3.OODLES OF NOODLES (Ryland Peters & Small, 2015, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-653-2, $21.95 US hard covers) is by Louise Pickford, food writer now living in France with over 15 cookbooks to her credit (many for Ryland Peters & Small). Here she runs through the basic types of wheat noodles, buckwheat, rice sticks, sweet potato, flat rice, cellophanes, vermicelli, rice paper, buckwheat, and more. There are 70 recipes here for mostly Asian noodles. After the basics, she delves into separate chapters called for in soups, salads, apps, stir-fries and curries. Each prep has a full colour photo. A very good, well-prepared book. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: those looking to use a lot of Asiatic noodles.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: steamed rice noodle dumplings with scallops; vegetarian spring rolls; shio ramen with pork and eggs; num banh chok; seared salmon and green tea noodle salad.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.
4.MEZZE (Ryland Peters & Small, 2015, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-651-8, $21.95 US hard covers) is by Ghillie Basan, a cookery writer and journalist specializing in Middle East cuisine. She has written other Middle East books for Ryland Peters & Small. Here are some 93 recipes of dips, bites, salads and other small plates to share, or apps or even mains. The Persian word "maza" means to relish and savour, accompanied by tea, sherbet or yogurt, occasionally wine or beer. Spanish tapas are the Middle East Moorish-influenced dishes, but with alcohol. I usually love a whole meal of little plates. This book is arranged by cold mezze, hot mezze, and sweet mezze. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: those looking for a small dish or two, or entertaining ideas.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: olives with harissa and preserved lemon; sweet melon with feta; spicy beef tartare and bulgur balls; hot hummus with pine nuts and chilli butter; spinach and feta pastries with pie nuts; roasted meat-stuffed onions with tamarind and butter; pears in saffron and cinnamon syrup.
The downside to this book: I wish that there were more recipes.
The upside to this book: the usual gorgeous RPS photos.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
5.CHICKEN WINGS ((Ryland Peters & Small, 2015, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-656-3, $21.95 US hard covers) is by Carol Hilker, a food writer in San Francisco who has written several cookbooks for Ryland Peters & Small. I am not convinced that we need another chicken wings book, but the publisher at least had an American author. Chicken wings are perfectly adaptable to a huge range of dips and sauces, marinades and glazes. So any BBQ book with a lot of these savoury methods is useful. According to the National Chicken Council (US), over 1.25 billion chicken wings were consumed during the 2015 Super Bowl. I'd imagine that chicken wings are very popular at ANY guy sports function, but I am not sure that they (the guys) demand variety during the session. My experience has been that guys only differ over heat levels (some can, some cannot), so all you really need are two types with and without heat. Nevertheless, this book does detail some 72 recipes for fried, baked, and grilled wings, plus some sides and drinks (some non-alcoholic for the kids or those who don't like beer). Preparations have their ingredients listed mainly in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: party goers.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sticky lime and maple wings; cola wings; mole wings; teriyaki wings; lemon-basil-pepper wings.
Quality/Price Rating: 84.
6.THE HEALTHY MATCHA COOKBOOK (Skyhorse Publishing, 2015, 143 pages, ISBN 978-1-63450-221-4, $16.99 US hard covers) is by Miryam Quinn-Doblas, RD, who owns the blog at eatgood4life.com. Her subtitle says "green tea-inspired meals, snacks, drinks, and desserts", using matcha powder to give the immune system a power boost. The anti-oxidant powder is far stronger than the liquid tea, and the 60 preps take advantage of this. The book is a nice resource tool, with its primer and arrangement (breakfasts, snacks, lean meals that are free of red meats, desserts, and menu plans for two weeks. There is a good resources section. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there are tables of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: those looking to increase their immune systems.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: apple walnut bundt cake; breakfast smoothie bowl; lemon coconut bites; fish curry; cauliflower and thyme soup; mahi mahi in tomato sauce.
The downside to this book: I'd like a few more recipes.
The upside to this book: The menus have page references to the recipes.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.
7.DINNER PIES (Harvard Common Press, 2015, 271 pages, ISBN 978-1-55832-851-8, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Ken Haedrich, who has written 12 other cookbooks, including the award-winning PIE which covers sweet pies. Here, he has savouries, ranging from shepherd's pies and pot pies to turnovers, quiches, hand pies and others, about 100 in all, mostly one-crust or two-crust. It is arranged by type of pie, and includes at the end a tortilla pie, cheeseburger pie, and shepherd's pie. He's also got cobblers, strudel, and wrapped entrees such as meatloaf wellington. And there is nothing with gluten-free flours. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there are tables of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: home cooks
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: turkey crumb pot pie, roasted vegetable strudel, fresh tomato and ham cobbler, Natchitoches meat pies, Philly cheesesteak hand pies, and pepperoni pizza bites.
The downside to this book: his shepherd's pies are all beef, which are actually "cottage pies" (no index entry here); he never mentions lamb at all except for Moroccan lamb pie.
The upside to this book: many of the pies are simply stews with covers of pastry or potato. So you can easily convert, just watching out for the liquid component.
Quality/Price Rating: 85.
8.LE FRENCH OVEN (Gibbs Smith, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-4053-0, $30 US hard covers) is by Hillary Davis, cookbook author of a variety of books about French food. Here she concentrates on the Dutch oven (enameled cast iron pot), of which the best are now apparently made in France, such as Le Creuset, Frontignac, and Emile Henry. She does cover seven brands, but some might be hard to find in North America. Le Creuset is just about everywhere; it originated in Picardy in 1925. It also has one of the best warranties. All the ovens are interchangeable, and she does cover choosing and caring for it. "The recipes in this cookbook are French inspired one I created for 5 quart to 6 quart (5 to 5.7 litre) French ovens. This is the mid-range size for feeding 4 – 6 people. There are larger and smaller ones, of course, and preps can be adjusted. She begins with appetizers in mini-cocottes, followed by soups, baking, stovetop prep, roasting, stewing, braising, and frying. Desserts are also in mini-cocottes, or in French ovens (your choice). Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements.
Audience and level of use: those with enameled Dutch ovens.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: summer garden crudites with Lyonnaise herb dip, French green lentil and toasted walnuts soup, lamb hachis parmentier, lemon-braised chicken with green olives, braised lamb shanks with gremolata.
The downside to this book: pictures are suited to this over-sized book, but are too non-food for tourists. How many pots can you can only pretty up for a book?
The upside to this book: a good single-equipment cookbook from a French expert.
Quality/Price Rating: 86.
9.THE BACKYARD HOMESTEAD BOOK OF KITCHEN KNOW-HOW (Storey Publishing, 2015, 356 pages, ISBN 678-1-61212-204-5, $19.95 US soft covers) is by Andrea Chesman, a Vermont cookbook writer with a couple of dozen books dealing with local cooking life (Pickled Pantry, Root Cellar, Serving Up the Harvest). Here she tells us how to be self-reliant in the kitchen; these skills can inspire confidence. Cooking from scratch includes milling your own flour, making butter and yogurt, curing sausages, making braises and stews, freezing and drying veggies, and preserving fruits. The variety here includes: canning fresh purees, dehydrating quartered tomatoes, making salsa, fermenting green tomatoes, preserving eggs, cooking stewing hens, making broth, making pates, making ricotta, cooking with yogurt. A very good reference book with about 100 recipes. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there are tables of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: those who have the time to cook from scratch.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: see above, mostly techniques.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
10.THE RECIPE WHEEL (Ebury Press, 2014, 288 pages, ISBN 978-0-09195704-9 $41 CAN hard covers) is by Rosie Ramsden, cook, writer and food stylist for Delicious magazine. These are recipe ideas in visual form, very easy to follow. There are 10 wheels with 120 total preps. Her principles are based on balance (flavours, textures), colour, and leftovers (inventive). For example, a wheel entitled "Simple White Bread" leads to ideas of "no frills", "night in", "friends", "creative", "impress" and "leftover". For the latter, you've got eggy bread and bread pudding. For impress, there is beetroot panzanella. Another recipe wheel is "Vegetable Soup": night in (mum soup), friends (celeriac and mustard soup), or creative (clam chowder). There are eight more. Preparations have their ingredients listed in a mix of metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no overall table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: jaded cooks or those who wish to learn more, maybe millennials too.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: see above
Quality/Price Rating: 85.
11.FERMENTING FOOD STEP-BY-STEP (DK, 2015, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-4143-0, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Adam Elabd, an educator in the field of fermentation, nutrition, and natural healing. Here are over 80 step-by-step recipes for fermenting kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, vinegar, chutney, sourdough, rejuvelac, and kefir. It is a visual guide, very well prepared. It also includes breads such as gorditas made from corn masa and injera made from teff flour. It is a great and useful reference book for those wishing to learn more. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents. The photos with the arrows are particularly good for the millennials who can visualize.
Audience and level of use: entry level for those wishing to explore fermenting foods.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: purple amazake sourdough; pineapple cider vinegar; mandarin wine; coconut water kefir; masala kraut; mole ketchup.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
12.FLAVORFUL (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, 374 pages, ISBN 978-1-118-52355-1, $35 US hard covers) is by Tish Boyle, co-editor of Dessert Professional magazine. She's written many other dessert books about cakes, diners, chocolate, and cookies. Here she has 150 preps that she guarantees are "flavourful", It is based on the pastry chefs' list of the most popular flavours in the US – vanilla, berry and cherry, apple, citrus, cheese, nuts, caramel, coffee, and chocolate. These are what most people eat most of in the way of desserts, so let's give it to them. So on average, that's about 15 preps per fancy. It is a great idea, and it forms a basis for a manual on baking and desserts. Each chapter covers a flavour, following a primer section. As with all good chefs, ingredients are scaled for exact ratios. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: intermediate
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: raspberry cheesecake cupcakes; French apple cake; cherry-vanilla frozen pops; espresso granita with mascarpone cream; lime-coconut mousse cake; pistachio Linzer hearts; two-tone milk chocolate mousse.
The downside to this book: vanilla is a nice flavour but it is also everywhere, like salt in savoury. Also, where would you place mocha?
The upside to this book: a nifty idea for arrangement, and this gets all the popular flavours anybody would need in one place.
Quality/Price Rating: 86.
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