If you don’t know Smitten Kitchen, you’re missing out. It’s a wonderful blog by Deb Perelman. Her own description of her life and times is so charming, I think I should just refer anyone interested to her ‘about’ page. Suffice it to say, I have loved her blog basically forever. She is a legend in…
A Guide to Homemade Sourdough Bread
Making sourdough at home can seem intimidating. It requires special equipment, it takes time to make the dough, and the skills needed to shape and score loaves have to be learned. So, is it worth it? YES. I do think so. There is nothing so lovely as your own beautiful sourdough loaves. The accomplishment of…
Cookbook Companion to Made in India
Quick One Pot Dal with black beluga lentils (serves 2-3, recipe halved from original), adapted from Dal Makhani (p. 167) I’m sure the recipe is amazing as written in the book, but it was hard for me to find urad dal, the kind of lentils called for, and the process is different if you use…
Made in India by Meera Sodha
The first meal I cooked out of Made in India: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen was Roasted tamarind chicken, and on the side the lime pickled onions, the mint and yogurt chutney, and the Chapatis. I would not usually make so many sides, but these recipes are just so easy and so easily made…
Cucina Rustica by Evan Kleiman and Viana La Place
I have loved cooking from this book. My mom has had it since I can remember (it was published in 1990), and gifted me a copy for Christmas/Hanukkah this past year. It’s a quiet classic, and well worth diving into. The truly valuable part of this cookbook is that the rhythm of it encourages…
Time to Eat by Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya Hussain’s Time to Eat is a great addition to my cookbook collection. I love the premise, that we can find ways to cook smarter and save time. My favorite thing about the food is the creativity and the great balancing of flavors. Nadiya really stretches sometimes and does unusual things, and she usually pulls…
Cooking for Jeffrey by Ina Garten
Ina Garten is a Culinary Queen. But before she was a queen, she was just a girl, standing in front of Jeffrey, trying to get into a cocktail bar. So the story goes in Cooking for Jeffrey, Ina’s one millionth (*ahem* 10th) cookbook. So enjoyable to hear her origin story, which begins, according to her,…
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, by Samin Nosrat, illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton, is listed on Amazon as a Cooking Encyclopedia. Accurate. It’s basically a cooking course, more about methodology and learning the why of it all than just giving you every recipe ever. Like any course of study, the…
Pastry Love by Joanne Chang
There has been a lot of buzz about Pastry Love online, and with good reason. It’s a very impressive set of recipes, made possible by collaboration with the many bakers and pastry chefs Ms. Chang employs. A little corner of my heart warms every time she mentions someone’s contribution. Even more than that, she talks…
Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan
Dorie Greenspan is a marvel. This is a woman who has won five James Beard awards. She has written 13 cookbooks. She has a column for the New York Times, “On Dessert.” If you want to give her a go without the investment of buying a book, you can find some recipes on her website…
Cookbook Reviews 