5. THE NEW TRAILSIDE COOKBOOK; 100 delicious recipes for the camp chef
(Firefly Books, 2013, 191 pages, ISBN 978-1-77085-189-4, $19.95 CAN/US
soft covers) is by Kevin Callan and Margaret Howard. He has written
several books on camping, while she has written books on outdoor
grilling and preserving. The 100 preps here are easy, nutritious, and
full of energy. They range from "gorp" (which we make with bitter
chocolate, raisins and almonds, but here -- in this book – references
"good old raisins and peanuts") to gourmet (which needs a bit more
time). Chapters cover all courses, plus dehydrating food,
shopping/packing, camp stoves, cold weather camping, weekend gourmet
and living off the land. There's also a planner for all the work to be
done at home and at camp. There is even a seven day menu plan. Tips and
advice in the form of sidebars provide references to handling bears
(!!), cooking at high altitudes, smoking, storage, ax handling, and one
litre boxed wines. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both
metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of
equivalents.
Audience and level of use: campers, beginner cooks.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: grilled banana oatmeal
pancakes, herb and garlic pasta, peanut butter banana muffins, pesto
avocado dip, polenta appetizer pie, tuna quesadilla, baked veggie loaf.
The downside to this book: the book is portable, but not lightweight;
its pictures needed heavier paper.
The upside to this book: good basic preps.
Quality/Price Rating: 87.
6. I SCREAM SANDWICH! Inspired recipes for the ultimate frozen treat
(Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2013, 178 pages, ISBN 978-1-61769-036-5,
$19.95 US hard covers) is by Jennie Schacht, a California culinary
writer specializing in desserts. Here she produces a specific
ingredient cookbook for 40 sandwich recipes, many gluten-free such as
almond tea cakes, cinnamon macaroons, oatmeal cookies, five-spice
cookies, Vietnamese breakfast sandwiches, et al. The arrangement is by
type, beginning with the classics (key lime ice cream on sugar cookies)
and moving on to fruited dishes (peaches and cream ice cream on oatmeal
cookies), global dishes (dulce de leche ice cream on brown butter
blondies), and holidays and special occasions. There is also a chapter
on swirls, mix-ins, roll-'ems, and coatings. Lots of good ideas here,
including a resources list for equipment and websites of relevant ice
cream blogs. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both
avoirdupois and metric measurements, but there is no table of
equivalents.
Audience and level of use: summer cooks, beginners
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: cherry cheesecake ice cream
on shortcrust cookies; Caribbean banana ice cream on peanut butter
cookies; rosewater ice cream on pistachio-cardamom sandies; jasmine ice
cream on almond tea cakes; Champagne-caramel swirl ice cream on vanilla
cookies in a black-and-white tuxedo.
The downside to this book: the gluten-free aspect could have been
better highlighted.
The upside to this book: there is a series of tables to create your own
sandwiches. Choose an ice cream (or yogurt or sorbet), pick a holder,
and use some optional embellishments.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.
7. CAKE; 100 essential recipes (Spruce, 2013; distr. Canadian Manda
Group, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84601-420-8, $14.99 US hard covers)
and
8. CHOCOLATE; 100 essential recipes (Spruce, 2013; distr. Canadian
Manda Group, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84601-422-2, $14.99 US hard covers)
are members of another uniform cookbook series presenting essential
preps. These are the classic cakes (fruity, nutty, coffee, small cakes,
icings) and the classic chocolate (cakes, cookies, bars, puddings).
Something for everyone, hot and cold. Good layout. Preparations have
their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no
table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: beginner.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chocolate and chestnut
roulade, chocolate gingersnap mousse, triple choc brulee, rocky roads;
chili and pineapple torte, pear, cardamom an raisin cake; Swiss roll;
truffle cake; lemon drizzle cake.
Quality/Price Rating: 84.
9. PANCAKES; 72 sweet and savory recipes for the perfect stack (St.
Martin's Griffin, 2013; distr. Raincoast, 162 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-
01249-4, $21.99 US paper covers) is by Adrianna Adarme, a food blogger
since 2009 (
www.acozykitchen.com). It is a nice collection that meets
her high standards of what a pancake should be – not just a flat oval
or circle. I think the savory ones work very well. She could also have
added more gluten-free incentives. Arrangement is by "breakfast" and
"dinner", with the savories in the latter. There are the basics, with a
generic vegan and gluten-free prep, and a selection of eight toppings.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements,
but there is no table of metric equivalents. The index needs to be
fuller: there are few entries under gluten-free, and nothing under
quinoa. There are some good ideas here, as well as excellent food
plating photography.
Audience and level of use: pancake lovers.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sour cream and chive potato
latkes, German apple popovers, strawberries and cream crepe cake, goat
cheese quinoa cakes.
The downside to this book: there are only two gluten-free recipes, a
generic buttermilk one with rice flour, and an arepa prep using
cornmeal.
The upside to this book: good photos.
Quality/Price Rating: 85.
10. THE FRENCH COOK: sauces (Gibbs Smith, 2013, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-
4236-3238-2, $21.99 US hard covers) is by Holly Herrick, who is a
Cordon Bleu grad and restaurant critic, living in Charleston, SC. She
has also written a few cookbooks for Gibbs Smith. This is going to be
the first in a new series on French cuisine. And, of course, what
better place to start than with sauces, especially since stocks can be
covered as well. There are photos and step-by-step techniques. The
basic sauces are here (béchamel, veloute, emulsions, brown sauces,
tomato sauces) plus more, and some variations are noted. The book is
set up as a primer for beginners. Preparations have their ingredients
listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is a table of metric
equivalents.
Audience and level of use: beginner
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sauce cremeuse au poisson;
croquettes de crabe; sauce crème fouettee et mayonnaise au raifort;
poulet roti a la sauce poulette.
The downside to this book: nothing really.
The upside to this book: there are preps for dishes involving some of
the sauces.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
11. THE NO RECIPE COOKBOOK; a beginner's guide to the art of cooking
(Skyhorse Publishing, 2013, 196 pages, ISBN 978-1-62087-616-9, $19.95
US hard covers) is by Susan Crowther, a CIA grad who did catering
before becoming a nutritionist-academic in Vermont. This is a
worthwhile instructional guide on how to cook, without any recipes. It
is all commonsense, focusing on principles, intuition, local
ingredients and safe cooking. There are sections on basics: simple
salad dressings, soup stocks, bread making. You just need to understand
proportions. The best cooks simply have a list of ingredients, and
there are many handbooks (Heering, Saulniere Reperoire) that have been
published for scores of years which only list ingredients. The
proportions must be learned, but you quickly get the hang of it – but
only if you cook a lot. Recipes are useful as aide memoires and for the
quantities. Procedures and processes come with time and experience.
Crowther has a handful of easy cooking time charts and shopping lists,
along with good humourous hand holding. It is, of course, written from
a nutritionist's perspective. Ingredients are listed in avoirdupois
measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: beginning cooks.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: the section on cooking
grains emphasizes ratios, usually one part grain to two parts water for
cooking (but pasta has a higher ratio since water is needed for a
rolling boil and is surplus at the end).
The downside to this book: it could use a sharper editorial focus from
time to time.
The upside to this book: it should give beginners some confidences.
Quality/Price Rating: 87.
12. MARITIME FRESH; delectable recipes for preparing preserving and
celebrating local produce. (Nimbus Publishing, 2013, 234 pages, ISBN
978-1-77108-008-8, $27.95 CAN soft covers) is by food critic Elizabeth
Bailey, author of "Maritime Fresh". It's a bit of a misnomer in that
just about everything in the book can be found throughout North
America: it is arranged by produce that is not unique to the Maritimes.
There are no fiddlehead recipes here (or at least, fiddleheads are not
indexed.). There is a halibut recipe, but "halibut" is not indexed.
There's a rumtopf recipe, but neither "rumtopf" nor "rum" is indexed.
What is indexed can be strange: there are 50 or so references to "herb
salt" and almost as many for "vegetable stock". But no rum, no halibut.
There is a listing of seasonal availability and places in the Maritimes
to find produce. Produce includes apples, asparagus, beans, beets,
through carrots, eggplants, mushrooms, down to plums, potatoes,
rhubarb, and winter squash – 33 veggies and fruits in all. There is
some meat (chickens, pork, fish, beef) but otherwise it is mostly
vegetarian. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois
measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: beginners
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: garlic cauliflower pasta,
maple apple pork, asparagus tofu curry, green bean casserole, stuffed
squash, sun-dried tomato pesto.
The downside to this book: the index is variable.
The upside to this book: there are a few meat dishes.
Quality/Price Rating: 83.
13. BACON NATION; 125 irresistible recipes (Workman Publishing, 2013;
distr. T. Allen, 310 pages, ISBN 978-0-7611-6582-8, $14.95 US paper
covers) is by Peter Kaminsky and Marie Rama. It is this year's bacon
book (there is usually one every year). Kaminsky has written other pork
books, and Rama has written s few Dummies books (e.g. Grilling). Here
the emphasis is on the smoke flavours of bacon, so the material covers
soups, soufflés, braises, and bread puddings. Americans seem to eat
about $2 billion worth of bacon a year. The chapters are arranged by
course, starters to sweets, complete with a resources listing of places
to buy really good bacon in the US. Each source (and bacon) is
different, so you'll need a variety of meats to absolutely perfect the
recipe used. The apps section here is particularly good. Preparations
have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is
a table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: bacon lovers and others.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: spiced nuts with bacon,
bacon swizzle stick, bacon cheese straws, crispy polenta bites, bacon
jam, caponata, chipotle meatballs.
The downside to this book: not enough recipes for me, but OK in terms
of the price.
The upside to this book: good tips and sidebars.
Quality/Price Rating: 90.
14. SOUTH AMERICAN GRILL (Hardie Grant Books, 2012; distr. Random House
of Canada, 207 pages, ISBN 978-1-74270-300-8, $24.95 US hard covers) is
by Rachel Lane, an Australian cook book and travel writer. Here are
more than 80 recipes concentrating on Latin American grillwork,
particularly the asados and churrascos of Argentina and Brazil. The
book is arranged by course, from apps to mains to sides to desserts and
drinks. Typical dishes also include Peruvian ceviche, Argentine baked
empanadas, arepas de queso, grilled haloumi skewers, Brazilian fish
skewers, and humitas. There are activity menus (lazy summer afternoons,
family gatherings, Friday nights with your mates, etc.) where details
and planning are laid out in a time line.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in mostly metric and
avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: intermediate cooks, grillers and BBQ fans.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: cancha, grilled kidney
skewers, grilled chicken hearts, Brazilian coconut baked custard cake,
roasted cinnamon bananas with mango sorbet, pisco sours, Uruguayan
white wine sangria.
The downside to this book: nothing really.
The upside to this book: Spanish and Portuguese names for all dishes.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
