In Praise of Home Cooking by Liana Krissoff (Weekend Cooking)

The new spring cookbooks are starting to roll into the bookstores and into my kitchen. It's always fun to get the chance to cook out of new books.

This week is In Praise of Home Cooking by Liana Krissoff, which I received because I'm a member of the Abrams Dinner Party review program. Spoiler alert: I really like the mix of information in this book.

At its heart, In Praise of Home Cooking is a guide to helping you

be confident in the kitchen, to understand ingredients, to enjoy cooking and eating, and to be capable of sustaining yourself and your friends and family.

With this mission in mind, each recipe in the cookbook was picked to teach new cooks (from children to adults) basic techniques and to expand the horizons of seasoned home chefs.

Some recipes are clearly for kids or for the truly inexperienced chef, like the one for a grilled cheese sandwich. Others may seem simple on the surface, but in fact provide a lot of information. For example, Krissoff gives us two methods for cooking rice. You may wonder what you could learn from a rice recipe. Here's what: a no-measure way to cook rice on the stove top so it's perfectly cooked and fluffy every single time. I haven't tried this yet, but other members of the Abrams Dinner Party were mightily impressed.

On another level, In Praise of Home Cooking is a kind of retro guide to homemaking--or to kitchen making, if you will. There are features on keeping your kitchen clean, on making aprons and potholders, on how to measure properly, and how to make do with what's on hand.

Krissoff may be skilled enough to plate up Instagram-ready dishes, but she's very quick to note that pretty isn't as big a goal as is nourishing yourself and your loved ones. She reminds us that home cooking is not culinary school or restaurant cooking.

So what about the recipes? Everything I made from In Praise of Home Cooking came out great. Though I don't generally use a recipe for a basic stir-fry, the Pork and Pepper Stir-Fry was delicious (see photo below). The only change I made was to cut my port a little differently and to add a few mushrooms that needed to be used up.

The Cardamom Butter Cake was dead easy and made a great snack cake, coffee or tea cake, and dessert. It's one of those recipes to keep on hand for all kinds of occasions and for no occasion at all. Two other winners are the homemade taco seasoning mix (see recipe below) and the garlic kale.

Here are some other recipes I have marked to try: Small Batch Sauerkraut; Smoky, Savory Pinto Beans; Spicy Gingerbread (see scan), and Kale, Clementine, and Cranberry Salad.

If I have any complaints about In Praise of Home Cooking, it'd be this. Krissoff encourages readers to use what's on hand and what can be easily found in local stores. Yet, in many of the photos we see high-end ingredients, such as imported canned tomatoes, the corner of a Penzey's spice bag, and a jar of artisan pickles. I understand, of course, that some products make for a prettier photo.

Recommendation: All in all I really liked Liana Krissoff's In Praise of Home Cooking. In fact, it may become my new pick for twenty-somethings getting their first apartment because the information is solid and the recipes are good and easy. City dwellers who rely on takeout, might be inspired to cook at home once in a while or may appreciate a few recipes to help stretch their paychecks. Experienced cooks will enjoy reading Krissoff's "Home Food Manifesto" as well as her stories and the recipe introductions. If you're unsure, see if your library has a copy.

Seventies-Style Taco Meat Mix for the Cupboard
Enough for 6 batches of taco meat

• 5 tablespoons ground cumin
• 4 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Put all ingredients in an airtight pint-size jar. Cover and shake to combine thoroughly. Store in a cool, dry, dark cupboard.

Use 2 tablespoons per 1½ to 2 pounds of ground meat.

This is a mild mix. To make it hotter, Krissoff suggests replacing some of the paprika with ancho chile powder or adding a little cayenne. [I did both!] Mastodon

Note: The recipe and scan are used in the context of a review; all rights remain with the original copyright holders. The photo is my own.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)

Click for more

Two Culinary Cozy Mysteries (Weekend Cooking)

Today I'm writing about two culinary cozy mysteries I've recently read. One strays a bit from the genre's usual formula, and the other one is as cozy and familiar as it gets. I enjoyed them both.

Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews (2023, St. Martins Press) is a fun first installment in a new cozy mystery series set in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Lyndsay Murray worked hard to realize her lifelong dream of opening a West Indian bakery-cafe in partnership with her Grenadian family--Mom, Dad, brother Devon, and Granny. On opening day, friends, neighbors, and relatives line up to buy Spice Island Bakery's sweet and savory treats. All is going smoothly until a rival bakery owner shows up and begins to publicly bully Lyndsay into shuttering her shop. When the baker is later found murdered, Lyndsay becomes the prime suspect.

There is much to love about this cozy. First, it's unique in avoiding many of the usual cozy tropes. Lyndsay is smart, knows how to defend herself (she's a kickboxer), and always puts her family and business first. She, of course, does conduct her own investigation of the murder, but the story always comes back to her business, for example, we see the family baking and Lyndsay doing the book work and closing up the cafe at the end of the day. We don't see Lyndsay going down into a dark basement all by herself, and when she senses danger, she exits or calls for help.

The secondary characters are always important in a cozy, and this one is no different. Here, we get to know Lyndsay's close-knit family, learning their backstories and current life situations. We also meet Lyndsay's cousin and some neighbors and friends.

Lyndsay's character is well done: she's determined and smart but is also insecure. She worries about letting down her family and wants to protect them from harm. The bakery and the Little Caribbean streets and locals also play big roles in the story. I can't wait to revisit the clan and neighborhood in future books.

Note too, that this culinary cozy ends with two recipes from Spice Island Bakery: Currant Rolls and Coconut Bread. I like that I can bring some West Indian sweets into my kitchen.

The audiobook was beautifully read by Janina Edwards, who particularly excelled at the many needed accents. See my review of the audiobook at AudioFile Magazine.

Curds of Prey by Korina Moss (2003, St. Martin's Press), the third installment of the Cheese Shop Mystery series, has all the elements fans are looking for in a good culinary cozy.

Set in the Sonoma Valley, the series centers around Willa and her cheese shop. As background to the series and to the murder, we learn about Willa, her friends and co-workers, and the townsfolk. In this outing, Willa and other local caterers are setting up for an outdoor bridal shower on the grounds of a wealthy estate. Trouble brews before the party gets started and by day's end, there's been a murder.

Because Willa found the body, she's curious about the case. And when the town's mayor asks her to unofficially investigate, Willa can't resist. Of course, she's not in this alone and can rely on help from her closest friends. The plot has a good mix of town happenings and various red herrings. Willa and her friends cooperate with the police, who seem to know what they're doing. Throughout, we see Willa cooking up a number of yummy-sounding cheesy dishes for herself and others.

I enjoyed the escape to California and getting to know Willa. I didn't guess the killer, but once the villain was revealed, I could see that it made sense. As with all good culinary mysteries, the book ends with a couple of recipes for dishes mentioned in the story.

Note that although I haven't read the first two books in the series, I never felt lost or that I was missing out. I'm looking forward to reading more adventures with Willa and the gang.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)

Click for more