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Cookbook Roulette


Daniel

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I have a huge collection of cookbooks which I rarely ever use.. Although I have looked through all of them, I feel terrible that many of them just sit there..

I have decided to try my hardest to cook a meal from a different book a week.. Basically, what I want to do is close my eyes, grab a book, and make a meal... I thought it would be a fun way to force myself to try new things.. The next step would be to pick a page at random as well.. But will just do books for right now..

Anyone want to play along?

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I'll play!

Infact, I'll go downstairs now and pick a book. It'll be hard to make it truly random, because my cookbooks are on shelves in the kitchen, and I sort of know what is where.

back in a minute...

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Okay so I asked Dennis to stand in front of the shelves and pick a book, with his eyes closed, because he has no idea what's on there :laugh: First he picked Penelope Casas Foods and Wines of Spain, which I have cooked from many times, so I asked him to pick again, and he picked Claudia Roden's Tamarind and Saffron.

I've had this book for a year and never cooked a thing from it.

Somewhere this week I'll cook from it! Great thread idea Daniel!

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What about the thousands of recipes I've clipped from magazines and printed off the web thinking "Gee, that sounds really good... I'd like to make that sometime" and then filed away, never to emerge in the light of day. Do they count?

Feast then thy heart, for what the heart has had, the hand of no heir shall ever hold.
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You've got the best unbiased book-picker right there under your roof.  Little ones LOOOOVVVE to pick out anything for you.

Genius idea! Thanks for that suggestion.. We can count clippings too, the point is to use things we normally wouldnt and to decide at random.. So that works.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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My books are also ordered such that I couldn't make a random selection so my husband has just picked out Moro The Cookbook by S&S Clark and we are going to cook Sopa de pescada ' Fish Soup with Brandy'. I have cooked very little from this book but it all looks very good.

The soup recipe was one of the few where I had all the ingredients to hand but there seems quite a lot of brandy - 200 ml in a recipe that serves 4!

That will be dinner tomorrow night so I will report back later on how it tasted.

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OK, I just went to my "Recipes" folder on my desktop (where I keep all of my 'clippings'), closed my eyes and chose:

"Epicurious's Top 20 Quick and Easy Recipes"...something I hadn't even realized that I'd saved !

Opened it up, and it is divided into dinners, lunches, sandwiches, desserts.

Found dinners, closed my eyes again and picked:

Provencal Chicken Breasts with Rosemary Orzo

Huh. Didn't know I was in the mood for chicken tonight but I guess I am ! :wink:

BTW, I'll be happy to email this 20 Q&E recipes pdf to anyone who wants it. Looks like some yummy things............

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OKAY, Y'all!!! I'm in a bad way here. I reached out at random, though nothing is in any particular order, and got Mrs. Seely's Cookbook. Well and good, it's an old tome, and shouldn't call for anything I might not have in my pantry.

THENNNNN. I picked a page, stuck my finger on a recipe, and it begins, "First draw your rabbit."

Y'all know I can get words on paper, but I can't draw a straight line with a ruler.

Poo. :angry:

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I'm really bad. Always in a rut. And, the two piles of cookbooks are approaching step ladder and bench size (there are more cookbooks by my bed on the floor than on the cookbook right now .

So, I rearranged the pile, and lo and behold, I'd forgotten I even own Breath of A Wok. I will peruse it tonight since I'm heading to the farmer's market tomorrow. So, I guess I will be making some plans, but since it is the last local farmer's market of the season, I want to make every purchase count. :blink:

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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I want to play too!

Unfortunately since I know the exact location of all my 300+ cookbooks on my shelves I will have to wait until my kids come home from school. I will probably cook it this weekend as I will have to rearrange my menu. I have the dinner menu decided for the next 8 days....

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Well this isnt something too different for me.. I have made one recipe out of this book already but, have not used it since..

I am happy to be cooking something from here.. Basically, I think you should have a week to cook the meal.. Maybe we can pick every Monday or Tuesday of the week.. And try to have it done by that Sunday.. Whatever, I am not a huge structure guy...

My first selection is:

1) In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis

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I dont know if we should do random recipe out of our books or just find one that looks good to you..

On a random flip I opened to Chestnuts in a Syrup and then Rabbit Pate.. But I really want to make this Pumpkin Dish and this Catfish Stew.. There isnt a bad result in this equation.. I like this game..

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Your next 8 dinners are planned.. Wow, thats really cool.. Thinking like a chess player 8 moves ahead.. Glad to see everyone playing.. Its a good way to decide once and for all if the book stays! :biggrin: This might lead to serious trading..

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Now this is really interesting:

I'll be first up.

When I looked at this recipe, PROVENCAL CHICKEN BREASTS WITH ROSEMARY ORZO, I thought it was too basic and would be boring.

And, God help me, I am gonna turn into one of those Epicurious reviewers that p**s me off to no end by changing everything and then saying, "*WHINE* I really didn't LIKE it" :angry:

With ONE exception.......I LOVED it ! I doubt that I ever would have tried this recipe, and I am so glad I did. Easy and delicious.

Here is what I changed:

1. reduced proportions dramatically (one chicken breast) since I am cooking for me alone

2. no leeks, used a big shallot

3. at the rec of the other reviewers, dropped the amount of chicken broth to 1/2 c (remember, one chicken breast)

4. I really like orange/tomato so I took the peel from an entire orange in one strip and used it, rather than the orange zest. Fished it out at the end.

5. sauteed in coconut oil......the MOST intoxicating fragrance (and flavor) I may never use anything else ever again..............

be careful w/ salt & pepper since the olives add a lot of salt (yummy)

SO good !

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Sure, though I will have to delay things and temper choices due to a campaign to eat what's in the cupboard.

My problem is that I pretty much know what book is where in the bookcase close to the kitchen. The rest are spread out, depending on their size or (current, perceived) value. What do I do if I close my eyes and grab the anthology of old Wonder Woman comics or The Family of Man?

ETA: Just saw Daniel's selection of Edna Lewis's book. Number One: Cool! Do post down in the Southern forum where there are some lively things going on these days.

Second: that might be the way to go: with eyes open select a book rarely if never used. I have taken to listing all dishes I've made in the back of cookbooks to avoid the seven-recipe rule. I should select a book in which I've cooked less than seven recipes, preferably the first I spy.

Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe, a used book, or doubly neglected tome, which I bought since there are references to Sardinian ingredients. Never made a thing.

Edited by Pontormo (log)

"Viciousness in the kitchen.

The potatoes hiss." --Sylvia Plath

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So, I cooked from Claudia Roden's Tamarind and Saffron.

gallery_21505_2929_77050.jpg

stuffed onions. A large onion is boiled, then the layers are seperated and stuffed with ground meat that is flavored with parsley, cinnamon, allspice. The bundles are then simmered in a tamarind sauce, and briefly browned under the grill. They were fantastic! I will make these again.. they are not too fussy yet look very special.. and the flavor combination of the rich meat stuffing with the sweet and sour sauce is truly wonderful.

Spinach and bean omelet, very simple but lovely:

gallery_21505_2929_32958.jpg

Dessert: saffron rice pudding. This is basically rice simmered with water and sugar, thickend with cornstarch. Flavorings: cardamom, saffron, raisins, pistahcios. It's a bit weird. Kind of gluey textured..

gallery_21505_2929_20547.jpg

For the onion recipe alone, I am grateful Daniel started this thread :smile: But that aside, I don't think this is a book to hang onto. It has many recipes that are in Roden's other books. And besides, I have the Dutch version, which is very badly translated, which annoys me!

Edited by Chufi (log)
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Wow, Chufi, that dinner looks great. It took you no time at all to participate in this game (I am still procrastinating...)

My grandmother always made these stuffed vegetables like your onions; we call it m'hasha. I would watch as she'd separate all the layers of the onions, and would just marvel. She also filled beets, zucchinis, grape leaves and peppers. It makes for a gorgeous presentation.

Yours look very beautiful. Mama would be very proud!

Edited by Shaya (log)
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We have just had the Fish Soup with Brandy from Moro The Cookbook and it was really very good and quite easy to prepare.

I did substitue fish off-cuts for the fish head and I cut the brandy down from 200 ml to 100 ml and made up the volume with extra red wine but there was still a good strong flavour. No photograph as it just looked like a rustic tomato soup with lots of parsley but I would really recommend this recipe. The soup was flavoured with smoked paprika and chilli which really gave it depth.

Next I am going to pick a random recipe from my cuttings file which has been growing for many years and rarely gets used.

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Well now I have 3 cookbooks to work from, each kid wanted to pick one....

Hide (5) picked The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, I have only made one recipe from here.

Julia (8) picked Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook's Corner and from Home, I bought this after reading about it in an eGullet thread but have not used it yet

Mia (10) picked the Children's World Cookbook, this actually a kid's book and I am pretty sure we have not yet used it. Maybe I will find something that the kids can help me with or if I am lucky they can do by themselves.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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not fair! I want to play but, unfortunately, Fuss is some what picky.

Even if I could join in the fun I have this fear that I would blindly pull out one of the off the wall South Georgia cook books in my collection and with eyes closed flip to the page starting, "take one armadillo and clean well....."

in loving memory of Mr. Squirt (1998-2004)--

the best cat ever.

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Well now I have 3 cookbooks to work from, each kid wanted to pick one....

Hide (5) picked The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, I have only made one recipe from here.

Julia (8) picked Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook's Corner and from Home, I bought this after reading about it in an eGullet thread but have not used it yet

Mia (10) picked the Children's World Cookbook, this actually a kid's book and I am pretty sure we have not yet used it.  Maybe I will find something that the kids can help me with or if I am lucky they can do by themselves.

What fun! If the school's kitchen burned down (I seem to recall in a recent post, unless it was old news revived), at least your children can doing some of their own cooking at home.

I am happy to learn what Hide selected. That cookbook has a mixed reputation here. I am personally a fan and have followed just under a dozen of the recipes, three of which were revelations and only two leaving me indifferent or unhappy. I've simplified my chicken stock considerably thanks to this book and like some of its detailed illustrations of technique. I look forward to your report, Kristin, especially after your blog this summer.

Edited by Pontormo (log)

"Viciousness in the kitchen.

The potatoes hiss." --Sylvia Plath

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Chufi, Doc, and Lapin, you guys really came out of the gates quickly.. I am not exactly procastinating yet, due toi Trick or Treating, but if I dont make it by tomorrow I will be. :biggrin:

Lapin the soup sounds out of this world.. Tell me more about the book, in terms of the style of cooking or the other recipes that interest you or have made..

Doc, the chicken sounds great.. I am surprised you reduced it down to one breast! Are you upset you dont have leftovers?

Chufi, those onions do sound/look fabulous.. And whether or not you like the recipes, it looks like you cooked the heck out them.. Looks expertly done..

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