"In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite" by Melissa Clark

[heidih]

I received this book today as the result of a $15 impulse purchase on Amazon after reading several blog reviews. Being a sucker for cookbooks that include stories about the recipes and the author's food thoughts this sounded like a natural.

Verdict: I really am enjoying the read and am inspired to either follow or riff on several of the recipes and I am only at page 65 of 400+. I believe this will be the book that vanquishes my polenta virginity with the Buckwheat (& corn) polenta with bacon-sauteed radicchio on page 11

There are no photos, but the writing puts the food clearly in your mind's eye and your taste buds' anticipation.

Thoughts from other purchasers or possibles?

[Darienne]

The good and the bad: I just love cookbooks with stories about the writer, about the dish, about the culture from which it come...but I don't like cookbooks without photos.

Enjoy. And do let us know how the polenta goes. I've never even ventured to taste it.

[nakji]

We have a somewhat cranky topic about her "Good Appetite" column in the New York Times here.

I'd be interested to see if her cookbook work is as good as Fat Guy attributes it to be there. Please post some pictures! Are her flavours interesting? Are the recipes easy?

[plum tart]

I just bought the cookbook and have enjoyed reading the food writing very much. I like to read about the process she goes through coming up with a recipe.

There are also a number of recipes that interest me (NOT the shrimp and broccoli recipe) which I will be trying very soon. I like the way she did combination tagines. I have always been frustrated by the simpleness of many tagine recipes, for example, prunes and lamb, or dried apricots and lamb, or preserved lemons and chicken etc etc. I'm sure you get the point. A couple of her tagine recipes combine ingredients that are complementary and should make for a more complex and interesting dish. Maybe this weekend I will cook a tagine from this book and christen my new tagine from tagines.com

I miss photographs as well but the writing is compensation.

[heidih]

We have a somewhat cranky topic about her "Good Appetite" column in the New York Times here.

I'd be interested to see if her cookbook work is as good as Fat Guy attributes it to be there. Please post some pictures! Are her flavours interesting? Are the recipes easy?

I have not cooked from the book yet but I will start a topic about cooking with it soon including pictures.

I would say the recipes are straightforward and driven by what is fresh and appealing in the markets with bold and clear flavors. As to the criticism of her writing style as chirpy in the topic about her column, I chose to take her at face value and see it as sincere enthusiasm. The recipes and concepts are not hugely innovative. Raw kale salad is all over the internet. But I know that I will seek out the cavalo nero from the vendor that always has lovely tender bunches and give it a whirl this fall. I also bought my first nut oil (toasted walnut) and sought out my first salt packed anchovies this morning as the result of a number of recipes that appealed. (I had been a SE Asian style cook for the most part) Actions speak louder than words - plus you have to love a girl that includes chapters called "Better Fried" and "Things with Cheese".

[heidih]

The topic about cooking with the book can be found here.

[LindaK]

The Boston Globe is praising both the recipes and the writing in this book: here