Soup's On!

Challenge Conclusion

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since this challenge began.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope you did, too! 

Many thanks to each of you for participating, and especially for sharing your cookbooks and recipies.  I hope you found this to be an exciting culinary adventure - I know that I did!  I'll keep the site up for a few more weeks so that everyone has a chance to post any last-minute reviews and/or to make a list of all the cookbooks featured here.

Again, thank you so much for your participation.  Happy eating (and reading)!

Sharon (Ex Libris)

Mr. Food a little LIGHTER

I remember first being introduced to Mr. Food while watching him on a local news spot weekly sharing his tried and true recipes that are "ooh so good!!" I also purchased a collection of his cookbooks several years ago and enjoyed a variety of recipes. Recently I have been looking for ways to cook lighter and I stumbled upon Mr. Food a little LIGHTER by Art Ginsburg, so I decided to give him another try in my kitchen.

What I liked about this cookbook is the variety and ease of the recipes. Mr. Food is known for his easy adaptable recipes and this holds true to this cookbook as well. Also, I like that he uses a variety of spices to make the recipes tastier, especially when cooking light. And many recipes are "family friendly", meaning they do not have unusual ingredients and my kids were willing to give the final products a try. Always a plus in my home!

What I did not like about this cookbook is that it just didn't draw me to it the way some of my cookbooks do when I am looking for something different to make. This is not necessarily a flaw, just an observation. I think I need to pick it up a few more times and bookmark a few more recipes to give it a fair chance to stand up to my Taste of Home cookbooks which are my favorite overall. Also, I found it unusual that a book with "lighter" recipes often called for prepared ingredients such as refrigerator doughs/breads and soups. Not a complaint as I often have these in my kitchen, just again an observation.

I tried the following recipes from this cookbook: Turkey Goulash (p.138); Sweet Potato Fries (I used white potatoes) (p.234); Pinwheel Pizzas (p. 29); Applesauce Bread (I made muffins) (p. 271); and Herb-Crusted Chicken (p. 111). Each were very good and easy to make. My favorites were the fries and the muffins (bread). I do have a couple more recipes bookmarked to try in the future.

Although not one of my favorite cookbooks, Mr. Food a little LIGHTER was worth the time to try. I think I will hang on to it a little longer and continue to look through it for more ideas. I would recommend it to other fans of Mr. Food or to those who are looking for very basic and simple recipes that give a twist to some of our tried and true favorites.

 

This was my final cookbook for this challenge.  My wrap up for the Soup's On! Challenge can be found at http://bookinhand.blogspot.com/2009/03/soups-on-challenge-completed.html.

 

 

Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book

Soup's On Recipe/Reading Challenge

Have you ever had a slight miscommunication result in a plethora of asparagus? That's what happened at our house last weekend. Neither of us realized that the other was picking up the asparagus to have with our scallops on Saturday night. We also ended up with way too much broccoli, but our youngest is a cooked broccoli fiend, so that wasn't such as big an issue. Only the adults appear to like asparagus so far and while we like how we eat it, (baked with a splash of soya and olive oil) this new abundance inspired me to haul out the recipe books.

 I've been wanting to try something from the newest Racheal Ray cookbook since I received it. I watched her show last summer in the mornings and enjoyed her breezy way with food, and the fact that she combines interesting flavors but still keeps it simple. I've had several recipes sticky posted for a while, waiting to try. The titles in her book are imaginatively named like Mahimahi Mucho-Gusto Fish Burritos or The Must Have Minestrone or Devilish Sesame with Green Beans and Scallion Rice, plus lots of her Sammies (sandwiches) or Stoup (soup/stew.)

We tried two different asparagus recipes: Jaw-Droppingly Delicious Asparagus Penne and Spring Summer Ziti. Both were very good and didn't require too many special groceries to make. The Asparagus-Penne in particular will be very easy to make in the future, and I'd probably trade the blend in the sauce for plain milk to make it lighter and easier - we don't often have blend on hand, but we would have everything else. Plus, since the kids wouldn't eat it, although I thought it had potential, I wisely took some plain cooked penne out before I mixed the sauce - garlic, flour, blend, vegetable stock, blend, dijon, lemon zest, and tarragon - with the penne and asparagus. It only took as long to make as it took the penne to boil and the frozen fish to cook in the oven. All in all, it will go into the rotation for the adults. It's a keeper!

The second recipe, Spring Summer Ziti, will be not made as often, as it was a bit fancier and had to be baked in the oven for 12 minutes, but it was quite yummy, and my husband thought it tasted 'filling, and even sort of healthy with the asparagus and the peas." I used the rest of the penne we bought as we don't' keep ziti as a matter of course, but I might get a bag to have on had as ziti seems to be a Rachael Ray staple. This recipe tossed the penne and vegetables in a ricotta cheese mixture and then baked it between layers of a sauteed tomato sauce. Again, pretty easy and yummy. We haven't eaten a lot of ricotta and isn't something we keep on hand, so this would have to be a planned meal and not a last minute idea, but we would make it again.

With categories like 30- Minute Meals, Entree Burgers, and Vegetarian Meals I've bookmarked several more recipes to try. I can't see trying as much from Meals for One or Kosher Meals but I still like looking in the book and imagining that my family might ever eat some of these ingredients.

Things I like: lots of pictures, very Italian recipes, a focus on low-fat and healthier recipes, new foods I'd like to try; a big collection of recipes for stuffed eggs; a recipe for fatoush that I've wanted since I had it at a Lebanese restaurant last fall; still to try - salmon burgers, pizza burgers

Things I don't like: not being from an Italian background, many of the ingredients are a little foreign to me or we just don't keep on hand - anchovies, fresh parsley, fennel, ziti, fresh ginger, tuna steaks. I realize these aren't strange foods but not what we usually eat. Nearly every recipe has one ingredient that I wouldn't have on hand. And contrary to what Rachael Ray says, basil pesto is not "kid-yum" at least at my house. RR likes to mix up a classic recipe while once I get a version I like, I stop. So I'm not interested in another Mac and Cheese recipe because I have the one I like. But other people, like my mother for example, like to try new versions of old recipes.

So, once I get my kids to eat food that is mixed together, that is, with more than one ingredient in the recipe, like tomato soup, plain pasta, shake and bake chicken then I'll have a field day with this book. This is my first Rachael Ray cookbook.

The Ultimate Muffin Book

One of my favorite things to bake is muffins.  A good friend of mine even nick-named me the Muffin Woman after I helped supply muffins to a meeting that she had hosted a few years ago.  I like substituting muffins for bread at any meal.  And muffins are a quick pick-me-up for any time of day.  So when I found The Ultimate Muffin Book:  More Than 600 Recipes for Sweet and Savory Muffins by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough at my local library, I was very eager to give it a try and see what new creations I could whip up in my kitchen. 

 

What I liked about this cookbook is major:  the recipes are in alphabetical order; there are many variations offered for each recipe; and, the introduction by the author about the procedures and ingredients helps explain why the recipes are created in the manner that they are.  Having the recipes in alphabetical order may seem petty to some, but to me it made this cookbook so much easier to use!  The variations given for each "basic" recipe helped tailor the muffin to personal tastes.  And the explanations by the author helped me understand things that I take for granted when baking.  I also appreciated that the cookbook offered both sweet and savory muffins so that there are many opportunities other than breakfast and snack time to serve the final goodies.

 

What I did not like about this cookbook at first was that I needed to get a couple of ingredients that I did not stock in my kitchen:  unsalted butter and buttermilk.  However, I quickly found that butter goes on sale often and powdered buttermilk is an easy substitution.  Both are now found in my kitchen.  Also, the author does not recommend using a hand mixer.  Yes some recipes do require a bit of arm muscle with a whisk or a wooden spoon, but the results are worth it!  Other than those two minor details that eventually worked themselves out, there is not much to not like about this cookbook.

 

I tried the following recipes from this cookbook: Banana Muffins (p.28), Spiced Pumpkin Muffins (p.174), Cheddar Tomato Muffins (p.208), Corn Muffins (p.72), Gingerbread Muffins (p.92), Almond Joy Muffins (p.18), and Raisin Walnut Oatmeal Muffins (p.144).  I loved them all and have other muffin recipes that I am still eager to try!

 

The Ultimate Muffin Book is definitely a keeper!  In fact I plan on buying a copy to add to my cookbook collection after I return this copy to the library. (I've renewed it twice now and I think they will eventually want it back!)  I have shared my baked goods with others and received many compliments.  I highly recommend this cookbook to other bakers!  (I have already recommended it to my sister and she found it at her local library.  She has enjoyed Oatmeal Rainbow Muffins p.144; Lemonade Muffins p.106; and Cocoa Muffins p.64 so far!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rest of the Best by raidergirl3

The Rest of the Best reviewed by raidergirl3

I got this cookbook for Christmas last year and haven't made anything at all. I've looked and browsed and drooled but I never got around to making anything. I trust the Best of Bridge ladies and this book, which is part 2 of their best recipes combined into one book, looks so good. What I like about their recipes is that they are just a step above my everyday type of cooking. They won't let me down for potlucks or fancier dinners, even if I make them for the first time. The flavors will be good, the recipes will be relatively straight forward. What I mean is that there will be 3 or 4 more ingredients than I would usually expect, nothing weird or difficult to buy, just the extra that makes the recipe a wow! instead of just good. I've tried new ingredients from these books, such as sesame oil, artichokes, asiago cheese, and goat cheese. I know, these aren't obscure things, but I wouldn't have used them if they hadn't been in a recipe. And these flavors make them taste just that much yummier.

I have my parents over on Christmas Eve for dinner and so they can see the grandkids before bed. I usually try new recipes and attempt to go all out, with appetizers and dessert. After reading the Rest of the Best, I decided on Corn and Crab Chowder for the meal, since we usually eat too much before supper anyway and Chocolate Volcanoes for dessert. The volcanoes were make aheads and cooked from frozen. Very chocolatey and super yummy. The chowder was very good, even without the onions my dad won't eat, the green pepper I forgot to buy, and the bay leaf - again forgot to get. It was the perfect thickness and flavor and I'm going to use it for my chowder basic recipe from now on - plain corn, lobster, seafood or just potato. And I live in the Maritimes where we take our chowder very seriously.

The Rest of the Best isn't where I'll look at 5 o'clock for a quick supper, but if I was planning ahead, I could make one of the recipes and know it will be good. I will always look here first when I have to make something to impress someone, or take somewhere or plan ahead. My mom made the Pomegranate and Feta salad for her Christmas brunch and I starred it as well in my book. Yes, they are still my favorite recipe books.

The Heart Smart Healthy Exchanges Cookbook

In looking for some healthier recipes to make myself and my family, I stumbled upon Joanna Lund's Heart Smart Healthy Exchanges Cookbook. I have cooked from Lund's Healthy Exchanges cookbooks in the past and still own the original Healthy Exchanges Cookbook that she published several years ago. So, needless to say, I was excited to try another in this line.

What I liked about this cookbook are the same things that I liked about the Healthy Exchanges cookbooks in the past: the recipes are healthy and simple and they include ingredients that are usually found in my cupboards or refrigerator. However, there are a few ingredients that Lund uses on a regular basis that I did need to purchase, such as powdered milk and Healthy Request soups. Because these are used for more than just a few recipes, I did not mind adding them to my grocery list. I also appreciate the first fifty pages of the cookbook that explains how and why Lund created the recipes in her collection, especially enjoying "Joanne's Ten Commandments of Successful Cooking" and "A Peek into My Pantry and My Favorite Brands". I also liked that most recipes yield 4 servings and that several of her recipes are freezer friendly.

What I did not like about this cookbook is that there are very few recipes that include ground beef. I realize that this is my personal preference and what is found most readily in my freezer. Many of Lund's recipes include chicken, ham, or ground turkey which are much healthier choices. Also, although she tries to stay away from processed foods, she does include a lot of soups, dressings, and powdered ingredients. Again, this is my personal preference and some of these unfortunately are not found in my cupboards. Many of these ingredients are labeled "low-fat" or "fat-free" or "reduced-fat" in her recipes, which are much healthier choices. What I did do with certain ingredients is use an equivalent ingredient that was found in my home unless I chose to add it to my grocery list.

I tried the following recipes from this cookbook: Chunky Stew with Biscuits (p. 182), Jame's Quick and Thick Chili (p. 69), Stovetop Chicken and Broccoli (p. 149) and Apple-Scotch Salad (p. 102). All four recipes were delicious! In fact, I have made the chili three times and it is now a favorite of mine! All four recipes were very simple and quick to make.

The Heart Smart Healthy Exchanges Cookbook by JoAnna Lund is definitely a keeper! And there are currently five more recipes already bookmarked to try in the future.

(also posted at bookinhand)

Soup for Every Body

I picked up Soup for Every Body by Joanna Pruess and Lauren Braun because I'm a big fan of soup. Okay, I admit, I'd never actually made soup myself before, and I didn't order it every time I went to a restaurant, but I was determined to learn some basic soup-making techniques. I tried two of the recipes, and made the final test my ability to make a tasty soup on my own.

I'm pretty inept when it comes to cooking. I am an awesome baker, and some people have told me I make the best brownies. I have a lot of fun making cookie cutters and I always find an excuse to make something, whether it be cookies (like dinosaur cookies for Michael Crichton's death, leaf-shaped colored cookies for a fall birthday, and star and moon cookies for a Paper Moon party) or mini pies for March 14 (Pi Day). I have no problems with that. Cooking? Stove top? Meat loaf? I'm lost.

Soup for Every Body was appealing because it includes low carb soups, high protein soups, vegetarian soups, and more. I was really looking forward to both healthy soups and not-so-healthy ones, quick ones, fun ones, and ones that would fill me up and keep me full. This book was not disappointing in that respect. There are tons of attractive soups in here. When I'm in better soup-making moods, I'll probably try the Avocado Guacamole Soup, Triple Mushroom, Creamy Pumpkin, Curried Chicken & Spinach Soup, or even some of the surprising fruit soups, like Cantaloupe Soup or Minted Watermelon Soup. With full color photographs artfully displaying each soup, this book has a wide variety of possiblities for fun soup-time in the kitchen.

The only problem? I'm a first time soup maker. I didn't know what a saucepan was when I started out, and I'm still not sure that the pot I'm using is a "deep casserole dish." What I have in front of me is a soup cookbook for experienced cooks; it doesn't quite explain the materials, doesn't go into much detail about how you're supposed to do things, and keeps you completely in the dark when it comes to variations that would taste divine. I'm beginning to realize that these are qualities I like in a cookbook. For this one, I had to look online to figure out how to do everything. If I ever wrote a cookbook, I think I'd have a chapter in the beginning for starters, explaining basic processes (like skinning potatoes) and having cute cartoon images of supplies mentioned. We aren't all veteran cookers, and I hate to have to pick up a kids cookbook just to learn.

That said, the two soups I did make were absolutely delicious. We had tons of sausages (still do), donated to us from a friend whose freezer decided to die. It made sense, then, to try the Sausage, Kale & Potato Soup. We're not big fans of kale, Richard and I; he hates anything green and I associate it with rabbit food (it's our bunny's favorite). That said, it blended perfectly well with this soup, giving an otherwise bland flavor and color a springy touch. You cook your sausage, kale, and garlic, then add them to chicken stock, waiting patiently for the oncoming potatoes. Those potatoes, which you've skinned and boiled, are lumpy and scrumptious, and plop right into your mix. The best part and all the flavor comes from the tablespoon of balsamic vinegar that you add near the end, which changes the color of the whole soup and leaves a resonating smell.

The recipe went well, though I had to learn a few things just to make it; I'm thankful, though, because I learned a few tricks that'll help me with future cooking (such as skinning potatoes really quickly and without much mess). Though, again, I have the Internet to thank, not the cookbook. The only difficulty I had with it in the end was the fact that they had you soak the kale in the sausage fat (gross, no thanks!) and the way the recipe is written, it's not very soupy at all. I ended up having to add about 4 cups extra of potato water just to make the kale float. It was excellent, however, and extremely full of flavor. I'll probably make it again sometime, but with spinach instead of kale.

Next, I went for a Sweet Potato, Caramelized Onion & Apple Cider Soup. Yes, it was just as delicious as it sounds! However, from it, I obtained a new sweet potato recipe rather than a new soup recipe. It couldn't have been my fault; I followed the directions exactly this time. Yet, again, the soup came out unsoupy. It was as thick as mashed potatoes. I had to add 8 extra cups of chicken stock this time to get it to a point where it was remotely soupy, and even then, it turned more into mush if you let it sit for five minutes. Richard didn't like this one at all, as apparently he dislikes sweet potatos (even though he's the one who requested this one!), but I found it fantastic. I will definitely be using it in the future as a sweet potato recipe, and might even make it for Thanksgiving this year!

The potatoes (or yams, if you prefer) are baked while you saute the onions with butter. The onions, sweet potatoes (once they're done) and apple cider blend together to make a rich, fluffy orange substance that smells amazing. Then you add molasses which, again, just as the balsamic vinegar did, changes the color a bit, yet makes the soup all that much better. Add your stock, 8 cups extra if you want it to resemble a soup, and serve. As the photo shows, I also sprinkled almonds on the top with a bit of sage leaves for effect, but it's not necessary and doesn't really add anything to the taste.

Right now, as I write this entry, I am enjoying what I call Improvisation Soup, AKA I Hope This Isn't Totally Disgusting, a title which can be applied to any experiment in the kitchen. It's actually not that bad, though it lacks in flavor a bit. I added a chicken sauteed in lemon and garlic, seasoned with cinnamon (because I'm weird and I love chicken seasoned with cinnamon) to five boiled and cut potatoes, then sprinkled some lightly cooked spinach in. At the moment, the chicken stock carries all of the flavor, and I think if I might have added some balsamic vinegar it would punch me in the gut and make me smile, but I didn't have any left. (It's basically the same recipe as the kale one, except with spinach and chicken instead of kale and sausage. But I made it from scratch without a recipe book, which was the point, so it works out.) It's clear that I have a long way to go before I can truly start making up my own delicious recipes, but until then I hope that my Improvisation Soups will come out edible.

All in all, Soup for Every Body was a satisfactory cookbook, though it's clearly written for experienced cookers. While I will be making more soups from it (probably), it's not a permanent part of my collection now. I'm disappointed in the inconsistency of the soups—how they come out un-soupy—but a veteran soup-maker might find the cookbook wonderful.

2007 Light & Tasty Annual Recipes

I am a big fan of the Taste of Home Cookbooks, whether they are the traditional Taste of Home books, the easy Quick Cooking books, or the healthy Light & Tasty books.  This spring I decided I wanted to lose some weight as well as try to cook a bit healthier. What a great way to try the 2007 Light & Tasty Annual Recipes cookbook! However, I was a bit disappointed in my trial with it.

What I liked about this cookbook are the same things that I like about the Taste of Home's other cookbooks: easy to follow recipes, nutritional facts are listed, nice pictures to see what a recipe should look like, and recipes that have common, "found in my kitchen" ingredients.

What I did not like about this cookbook is that I just couldn't find many recipes that interest me. To enjoy a cookbook, in my opinion, the recipes and ingredients should pop out and say "Try me!" when I am thumbing through the book. This book just didn't have that kind of appeal for me. I also think it says something when I look back and realize that it's been four months since I opened the cookbook for this challenge and in that time I have only tried two recipes. The cookbook is not a bad one, just one that didn't catch my interest.

I tried the following recipes from this cookbook: Southwestern Beef Stew (p. 97) and Grilled Meat Loaves (p. 97). Both recipes were very good! I also have bookmarked to try Herb-Crusted Potatoes (p. 83) which is very similar to a recipe that I have tried from another Taste of Home cookbook.

(also posted at BookinHand)

The Best of Amish Cooking Reviewed by Emily Barton

 

 

(Good, Phyllis Pellman. The Best of Amish Cooking. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2004.)

 

When I received this book as a Christmas gift from my dear husband last year, I was thrilled. We’d only been living in the heart of Amish country for three months, but I’d already discovered two things about the Amish that I liked: 1) they love food and 2) they know how to cook it. I was a little disappointed when I flipped through the index to find no recipe for macaroni salad (the Amish version, sold in grocery stores where I live, being ten times better – creamier and with just the right amount of bite, rather than watery and sickeningly sweet – than the regular version), but then I began leafing through the pages and found recipes for things like whoopee pies, and my disappointment waned.

 

When I read this book, back in July, we were in the midst of the summer produce season, which is sadly beginning to draw to a close as I type this. This season, with its abundance of fresh, delicious, and cheap fruits and vegetables has done more to warm me to my new hometown than anything else during the past year. I so love living in a place where it seems every 1/8 of a mile or so, a driver on back country roads comes across a farm selling such things as corn (“just picked 2 hours ago!” – very important to those in the know), blackberries, tomatoes, melons, potatoes, etc. After one such drive, I decided, “What better time to read this book for the Soup’s On! Challenge?”

 

So, I picked up the book and began to read it, mouth watering by the time I’d gotten to the end of the first recipe for chicken pie (not to be confused with “chicken pot pie.” In this neck of the woods, chicken pot pie is something that involves “pot pie squares,” which are sort of a cross between a dumpling and a noodle. The “pie” has no crust at all, but is instead, topped with these. It’s delicious, but very disappointing if you don’t know, are at a restaurant, and order chicken pot pie, expecting it to have a nice, light crust on top). I read on to find myself quickly whizzing through recipes that would make use of the season’s abundant produce and fantasizing about making sticky buns. The Amish make the best sticky buns I’ve ever had. And then there was bread. I love the soft, Amish bread. Finally, reality kicked in, and I thought, “Who am I kidding? I don’t bake bread,” at least, not unless it’s a quick bread or I’m using a bread machine. I’d like to start doing so, but sticky buns are not exactly the place to start. And summer isn’t exactly the best time to learn – all that kneading and punching, and our kitchen is the hottest place in the house.

 

Summer is not the best time to make a cherry pie for the first time, either, which was another idea. Yes, the cherries are in season, and I can even get the sour variety marked “for pies.” However, making pies crusts is not my forte. And I could just envision the sweat from rolling out the dough (or attempting to roll out the dough, which was doing nothing but stick to the rolling pin) mingling with tears of frustration to add an interesting, salty taste to the filling. Oh yeah, and don’t forget pitting the cherries. Who wants to have to do that? Well, apparently someone does, because I can get delicious cherry pies from the Amish stand (from where I can also get sticky buns and bread) just down the road. Why waste time making inferior versions of my own?

 

What can’t I get at the farm stand? Chicken corn soup, another Amish “specialty” I’ve come to love since living here. I know. Soup isn’t exactly what one thinks of as a summertime “must,” either, but I’m someone who loves to cook and eat soup all year round. And the corn is at its best in the middle of the summer. So, chicken corn soup it was.

 

The Amish have large (I mean large) families. Having 8-10 children is not unusual. Multi-generations tend to live with each other. Thus, most of the recipes in this book are the sorts one would expect to find in books for preparing banquets. I wasn’t about to make this soup with 3-4 pounds of chicken just for the two of us, and I didn’t feel like inviting all the neighbors over, which would mean having to clean the house (a task I abhor). I adjusted the ingredients accordingly. Also, you’ll notice in the recipe that something called “rivvels” are optional. I didn’t make them, but I’m providing the recipe for those as well, in case any of you wants to make this soup and is inclined to do so. I used fresh corn (which I assume is best), and the hardest part about making this for me, was controlling my temper while cutting all that corn off the cob, when so much of it seemed to delight in jumping off the counter onto the floor. I included the eggs, even though they seemed like a bit of an odd thing to include, because I love eggs. I’m all over any excuse to eat them. They turned out to be a very nice addition. I’m sure the rivvels would be, too, but making them sounded a bit too much like making bread/pie crust. I could just see my batter never becoming “dry and crumbly” until I’d added so much flour they tasted more like a wheat field than whatever they’re meant to taste like.

 

Final verdict? Soup: delicious! And the corn stayed fresh-tasting throughout the week during which we enjoyed the leftovers. I might try a variation at some point, adding some diced hot pepper with the corn. I love spicy chicken soup. Cookbook: inspiring, but it isn't a good one for absolute beginning cooks. Many of the recipes assume you know your way around the kitchen and are very comfortable there.

 

CHICKEN CORN SOUP

 

3-4 lbs. stewing chicken

Salt to taste

Water

2 quarts corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)

Rivvels (optional)

3-4 hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Dash of pepper

 

In large kettle, cover chicken pieces with water. Salt to taste. Cook until tender. Then cut meat off bones and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Return chicken to broth. Add corn and bring to a boil. Stir in rivvels or hard-cooked eggs and cook until rivvels are cooked through. Add pepper (mine was more “to taste” than “dash,” as we both love pepper) and serve.

 

 

RIVVELS

 

¾ cup flour

1 egg

 

Put flour in bowl. Break in egg and mix with a fork until dry and crumbly. Crumble slowly into the soup.

Cross-posted at Telecommuter Talk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wine Bar Food reviewed by raidergirl3

Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean Flavors to Crave with Wines to Match

by Cathy Mantuano and Tony Mantuano

Two summers ago, my mother and sister and I went on a Mediterranean cruise, starting in Barcelona and ending in Venice, with stops in Marseilles, Florence, Rome, Capri, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, and Athens. I'm not explaining this to gloat, but to show why I love this cookbook. It is divided into sections based on cities and stops around the Mediterranean Sea, with most of the above (except the Turkish ones), but also Milan, Seville, Lisbon. Each city gets a tour with recipes and suggestions. Every time I pick up this book, I relive our cruise.

The cruise left from Barcelona, so we had a night there before we departed. I had a little guide book and we managed to found a restaurant listed in it - I felt like I was on the Amazing Race. We sat outside, eating tapas, and just drinking up the atmosphere. Our waiter insisted we order tomato bread so we did. It was plain, but delicious along with everything else. I've been wanting to make tomato bread ever since.

Some nice Irish tourists next to us took our picture, that's me on the left.

There are two types of cooks: the ones who faithfully follow a recipe, especially the first time and the ones who figure they know what they want and will make changes right away. I am usually the second type, but I faithfully followed the Tomato Bread recipe from this book for our family party. It called for Serrano ham which was my concern. It's a cured bacon type meat which I didn't actually enjoy for breakfast in Barcelona, but I found it in the grocery store so I decided to be true to the recipe. The Tomato Bread was yummy and got the requisite "ooh's" from my relatives last weekend. Once the ham was mixed with the other flavors, it was delicious.

The recipe book is filled with fabulous pictures, great ideas, and suggestions for wines and cheeses and how to use canned foods that might be more readily available in North America. Some recipes look like what you would order in a restaurant but not make for yourself like the Lavender Ice Cream on Briocche from Nice or the Potato Chips with Sea Salt and Rosemary from Milan. But I have a list of recipes I'd like to try, like Fried Eggs with Mushrooms, Garlic and Parsley from Barcelona or the Barolo Risotto from Milan. Fresh vegetables and herbs, good cheeses and wines, and good olive oil are the staples of Mediterranean eating and also coincide with healthy eating. Lots of great recipes in this book mean I will be reliving my cruise and adventure for years to come.