[What food-related books are you reading? (2004 - 2015)]

I would vote for Michael Ruhlman's on The Making, The Soul and The Reach of a Chef. Tremendous journalism on the craft, for me, that captivated me and taught me while I was beginning to learn to cook.

Seconded. The first part of the Soul of the Chef, about Certified Chef Master Exam, has to be the tensest thing I ever read in books about cooking. You feel the pressure, the stress of the participants. I reread it every now and then for pure enjoyment.

I really enjoyed Joe Bastianich's Restaurant Man recently (in audiobook form, read by the author). It is a nice look behind the scenes of restaurant life, written in pretty Bourdainesque style. Lots of expletives, so YMMV.

[Where Will it All End - Guy Fieri to Open Restaurant in Times Square]

You might have read the review already, but just in case: NY Times gives it "Poor" grade. The writing is superb though.

[Dill -- how do you use it?]

This is what they call tarator in Bulgaria (tzatziki in Greece) and is absolutely wonderful and refreshing on a hot summer day:

Shred a cucumber, salt it and cover with dill (the more the better for me), add crushed/minced garlic and olive oil. Add good Greek yoghurt, mix well and put in a fridge for a few hours. You can either drink it (in that case add some milk to achieve more fluid consistency), use as a dipping sauce with grilled meat or vegetables (typical tzatziki use) or eat on its own. Some Bulgarians also mix in crushed walnuts, which adds a nice slightly bitter aftertaste. The dill is extremely nice in this.

Salmon (especially smoked) and dill are a natural fit.

If you have new potatoes, just steam them and mix with dill and/or parsley with olive oil for a quick fragrant spring salad.

[Learning to Butcher at Home]

I have bought my first whole lamb this Easter and this guide has proven both foolproof and easy to follow. Bone saw was not necessary, but cleaver was pretty much indispensable.

["The Italian Baker" by Carol Field - the new edition]

The original version had weights and cups for all ingredients except liquids which were given as cups and made it very confusing for someone from the UK.

I just downloaded a kindle version of the new edition and have only glanced through it. Weights and volume are used throughout.

The sad thing is she gives a Biga & a Biga Naturale both of which are yeasted. She repeats the old story of how complicated and time consuming making and maintaining a starter is. If someone is serious enough to fork out the money for a bread book like this they must be a serious enough baker to use a starter. Pane Genzano is still given as a yeasted recipe.

That said, I'm used to converting formulas to natural leaven and I'm sure I will get useful ideas from the book.

Mick

I am just substituting my normal sourdough starter instead of "biga". She uses 75-78 percent hydration in her biga, my starter is at 100 percent so I just mix up biga in necessary quantity and hydration a day beforehand. Takes some extra calculations, but nothing difficult.

But yes, it makes me sad that "biga naturale" is yeasted in this book. Making a stable starter culture should have been included in a book that focuses on traditional bread recipes, especially given how conservative Italians are.