Cookbooks published in 2022

[Anna N]

55 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Is this version of salted green onions of any use?

Thanks. I was aware of that but I’m curious to see Naomi’s take on it.
 As I said, I’m unlikely to cook from this book but I’m very interested in the subject.  

 
One thing, she definitely wins top marks for is her acknowledgement that all salt is sodium chloride and once dissolved in water the most expensive is no better than the cheapest. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Indeed!   The only difference I subscribe to is surface texture.   Admitting here that I readily reach for Maldon flake.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Indeed!   The only difference I subscribe to is surface texture.   Admitting here that I readily reach for Maldon flake.

 

Or the stones I use for baking my potatoes.

 

[ElsieD]

Today I made Sweet and Salty Chocolate Cake. from Small Batch Bakes.  Since the measurements are in grams, it was easy to scale this to one layer.  It was (is) delicious helped by the dulce de leche buttercream.  It's a keeper.

[ElsieD]

I recently made Biscoff-Stuffed Brownies from Small Batch Bakes.  John liked them, I did not particularly care for them.  I'm not a big brownie fan to start with and these were VERY dense.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Today I made Sweet and Salty Chocolate Cake. from Small Batch Bakes.  Since the measurements are in grams, it was easy to scale this to one layer.  It was (is) delicious helped by the dulce de leche buttercream.  It's a keeper.

 

The library honored my request for Small Batch Bakes.  A copy should be here for me eventually.

 

[Anna N]

On 10/24/2022 at 8:28 PM, Anna N said:

Thanks. I was aware of that but I’m curious to see Naomi’s take on it.
 As I said, I’m unlikely to cook from this book but I’m very interested in the subject.  

 
One thing, she definitely wins top marks for is her acknowledgement that all salt is sodium chloride and once dissolved in water the most expensive is no better than the cheapest. 

Well, I downloaded a Kindle sample of this book.

I have to tell you that it takes very little for an author to completely lose my trust.  Two recent examples: an author who described the yellow eyes of a turtle seen on a black and white TV and in a different book, surgeons left to clear up the sharps after a failed resuscitation attempt!  No, no, no no. So Naomi’s sin? Spending far too long explaining why you must use scales to weigh salt in recipes, and then giving her first recipe in volume measurements. It probably doesn’t make a whole lot of difference for this recipe but…… After that, the few recipes that are given in the sample switch back-and-forth between volume and weight or use both - weight and volume for one ingredient and volume for another: 

the 
½ cup/75 grams white sesame seeds

2 tablespoons coarse or fine sea salt

 

this, after carefully explaining that the same volumes of coarse salt and fine salt will have different weights. 
 

Will I still buy the book? Probably not.
The writing is repetitive and tedious. 

Sorry, Naomi, I think you missed on this one.  Perhaps the recipes will redeem it for others. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Anna N
To remove extraneous words. (log)

[Anna N]

Wondering if anyone has an opinion on Food 52 Simply Genius. @blue_dolphinmentioned a recipe from the book in the breakfast thread. 

[Darienne]

Just grabbed the latest cookbooks off the "new" shelves (oops.  did it again....shelves at the library)  and was quite delighted with one of them...Desiree Nielsen, Good for Your Gut:  Plant-based digestive health guide and nourishing recipes for living well, Penguin, 2022.  

 

Now that I have more or less stopped eating gluten...the jury is still out...and dairy...ditto...I am always on the look-out for good bread/cake/cookie/etc recipes.  Had no idea that the first 103 pages were all about the gut and how it works.  Well explained and even some things I'd never read before.  Nielsen certainly pulled it all together in a very useful way and she's not singled-minded or narrow-thinking about it all which was a delight.  

 

Plus I found about 8 useful recipes that I am going to try.  

Edited December 8, 2022 by Darienne
forgot to say the book comes from our local library (log)

[blue_dolphin]

On 12/7/2022 at 12:25 PM, Anna N said:

Wondering if anyone has an opinion on Food 52 Simply Genius. @blue_dolphinmentioned a recipe from the book in the breakfast thread. 

 

I've been remiss in responding, partially in hopes that my library would get the book and I could actually get a look at it!  Food52 Simply Genius is the cookbook of the month in the Food52 cookbook club and while I usually get the books, I wasn't sure about this one because it contains so many recipes from other cookbooks I own or online sources I can access. I asked my library to buy it and I'm sure they will but it's not here yet.  Thus far, I've been cooking recipes I could access via the EYB digital preview, Amazon's "Look Inside" feature or online on the Food52 site or the original sources.  There are some I'm curious to try that I haven't been able to find so it's not a complete rehash of readily available material.  

 

While I'm not sure it's a worthwhile book for me, it does gather some simple cooking "tricks" from a range of sources and presents them in a consistent and approachable way that I think less experienced cooks would appreciate.  For example,  Aki and Alex from Ideas in Food tend to share things that are just that, ideas, rather than recipes.  The Caramelized Cream Seared Smashed Potatoes from their site isn't really something I think beginner cooks would feel comfortable tackling - no quantities, no pan sizes, timing, etc. I haven't seen this recipe in the book but I'm pretty sure Kristin or her team have fleshed it out into a proper recipe. 

 

Are all the recipes "Simply Genius"?  Well, I thought that cocoa almond oatmeal was "Simply Awful" 🙄 On the other hand, that 5-minute tomato sauce from Heidi Swanson that I made yesterday is pretty great. I often keep a jar of Rao's Arrabiatta sauce on hand for emergency hangry situations. This recipe is a perfect sub and ready in the time it took the pasta to boil. That one is a keeper. Others are in-between. Like the sheet-pan roasted mushrooms and greens where you roast the mushrooms in the oven, then wilt the greens by tossing them right on the sheet pan and popping them back in the oven, taking them out for a stir a few times 'til they're done.  Kind of efficient.  Kind of a nuisance to keep opening and closing the oven.  I'll keep it in mind but am not overly enamored with it.

 

If you've viewed the Amazon "Look Inside" preview of the book, you will likely have noticed the use of rather small fonts, particularly in side notes or recipe variations, and sometimes on colored backgrounds.  It's not the worst I've seen but I've had to take a screen cap and blow it up to read clearly, something I don't normally have to do.  That leads me to believe that there might be readability issues with the print edition and of course, that can't easily be zoomed.  This was confirmed by at least one of the cookbook group who said she was returning the book because she couldn't read it.  I think they've sacrificed readability for the attractive open spaces in the book design. 

 

There - my 2 cents, from someone who hasn't actually seen the book 🤣

 

[BetD]

I will toss in a thought about the readability issue. In the paper book, many pages are on colored backgrounds, which many find hard to read. In the Kindle version, there is no colored background, and the text is much easier to read.

 

 

 

 

Kindle screen shot……

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by BetD (log)

[BetD]

And mere moments later the counter looks like this…..  🙄

 

 

[rotuts]

@BetD 

 

your comment on cookbook

 

backgrounds 

 

reminded me  , of Alton Brown's

 

cookbooks .  Im a fan of his shows

 

sans the CIA like minders , and some 

 

of the histrionics , but not all of them 

 

if there were three of the cookbooks

 

Im sure I have the first two , possibly the thrid

 

and whom ever ' Formatted ' those books 

 

missed the point  of Adobe Software 

 

especially while enjoying a ....   or three ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

There - my 2 cents, from someone who hasn't actually seen the book 🤣

I would say that was worth considerably more than 2 cents. Thank you for taking the time. I would, of course be ordering the Kindle edition. Printed matter is now impossible. 

I am by no means a beginner cook, but physical challenges put me back into the “it’s got to be fast and easy” camp. I did see your “porridge” but it’s not anything I would attempt anyway, so I wasn’t too disturbed. For now I continue to sit on the fence, but I do appreciate your generosity in sharing your views. 

[blue_dolphin]

On 12/10/2022 at 12:35 PM, Anna N said:

I am by no means a beginner cook, but physical challenges put me back into the “it’s got to be fast and easy” camp.

 

Not sure how you feel about Melissa Clark or if you've seen her new book, Dinner in One (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)? This was last month's cookbook club book.  I'd pre-ordered the book but it didn't click with me and I only cooked a few recipes but there were others in the group who were delighted with it for ease in getting meals on the table with minimal fuss, though most allowed that they'd needed to tweak the recipes to add flavor.  In her interview on the Salt & Spine podcast, Melissa described carefully combing through each recipe to make sure every nonessential ingredient, bowl, pan, step and transfer had been eliminated.  Seemed to me that process kind of sucked the life out of the recipes.  Maybe it was because this book followed Falastin in our lineup.  That one has all sorts of little flourishes that make the recipes special.  On the other hand, Ali Slagle's I Dream of Dinner is even more minimal than Dinner in One and I love that one. I decided the Melissa Clark books, Dinner, Dinner in an Instant and Comfort in an Instant give me a good sampling of her simple recipes and I've also got her Dinner in French and In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite so I'm going to let this one go. 

 

On a completely different tangent, I'm reading and enjoying another 2022 release: Jeremy Lee's Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many.  That's an Amazon UK link as it offers a "Look Inside" sample.  I ordered my copy from Blackwells after reading this interview with Mr. Lee that Russ Parsons wrote: Jeremy Lee: ‘I want to encourage people to go into the kitchen and in half an hour make something absolutely delicious’.  

Edited to add - Here's a little quote from the introduction of the book that I liked:

 

I don't see a pub date yet for a US or Canadian edition and I'm not sure how it would fly with the US cookbook buyers who want brilliantly colored and styled photos of each dish.  This book is largely illustrated with pen and ink drawings, which I find charming.  Actual photographs are few and far between and most look like completely unstyled snapshots taken of a pot or plate on a drizzly day.  Each chapter begins with an essay (which may be long or short), followed by a recipe or six. This makes for great reading as you can easily sit down and treat yourself to a chapter and get a bit of writing and a bit of cooking.  The chapters are organized alphabetically, which means more or less randomly:  Chard is followed by Chocolate and then Equipment.  Aside from the chapter title page drawing, the only illustration in the Equipment chapter is a photo of crock full of wooden spoons.  Speaking of spoons, metric measurements are standard here, aside from "soup spoons" which he uses quite a lot.  I haven't cooked anything from the book yet.  The griddled chicken livers, bacon and sage (half a strip of bacon topped with a sage leaf and piece of chicken liver, skewered and grilled, then brushed with olive oil & red wine vinegar) are first on my list.

 

I've got another pile of 2022 releases that I've barely looked at so I am banned from purchasing any more until I make some major progress.  If anyone wants to hear about any of these, let me know and it will give me a place to start. 

And yes, I know I have a problem 🙃

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by blue_dolphin
to add quote (log)

[Anna N]

@blue_dolphin

thank you so much for this. It is going to take me a bit of time to get through all of it and respond properly but I did want to take the time to say thank you.  I am also green with envy of your book shelf with the new books. Those were the days!🤢

[ElsieD]

Mmmmm, Snackable Bakes.  Maybe something with blueberries?  Scones?

[blue_dolphin]

3 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Mmmmm, Snackable Bakes.  Maybe something with blueberries?  Scones?

This recipe for a cranberry vanilla breakfast buckle got a lot of positive reviews when this book was covered by the baking cookbook group.  Maybe I’ll start there!

[ElsieD]

38 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

This recipe for a cranberry vanilla breakfast buckle got a lot of positive reviews when this book was covered by the baking cookbook group.  Maybe I’ll start there!

 

That sounds good too.

[Anna N]

6 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Not sure how you feel about Melissa Clark

I am a fence sitter about Melissa Clark. I think she has some great ideas and some good recipes, but as you have noted, in her effort to simplify she can be quite flippant about flavour. Statements like this:

"Here's another thing," she says, pulling out oregano, red pepper flakes, fennel, garlic and bay leaves. "You can leave half of these herbs out. It's going to taste the same."*

leave me aghast. 

*From here

Amazon’s “look inside” feature from Dinner in One offers only sheet pan dishes. It is not a cooking method that I am quite sold on. In the past I’ve had both successes and failures. I do appreciate her “swap out” suggestions. The Amazon feature does give one access to the complete table of contents. I am just not sold on this book. 
 

Ali Slagel’s I Dream of Dinner is just a great book! 
 

Jeremy Lee’s book is not an option for me unless it becomes available as a Kindle edition in Canada but I must say I’m a bit dubious. 
 

I find it amusing that a book that is titled Cooking: Simply and Well for One or Many, authored by one who states his objective as “to encourage people to go into the kitchen and in half an hour make something absolutely delicious’, begins with a recipe that requires preparing artichokes!**

 

But I did my due diligence, and searched the web for some of his other recipes, and found them quite intriguing and some of them even fast and relatively easy. If a Kindle edition ever does appear, I will certainly want to have a closer look.

 

Thanks very much for your review of these books. I did enjoy chasing down the various authors and recipes. 

 

** My money is on @weinooto manage this in half an hour. 
 

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Amazon’s “look inside” feature from Dinner in One offers only sheet pan dishes. It is not a cooking method that I am quite sold on. In the past I’ve had both successes and failures.

I’m not a sheet pan meal fan. I don’t doubt that it can work but it’s so dependent on aligning the ripeness/moisture level, cut size and distribution of ingredients on the pan. If I try, I always pile the ingredients separately so I can easily remove anything getting cooked too quickly and that kind of defeats the whole idea of cooking things together. 
 

17 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I find it amusing that a book that is titled Cooking: Simply and Well for One or Many, authored by one who states his objective as “to encourage people to go into the kitchen and in half an hour make something absolutely delicious’, begins with a recipe that requires preparing artichokes!**

Haha!  That made me laugh, too. I love artichokes but not prepping them. 

[weinoo]

On 12/15/2022 at 1:22 AM, Anna N said:

I am a fence sitter about Melissa Clark. I think she has some great ideas and some good recipes, but as you have noted, in her effort to simplify she can be quite flippant about flavour. Statements like this:

"Here's another thing," she says, pulling out oregano, red pepper flakes, fennel, garlic and bay leaves. "You can leave half of these herbs out. It's going to taste the same."*

leave me aghast. 

*From here

Amazon’s “look inside” feature from Dinner in One offers only sheet pan dishes. It is not a cooking method that I am quite sold on. In the past I’ve had both successes and failures. I do appreciate her “swap out” suggestions. The Amazon feature does give one access to the complete table of contents. I am just not sold on this book. 
 

Ali Slagel’s I Dream of Dinner is just a great book! 
 

Jeremy Lee’s book is not an option for me unless it becomes available as a Kindle edition in Canada but I must say I’m a bit dubious. 
 

I find it amusing that a book that is titled Cooking: Simply and Well for One or Many, authored by one who states his objective as “to encourage people to go into the kitchen and in half an hour make something absolutely delicious’, begins with a recipe that requires preparing artichokes!**

 

But I did my due diligence, and searched the web for some of his other recipes, and found them quite intriguing and some of them even fast and relatively easy. If a Kindle edition ever does appear, I will certainly want to have a closer look.

 

Thanks very much for your review of these books. I did enjoy chasing down the various authors and recipes. 

 

** My money is on @weinooto manage this in half an hour. 
 

I’d have to move to Rome, and buy the artichokes already prepped.

[Katie Meadow]

5 hours ago, weinoo said:

I’d have to move to Rome, and buy the artichokes already prepped.

Do they really? That would solve so many of my problems.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 10/20/2022 at 6:55 AM, JeanneCake said:

 

My copy arrived on Tuesday as well.  I've been skimming it, and while I am touched by the emotional elements in the recipe headnotes (her mother's last word to her was "love") it seems to me quite a number of these recipes have appeared before.   Her other "bibles" have been so comprehensive on the subject matter (cake, pie);  maybe as I read through it more I will see the same level of detail.    I saw on social media that she is revising and updating the Cake Bible and I am hoping for great things there.

 

 

I noticed that neither The Cookie Bible nor Rose's Christmas Cookies includes a recipe for refrigerator cookies.  Am I missing something?  (Or is @Anna N right?)

 

[Anna N]

18 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I noticed that neither The Cookie Bible nor Rose's Christmas Cookies includes a recipe for refrigerator cookies.  Am I missing something?  (Or is @Anna N right?)

 

I don’t know. I know I’m mouthy, but what did I say about these two books because I don’t own them and I don’t ever remember seeing them.