The Cookbook Junkies

I’ve never been a fan of cookbooks which are labeled as diet in nature.  Over the years, I feel like they are upping their game – providing us with what we desire — appetizing and flavorful food.  Dr. Ian Smith has just released The Shred Diet Cookbook and I appreciate his approach.  “I wanted to assemble a group of recipes that can help you lose weight, but would never be considered diet food,” says Dr. Ian.  “What would life be without pancakes, pizza and good barbecue?”   Agreed.

Moderation for all things in life is the way to tackle it– and while I love to make a great creamy macaroni and cheese for my family — I also want to serve them delicious, healthy meals as well.  It’s about balance.  This book can help you whether you are looking to lose weight or whether you want to sprinkle some flavor packed good-for-you-food in your rotation so that you don’t start need to “diet” — you  just need to eat and enjoy it.

Some of the recipes that look delicious whether they be in a specialized diet or general cookbook are cheese packed chicken breasts, seared mustard pork chops and cider-braised onions, crispy sweet potato wedges with ginger-soy glaze, chocolate whole grain waffles with strawberry syrup, energizing avocado chicken salad, protein packed turkey burger (don’t let the healthy name fool you – it looks delicious), grilled fish tacos with tropical salsa, herbed goat cheese-stuffed chicken breasts and tilapia a l’orange.   I’m looking forward to trying out many of these recipes in the weeks to come.

GIVEAWAY:

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press – I have a copy of Dr. Smith’s book for one of my readers.   Please leave one comment on this post telling me your favorite way to pack some healthy goodness in your or your family’s meals.  US addresses only and a random winner will be chosen on April 3rd.  Good luck!

 

 

A Passion for Pizza – A Journey Through the Thick and Thin to Find the Pizza Elite (Agate Publishing) by Craig Whitson, Tore Gjesteland, Mats Widen and Kenneth Hansen just hit the shelves on March 10th.  Just like the rest of the cookbook world, I was wondering “Does the world really need another book about pizza?”  Oddly enough, this question is posed in the first line of the foreword.  The authors believed so and after reading the book – I have to agree wholeheartedly.

 In 1998, the two pizza enthusiasts, Tore and Craig, teamed up with Trond Moi and participated in the unofficial world championship of pizza baking in Las Vegas and won for their pecan pie dessert pizza.  A version of this recipe is in the book and looks heavenly.  The prize winning recipe included cheese which was a competition requirement — the recipe in the book does not.  In 2011, the two joined forces with another friend, Kenneth Hansen, and in 2012 added the fourth player, Mats Widen, a Swedish photographer, to the team to create this book that focuses on the “two important countries for pizza – Italy and the United States”.

The introduction starts with memories of their first encounters with pizza that led to their lifelong love of same.  Next, the foursome devote roughly 180 pages to different regions of Italy and the United States, beginning in Naples sharing tales of various pizza chefs and their pizzerias.   Little vignettes set out the stories of these experts and their love of all the components of a great pizza.

After covering the various wonders of Italy, they move to New York from Pizza’s Mick Jagger (Keste Pizza & Vino) to Eataly, the place to visit for all great Italian food items.   Chicago is next on the agenda which is famous for it’s deep dish variation and then California where they visit Pizzeria Mozza, A16, Pizzeria Delfina and several more fine establishments known for their spectacular pizza.

After visiting the meccas of all great pizza, the foursome cover ingredients and equipment that the reader will need to create great pizza – flour, tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, cured meats, basil are discussed in detail as well as the tools of the trade – the pizza peel, pans, ovens and the like.

When we arrive to page 181, we are gifted with the RECIPES!  There are roughly 100 pages of recipes – so don’t be put off by the narrative trip we took to get to the recipes, enjoy the trip as it is wonderfully informative with beautiful photos and personal stories.

The authors provide us with several versions of doughs and sauces – including their “favorite dough” which I am preparing today — it includes instructions for the pre-dough as well as the main dough.  The chilling process is recommended for 24 to 48 hours accordingly pizza will be made on Sunday.  I will update you with photos and thoughts on this recipe.  I will be trying a sauce recipe as well and  I am thinking I will also give the pecan pie pizza a whirl.

There are roughly 60 recipes for pizzas alone from pizza marinara, aloha pizza, clam pie, Keste’s pistachio e Salsiccia pizza, Cali-zone, Chicago deep dish, Chicago thin crust, New Old El Paso pizza, smoking salmon pizza, nutella alla Spacca Napoli to dessert pizza with chevre.  The book finishes up with some pantry style recipes for smoked mozzarella, chile oil, sour cream dip and more.

I enjoyed the book from the trips to various regions of Italy to the pizza capitals of the United States and the delicious recipes it shares with us.  It will earn a coveted spot on my cookbook shelf.

Update 3/16 tomorrow there will be pizza

Update 3/17 using their favorite dough recipe,  I made barbecue pork pizza, using some pork leftovers.   On Friday I will make the sauce recipe in the book and update again.  It was dark by the time the pizza was ready so excuse the subpar photos.   We enjoyed the crust –it had great flavor.

Final update 3/20.  Tonight I made a plain pizza with the sauce recipe from the book – and if possible the crust was even better five days later.   Two discs of dough were left over and went into the freezer.   My husband said it was the best tasting pizza he has had.  Score!  I especially love that we were able to get two meals out of this dough recipe plus two additional meals await in the freezer.

GIVEAWAY:

Agate Publishing has graciously offered one of my readers a chance to win a copy of this fantastic book.  Please leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite pizza.   US addresses only.  A random winner will be chosen on April 1st, 2015.  Good luck!

Marji Kehoe #83 was chosen by Random Number Generator!  Congratulations!

 

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are a force to be reckoned with — the dynamic duo’s cookbooks are always welcomed additions to my collection and their recipes are flawless.   Their newest book – The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book  is no exception.

My name is Jenny and I have residual pressure cooker phobia.  My grandmother was one of the only women butchers in the meat packing district in East St. Louis, Illinois so long ago.  She would bring home questionable meat products – at least they were to me – pigs feet, blood sausage and the like.   My mind is still flooded with memories of my grandmother’s kitchen.  We were not the typical family with fond memories and shared cooking experiences — but I do remember her kitchen.  She lived in a shotgun style house in Madison, Illinois which is moments away from St. Louis.  The kitchen was fairly large.  Her pantry was a metal cabinet with two doors – actually everything was white and metal in the kitchen.  She always had something cooking and usually in the pressure cooker – the way it would rattle and shake – it was a bit intimidating.  I think she used the pressure cooker a great deal because she worked long, hard hours and this was her way of getting food on the table in an efficient manner.  I do remember one day going to her house for visit – it was a short walk down the railroad tracks (cue the banjo music) and she was standing on the kitchen chair scrapping pigs feet off the ceiling.  Yes, a pressure cooker mishap.

It’s been forty plus years, time to let go of my fear and embrace the pressure cooker.   The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book has 500 easy recipes for every machine – stovetop and electric – from oatmeal to cheesecake to stews.  I haven’t had a chance to try the recipes as I just received the book and  I need to make sure my cooker is up to the pressure.  I do know many of my friends have been cooking from the book and are incredibly pleased with the results (and their photos of their creations look tempting as they have been sharing them in our Share your Dinner event in the group).  On March 19th we will be cooking from the book again #pressurethursdays, join in and post your meals in the event!

I have marked many recipes to attempt including French onion soup chicken thighs, chicken and pasta in a spicy peanut sauce, chicken mac and cheese, maple Dijon wings,  coconut chicken soup, braised chuck roast with balsamic vinegar and corned beef and cabbage in spiced cider.  Saturday we’re having a guest over for St. Patrick’s Day fare – so I think I will try that.  I trust with Bruce and Mark’s wonderful instructions — there will not be corned beef on the ceiling.

Update 3/15 — the corned beef and cabbage in spiced cider was excellent – perfectly tender and delicious and not a morsel made it to the ceiling.

It’s a wonderful book with incredible variety as is typical with the dynamic duo’s books — so there is no reason to fear the pressure cooker.

Random Number Generator picked #12 Judy Pike Krist and #82 Linda Mire please send your addresses to me icywit @ gmail dot com.  Congratulations!

TIME FOR THE GIVEAWAY

Thanks to Bruce and Mark and their publisher Clarkson Potter, I have two copies of this book to offer to two random readers.   For a chance to win leave a comment on this post telling me if have you ever used a pressure cooker or not. US Addresses only.  Random number generator will pick a winner on March 27th.  (Your comments are numbered and I use the RNG program to pick a winner.)  Thank you and good luck!