I’ll start by letting the author’s introduction speak for itself: “Delicious food does not have to be complicated. Cooking, when it’s at its best, is a way to take care of each other, not compete with each other…sometimes I just don’t feel like peeling an onion. I will almost always choose a nonstick skillet over…
Category: Cookbooks
Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman
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…
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…
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…
Ottolenghi SIMPLE by Yotam Ottolenghi
Yotam Ottolenghi has been massively internationally influential in the last decade. He has changed the way we think about food on a much larger scale than just his own work—he has influenced so many people in the food space that it actually changed the current, moving us collectively more towards vivacious herbs and middle eastern…
Ripe by Nigel Slater
This lovely dream of a book has been keeping me company for the last few weeks. Sitting in my yard in Austin, I imagine old country houses and rolling hills, hedges draped in berries and fruit trees trained to climb walls. The reader is quickly transported, which is good, because every few minutes I’m called…
Cookbook Reviews 