Cookbook Review: The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making.

The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making. by Alana Chernila is ultimately a strange and frustrating book. I say this reluctantly because there are many very good things about this book. The photos are lovely, she uses just enough personal shots of herself and her kids to make you care about her family without being too cloying and the food pictures are beautiful.
The author is, in many ways, the best sort of new home-maker, seeking to stretch her budget and encourage people to re-think the way we get our food in America. On balance, she doesn't preach- too much- she's just leading by example, and sometimes, the results can be completely mouthwatering.
Most recipes are preceded by an essay from the author's food and lifestyle blog Eating From The Ground Up which is a whole lot of fun. The essays are generally engaging, but I think I would like to have seen fewer of them. Some, like 'Car Snacks- or- the most important meal of the day' feel like filler. They aren't particularly interesting and while they might have made for an ok blog post, many of these essays just don't add much in terms of furthering the mission to get readers to make more of their own foods.
The book is organized into chapters on Dairy, Cereals, Snacks, Spreads, Soups, Pasta, Frozen Food, Crackers, Bread and Candy.  I get the sense that making her own cheeses, yogurts, butter etc. is something the author is very excited about. These recipes, the accompanying essays and photos are bubbling over with exuberance The author is clearly in love with making her own pasta, and lasagne especially, all of which makes for good copy and good recipes. 
In some of the other categories of food, however, the author relies very heavily on small alterations of other's work that don't amount to much either instructionally, or from a culinary perspective. For example, the bread recipes are lifted directly from another cookbook and from King Arthur Flour. Since there are so many amazing bread cookbooks out there, I think the author would have done better to stick to those ideas that are really hers i.e. her Burger Bun recipe and her husband's Pizza and just leave out the regular bread recipe altogether.
Lastly, there are some editorial problems, while instructions for yogurt are very complete, those for tortillas are confusing. The page mentions the various types of lard and shortenings you can use for tortilla-making but the recipe the author gives is just pressed flour and water (which might be the recipe for communion wafers...)
I think ultimately my quarrel with this book is that it is just a bit of a manual for making one's own foodstuffs (with nothing more difficult than pasta), just a bit of a parenting book, just a bit of a Western Massachusetts locavore book and not a very comprehensive guide to anything. It is pretty & very engaging, and probably worth owning just for the fun of it, but its not really going to show you a pathway to making, rather than buying, your basic foodstuffs.

Cookbook Review: Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home

I have a bit of a mixed relationship to Martha Stewart and her aptly named Omnimedia empire. Sam Waksal didn't call me when ImClone was about to go belly-up, now granted I had fewer shares than Martha did, but the whole insider trading thing just sorta frosted me. This is a person who made her fortune telling ordinary folk we can all live in the extraordinary manner she does, she just forgot to mention, not legally.

Anyway, I'm a magazine subscriber from way back when each issue was LOADED with genuinely excellent instructions for everything from pate brisee to knitting a baby hat. So, I was pretty excited to find a new-ish copy of Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home: 52 Quick Meals to Cook for Family & Friends at my local thrift store for $4

I'm infatuated with this book. It's classic Martha, clearly written, obviously well tested recipes for 52 complete meals, organized by season.

We've recently instituted the habit of Sunday dinner in our family; trying to make sure we sit down for a semi-formal meal at a minimum of once a week. So far we've worked our way through most of the Summer chapter and are well into Fall. Its a pleasant, comforting ritual for all of us to trek to the market after Church and work together to gather, prep and cook these meals.

Some highlight meals of using this book so far- Coconut poached chicken, greens in garlic-chili oil, noodle cakes, and mango smoothies; Honey-glazed Chicken Skewers, Summer Squash and Olive Tart, Cantaloupe Feta salad and Espresso Cream Crunch (not recommended for kids before bed); and Strip Steak with Chimichurri, Spinach & Vidalia Onion, Pomme Frites, with a Berry Mix in Cream. Nearly everything has turned out perfectly where we've followed the directions to the letter (when I go off without paying too much attention to Martha, things have a tendency to be a little bland).

With something like 200 recipes total, at least that many beautiful photos, and the no-nonsense reliability that created Martha's culinary empire, this is rapidly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.

My only critique- I take issue with the word 'quick', a lot of the meals need quite a bit of specialized shopping, celery root, kumquats, Sauternes etc.. although its easy enough to mix menus to what is available, likely to be eaten. The prep required for some things is not inconsiderable. These are 30-minute meals if you are Martha and have a staff of 20, not 3 under 10's.

Still and all, I really like this book and would STRONGLY recommend buying it if you happen to come across it. It's worth getting off Amazon if you don't luck out at a thrift store.

Cookbook Review: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

So I'm on my way back to America in about a week. Which means jet lag. Which means lots of cooking because what the heck else am I going to be doing at 4a in Small Town, Connecticut? My favorite part of jet-lag cooking is baking. It's fun and comforting to get a good fresh-bread smell going in our place after its been mostly empty for the winter.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois is an interesting book. The fundamental idea here is that kneading is optional in making bread.  The breads in this book all come from one 'master recipe' for a very wet, (unbleached white) wheat flour dough (although whole wheat works fine for me with the method).

The book: The book is attractive, but the use of some fussy fonts in the titles bothers me a bit. They've chosen a typeface that you can easily mis-read.  Fortunately, they don't use it for ingredient lists. There are about 10 drool-worthy color plates in the center of the book. After some lengthy sections on technique it's organized by types of breads 'Peasant loaves', 'Flatbreads & Pizzas' and 'Enriched Breads and Pastries' are the main sections.

The method described is actually simpler than the five chapters describing it would have you believe. Essentially, chuck your ingredients together, put them away to rise, refrigerate the dough, pull it out to rise again, bake. There are lots of good tips and techniques and some specifics of cloaking the dough, preparing the oven and using pizza peels etc. to achieve a good crust.

After that, the sky is pretty much the limit. I especially like how well the doughs freeze. I can make a bunch of pizza shells and use them when I need them without having to give the kids a scary frozen pizza. I also suspect you can save a fair amount of money by simply not buying prepared bread anymore. I don't have the discipline to keep a starter going all the time, but when I do, the results from this book are very satisfactory.

Overall, it's great book to own. Especially if you have a large family or lots of visitors and people are going to be eating bread everyday.

Cook Book Review: How to be a Domestic Godess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking- Nigella Lawson

How to be a Domestic Godess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking is certainly a fun book anyway. Nigella takes you through all kinds of festive AND practical baking options with aplomb and a good dose of humor.

The illustrations in the book are positively mouth-watering. I'm especially enthralled by a photo array of four layered cakes (a boston cream pie, butterscotch layer, a zucchini cake and something called a Victoria sponge which looks like what you eat at tea time in an E.M. Forster book). I think I need to throw a party so I can make these things...

Some of the more particularly British sections, like savory pies, steamed sponge puddings, and trifles are intriguing, but possibly not likely to be made by your average American. Steak and kidney pie holds zero appeal for me, I have to say, but other savories like mushroom tarts do.

The book isn't a step-by step manual of how to learn to bake. Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook is way more informative if you need that. Nigella assumes her readers have a good amount of basic skills before they pick up the book, but it is certainly inspiring.

Cookbook Review: Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen

I have to admit, I'm a Gordon Ramsay fan. Yeah, he's almost eye-wateringly vulgar, he can be actually mean, and he's got the face of a busy fighting dog. But, I think Gordon's war on fussy food and stupidity in the Kitchen Nightmares series (esp. the UK version) makes for really fun TV.
Tana, his wife or former wife (not up on my Brit tabloids) has a few cookbooks out, and because I caught it on Amazon for $4.99, I went ahead and bought Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Every Family.
On Balance, I like this book. She has some nice ideas about pushing the culinary envelope with kids, although I don't foresee mine eating Moroccan-style lamb with ginger and apricots anytime soon. The desserts and children's party ideas are lovely, especially for very young kids (3-5), not so sure older ones would really appreciate the style. Some of the side dishes earned dramatics from the Fussy American Children, but were eventually eaten and enjoyed (mushy peas...).
The layout is good and the pictures are nice. The family photos of the kids are endearing. I think she tries a bit too hard to give the reader the sense she is a 'regular mum'. Of course you aren't, that is why we are buying your book, silly woman!
Forewarned though, the book is in desperate need of kitchen testing and careful editing. Recipes call for things like a 'good dollop', list sugar in the ingredient list and then don't tell you when to use it (for something where sugar isnt an obvious ingredient), no cake pan sizes are given etc.. These sorts of problems are prevalent and really spoil the book from a technical point of view.
Get it from the library to be inspired, but don't try to use it as a reference book.

Cookbook Review: The Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics

Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics: Fabulous flavor from simple ingredients. Ina Garten

I have to be up front about my prejudice here, I adore Ina Garten and her cookbooks. Ina writes about and maybe lives on? a planet where cocktail hour starts at 1:15 and is accompanied by acres of luscious, effortless, crispy snacky delicious tidbits...
No one is ever hungover because you simply stroll out to the patio and down your freshly squeezed, organic cranberry, artisan vodka, sicilian blood orange sea breeze while lingering over perfectly cooked cheddar cheese eggs followed by a bracing dip in the pool (conveniently maintained by someone else and paid for by poor Jeffrey...).

Nobody ever says anything inappropriate or nasty because the food and drink are just too deliciously perfect social lubricants... This is what I want my parties to be like...

On to the book:
Physically, I find all of her books very engaging. The colors are bright and clear, the images of food mouthwatering and the layout is easy to both browse and search. My only very slight annoyance is with the way she lingers for a few pages on her house. Show me pictures of dinner parties or something. I just feel like the real-estate porn shots of her patio are pretty irrelevant and sort of ostentatious.

As usual, the book has quite a lot of family-friendly fare and easy, clear instructions. I especially like her 'ten tips' pages. 'Ten things NOT to serve at a party' was a revelation to me, must remember them. I'm also enamored with her idea of adding a flavor boost to foods right before serving to brighten up a dish overall. So, if you are making lemon chicken, you squeeze fresh lemon juice on it as it goes to the table. I've been trying to remember to do this lately, and I'm very happy with the result.

On the negative side, I think Ina needs to lighten up some of her cooking a little. She's heavy handed with oil, butter, and salt. Sometimes NOT in a good way. The pot roast is a prime example, I personally cook stuff like pot roast and stews without salt and just let people use the shaker at the table.

On balance, worth owning, although if you have The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, just get this out of the library.

Cookbook Review: The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil MD and Rosie Daley

I've decided to add cookbook reviews to this blog. Especially since lately I've acquired about 10 for birthday's and other gifts.

The Healthy Kitchen: recipes for a better body, life and spirit. by Andrew Weil, MD and Rosie Daley

Spoiler: This is actually not a bad cookbook if you can get past all the annoying 'health' chatter.

Layout: The book has a lot of nice color photos and is set up into easy to search sections. I'm super curious about the relationship between the two authors, there are numerous pictures of her feeding him and them standing very very close. They seem awfully intimate for a book that doesn't mention the relationship. His recipes and health screeds are in blue sections and her 'Tips' are in yellow. He spends an awful lot of time discussing 'best quality' ingredients in a health context and I wish they had included a section on where to acquire some of the more morally elevated foodstuffs...

Recipes: In general, if their recipe seems too healthy to be good, it is. Multi-Grain Scones are completely gross, made with canola oil rather than butter, they have a greasy, nasty consistency. I'm not even sure I could coat these with borax and use them as ant-bait. Entrees like Grilled Ahi Tuna with Cilantro Ginger Sauce, however, are yummy. As long as what they are making is what it is, not a lame attempt a healthy imitation of something more delicious, the recipes are quite serviceable.
I also really enjoyed reading all of the fresh salsas and relishes they use throughout. These are definitely worth trying.

Other info: Dr. Weil sprinkles a lot of 'health' information in one-page essays throughout the book. I personally found his advice contradictory and sort of annoying a lot of the time. He is definitely a 'nutritionist' in Michael Pollan's worst sense of the word. There's way too much time spent on substitution and way too little spent on talking about balance in the diet. The 'Tips from Rosie's Kitchen' sections are annoying and really a little too obvious; i.e. "When you have more bananas than you know what to do with, don't throw them away!" Seriously, thanks....

I wish the authors of books like this would admit you CAN'T have your cake and eat it too, if you are focusing on the health qualities of food, anyway. On balance, not really worth owning. Get it from the library, it does have some utility.