Recently I went through my five cookbook shelves (each with about 50 books) and took some to the library for the book sale. Cookbooks are a hot item for the sales, so please take a look at yours and decide if you really, really want the one from Hawaii featuring instructions for a luau. So, it may seem odd that I also recently purchased five new cookbooks. Odd for some, not for me. I have now promised to truly and faithfully refrain from any new purchase, even on sale.
There was some method to my culinary madness. Three of the books were compiled by bloggers I’ve become a fan of. One was edited by a Southern Foodways Alliance friend of mine. And one was written by a blogger I hope to lure to Columbus for a summer Book Talk.
I’d like to recommend four of the five to you. One, “The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook,” I wasn’t crazy about, but I can’t seem to put my hands on it right now to tell you why. I do read the blog associated with it and thoroughly enjoy that.
“The Southern Living Community Cookbook” (Sheri Castle, Oxmoor House), with a forward by Matt Lee and Ted Lee is a visual delight. The illustrations (by Sara Mulvanny) and the photographs (Becky Luigart-Stayner) are an invitation to sit a while with this cookbook. When mine arrived I took an hour or more just turning the pages and smiling. Each chapter features not only submitted recipes for this cookbook, but also ones with a banner at the top labeled “Chef Recipe” (such as Sara Foster of Durham, North Carolina), or “Southern Living Classic” (like John Egerton’s Skillet-Fried Chicken and Gravy).
There is also a banner for “Best of the Best” which features a community cookbook. For instance, in the chapter called “Sides, Salads and Sauces” the winner is “Charleston Receipts,” a true classic for cooks and cookbook collectors. The recipe taken from the cookbook is “Mrs. Ralph Izzard’s Awendaw.” This cookbook would be a lovely gift for anyone, but especially a bride-to-be. It is a classic in the making.
More picks
Another cookbook I think would be a perfect shower gift is “The Kitchn Cookbook” (Faith Durand and Sara Kate Gillingham, Clarkson Potter/Publishers). I receive an email from The Kitchn several times a week and love, love it. It began as a sister site to Apartment Therapy and has a decidedly urban vibe to it. The book is divided into sections titled “The Kitchen,” “How to Cook Well” and “Gathering.”
In Chapter 5 in the How to Cook Well section there are 50 Essential Skills with a quick lesson for each. I am a fairly experienced home cook, but there is always something to read to make me a better and more efficient cook. Lesson No. 18 is How to Adapt a Recipe to the Slow Cooker, which I’ll use in my spring LEP class, One Dish Meals. The recipes may have some ingredients that are out of reach for us, but not many. It is a more sophisticated book but one with lots of great ideas (Lemony Asparagus Ribbons) to wow your family or dinner guests.
It’s obvious to the eye that I have a hard time sticking to a diet, so thank goodness for “The Skinntytaste Cookbook” (Gina Homolka, Clarkson Potter/Publisher). This is from another website I read daily and look forward to. Her recipes are loaded with flavor and often her Latin American background is in evidence.
Each recipe breaks down the essential per serving: calories, fat, fiber, sodium, sugar and more, plus vegetarian, gluten-free, quick, slow-cooker and freezer-friendly symbols. The beginning of the book gives you a how-to on The Skinny Basics, from making over your kitchen to meal and recipe planning. The chapters range from mornings, coups and “skinny bites,” to entrees and desserts. They are family oriented as she tests many out on her husband and two daughters. I have rarely found hard-to-find ingredients even with a recipe titled Colombian Carne Asada with Aji Picante. And it’s hard to believe her Cheesy Baked Penne with Eggplant is skinny, especially after looking at the photograph. I recommend this book for any kitchen, fat or not.
My last cookbook is “Pimento Cheese, the Cookbook” (Perre Coleman Magness, St. Martin’s Griffin). Now this really is a small niche, but then I also have a cookbook devoted to just shrimp and grits. And, believe it or not, it is my second pimento cheese cookbook. I think I can stop now. Perre has a blog called The Runaway Spoon, which I have just discovered and really enjoy. She lives in Memphis, and I hope to have her visit Columbus this summer for the Table Talks, so please visit her blog.
As I peruse this book I’m not sorry I spent the money, with recipes like Pigs in Pimento Cheese Blankets, Pimento Cheese Waffles with Pimento Syrup and Bacon, or Pimento Cheese Crisps. With p’cheese being the food of the South, how far off can this cookbook be? As the song goes, “If loving pimento cheese is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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