Weekend Cooking: A Trio of Books for Cooks

I’m beyond thrilled and honored to tell you I’ve been accepted once again to be part of the Abrams Dinner Party for this coming publishing year. Many of the participants have already received the first three fall cookbooks, and I can’t wait to see my own copies and to share my thoughts and a recipe or two with you. At the moment, however, I’m in Maine and my cookbooks are in Pennsylvania. We’ll all just have to wait a little bit until my first Dinner Party post.

Today’s post is about three books I mean to read while on my first vacation since fall 2019. So far, I've done more exploring and walking than reading. Perhaps I should have left these food books at home for our house-sitter to enjoy. The good news is that I’ve dipped in to each one enough to suggest you add them to your reading list. Thanks to the publishers for the review copies.

First is a book I never intended to read all in one go. In fact, Dorothy Kalins’s The Kitchen Whisperers (William Morrow) is already slated to live on my bedside table, so I can read a few pages every day. Kalins is the founding editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine, and this book is a collection of her thoughts and recollections about the foods, places, and people she’s encountered in all kinds of kitchens. She, of course, had the opportunity to learn about cooking from famous chefs, but she gained much of her kitchen wisdom the same way we all have: via family, friends, and neighbors. As Kalins writes in the introduction,

This is not a cookbook, rather, it is a book about cooking, and what—and who—we think about as we cook. I believe that the recipes we remember best, and the moves we make, seemingly automatically, are those that tell familiar stories.

Read this not only to discover a new culinary method or two but also to spark your own memories of those you’ve shared a kitchen with.

The next book is more of kitchen companion than a straight-out cookbook, though it does contain traditional recipes. Cal Peternell’s Burnt Toast and Other Disasters (William Morrow) is subtitled “A Book of Heroic Hacks, Fabulous Fixes, and Secret Sauces,” which fairly accurately describes what you’ll find inside the covers. Have you ever overcooked the broccoli by mistake? Don’t throw it out, Peternell tells you several ways to make good use those soft veggies and other dishes that didn’t turn out quite how you had hoped. You’ll also find some creative ways to use your pantry items and to repurpose leftovers as well as a few good sauces and a half dozen cocktails. You might want to see if your local bookstore or library has a copy of this.

Finally, I have a copy of Shanna Farrell’s A Good Drink (Island Press). Farrell, who worked as a bartender in San Francisco, wondered why the farm-to-table, organic, and artisan movements weren't more focused on spirits. Since distilled alcohol is made from crops, shouldn’t we be as concerned about what we put in our glasses as we are about what we put on our plates? To learn more, she sought out growers and distillers who were involved in the sustainable spirits movement. Each chapter covers a different type of alcohol (rum, whiskey, gin, etc.), and the book ends with a focus on bartenders and others in the industry and a look to the future. Interesting reading.

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

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Weekend Cooking: Come On Over by Jeff Mauro

Have you heard of Jeff Mauro? He made his name as the “Sandwich King” on the Food Network and currently hosts the show The Kitchen on the same network. His new cookbook, Come On Over will be published by William Morrow in April. (Thanks to William Morrow for the review copy of the cookbook.)

As you can tell from the title, this cookbook is all about entertaining—but don’t think hoity-toity. The gatherings Mauro likes are those that involve family and close friends. Each chapter focuses on a different kind of company meal, such as brunch, game day, cook-out, and pizza. There are also menus for themed meals, like tropical, Mexican, and holiday.

The recipes themselves are fairly easy to put together and have good flavor. We liked the Crispy Broccoli with Asiago and Pine Nuts, for example (see scan), which consists of tossing the broccoli in seasonings and cheese, roasting it, and then mixing with toasted pine nuts and some lemon zest and juice. Simple and delicious.

We (by we I, of course, mean me!) also made Greek Lemon Chicken and Orzo Bake, and the pantry-style Black Bean and Roasted Tomato Soup (see below for recipe). Both are on the make-again list.

Recommendation: Jeff Mauro’s Come On Over is a great choice for people looking for fairly easy recipes for casual entertaining or even for family dining. Many of the main dishes include fish or some kind of meat, so vegetarians will have to look before buying.

Cooks who have a solid repertoire of tried-and-true recipes for informal company dinners will want to check this cookbook out of the library. I promise you’ll find some new recipes to try (like Takeout-Style Chinese Spare Ribs, Citrusy Honey-Tequila Shrimp, and Grilled Greek Summer Salad), but I’m not sure you’ll find a ton of new ideas.

Last week's meal plan: Here’s what we had for dinner over the last week. Note that all dishes were served with a vegetable, salad, home-baked bread, grain, and/or pasta as appropriate:

• Grilled apple gouda pork sausages (sausages from Butcherbox)
• Black Bean and Roasted Tomato Soup (recipe below)
• Greek Lemon Chicken and Orzo Bake from Come On Over
• Curry udon with broccoli and avocado from I Can Cook Vegan (an Abram's Dinner Party cookbook I shared on Instagram and IG stories)
  
• Mediterranean baked cod from The Mediterranean Dish website (cod from Butcherbox)

Now for the promised recipe. Note: I turned the soup into a vegetarian dish by eliminating the bacon and using vegetable stock. I added a chopped jalapeno pepper to the soup with the onion, and I didn't make the crema. We served this with lime wedges, diced avocado, and some shredded Cheddar cheese.

Next time I’d add chopped spinach, kale, or Swiss chard to the soup after using the immersion blender, just for extra nutrition. But the soup was really yummy without it.

Black Bean and Roasted Tomato Soup with Avocado Crema

Serves 4

• ½ pound smoked bacon or pancetta, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• One 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped fine
• Three 15-ounce cans black beans, including canning liquid
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I skipped this and seasoned at the end)
• 1 jalapeno, cored, seeded, and sliced thin, for garnish
• 1 small bunch cilantro, for garnish

Avocado Crema:

• ½ cup Mexican crema or sour cream
• 2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, and roughly chopped
• Zest and juice of 2–3 limes, as needed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Set a medium saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan.

Quickly add the onion and cook it in the bacon grease, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, letting it get some good color. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, stock, chiles, beans, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes, until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally.

To make the crema, place the crema, avocados, and lime zest and juice of 2 limes in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. If too thick, thin out with a bit more lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the crema to a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to keep it from browning. Refrigerate the bowl.

Now back to the soup. Carefully remove the bay leaf and discard. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until you achieve the consistency you desire. Taste and season with more salt, if desired.

To serve, ladle the soup in to bowls, garnish with bacon, avocado crema, jalapenos, and cilantro. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 3 days or freezer for 3 months.

Scans and recipe shared in the context of a review. All rights remain with the original copyright holder.

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

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Weekend Cooking: Keep It Simple by Marian Burros

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

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Marian Burros's Keep It Simple: 30-Minute Meals from Scratch has been one of my go-to cookbooks for years. The recipes are easy to make, use fresh ingredients, and can be made on a weeknight after work. Between us, my mom and I have made almost every recipe in this book.

The book is arranged by meat, chicken, fish, and vegetarian, and recipes are presented as menus--complete with main dish, side dish, and salad. Each menu also comes with a list of pantry items, a shopping list, and a game plan. The game plan is an outline to help less-experienced cooks create the meal from raw ingredients to serving dish in just about 30 minutes.

Here is a meal I make often, usually substituting boneless chicken breasts (and thus adjusting the cooking time a bit). I make brown rice in my rice cooker (takes more than 30 minutes), but I'll give the directions from the cookbook. Because I rarely make the recommended salad (substituting a tossed salad instead), I'm omitting that recipe.

Mexican Menu for Three

Cinnamon Chicken

• 6 or 7 chicken drumsticks or thighs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and cloves
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large clove garlic
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Brown chicken over medium-high heat in hot oil on one side. Chop onion coarsely and put garlic through press. When ready to turn chicken, add onion and garlic, raisins, and capers and cook, covered, until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Add almonds; stir a minute and serve.

Chili Cheese Rice

• 1/2 cup enriched white rice or parboiled brown rice
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt or a mixture of yogurt and sour cream
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
• 2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into small cubes
• 2 tablespoons Cheddar cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine rice with water. Salt, if desired. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Mix yogurt with chiles. When rice is cooked, stir in cheeses and yogurt mixture; season with salt and pepper. Cover and allow the cheeses to melt.

Published by William Morrow, 1981
ISBN-13: 9780517100868
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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Weekend Cooking: I'm a Baking Fool

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

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Snow winter weekends are the perfect excuse for baking. And I spent yesterday afternoon doing just that.


For weekday bread baking, I rely heavily on the bread machine to do the kneading and the first rise. The following recipe comes from one of my favorite bread machine books: The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger (p. 202).

Semolina Country Bread

1½-pound loaf

• 1⅓ cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1¾ cups bread flour
• 1¼ cups semolina flour
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon gluten
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons SAF yeast (2½ teaspoons bread machine yeast)

Place all the ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on dark and program for the French bread or basic cycle; press Start.

Beth Fish's notes: I use just 1 cup of water. I set the machine to knead and let the dough rise once. I take the dough out, punch it down, shape the loaf, and let it rise a second time. I bake it on a stone at 375°F until the internal temperature is about 200°F and the loaf looks golden brown.

Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook at an Indie

Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook at Powell's
Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook at Amazon
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Published by Harvard Common Press, 2000
ISBN-13: 9781558321564


What's a snowy weekend without a something sweet? Mr. BFR requested Texas sheet cake, and so I took the opportunity to try a recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond (p. 218). She calls it Chocolate Sheet Cake and her version is a bit sweeter than the recipe I normally use, but it was easy to make and came out moist and yummy.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Makes one 18- × 12-inch cake

Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ pound (2 sticks) butter
• 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder

Icing

• 1¾ sticks butter
• 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Mix with a fork and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the cocoa. Whisk together to combine. Meanwhile, bring 1 cup water to a boil. When the butter is melted, pour the boiling water in the pan. Allow to bubble for a moment, then turn off the heat. Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture. Stir together for a moment to cool the chocolate, then pour in the egg mixture.

Stir together until smooth, then pour into an ungreased jelly roll pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the icing. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Add the milk and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar. Stir together. Dump in the pecans and stir until well combined.

Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, pour the warm icing over the top. You'll want to avoid doing much spreading, so try to distribute it evenly as you pour.

Beth Fish's notes: (1) Pan size: the standard jelly roll pan is actually 17½- × 11½ inches, which is what I used. (2) For the cake: the boiling water was not listed in the ingredients. My advice is to start the water right away, I was stuck keeping an eye on the cocoa-butter mixture while waiting for the water to boil. (3) For the icing: I added another teaspoon of milk because it was too thick.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks at an Indie

The Pioneer Woman Cooks at Powell's
The Pioneer Woman Cooks at Amazon
These 3 links lead to affiliate programs.

Published by William Morrow Cookbooks, 2009
ISBN-13: 979780061658198

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