the store employees like a hawk waiting to see when they went in the back and positioning myself as close as possible to where the newbies were being placed.

The system worked well and

Locavore Limelight: Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Miracle"

Just finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver. This food/memoir/local eating guide follows Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and two daughters, Camille and Lily, on their quest to eat local for a full calendar year-- producing much of their food from their own garden and animals. Their venture is very successful and Kingsolver's literary voice is a pleasure to hear from about this hot topic. 

In 2005, when Kingsolver and her clan were moving from their Arizona home back to their farm in Virginia to begin a life of locavore eating this way of life had yet to become popular yet. By the end of their year of food locavore was a buzz word and trying to eat closer and closer to home was trending. They are largely successful and this books give great insights into the trials and tribulations of feeding oneself off one's own land. 

Culinary Destination: Portland, Maine

During my vacation in Albany I was fortunate enough to be able to accompany my dad on an overnight business trip to Portland, ME. I went to Maine as a child with my parents but they are not times I really remember. Recently my friend The Creative Culinarian moved from NYC to Portland so I also was able to see her briefly which was a real treat. 

                                           
 My day in downtown started at the Standard Baking Company, 75 Commercial Street. As per recommendation from Tiffany I enjoyed a ham & cheese croissant. Here they top these delightful French treats with sesame seeds adding a level of crunchy texture that pairs nicely with the pillowy texture of the croissant. The ham inside is meaty and hardly fatty as some sliced ham can be; the cheese is melted down to a sauce-like nature-- not hardened as some cheese croissants can get after sitting. All of this made for a warm delicious breakfast I paired with a fresh iced tea sweetened                                                                              with simple syrup.

JOYEUX QUATORZE JUILLET!!! French Cookbooks.

Happy Bastille Day!!!

As most of you know francophilia runs deep in my blood. My love of the French, their language, and their culture-- food included! goes back probably to when my brother was in elementary school taking French and I thought it was super-cool and wanted to learn it for myself some day! Voila! Je parle le francais (avec le plus mauvaise grammaire de tout!).

In honor of Bastille Day I compiled a list of my favorite French cookbooks and some recipe highlights. I hope you are celebrating the day of French independence (from their corrupt monarchy, bien sur!) in a special way. VIVE LA FRANCE!!! VIVE LES MACARONS!!

La Grande Dame de la Cuisine Francaise

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 and 2

Julia Child

I have yet to cook a full recipe from these legendary volumes, but I use them as my go-to books for any questions when it comes to execution of any French recipe or how to cook certain French ingredients (did someone say magrets de canard? you know how I feel about duck...). Must-haves for any chef and any francophile, cook or not!

Moleksine Passions: RECIPE JOURNAL!

Successful day in the city-- my first Saturday in NYC since the beginning of April-- which didn't even count because I was entertaining my parents! I was determined to make the most out of today-- and so I did! 

Started out sleeping way to long after the amazing Hanson premiere performance of their new album "Shout It Out!" due out June 8th. Check it out! www.hanson.net. Then I went up to one of my very very favorite places in the city-- Kitchen Arts & Letters. I was browsing and on the table by the door where they feature what's new and I discovered the Moleksine Recipe Journal. It is perfect. Its compact, well laid out, comes with stickers for the blank sections and to qualify your recipes, even has additional templates available for printing online-- and my favorite part AN INDEX! It is the perfect start to writing your very own cookbook! 

I've been thinking about starting a recipe notebook but I really don't like starting new things if they'll be done haphazardly at the start because it makes it harder to organize later on. This Carnet Recettes is the perfect beginning and I think I will start using it today! 

After I went to Kitchen Arts & Letters (and then dropped off a stack of 15 CDs to the library!) I hopped on the 6 down to Union Square to check out the Green Market (another thing I can only do on the weekend and have not been able to being away). I was on a mission to find some farm fresh leeks-- just because-- but there were none today. Whole Foods was the answer-- I also picked up some fresh cherries (yum yum!) & saffron threads. I've never used saffron before but after reading the Saveur paella feature I've been wanting to. I think I'm going to do a risotto with saffron tonight (I've been looking for bomba or calasparra rice in the stores but have yet to find any). Also while in Union Square area I stopped by the Strand to pick up Chef Ludo Lefebvre's Crave: A Feast of the Five Senses which I currently have out of the library but didn't want to start cooking out of the libraries in case I wanted to make notes, etc in the book. The cover features a photo of Chef Ludo intensely looking at his readers with his brown eyes, how can anyone resist (see what I mean? owh-owh!)! Hoping to someday cook his "Lobster Poached in vanilla with melon, mango, papaya, avocado, and aged balsamic vinegar and honey vinaigrette." It looks/sounds insanely delicious but involves wayyy too many expensive ingredients for me to cook on a whim (vanilla bean, lobster, aged balsamic). 

The Art of Subsitution

Boeuf bourguignon The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones

This dish of boeuf bourguignon has gotten a lot of play lately, again, due to “Julie & Julia,” but rather than make Julia’s boeuf bourguignon, I opted to make my single chef version from Judith Jones with some adjustments. Substitution is one of the most fun factors about cooking. If you have picky eaters, or if you're a vegetarian, you can always make substitutions without problem. If you loathe anchovies and a dish calls for them, just substitute a strongly flavored meaty alternative. This is an especially welcome fact if you or your friends have a food allergy, you can always swap out the the item in question for something of equal value. My substitutions in this recipe came largely from the fact that I was unwilling to go out and buy a handful of additional ingredients the night I cooked the boeuf bourguinon.

To begin, the biggest change I made was using white prosecco instead of red wine; it definitely change the flavor the dish, but it was still a delicious end result. I used about ½ cup of the prosecco to 1 & ½ cups of beef broth (had I used red wine, I’d have done the full cup called for to 1 cup of broth). I also used two shallots instead of an onion because it was what I had. Typically I prefer a shallot to an onion because they are more delicate in flavor but still bring the dimension needed. Shamefully, I was also lacking parsley and bay leaves for my bouquet garni, so I sprinkled in herbes de provence which have more herbs than were called for and rather than making a packet with the garlic, thyme and pepper, I added them in chopped/grinded before letting the dish simmer to thickness. Also, as mentioned in "The Single Chef" I added duxelles when the stew beef was cooked and it enhanced the whole stew flavor.

Aside from my substitutions I followed Jones’ instructions to make the stew and it came out beautifully. Again, I was out of carrots, leeks, and potatoes so I didn't add the 'vegetable garnish' she adds to finish the stew, so I served myself the beef over mashed potatoes. The recipe yielded enough stew to have it twice (or to serve two), or as she offers to use it in two additional ways-- adding some of the meat to a Beef and Kidney pie (found on page 34 of her book) and then as a meat sauce using the meat cooked with tomatoes and tossed with pasta. As of right now the leftovers are waiting patiently in my fridge to either be enjoyed as is or perhaps as the pasta dish.

I was very glad to have found Jones' version of this dish I have always wanted to prepare myself (whenever I came home from college I would make my mom cook beef stew for me) but never felt it was worth making for only one. Jones' book is a real gem and I'm so glad to have it come to me at this point in my life when I have only myself to shop for and my own kitchen to cook in.