Soup's On!

Not So Wonderful Indian Cookery Book

Singh, Robin. The Wonderful World of Indian Cookery. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1994.

(Sorry, the book is out of print, so can’t give you a snapshot of it.) 

As many of you know, I work as an editor on books about teaching math. Most of these books are for educators working at the elementary and middle school levels. I am not a mathematician. Through my work on these books, I now have a pretty solid understanding of elementary-level math. Give me a calculus text, however, and I would be as lost as your average sixth-grader. 

Well, lo and behold! It seems I decided to kick off the Soups’ On! cookbook challenge with the calculus textbook of cookery. Just as I have a basic understanding of math, I also have a basic understanding of cooking. Actually “understanding” might not be the right word, because I have no real understanding as to how my particular style of cooking works, other than that I seem to have sensitive senses of taste and smell and some sort of touch of magic combined with a curiosity that could kill ten poor cats. It usually goes something like this, “Hmmm, last time we ate at an Indian restaurant, it seems those lentils had hot peppers, mint, and cilantro in them. I wonder what would happen if, instead of lentils, I boiled some potatoes and then made a sauce for them with lemon, hot peppers, cilantro, and mint.” Most of the time it works quite well, but I haven’t a clue why. 

Cookbooks tend to be mere guidelines for me. They help me think about different ways to combine flavors (which this one certainly did). They teach me how to do some things (like roast a chicken, which I would have no clue how to do without a little help), but they’re basically just there when I need them. I love to read them, but I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to them when I’m actually in the kitchen, unless I’m trying to do something I’ve never done before (again, like roasting a chicken). 

You know, you can get away with this when all you’re doing is adding 2 + 3. However, once you start trying to figure out the area of a sphere that’s spinning around on an axis, it’s probably going to be very important to do so by the book. I guess, just as I’ve shied away from calculus all my life, I’ve also shied away from the calculus of cooking. 

Well, no more. I’ve read this book from beginning to end. What have I learned? First and foremost: it can easily be donated to next year’s library sale with no regrets. Secondly, I really do want to learn more about Indian cookery, but I definitely need to find something more along the lines of Indian Cookery for Dummies. And thirdly, remember those scenes in Bend It Like Beckham when the mother is so intent on teaching her daughters how to prepare the traditional meal? Now I know why. It seems this type of cooking, like math, is something someone needs to start cultivating as soon as a child can stand on a stool to stir sauce in a pot. 

So, why was this book so intimidating? I don’t blame you if you’re finding it hard to believe that a cookbook can actually be intimidating. The first answer is: ingredients. Most international cuisine cookbooks I’ve read have appendices that explain ingredients and where to get them (especially for an American audience. I didn’t find out that by “curds” she meant “yogurt” until the last chapter of the book, and there was nowhere in the book to look it up. I still don’t know what she meant by “cottage cheese,” as nobody in her right mind would try to “cube” what we Americans call “cottage cheese.” Can anyone help me out here, because some of the recipes calling for “cottage cheese,” sound both delicious and do-able?). For instance, what the hell is asafoetida, and where do I look for it? What about curry leaves (curry? Isn’t that that powdered stuff good on chicken and in salad dressings? What are these “leaves?”)? Or how about a “small piece of jaggery?” Oh, jaggery, that’s right. It’s right there in my fridge, next to the ghee. 

My second answer to the question is: I’m not real big on books that tell me that with plenty of practice, I will be able to perfect this dish. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m an instant gratification sort of a gal. I want any dish I make to be perfect the first time I make it. I never pursued such pastimes as tennis and piano playing precisely because they involve practice, and I don’t have the patience for that. I enjoy cooking, because it’s typically easy to make something well worth eating the first time you try. 

My final answer is: I’m tired of thinking, “This sounds like it might be do-able.” For instance, doesn’t coconut-flavored rice (nariyal chawal) not only sound delicious, but also sound like maybe all you need to do is cook some rice, add a couple of Indian spices and some shredded coconut, and be done? Nope. Let’s start by frying some peanuts. Then, let’s get a fresh coconut and split it open. She lost me when she started describing the special tool needed to scrape the coconut out of its shell and then went on to describe all the steps needed for soaking the coconut in “coconut water” (both heated and unheated). All that work for a side dish? I had to take a quick walk down to the convenience store to get a Mounds Bar to satisfy my craving for coconut. 

Oh, and how about a recipe that begins this way? “The procedure for making idlis [steamed rice cakes] must start a whole 24 hours before you want to eat them.” (p. 93). Again, not something Ms. Instant Gratification is jumping at the chance to cook. 

One thing I will say in favor of this book is that it’s got gorgeous pictures. The page layout and design is stunning, too. It would make a lovely coffee table book for someone who doesn’t like to cook. Another thing I like is that a list of utensils needed follows her list of ingredients for every recipe (never mind the fact that I don’t own half the utensils. It’s the thought that counts). The book is very, very poorly edited, though. One of the recipes is missing its ingredients list, and wouldn’t you  know it? The recipe that follows it is one that builds on it. 

When I decided to take on this challenge, I made a pact with myself that the recipe I’d choose to cook for each book I read would be one that I would, for a change, follow to the letter. This means no recipe with impossible-to-find ingredients, no recipe that requires cooking utensils I don’t have, and no recipe that requires 24 hours to make. There’s got to be at least one besides boiled rice, right? Once I find it, I’ll make it and let you know what happens. In the meantime, please send plenty of good karma my way.

Cross-posted at Telecommuter Talk.

2008 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes

Over the years I have slowly learned to have fun in my kitchen and actually enjoy cooking. However... I like to have recipes that are easy to make and don't take a lot of time to get from prepping the food to eating it. I want to be able to feed others and have them compliment the cook. And I want a variety of recipes to choose from because I often get bored cooking the same thing every week. Believe it or not, I have actually found a series of cookbooks that meets all my requirements to have fun in the kitchen and enjoy cooking.

Taste of Home's 2008 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes is a cookbook that I received in January and had yet to cook from it. The annual cookbook includes all the recipes from the past year's editions of the monthly magazine Quick Cooking of which I used to subscribe. I love this cookbook series because it includes a wide variety of menus, recipes, and ideas for the busy cook. I am surprised I waited so long to try this year's book!

What I liked about this cookbook is what I like about the other five volumes that I have collected from this series. Recipes are very easy to follow. Often suggestions for substitutions or additions are given by the cooks or the editors. The ingredients for each recipe are typically found in my kitchen or are easy to find at the grocery store. And the ultimate test, most recipes are family friendly so that my kids will request them again. In fact, my youngest daughter has now nick-named this cookbook "the new really good cookbook." Also, I appreciate the variety of recipes that would fill any need that I might have for cooking or baking.

What I did not like about this cookbook is that it did not include as many recipes as usual for "two people" meals. I usually cook for a crowd, but occasionally I have the need to cook for just myself and look for these recipes as a way to scale back on a favorite meal. Also, these recipes were not in a section of their own, so they were hard to seek out.

I tried the following recipes from this cookbook: Flavorful Southwestern Chili (p.234); Mini Chicken Loaves (p.87, I used ground beef); Biscuit Nugget Chicken Bake (p.205); Nacho Mac 'n' Cheese (p.125); Soft Oatmeal Bread (p.155); Potato Flake Chicken (p.96); Raspberry Brownie Dessert (p.91); and Chocolate Chip Cookies (p.259). My favorites were definitely the Flavorful Southwestern Chili and the Biscuit Nugget Chicken Bake. The Chocolate Chip Cookies were also a hit and I especially liked them because they are a delicious alternative to the typical chocolate chip cookie I usually bake.

An introduction and a review

Hi there! I'm Somer, and I joined this challenge a few weeks ago but have yet to post a review. My original plan for this challenge was to choose 6 books, all focusing on a different ethnic cuisine. I still may do that for the next 5 books, but I happened to purchase a cookbook right when I started this challenge and will review that one first.

The first cookbook I have reviewed is Put A Lid On It! which was published by Kitchen Koaches, founded by two moms in Texas which is an attempt to help busy families put a meal on their table through slow cooker cooking. Now, I've bought slow cooker cookbooks before and compiled lists of recipes from the internet, but when I saw this book at a book sale at my place of work, I was just drawn to it. The recipes weren't the same old "chicken and mushroom soup" slow cooker recipes that I had already seen. These actually looked good! So, after mulling it over for a day, I went back and bought it the next day. Let me tell you about this book.

Put A Lid On It! is divided into 5 sections: Appetizers & Beverages, Soups & Salads, Vegetables & Side Dishes, Main Dishes, and Desserts. The book contains about 250 recipes, I think, the majority of them being main dishes. It also includes sections on Cooking Terms, Measurements (conversions and, I just noticed this helpful little table, baking pan sizes), Food Storage Tips, Microwave Hints, and Dessert Tips. The best thing about this cookbook (besides the recipes) is that in the back it includes 12 weeks of recipes, each on a removable card with a grocery list on the back. How cool is that??? I've used the cards twice - once just taking the card to the store and once making a list from the card. The latter was more useful to me, because the cards don't always combine all the ingredients; for example, one recipe might use 2 potatoes and another might use 4 lbs of potatoes, but instead of the grocery list saying something like "4 lbs + 2 potatoes" it lists them both separately, which can end up making you have to double back in the store, something I really hate doing.

So, the recipes. So far I've tried 5 recipes from this book. All were a success except for one. Here's a breakdown:

Harvest Chili - This was the first recipe I tried and the biggest suprise. This is a chicken-based stew that uses, of all things, a can of pumpkin to thicken it up. I was very wary of this but tried it anyway. You can't taste the pumpkin at all, but the stew is nice and thick. This was very yummy!

Braunfels Braten - This was an interesting roast. The best thing about it for me was that this turned out like a perfect roast beef. I know that sounds weird, but I've only ever cooked a pot roast, which sort of falls apart, and this one was sliceable and perfect. The gravy for this is sort of sweet and tangy and uses gingersnaps to thicken it. I had a hard time with the gravy and it didn't thicken up as quickly as I thought it would. I was convinced it wasn't going to thicked so served it as it was, but after dinner I found that it had actually thickened and was really tasty. Next time I'll know it cook it longer. Also, the carrots in this didn't soften, which was disappointing.

Baked Potato & Cheese Soup - I had high hopes for this recipe, since the first two had turned out so well. Alas, after 10 hours of cooking, the potatoes were still crunchy. Blech. At this point, I decided that I needed to buy a different slow cooker. The one I was using was a Dazey combination slow cooker/deep fryer, and after some research, I learned that the heating element on this type of slow cooker is on the bottom, while the elements in a traditional Crock Pot are on the sides. I bought a new slow cooker, which I've used twice now (actually I've bought 2 new ones, because my husband accidentally melted the bottom of the first one I bought...). I'll try this soup again now sometime to see if it works out better. The "soup" part tasted really good...

Black Beans & Sausage - This tasted a lot like red beans & rice and was great. My husband especially loved it.

Texas Steaks - Another winner. And this one was super easy. Just steaks (I used smallish chuck steaks) covered with a mixture of ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. These were very good, if cooked maybe a tad to long.

So, my overall rating of this cookbook? 5 stars! This is the best slowcooker cookbook I've ever seen.

This cookbook is only available from the Kitchen Koaches website, http://www.kitchenkoaches.com. If you're looking for a way to simplify mealtime, I highly recommend this book!

Luscious Berry Desserts

Both my husband and I love to cook, sometimes fighting over whose turn it is in the kitchen. You can often hear a voice raised in mock anger in our house, "Get out of MY kitchen!", and an arm pointing straight and strong to the other room. Just leave, go, I'M cooking today. Our kitchen is fairly small so it's not often that we squeeze around, doing the kitchen dance to cook together. Riff is the breakfast king and I generally always bow to him when breakfast is in the works, but I am the baking queen, standing tall over my domain. Anyway, (I'm getting away from my point here), I was tickled to death when I saw the post on Ex Libris site for the Soup's On Challenge. Oh, what fun! Another reason to pull out a few of my cookbook's, read them from cover to cover, and maybe add a couple of new one's to the mix. Wa-hoo! I joined right up. Next stop was Powell Books in Portland where I picked up Luscious Berry Desserts. I thought this one was really appropriate for us here in the Pacific Northwest with our abundance of berries and I was not disappointed. Mmmmm....you should see some of these recipe's. Delicious!

Being early spring, Strawberries are starting to be available in our local grocery stores so the first recipe I picked is Roasted Strawberry Shortcakes with Vanilla-Scented Biscuits. I had never roasted strawberries before, but they turned out so good. The roasting just inhances the sweet juicy flavor. And those vanilla-scented biscuits? Yum! You need to serve them warm, just as the recipe says, and they don't keep well, so gobble them all right away. I took pictures, but they came out dark and blurry, so I don't have a visual for you today.

Roasted Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla-Scented Biscuits
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 3 tblsp. granulated sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1 tblsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream, plus additional cream or milk for brushing
2 tsp. pure vanilla paste or vanilla extract
2 pints small ripe strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tblsp. confectioner's sugar

Step 1:  Preheat the oven to 425 F. Butter a large baking sheet.

Step 2: Whisk together the flour, the 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, the baking powder, and the salt in a medium bowl.

Step 3: Beat 1 cup of the cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large deep bowl just until it holds soft peaks when the beaters are lifted. Beat in the vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the whipped cream, and stir the mixture with a fork just until it begins to form a dough.

Step 4:  On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough several times, just until it is well combined. Pat it out to 1/2 inch thick. With a 3-inch cutter, crinkle-edged if you have one, cut out 6 rounds; gather the scraps together and pat them out again if necessary. Brush the biscuits with cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place on the baking sheet.

Step 5: Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool on the pan on a wire rack. Increase the oven temperature to 450.

Step 6: Meanwhile, toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Transfer to a baking sheet with sides. When the biscuits are out of the oven, roast the strawberries, stirring twice, for about 12 minutes, until soft and fragrant.

Step 7: Just before serving, beat together the remaining 1/2 cup cream, the sour cream, and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer on medium sped in a large bowl until the cream forms soft peaks when the beaters are lifted.

Step 8:  Split each biscuit with a fork and place the bottom halves on 6 serving plates. Spoon a generous portion of warm berries over each one, add a dollop of the cream, add the tops, and drizzle with the juices on the baking sheet. Serve immediately.

You're going to love these!

There's a long introduction in this cookbook where the author talks about her love of berries. Really fun to read. A great cookbook for any berry lovers shelves.

'One of my most memorable mornings ever was picking strawberries with my friend Barbara on a warm summer day in Maine. We literally lay down among the berries, picked dozens, and ate more. We were giddy and exhilarated at the thought of actually getting all the strawberries we wanted, and slightly guilty at the pleasure.'
Lori Longbotham

(published on my site - Magic Bookcase - as well)

Cookin' the Books: Slammin' Slimmed-Down Strawberry Daiquiri

(Book Image from Amazon)

We all know that trying to lose weight is pure torture, so it's nice when someone comes along who can at least make the process a little more fun. Meet Lisa Lillien, a 39-year-old gal who lost 30 lbs. by making over her diet. Food-obsessed Lisa decided that her "bizarre passion for guilt-free foods could somehow help the world" (viii), so she started an e-mail list to share her knowledge with subscribers. What began as a small list (less than 100 subscribers) turned into a whole Hungry Girl (Lisa's name for herself) empire, with 400,000 subscribers, a sassy website and now, a cookbook. She still sends out e-mails, all of which are packed with diet food news, product reviews, recipes and tips for keeping extra pounds at bay. Her fun, sassy voice ensures that nothing she writes is boring. My sister recommended the website to me a year or so ago, and I have been receiving Lisa's emails ever since.

I'm a big Hungry Girl fan, so I just had to get my hands on Lisa Lillien's first cookbook, Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World. It features a bunch of guilt-free recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between. The recipes all appear to be pretty simple, using widely available ingredients (although there are some that require specialty products). Each recipe includes nutritional facts. Interspersed with the recipes are Lisa's tips for eating, cooking, and living "guilt-free." True to the Hungry Girl format, the whole book is colorful, upbeat and fun.

While I loved the cookbook in general, there were a couple of things I found annoying. For one thing, Lisa always lists Weight Watchers Points values when she offers a recipe online; perhaps it's a legal matter, but the Points are not listed in the book. Also, there are only a few photographs included in the book; if you're like me, you need a nice, full-color picture showing how the dish is supposed to turn out. The good news is that you can find all of this information on the book's website - I just wish everything was in one easy-to-find location. One thing you won't find either in the book or on the website is recipes for family-style meals. Perhaps this is because Lisa is a single woman (I couldn't find much info on her personal life), or maybe she is just acknowledging the fact that most dieters are going it alone. Whatever the reason, most of the recipes make only a single serving. In the FAQs section of the book, Lisa does explain that e-mail recipients raved about how easy it was to make her single-serving recipes, so she wanted to stick with her winning formula. However, she says, "it's easy to double, triple, or quadruple ... recipes - so you can adjust them to feed as many hungry people as you like" (5).

Although I've only tried one of Lisa's recipes so far, I'm eager to try more. The one I did sample is listed below. The photo comes from the book's website, since all of my pictures turned out blurry.

P.S. I'm gaining new appreciation for the art of food photography. I never realized how difficult it is to make food look as delectable as it does in magazines. Of course, it's a given that the problem likes in my photography, not cooking, skills :)

Slammin' Slimmed-Down Strawberry Daiquiri

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. rum (I don't drink alcohol, so I omitted this; Lisa says that saves about 100 calories)

1 packet (two 5-calorie servings) sugar -free powdered drink mix (any strawberry blend)

3 frozen strawberries

1 T. lime juice

5 to 8 ice cubes or 1 c. crushed ice

Directions

Dissolve drink mix into 4 ounces of water. Stir thoroughly.

In a blender, combine drink mixture with all other ingredients. Blend to desired consistency.

Pour, add a straw, and slurp that baby up!

Makes 1 serving. Per serving: 121 calories (this includes the alcohol), 0 g. fat, 10 mg. sodium, 4 g. carbs, 0.5 g. fiber, 2 g. sugars, 0 g. protein. In case you're like me and like to have all your information in one place, that comes out to 2 Weight Watchers Points (according to my calculations).

My thoughts on the recipe: I thought the daiquiri was refreshing and yummy. I did use 1 packet of sugar free Kool Aid, which actually makes 3 5-calorie servings, so mine was a little heavy on the Kool Aid taste. Also, since my blender tends to be a bit wimpy, I will probably use crushed ice next time, just to make the daiquiri smoother. Other than that, the recipe's a keeper.

Overall, I enjoyed this cookbook a lot. It has a lot of variety, and the recipes seem very easy to make. I am disappointed there aren't more family-style meals, and that I have to look online for Points and pictures. Other than that, I liked it a lot. If you're trying to lose weight, or simply eat healthier, I recommend both Lisa's emails and this fun, "guilt-free" cookbook.

Grade: A-

(This post can also be found on my blog:  http://blogginboutbooks.blogspot.com)

Superfood Cookbook---Heather's Review

I never used to think all that much about nutrition until recently. I try to get my servings of veggies and whole grains, of course, but nutrition is a lot more than that, and studies have shown that vitamin pills aren't always that effective. So, I gave the Superfood Cookbook a read. It turned out to be very informative, and the recipes are easy, delicious, and quick. Take a look at the review---pics included!

Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen - Sharon's Review

Title:  Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

Author:  Deborah Madison

Rating:  5/5

Not that I'm any kind of authority, but it is my impression that Deborah Madison is regarded as a kind of guru for vegetarian cooking.  Her book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is a thick tome that is an equivalent to Joy of Cooking, only vegetarian.  This book, Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, is only a fraction of the size, but it is jam-packed with tasty recipes that remind you that good things do come in small packages.

I knew I was going to love this book when I opened it to the first pictured recipe, which is the Dried Porcini and Fresh Mushroom Tart.  The photography is breathtaking, and the recipe is easy to understand.  (Of course, it doesn't hurt that I adore mushrooms and put them in as many dishes as I can.)  I have not actually made this recipe yet - I am saving it for this weekend.

I have made two dishes from this book.  The first is Labor Day Spaghetti, which is a variety of yellow and red peppers, olives, onion, capers, and small tomatoes sauteed with some herbs atop of spaghetti noodles (I used linguine).  She calls it "Labor Day" because she feels it is a late summer dish.  I think it makes a fine spring/summer dish. 

Here is my version of Labor Day Spaghetti (the linguine is underneath all the veggies).  I topped it with a little shredded parmesan cheese, as well.

And here it is plated:

This evening I made Cabbage and Leek Gratin with Mustard Cream (served on the side):

I used one of Madison's variation suggestions and put some feta cheese in it, which gave it nice body and texture.  This dish is a little plain by itself, but the mustard creme is out of this world and gives it just the right amount of flavor and punch!  Here's what it looks like plated:

The mustard creme is to the left of the gratin.  Below the gratin is a cannellini bean/roasted red pepper salad I made from a recipe I found on the internet today.  (Madison suggests cannellini beans as a good side with this dish.  She's right.)

Madison's instructions are easy to follow, and the recipes seem to be easy, too.  She gives lots of suggestions for each recipe: from how to make the recipes vegan, wine choices, and ideas for varying the recipes.  I have marked most of the recipes as ones I want to make.  This is a book that I could start with page 1 and cook my way through to the end.  I am going to make the mushroom tart this weekend and will share pictures when I do. 

I highly recommend this book to everyone, vegetarian or not. 

What I liked about this book:  Everything.

What I disliked about this book:  Nothing.

Gluten-Free?!---Heather's Review

Wow, I guess I cruised through those six cookbooks. If no one minds, I'd like to come back and occasionally add extras. Today's review is of another complete idiot's guide, this time to Gluten-Free Eating. It comes with a slideshow of photos from our experiments in GF cooking, and the book is fascinating!

Sticky, Chewy: Heather's Review

I've been trying to eat more healthfully lately, and most of the books I've reviewed for this challenge fit into that, but well, I also have a terrible sweet tooth. Hopefully you can forgive me then for reviewing a copy of Jill O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey! I didn't get my camera until most of the way through testing this one out, but it does have a few photos from the last recipe I made for it.

Pizza & Panini---Heather's Review

Last week my husband and I had way too much fun making homemade pizza. I've posted my review of Erik Sherman's Complete Idiot's Guide to Pizza & Panini just this morning---and for the first time, it has a short slide show of some photos I took while we were experimenting. :) Just to give you a brief idea of how things went, the recipes were absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately there were a few small bits of missing information in the book, but overall we were quite pleased with it.