Cooking with "This Will Make It Taste Good", by Vivian Howard

[kayb]

I am seriously considering pulling the trigger on this one, as I like "dead tree" cookbooks for books I know I'm going to be going back to over and over. It looks like a good one.

[rotuts]

Ive been reading the book , and I continue to be very impressed .

 

For review purposed Im adding images of three Rx's.

 

they were almost selected at random , and i hope to be making these soon-is :

 

 

this is legible , just barely if you move it to your desk-top and enlarge it.

 

 

again , the best i could do

 

 

I hope these give you a fair idea of what the book is like.

 

this sort of book ' works ' better in the hand , then On the Screen

 

a fabulous book I hope many of you will enjoy.

 

and no , I don't work for Chef VH.   

 

she has done a fine job on her second book.  it does not disappoint

 

and , as a finale :

 

 

@Shelby  was all over this , UpThread :

 

Red Weapons 

 

cheers , and a thank  you to Chef VH for all the hard work this book must have needed.

 

It delivers

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

Couldn’t resist just for the sheer pleasure of reading her writing. So I now own the Kindle edition. Her take on preserved lemons left me with a very sore forehead as I constantly asked myself, as I read,  “Why not? Why didn’t I think of this?”  
Why not all citrus fruits? Why not add leftover lemon or other citrus to the brine? If I make nothing else from the book I will definitely be attempting her Citrus Shrine.  I will likely adapt her method to make a speedy version such as the one offered by Paula Wolfert or the one offered by Thomas Keller. 

[Shelby]

I've ordered all of the ingredients I need for the Quirky Furki on pg.236.  I know I could've gotten what I needed faster and cheaper had I gone to the Asian Market but with the uptick of virus around, I'm just not going to go.  Who knows how long it will take to get said ingredients lol....the virus might be long gone....  Instead of the tiny shrimp (which I wanted, but were outrageously expensive) I opted for bonito flakes.  Super interested in this recipe.

[blue_dolphin]

My power is out due to strong winds, the cats & kittens are all napping so I finally started reading on page 1 instead of flipping around here and there. 
I’m absolutely drooling and want to make everything!

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

My power is out due to strong winds, the cats & kittens are all napping so I finally started reading on page 1 instead of flipping around here and there. 
I’m absolutely drooling and want to make everything!

I'm not liking your power being out.....I hope the winds stop soon!

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

I've ordered all of the ingredients I need for the Quirky Furki on pg.236.  I know I could've gotten what I needed faster and cheaper had I gone to the Asian Market but with the uptick of virus around, I'm just not going to go.  Who knows how long it will take to get said ingredients lol....the virus might be long gone....  Instead of the tiny shrimp (which I wanted, but were outrageously expensive) I opted for bonito flakes.  Super interested in this recipe.

I think you will enjoy it. I use quite a lot of furikake and the book is giving me ideas of other uses. (Wow! I just looked up the kimchee furikake on amazon.ca that I usually buy and jt is at least four times the price I paid for it.)

[Yiannos]

Thanks to you all for your comments on this book, I have loved cooking from DRR and didn't even know this existed. I really like a lot of Vivian Howard's recipes, they feel new and fresh to my west coast tastes, something really different. Looking forward to trying some of these out too.

[rotuts]

I try to be fair when I give out my thoughts on a book.

 

and to be fair , on further inspection , this book is not perfect.

 

it was very close to perfect, then i came across this :

 

 

don't bother trying to read this .   I would have thought Chef VH was a bit young for a ' Senior Moment '

 

but I guess not .  eggplant ?  purple eggplant ?     she 

 

 

then further along i found this error :

 

 

yes indeed :  the lower L instructions , in red no less , reads :

 

"" 6 to 8 Medium bell peppers of any color ...... "

 

I can only assume this is a typo or printing error

 

and will be promptly corrected in the second printing.

 

that printing might be worth waiting for.  or , you could edit this mistake out

 

yourself w a black sharpie

 

up to you.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

still

 

in spite of these two

 

blobs of Ink or etc

 

a mighty mighty mighy fine book

 

its not just the Rx's in this book

 

and Im sure there were worked out 

 

each individually 

 

as noted in Chef VH shows 

 

Unlike so many other books

 

its the thought behind them

 

very rare in CookBooks these days.

 

 

[Anna N]

I did not need Vivian‘s help to make caramelized onions but reading about them moved me to get up and do something!

 

 

Melting

 

 

Almost there. 

[blue_dolphin]

55 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I did not need Vivian‘s help to make caramelized onions but reading about them moved me to get up and do something!

I know what you mean.  I often make extra when I'm cooking something and love having them on hand but some of her ideas for using them sound so good.  

I went to the store for Castelvetrano olives and bought a bag of onions, too!

And the olives?  They are now in this jar:

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by blue_dolphin
typo (log)

[kayb]

Trigger is pulled. The sample content was enough to sell me.

[rotuts]

if you can afford it

 

you won't be disappointed.

 

JBezos was a little skimpy on the discount.

 

bust need the funds for his rocket or something

[Shelby]

17 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I know what you mean.  I often make extra when I'm cooking something and love having them on hand but some of her ideas for using them sound so good.  

I went to the store for Castelvetrano olives and bought a bag of onions, too!

And the olives?  They are now in this jar:

 

I'm jealous!!!!!!  I'm sure I can order the olives....but the mint not so much.

[blue_dolphin]

Is anyone even remotely surprised to see this breakfast coming from me today?  

Jammy Eggs Dressed in Green from This Will Make it Taste Good.  My first use of the Little Green Dress I made yesterday.  It's good stuff. 

I also cooked my 6 and a half minute egg exactly the way Vivian said.  Conveniently, it's exactly the way I usually do 🙃

 

Like @Anna N I also made a batch of R-Rated Onions

 

 

 

I used some of that to mix up a batch of the People Pleaser Party Dip.  That's in the fridge, awaiting my purchase of some chips.  The taste I took last night suggested it might be on the sweet side and I might have preferred sherry vinegar instead of balsamic but the recipe says it's best after an overnight in the fridge so I'll wait before rendering my final judgement. 

 

[Anna N]

4 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Is anyone even remotely surprised to see this breakfast coming from me today?  

😂😂

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Like @Anna N I also made a batch of R-Rated Onions

I have to question how one gets 2 cups of caramelized onions even if using the largest quantity of onions to begin with!

[blue_dolphin]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I have to question how one gets 2 cups of caramelized onions even if using the largest quantity of onions to begin with!

Agreed.  I started with 7 onions, ~ 4 lbs.  I really couldn't have put much more into that 12-inch skillet and my yield was about a cup and a half.  

Maybe we had wet onions that cook down a lot and there are dry ones somewhere?

In the end, I did marvel that huge pile ended up fitting into a sandwich baggie with room to spare!

[Shelby]

I'mma have to get more onions 😳

[blue_dolphin]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

I'm jealous!!!!!!  I'm sure I can order the olives....but the mint not so much.

Over on Eat Your Books, someone commented that they used basil instead of mint. I think that would work well if it's more available. 

I actually made this because I had a ton of mint!

[heidih]

24 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Over on Eat Your Books, someone commented that they used basil instead of mint. I think that would work well if it's more available. 

I actually made this because I had a ton of mint!

 

Yes I have seen basil w/ parley (I would do Italian)

[Maison Rustique]

I hate you all. I really do not need more cookbooks, but now I think I need 2. One of you owes me a new bookcase. 😁

[Shelby]

14 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

I hate you all. I really do not need more cookbooks, but now I think I need 2. One of you owes me a new bookcase. 😁

You need Deep Run Roots and you need this new one too.  (I'm out of shelf space and now have a stack of cookbooks on the floor 🙃)

 

Ok, so yesterday we had to go to the liquor store (can't be out of wine) and once in the car I decided to go to the grocery store....Little Green Dress was calling me.....   Somewhere in this new cookbook Vivian says that the herbs found in the grocery store in the tiny portions in the little plastic boxes makes her sad or angry or something like that.  That stuck out to me because (sadly) in the winter, I've been known to purchase those high priced suckers 🙋‍♀️.  I zoomed over to those little plastic boxes and saw that the mint didn't look too bad, so, even though I was disappointing Vivian, I put them in my cart along with some parsley.

 

 

 

 

Not the freshest, but it wasn't too bad.

 

Another confession:  I don't care for mint.  I steer clear of recipes that use mint.  But, knowing how much I like her recipes I decided to try this.  I tasted LGD after it was done...it tastes SO GOOD.  Fresh, briny, not like mint at all!  

 

A third confession:  (this is turning into a couch session) I had never heard of castelvetrano olives.  So, I googled on the way to the store and found that Mezzetta brand (which is prevalent around here) sells them so I had hope.  Lots of people must be making LGD because I got the last jar!

 

Anyway, here is my LGD all ready for some serious usage  

 

[Anna N]

At some point I suspect I will find myself making LGD. But I’m not rushing. I am not a fan of green olives and even mint really only calls to me in mint sauce.  I need to live closer to one of you who have made it so I could sneak just a taste!