This month, I would like to look at “Greenfeast: Spring, Summer.” This completes the coverage of seasons started in “Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter ” which I wrote about previously.
As you may guess, in this volume author Nigel Slater gives dishes that are generally lighter, fresher and visually brighter.
One of my favorite parts of this collection is that the time commitment seems to be quite short; who wants to spend hours in a hot kitchen during summer? Simple dishes and small ingredient lists make for quick dinners. Eating fresh, plant-based dishes also gives you an excuse to visit the farmer’s market, by the way.
The recipes are mostly vegetarian-friendly and can be made to even vegan standards (with slight modifications), if necessary. Each dish is given a ridiculously brief name, mainly because the recipes are simple. The only issue I can see is some ingredients can be a bit difficult to find, but I like to think that gives me the freedom to make it my own.
Recipes are sectioned by time of day, or an indication of how it is prepared or how it is served. A couple that caught my eye: Mustard Guacamole, Mozzarella, Bagel looks like a great breakfast sandwich. Pasta, Tomatoes (see what I mean about ridiculously brief names) could be scaled up to create a nice dinner with lunch leftovers.
As a companion to “Autumn, Winter” I think this succeeds in finishing the task set by the author. Enjoy!
Recently, I watched the movie “The Menu.” I loved it: I saw bits of myself in a few of the characters on either side of the pass. Here is a short synopsis of the film: an ultra-exclusive restaurant prepares a special menu for a select clientele.
Essentially, “The Menu” is a horror/comedy/satire piece on the fine dining experience. Between this movie, other recent stories spilling secrets on the culture of restaurant work, and the recent announcement of Noma’s impending closure (Noma is a many-times named Best Restaurant in the World and is planning to close in 2024), some have started calling for the end of fine dining, whatever that means. The issue for many is the impression that all fine dining restaurants are hyper-competitive, intense, toxic workplaces that can destroy people. Though those accusations are damning, the idea of “free labor” was the final straw. In some high-profile places, like Noma, talented and ambitious cooks are hired, but not paid. According to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentices” by Lisa Abend (a book about the now-shuttered restaurant named el Bulli), the cooks are paired with a host family and generally they eat at the restaurant (the “family meal”). My view has been these types of positions are for a special few, and the sacrifice is repaid through contacts made and through future earnings. Generally, these types of situations are only found at high-end places, but the pressures and expectations can find their way to “regular” establishments. You might have dined in a place that suffers from the same problems, even here in Mid-Missouri. Continue reading “Read the Recipe: Noma 2.0”
This month, I am looking at a fascinating collection of recipes, stories, interviews, visual art and essays: “Ghetto Gastro: The Black Power Kitchen” is an amazing book written by three Bronx natives. The text is peppered with wisdom, enlightenment and that Bronx voice. Oh, and some seriously good recipes.
There is so much to like about this book, there’s so much to learn from this book and there’s so much to be inspired by from this book. From the art, the photographs, the interviews, it makes the recipes almost become secondary. In fact, I will inject here that I think the recipes ARE secondary, what I gathered from the text and illustrations was a goal of shifting a mentality. One of those steps is to move away from a meat-based diet. Many of the meals use plant-based options, though there are some items that cannot be replaced, e.g., fish and a very tempting jerk chicken selection. Continue reading “Read the Recipe! Food Is a Weapon”
December is here, and for many of us that means baking. And baking cookies, specifically. Holiday cookies are a great way to connect generations of family in a task sure to create memories. When we think of holiday cookies, what comes to mind? Sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, ginger snaps, snickerdoodles? Sure. Those are all fine and have a place on the table, but maybe you want to show your cousin who the real cookie boss is in the family. Here’s where the mad genius, the rule-breaker, the one marching to the beat of her own Hobart mixer… Christina Tosi, comes in.
Listen, I know you want to recreate the holidays of your youth and create memories for your youngest family members, and that is commendable, but we can do better. “All About Cookies” is the newest book by Christina Tosi, and, as expected, it is amazing. Continue reading “Read the Recipe! Stop: Cookie Time!”
This month, I’d like to talk about one of the most original and imaginative cookbooks I have ever read, “Death To Jar Sauce.” The author is “Nat” of the YouTube channel, “Nat’s What I Reckon.” Nat is not a chef, but a person passionate about inspiring people to eat healthier and to eat better. From the introduction: “Nat is a comedian, rock musician, mental health advocate and award-winning, bestselling author. Already an online creator with a fan base in the hundreds of thousands for close to a decade, Nat’s What I Reckon rocketed to global prominence when he took the world by storm in early 2020 with his isolation cooking content.” I was exposed to Nat through his videos on Facebook and those 10-15 minutes of culinary chaos were a salve to my weary psyche during the pandemic shutdown. What struck me was his delivery; it reminded me of how cooks really talk when explaining recipes that didn’t require precision. Continue reading “Read The Recipe! Warning: Graphic Content”
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 to October 15. In recognition of this, I will offer a short booklist of cookbooks in Spanish, English, and bilingual languages.
I looked at a few of the titles in English, but one quickly grabbed my interest: “The Latin American Cookbook” by Virgilio Martinez. I also paged through: “The Cuban Table” by Ana Sofia Peleaz and Ellen Silverman, “The Chilean Kitchen” by Pilar Hernandez and Eileen Smith, “Peru: The Cookbook” by Gaston Acurio, “My Mexico City Kitchen” by Gabriela Camara and “Mexico: The Cookbook” by Margarita Carrilo Arrante. It’s a long list, though nowhere near complete, but I wanted a wider representation of the variety of ingredients and approaches. Though I think the previous titles are all good and will be referenced for future meals, I ended up focusing on “The Latin American Cookbook.” Continue reading “Read The Recipe! Hispanic Heritage Month”
Vegan cooking. I know, if you’re not familiar with it, you may expect bark and berries. I have found vegetarian/vegan cooking to be very freeing. (I use both terms because I have not been able to give up cheese. Well, okay, I haven’t really tried.) When I was consuming animal protein, each meal planning was kind of the same: Take a protein, add a starch and a veg, maybe a sauce, blah, blah, blah. Veganarian cooking has forced me to be more creative and more seasonal, which has resulted in also more flavorful dishes. Continue reading “Read The Recipe! Veganarian”
Ingredient flexibility. What is that?! It’s a term I use to describe being comfortable changing a recipe as needed. Maybe you’ve watched a competitive cooking show and were amazed at the contestants making a complicated component, seemingly on a whim. How often have you found a recipe that you want to make, but you’re missing ingredients? Or, are you cooking for someone with allergies? Do you feel comfortable substituting or omitting ingredients? If you’ve not reached this type of kitchen freedom, this post (and a few planned for the future) is for you. Continue reading “Read the Recipe Vol. ∞”
The subject of this blog was initially inspired by reading a coworker’s work. I wanted to find books that combined two of my loves: music and cooking. So, I searched the catalog for “cookbook” and “music.” The first result was “That Sounds So Good” by Carla Lalli Music. What did I expect, right? Though it was clearly not what I was looking for, the title did interest me. Sigh, the focus of the blog changed, again. There are musicians with their own cookbooks, here is a short list with some of those titles, which includes choices ranging from Sammy Hagar to Snoop Dogg. Continue reading “Read the Recipe! Vol. 7: “That Sounds So Good””
The New Year is nearly upon us and with the changing of the calendar comes motivation to set goals and improve oneself. With this in mind, I have finally agreed with my partner that a move toward eating less meat is in order. So, my focus was on vegetarian cookbooks.
This month, I looked at two books in particular. “Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter” (there is a companion volume “Greenfeast: Spring, Summer”) by Nigel Slater (you may recognize the name, he has written some amazing cookbooks and is a long-time food writer; there was even a movie made from his memoirs) and “Everyday Vegetarian,” by Jane Hughes. Though I did not yet make anything from the Everyday Vegetarian book, I did read through it and noted dishes I will make in the future. I quickly became enamored with “Greenfeast.” Continue reading “Read The Recipe! Vol. 4”
