Cookbook Review Day

Today I want to talk about some new cookbooks that I recently received.  I have become very particular about the cookbooks that grace my shelves these days, and that is for one reason really, room.  My coobook shelves are literally bursting, I have filled all the shelf space and have now started stacking them on top of the shelves. So when I really want a new cookbook, I really need to think about it and think about whether or not it is worthy of my precious space. I decided that both of these books today are worthy of my space, and I actually got rid of one little used book to make room.

This first one is simply one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever seen.  Spain And The World Table is a compilation of Spanish recipes from the most highly respected Spanish chefs. From the Culinary Institute of America, this book takes recipes created by such greats as Jose Andres and Norman Van Aken and presents them in a way which they can be recreated by the home cook.  Martha Rose Shulman, whose work I am very familiar with, provides the writing and commentary all throughout the book.  Yet it’s not just a cookbook. This is also a reference book.  Anything you ever wanted to know about Spanish cuisine is in this book.  After a recipe Mission Figs stuffed with blue cheese is a reference page full of details about Spanish cheeses, after a recipe for Consomme with Saffron, we get a tutorial on saffron and when and where we should use it- and is it worth its hefty price tag?  There are bits about the different regions of Spain, and I have to say, there is a lot of information in this book, but it’s presented in such an accessible way.  The book itself is beautiful enough- with a picture for almost every single recipe, that if I had a coffee table, this would be on it.

The caveat is that I haven’t cooked out of it yet, so I can’t attest to the nature of the specific recipes. However, reading through several of them that caught my eye, they don’t seem particularly difficult or too avant garde to give them a whirl in my home kitchen.  Every once in a while a recipe will mention a lengthy reduction or there is one recipe specifically that uses a foam- where did I put that foam-making device anyway?  But overall, they really seem geared toward the home cook, and give us an opportunity to try at home the dishes that the world is talking about.  Spanish cuisine is hot right now- but there are so few cookbooks devoted to the cuisine that this is a very welcome addition to my world parade of cookbooks.  With recipes like Hazelnut Passion Fruit Ice Cream, Lamb and Roasted Pepper Ragout, Sea Scallops with Green Raisin Salsa, and Mango, Scotch Bonnet, and Sesame Mojo, this is a book I could read through several times over and not get bored with it.  I can’t wait to give some of these recipes a whirl.

The second book I wanted to mention today is more fun and less intensive than the Spanish tome, but an equally wonderful addition to my cookbook collection.  Grilled Pizzas and Piadianas brings the art of grilled pizza back home where it belongs.  It wasn’t that long ago that Andy and I figured out just how to make a grilled pizza in the first place.  A careful ballet of flipping crust and adding toppings at just the right time elevates pizza to a whole new level.  This book shows us exactly what we could be doing to make it easier, as well as gives us a virtual parade of pizza topping ideas.  As an example, The New Orlean pizza has blackened crawfish, Andouille sausage, fontina cheese, and a spicy apricot sauce as it’s toppings.  I would have never thought of those toppings for pizza- but now that I’ve seen it, it sounds and looks amazing. The Moroccan pizza is topped with curried chicken, roasted garlic and kalamata olives, The Millenium is topped with ground lamb, feta and cucumber!  There are dozens of new pizza ideas here, and every turn of the page gives me a new mouth-watering picture, and the desire to make pizza!

Then there’s the piadinas. What exactly is a piadina? Well, it’s like a flatbread sandwich.  It’s sort of like making a pizza dough and then rolling it around toppings like a wrap, and apparently, they are very popular in Italy. These also look amazing!  Piadina Firenze is stuffed with grilled eggplant and peppers, and is one I’ll be trying when the eggplant comes up in the garden. There’s also a special chapter here for my husband, who is always wanting to make a dessert on the grill.  We have an Apple Tart- a pizza crust topped with cinnamon glazed apples and almonds, a Grilled Banana Split, and something called The S’more, a pizza topped with chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows!  There are also tips on throwing the ultimate grilled pizza party as well as suggestions for beverages that accompany some of the pizzas.  I have to say, as much as I love this book, this would have made a fantastic Father’s Day gift for Andy, since he’s always wanting to make grilled pizzas.  We’ll be taking this book for a spin this weekend if the weather cooperates.

Uncategorized - by Erika

117,881 thoughts on “Cookbook Review Day”

  6. Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very difficult to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appeal.
    I must say you have done a amazing job with this. In addition, the blog
    loads extremely fast for me on Internet explorer.
    Excellent Blog!

  14. hey there and thank you for your information – I’ve definitely picked
    up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this site, since I
    experienced to reload the site a lot of times previous to I could get
    it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting
    is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if ads
    and marketing with Adwords. Well I’m adding this RSS to my email
    and could look out for much more of your respective intriguing content.
    Ensure that you update this again soon.

    Here is my blog … best realtor in King George VA

  15. I think that what you said made a ton of sense. But, what about this?
    suppose you were to create a awesome headline?

    I mean, I don’t wish to tell you how to run your blog,
    but what if you added a title that grabbed people’s attention? I mean Cookbook Review Day –
    Tummy Treasure is a little vanilla. You could peek at Yahoo’s home page
    and note how they write post titles to get people to click.
    You might try adding a video or a related pic or two to grab readers interested about everything’ve got
    to say. Just my opinion, it would bring your posts a
    little bit more interesting.

  39. Howdy! I know this is somewhat off-topic however I had to ask.

    Does operating a well-established blog such as yours require a large amount of work?
    I’m completely new to blogging but I do write in my journal on a daily basis.

    I’d like to start a blog so I can share my personal experience and views online.
    Please let me know if you have any recommendations or
    tips for brand new aspiring bloggers. Appreciate it!

    My webpage – best real estate agent in King George VA

  46. Howdy! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established
    blog. Is it difficult to set up your own blog?
    I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out
    pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure
    where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
    Thanks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *