Some Recent Cookbooks Reviews

3. MASTER CLASS WITH TOBA GARRETT; cake artistry and advanced
decorating techniques (Wiley & Sons, 2013, 228 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-
58122-3, $65 US hard covers) is by one of the US leaders in cake
decorating and design. She has won many international gold medals for
her work, and she teaches at New York's Institute of Culinary
Education. She has written many books, her latest being "Professional
Cake Decorating, 2d ed" last year. Her current book has the techniques,
and recipes to create showstoppers. There are full-colour photos for
techniques and finished plates. After a primer (stringwork, scrollwork,
lattices, piping), the chapters cover anniversary cakes, birthday
cakes, groom's cakes, wedding cakes, seasonal cakes, and "small bites"
of decorated cookies and cupcakes. There's a selection of basic recipes
covering meringues, ganache, icings, buttercream, pastillage, jams and
curds. At the end there are 16 pages of templates for patterns, all
sized at 100%. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both
metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of
equivalents. The photos are gorgeous.
Audience and level of use: pastry makers, chefs, hospitality students.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: headdress cake; Australian
stringwork cake; Venetian mask cake; antique clock.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.

 

4. BETTY GOES VEGAN; 500 classic recipes for the modern family (Grand
Central Life & Style, 2013, 480 pages, ISBN 978-1-4555-0933-1, $26.99
US hard covers) is by Annie and Dan Shannon, both animal rights
activists. With log rolling from other vegan cookbook authors, the
Shannons had set out to "veganize" The Betty Crocker Cookbook. So it is
a basic vegan cookbook eschewing flesh and animal products such as
eggs, milk and honey. There's a primer on the vegan kitchen, followed
by chapters dealing with breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, baked
desserts, apps and snacks, and holiday faves for Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter and Passover. Dinner entrees cover the
range of casseroles, pizzas, melts, pasta, beans, and international
flavours. Preparations have their ingredients listed in only
avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: vegans, vegetarians, those seeking a more
healthy style of eating.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: hot and sour shiitake
mushroom miso soup; Mandarin vegan chicken salad; green chili lasagna;
baked spinach gnudi; strawberry and rhubarb pie.
The downside to this book: you'll need to eat a lot of tofu and soy-
textured products.
The upside to this book: good database, and great idea.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.

 

5. GET STARTED BAKING (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-0195-
3, $15 US hard covers) and

 

6. GROWING VEGETABLES (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-0196-
0, $15 US hard covers) and

 

7. GET STARTED PRESERVING (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-
0194-6, $15 US hard covers) and

 

8. GET STARTED WINE APPRECIATION (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-
1-4654-0201-1, $15 US hard covers)

 

These four books are part of a new introductory series from DK Books,
aimed at novice cooks or those who just want to learn the basics about
a particular part of food preparation. They are uniform in format, same
length, same type of close-up photography (about 350 pix in each book),
and same editorial control. They have been described as a "visual
reference series". Each title simulates classroom lessons by question-
and-answer, step-by-step explanations, and graded projects and
assessments. There's a primer section to identify key techniques, a
series of practice projects with sharp photos, and annotated completion
pix with troubleshooting advice. For example, baking starts with
cupcakes and meringues, and then moves on to moist brownies, wobbling
cheesecakes, and ends up with gateaux, piping profiteroles, and baking
artisanal bread. The vegetable book, mainly in the garden (no preps),
begins with sowing salad greens, growing tomatoes, making a tipi for
beans, growing tree fruit, designing an herb garden, and storing the
crops for the winter months. Preserving begins with pickles, storing
fruit in alcohol, making spicy chutneys, moving on to jams, cordials,
and then finishing with fruit curds, making wine, and curing fish and
meats. The wine book begins with flavour identifications,
distinguishing amongst red, white, rose and sparkling wines, then moves
on to grape varieties and New vs. Old World winemaking styles,
finishing with oaking, microclimates, and food and wine matching.
Recipes, when they exist, have their ingredients listed mainly in
avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: beginners.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: The series uses practice
project to explore key techniques in-depth so that the reader always
learns by doing.
The downside to this book: need more titles in the series!
The upside to this book: great pictures.
Quality/Price Rating: 90 each.

 

9. AARP NEW AMERICAN DIET: lose weigh, live longer (Wiley & Sons, 2013,
226 pages, ISBN 978-1-118-18511-7, $19.95 US hard covers) is by John
Whyte, MD, chief medical expert for the Discovery Channel. It has been
drawn principally from the National Institute of Health-AARP Diet and
Health Study, yet still needs log rolling from four celebrities,
including Dean Ornish, MD. The crux here is three practical weight-loss
plans (7, 14, and 30-day plans) with dozens of recipes (apps to side
dishes) plus advice on how to prevent/manage heart disease, cancer and
diabetes. A good section is on sifting through conflicting data dealing
caffeine, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, frozen veggies, salt, fruit
juice, and cooking oils. The book has plenty of references and
resources, especially on the Internet, which seemed designed for
seniors to read, enjoy and learn – with their new time. Preparations
have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is
no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: seniors (and others) who are looking for a
useful diet.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: there's a listing of top 25
things NOT to do (skipping breakfast, eating too fast, eating out more
than three times a week) and 25 things to emphasize (sharing a dessert,
consuming low-fat dairy, eating a handful of nuts every day).
The downside to this book: could have been longer and more detailed.
The upside to this book: large typeface.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.

 

10. THE MEDITERRANEAN SLOW COOKER (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 240
pages, ISBN 978-0-547-74445-1, $22 US soft covers) is by Michele
Scicolone who has written many cookbooks, mostly about Italian cuisine.
This is her third slow cooker book: the first two (Italian, French)
were published in 2011 and 2012, so she is on track for an annual slow
cooker book. Here she reaches widely through the Mediterranean basin,
de-emphasizing Italy and France (she's done them, as I note above) and
moving on to spiced carrot soup from Morocco, red lentil soup from the
Middle East, hake in green sauce from Spain, jugged chicken from
Portugal, meatballs with feta and tomato sauce from Greece. Chapters
are divided into courses, beginning with soups, moving through eggs,
seafood, poultry, meats, pasta and grains, beans, veggies and desserts.
Non-cooker accompaniments are covered, listed as "out of the pot" for
such as pesto and yogurts. And of course, you can use these preps in an
"acoustic" casserole cooker – just adjust the instructions.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements,
but there is no table of metric equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 88.

 

11. COUNTRY COOKING MADE EASY; over 1000 delicious recipes for perfect
home-cooked meals (Firefly Books, 2013, 496 pages, ISBN 978-1-77085-
095-8, $19.95 CAN paper covers) has been "gleaned from the kitchens of
expert country cooks dedicated to the celebration of country food"
(back cover) it is a nice omnium gatherum of recipes such as we used to
see forty years ago. Here, they are about two to a page, signed by a
contributor, and they work. A good compendium of solid country fare,
for those that need one, covering in its dozen chapters, breakfasts
through snacks, soups, meats, pasta, baking, preserves and desserts.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements,
but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: beginners or those looking for a book with
many recipes in it.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: beer-braised rabbit; saddle
of elk; Michigan Dutch-styled rabbit; sweet-and-sour ribs; maple
custard. There are also two macs and cheese, plus other macaroni
dishes.
The downside to this book: I would have liked some metric information.
The upside to this book: large compendium of basic but hearty preps.
Quality/Price Rating: 85.

 

 

 

12. ONE PAN, TWO PLATES; more than 70 complete weeknight meals for two
(Chronicle Books, 2013, 208 pages, ISBN 978-1-4521-0670-0, $24.95 US
soft covers) is by Carla Snyder, caterer, cooking school teacher, and
food writer. This book is an extension of the one pot book in that just
one pan is used but the time element is, of course, quicker. These are
fresh, cooked-from-scratch weeknight meals. A typical prep, as she
explains, is sauteed pork chops with sweet potato and apple, and a
mustard sauce. The first step is to partially sauté the chops, remove,
add slices of apples and sweet potato, continue cooking, add back the
chops, cover, remove and serve, whisking a mustard sauce with the
remaining juices, pouring over the meat. And the prep time can be
halved if two participate. No leftovers can be considered another
bonus. So this is a main course book, with a primer up front to help
you speed up the processes. The first chapter covers pastas, grains and
hot sandwiches. Next are meat dinners, followed by poultry dinners and
then fish dinners. There are some veggie dishes in the first chapter,
suitable as accompaniments or as vegetarian mains. At the back, there
are two indexes, one alphabetical by ingredient, the other by them
(dinner in 30 minutes or less, spring meals, summer meals, winter
meals, and vegetarian meals. Preparations have their ingredients
partially listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there
is no table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: intermediate level cooks; harried cooks.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: herbed chicken paillards
with zucchini pancakes and cherry tomato pan sauce; veal piccata with
brussels sprout hash and apples; lamb kebabs with harissa, chickpeas,
and summer squash; Thai red curry chicken with bell peppers and
broccoli; poached halibut with chive gremolata, brussels sprouts, and
butter bean mash.
The downside to this book: you might need to practice in order to get
the hang of it. A substitution list might also be useful, in case
someone forgot something.
The upside to this book: there are indications of hands on time and
prep times.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.

 

13. BAKE IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT; gorgeous cakes from inside out (Stewart,
Tabori & Chang, 2012, 252 pages, ISBN 978-1-61769-013-6, $29.95 US hard
covers) is by Gesine Bullock-Prado, a baker who has written a memoir
and two other cookbooks (one on confections and candies, the other on
pies). Here she tackles cakes with great presentations both outside and
inside. She shows how to create patterns such as hearts, rainbows,
polka dots, checkerboards, and so forth, so that when the cake is cut
open, you can see the pattern. Plus of course, there are the fabulous
outside garnishes of frostings. She's got sponge cakes, pound cakes,
tortes, cheesecakes, and meringues. As she says, there are "easy peasy"
preps and more complex ones to aspire to. There are plenty of tips,
some memoirish material, and excellent photography, particularly of the
techniques. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric
and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no listed table of
equivalents.
Audience and level of use: home cooks, restaurants wishing to make a
splash with cake patterns.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: nussbuserln torte;
mandelkranzchen; wild blueberry and guanabana Bavarian cream layer
cake; Madame Butterfly sponge cake; Gerbeaud slices; lemon-rosemary-
blackberry vacherin.
The downside to this book: some preps look daunting, but the pix are
excellent.
The upside to this book: the patterns on the inside.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.

 

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com