Let's talk cookbooks!

70 responses total.

Browsing in Border's this weekend, i ran across a bright light green
cookbook called _Quick Vegetarian Pleasures_, by Jeane Lemlin.  I read
the introduction, where the author says things like, "I prefer to
alternate richer meals with lighter meals, making lighter dishes a more
frequent part of my diet."  The introduction gives the impression that
most the recipes in the book are for fairly lowfat foods, with an occasional
high fat meal thrown in because it's yummy.  This sounded good to me, so
i bought the book.  Alas, when i got it home, i sat down to choose some
recipes to start with and discovered that an overwhelming majority of the
recipes in this book have large amounts of cheese and egg.  I'm planning
to bring the book back to Border's to exchange it for an Indian cookbook.
Oh well.

For my birthday, a good friend gave me Diane Kennedy's _The Art of 
Mexican Cooking.  It's a great book if you're into Mexican.

Diane Kennedy's cookbooks are great to read.  I haven't made many
recipes from her first Mexican cookbook, though, because they
always look so complicated (I've read this complaint elsewhere, too).
It's not that I can't *do* complicated, it's just that most of the
time, I don't feel like it.

_The Best of Lord Krishna's Cuisine_ by Yemuna Devi looks interesting
in the bookstore and it's gotten good reviews on rec.food.veg.  However,
it's got a lot of very strange ingredients and there are some common
Indian foods (such as paneer) that are completely missing from the
cookbook, so i've got some misgivings.  We'll see.  Nice typeface, anyway.
Yemuna Devi's name used to be something like Jane Smith until she got
converted by Indian food, so don't buy it because the author's name
sounds kinda authentic.

yeah, right...
don't let your personal religious beliefs get in the way, either...B-)

I just checked out _A Passion for Potatoes_ from the library.  After
reading it for about a half hour, I'm ready for some hash browns or
some gnocchi or some potato pancakes or some latkes or... well, you
get the idea.

Gnocchi!  Go for it!  I'll bring over the tomato sauce.

 
Pen & Teller recently published a book titled, "How to Play with Your Food."
 
I must say, after reading it, that it is one of the funniest books about
food and magic I've ever seen.  Ok, so it's the *only* book about food and
magic I've seen, but it *is* very funny.
 
The Library of Congress catalogs it as "Humor-Food" and "Table etiquette-
humor."

The book contains just under 50 gags, tricks, and stunts.  Some require
lots of preparation and an invitation to appear on David Letterman.  Others
can be done with no prep whatsoever.  One of their tricks is *already* set
up for you at 16 of the finest restaurants in the world (the list of
restaurants is included in the book.)  Here is a smattering selection of
some of the gags P&T teach:

#1      Stabbing a Fork in Your Eye
#4      A Milkshake as Self-Defense
#9      The Parsley Game
#10     The Oliver Stone Melon-Head Trick
#14     Tying a Cherry Stem with Your Mouth
#18     Linguini A la Stigmata
#26     Bleeding Heart Gelatin Dessert
#28     Be Picasso, Now, Without Talent
#30     The Riddle of the Six Dead Fish
#32     Jesus of McDonald's
#33     The Lie in Your Lunchbox
#36     The Vanishing Appetizer
#40     The Incredibly Dangerous Glowing Pickle Machine
#41     Getting Creamed in the Middle of the Night at Denny's
#45     How to Lop Off Your Thumb and Make People Scream
#46     His Statanic Majesty's Burrito

The book also came with a "Gimmicks Envelope" to assist with some of the
tricks.  No, I won't divulge what's in there.

A terrific, funny book.  For example, in #43, "It's About Time You Got to
Know Your Pizza Person," one of the pages has instructions for your pizza
parlor to assist you with a gag.  On the back of that page, there is only a 
photo of an old car and a caption that reads:

"When you rip out this page and give it to your pizza chef, you will not be
losing a thing except for this picture of a 1948 Buick."

I heard Penn talk about that book on NPR when it first came out.  It
is a funny book.

Sounds like a fun book!

Has anyone else read "Like Water for Chocolate"?

Yes, it's a wonderful book.

the movie was good; the book is supposed to be even better.

I just ventured down to Briarwood to see Jim McNair, author of more
than 21 cookbooks.  To tell you the truth, I'd never heard of the guy,
but my wife had.  She wanted me to go get his _Corn Cookbook_ for here
(she, unfortunately, had to work today).

He gave a nice demonstration of how to make tiramisu, and everyone in
the audience got a taste.  It was very good.

The corn cookbook is very interesting.  It has some quite unusual
recipes, including fresh corn tamales, corn pizza, and corn ice cream.
The photos are really nice in the book. He mentioned in the
question-and-answer session that he takes all his own photographs in
addition to writing the recipes.

I have his breakfast/brunch book and have made a number of the 
recipes with good results.  I especially like the one for 
cinnamon and raisin rice pudding.

Corn ice cream?

Corn ice cream only sounds so strange because it is so unusual.  (if you get 
my meaning)
        It actually sounds as if it would taste pretty good

The Moosewood Collective has put out a new cookbook, _Moosewood
Restaurant Cooks at Home_.  It's softbound and sells for $16.00.
I picked it up today along with *two* other cookbooks.  Yikes.
Guess the same advice about grocery shopping when hungry applies
to browsing cookbooks as well.  

Some of the Moosewood recipes look wonderful.  I'll let you know
how they come out.

I got a copy of _Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home_ for my birthday,
plus _New Vegetarian Cuisine_ by "Linda Rosensweig and the food editors
of Prevention magazine", and (don't faint!) _Betty Crocker's Vegetarian
Cooking_!!!  Browsing through Borders today I was shocked to find not
one but *two* different Betty Crocker vegetarian cookbooks.  I got the
paperback one.  It was a tough decision: on the one hand, I have a lot
of reverence for Betty because she taught me how to cook.  On the other
hand, I seem to remember recipes that called for mixing Campbell's Cream
of Garbage soup with 30 slices of bacon and baking it for 30 minutes
-- the kind of recipe I'd like to avoid.  So far the recipes in the
book look reasonable, and Betty tells ya some nutritional information
about each recipe in the book.  It looks interesting.  In the store,
there was also a really big _Betty Crocker New Eating_ (or something like
that) cookbook, and a _Betty Crocker Old Fashioned Cookbook_.  Looks like
Betty is keeping up with the times -- I've seen Betty Crocker ethnic
cookbooks, too!

The Linda Rosensweig cookbook looks like a real find.  It's got sections
with names like "The Weekday Cook", "Hearty Soups", "Luscious Legumes",
"Pasta Galore", and "The Wide World of Grains".  I'm especially interested
in the Weekday Cook section of the book.  Those recipes look reasonably
quick to cook, healthy, yummy, and different from my other recipes.
Many new cookbooks I see today seem to be simply a rehash of the same
recipes that are in every other vegetarian cookbook.  I'll keep ya posted
about how these turn out.

Has anybody tried the _365 Vegetarian Recipes_ book I saw at Borders?  It
looked interesting, but I figured I was cookbooked enough for the moment,
so I didn't buy it.

I've made two recipes from the Linda Rosensweig _New Vegetarian Cuisine_
cookbook.  So far so good!  Definitely a cookbook worth checking out.

My sister bought "In The Kitchen With Rosie", alias, Oprah's cook
does low-fat cuisine.  I guess it's a *really* big seller at the 
moment even thought it runs $15 for only 50 recipes.  Anyhow, 
over the past two nights I tried two different recipes, an
"un-fried" catfish and linguine in white clam sauce.  Both were
excellent.  This is not bland food by any stretch.

This isn't a cookbook, but it's close. 

I just bought an issue of Cook's Illustrated.  This is a great
magazine.  It gives you step-by-step instructions for many recipes and
is complete with some very good illustrations.  This month's issue has
articles on barbeque ribs, potato salad (six or seven different
kinds), and chocolate cake (six different recipes).  As Valerie would
say, YUM!

Over the past few days I've made a couple of dinners using recipes from a
new cookbook, "The Healthy Heart Cookbook".  I've been looking for quite
some time for a book that remakes family favorites healthier but without
resorting to itsy-bitsy portions in order to get the numbers right.  I
think this cookbook fits the bill, at least so far.  I've now made a
marinated barbecued shrimp served with a wonderful calico rice (apples,
carrots, celery, raisins, wild rice, white rice, herb mixture).  The other
recipe I tried was an acid test - a rich looking chicken cooked in a thick
(gravy like) herb sauce with vegetables (chicken fricassee).  It tasted
quite good with a good portion containing only 251 calories with 8% from
fat. 

Those looking for a lower fat cookbook might want to check this one out. 

My teenager is finally starting to admit that rice can be an "okay"
addition to a meal...unfortunately it seems to be the easiest/best
way to make a healthier meal (when you eliminate the french fried
potatoes that said teenager thrives on, for example).  This book
looks interesting, if the meals with "fill you up" without loading
you up with nasty stuff.  How much does it cost?

$25.00 but I bought it at Borders and got the customary 10% off
for hardbacks.  It's loaded with recipes and lots of pictures
of what the finished dish should look like.  It's by the same
folks who do the magazine Southern Living, an excellent source 
of good recipes.

Ah, my parents subscribe to Southern Living...a nice source as you
say.  I wonder if they can get it cheaper via SL?  Even so $25 isn't
bad for a hardcover.  Thanks

I concur with Dan't assessment of "Cook's Illustrated"  I've bought
the last three issues in a row, and read them all cover to cover.  There 
are no advertisements, by the way.

I bought a new cookbook a few days ago, called "A Passion for Potatoes."
I've read through a lot of the recipes, and it looks like a 
very useful book.  I haven't actually tried any of the recipes yet, since
I've been sick in bed most of the week.  

Hope you're feeling better soon, Leslie [I've been down sick most of 
this past week, too, so I kknow the feeling!].  Let us know whatcha think
of the book once you've tried a few things [and maybe share some of the
ideas?

I got hold of a computer-user cookbook over Thanksgiving.  The recipes in
it are pretty funny.  For example, the directions for recipes say things
like "boot your oven to 400 degrees".  And recipe names say things like
"Enchil-load-DOS" instead of "Enchiladas".  The recipes all look yummy,
reasonably healthy, and all are vegetarian.  I'm still deciding whether to
keep this book or give a copy to Rob -- or buy a second copy so I can do both.

let me know where to find a copy!!!  :)

The title is _Quick Bytes: Computer Lover's Cookbook_ by Diane Pfeifer.
It is published by Strawberry Patch, P.O. Box 52404, Atlanta, GA, 30355-0404
(404) 261-2197

I found it at a Barnes and Noble in NY.  It's likely to be available at
local bookstores, too, I'd guess.

Oh -- and it cost $9.95.

I have 2 cookbooks which have stood me in good stead...The Avon International
Cookbook, with recipes submitted by representatives from around the world
(some really yummy main dishes) and _Light Desserts_ by Beatrice Ojakangas.
I have used many of these recipes when giving my mom her Mother's Day Tea at
her office...where most of the ladies and gentlemen are on diets and watching
what they eat.  I have gotten nothing but raves on the things prepared from
this  book.  ISBN 0-8487-0759-1...hardback and about $20.

well, i've been having fun with my "moosewood cooks at home", and am waiting
to get the call that tells me that my copy of "sundays at moosewood" is
ready and waiting for me...:)

Good cookbooks, both!

 SOUTHERN LIVING IS LIKE MY GREATEST  PASSION! mainly cos my mom has all the
yearly cookboks from 1984  =)  (guess who is stealing a few when she moves
out in a year?)   I think SL does a have a great selction of recipes
everymonth (that is oneof only tworeason why i subscribe to SL, th e other
is their featured house w/ floor plans)

The cheapest way to get the SL cookbookes if if they have old editions on dale
in the piles or stacks.  That is how we got ours.  But they were a lucky find
at Books A Million and i am underpriliedge since i don't have a Borders where
i live =(  (andi fell for that place wheni visited A2 last month)

One of my fav cook bookes is called _Where's Mom Now that I need her", mother
gave it to me a s a xmas present a couple of year agoa ndits been in good
stead.  I don't know where ot get it, she bought it for me when she visited
the Biltmore Estate.  It has more than just good recipes but also good tips
on other house worlding topics

Lately I've been getting the occasional interesting recipe from the magazine
_Vegetarian Times_.  My mom gave me a subscription to it.  I don't think I
would have subscribed on my own.  But I'm definitely enjoying it.  That's
where I recently got a recipe for "turkeyless tetrazini" that turned out to
be lots of fun to play with.

A few days ago I purchased a new cookbook, "Vegetarian Express",
where all the recipes are supposed to be mostly healthy and
take less than 28 minutes to prepare.  (Not 30 minutes, 28 
minutes.) ;-)

My sister has this one and swears everything she's made has
come out great.  I kind of bought this one on a whim.  

Neat!  Who's the author?

Nava Atlas and Lillian Kayte.

But I can't think about food right now.  Christmas 
dinner, you know. ;-)

Re 36: That's funny, I'd long ago forgotten about this item, but I recently
bought Vegetarian Express.  So far it seems pretty good.

What I'm here to write about today, though, is a cookbook called "Friendly
Foods" by Brother Ron Pickarski, O.F.M.   I'm temporarily (for maybe a few
months?) on a vegan soy-free diet.  This is hard work, and I'm not generally
thrilled by the food.  So I bought me a pile of vegan cookbooks, in the hopes
of finding more food options.  "Friendly Foods" is the most interesting one
in the pile.  It's written by a Franciscan Brother who also went to culinary
school.  Evidently his fellow monks are willing to support him while he
perfects recipes.  Pickarski is very well educated about food, plus he's
willing to put in the time to perfect some really unique recipes.  There's
a whole section of the book devoted to recipes that he's entered in the
Culinary Olympics -- I didn't know there was such a thing -- where he won
mostly silver and bronze medals with these recipes.  They're not necessarily
quick food, but the foods that he makes are creative and yummy.

Yesterday for dinner I cooked a millet loaf with creamy ginger dressing.  The
name "millet loaf" sounds kind of scary, but the actual loaf was flavorful,
light, and well-balanced.  The ginger dressing was fascinating!  You throw
carrots, celery, and a bunch of other things into a blender, grind for 5
minutes, and voila -- a finished sauce.  I really like the idea of recipes
like this that use raw vegetables.  The sauce itself was awesome, too.

A number of his dessert recipes call for "yellow pepper pastry cream" --
something I probably won't cook anytime soon, but which I think is fascinating
stuff.  You roast yellow bell peppers, blend them together with soymilk and
arrowroot and some other things, and use this as a pastry cream.  Who would
have thought to try this?  Who else but Brother Ron would take the time to
fine-tune a recipe like this?  Not many people.

Another recipe (not soy-free) that I made from this cookbook was Seitan
Stroganoff.  Seitan is a Japanese wheat-meat, made by washing wheat flour in
alternate cold and hot water until the gluten is left, then cooking that in
a broth with soy sauce.  Pickarski's stroganoff uses a sour cream made from
grinding cashews, water, and umeboshi paste in the food processor.  The
stroganoff is wonderful!!!  I liked it so much that I made a similar sauce
to put on my pasta at lunch the next day, and then a couple of days later I
cooked a whole other batch of seitan stroganoff.  And in between meals I found
myself dreaming of it.  Mmmmm.

So, if you're into weird-but-yummy food, then you might find this cookbook
interesting.

ps.  I did a web search on Ron Pickarski's name.  He seems to have left the
monkhood.

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