Category: cookbook review

Shrimp Bread Porridge, Almond Cream Triangles, and Vinha D’alhos-Style Vegetables recipes, and Cookbook review of My Lisbon by Nuno Mendes.

jenniferguerrero1 August 1, 2018

#nunomendes #mylisbon #tenspeedpress #totalwine #viladasrainhas

My husband and I popped into Total Wine, Toys R Us for grown-ups, and sampled a well-historied Portuguese cherry liqueur. The guy was telling us about different ways to mix it and my head went a different direction. It would be perfect in a sauce for roast pork or beef. He got excited and asked me to post on their FB page if it works. I didn’t realize I was talking to the owner.

I love Portugal and started reminiscing with my sweetie. The gray windy coasts, fado guitar, blue and white ceramic work, and the genius handling of food, frequently inexpensive at that. We toured Spain, Portugal, and Morocco on our honeymoon with a few bonus days in Paris, a blizzardy gift from mother nature. We had the most amazing meal, a potato leek soup with a hauntingly flavorful bread, at a farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere in Portugal. He came home from wine world and looked up a historical food and cultural vacation in Lisbon. It sounds beyond amazing. I love his quiet romance. <sniff> I was craving some of the deliciousness we’d had in Lisbon, so I grabbed My Lisbon: A Cookbook from Portugal’s City of Light and Bernard put on a little fado guitar. It took us right back. The food in this book is phenomenal, and the pictures look like a well-fooded travel journal. If you’ve been there, you need this as a retroactive souvenir, and if you haven’t, it’ll give you a glimpse of what Lisbon has to offer.

A huge thanks to Ten Speed Press for letting me share 3 recipes with you: Shrimp Bread Porridge, Almond Cream Triangles, and Vinha D’alhos-Style Vegetables. My review of the book follows the recipes.

Joanna Gaines’ Mom’s Bulgogi with Cucumber Kimchi Salad recipe (no fermentation!) and Cookbook review: Magnolia Table

jenniferguerrero1 July 21, 2018

#morrowcooks #joannagaines #magnoliatable

Joanna and Chip Gaines fan? My husband bought me her cookbook, Magnolia Table, for Mother’s Day, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. I *love* this book! How is she so skinny?! Thank you to William Morrow Cookbooks for letting me share her recipe for Mom’s Bulgogi with Cucumber Kimchi Salad with you. If you haven’t made bulgogi before, it’s a really flavorful Korean beef dish. The beef is sliced nice and thin and then it sits in a delicious marinade while you go about your day. I love hers because you quickly grill it and pick up that gorgeous smokiness from the coal/wood instead of a skillet. The cucumber kimchi doesn’t require any fermentation, just a quick spicy pickling with rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chili flakes, etc., and hangs out in the fridge while you grill. I’ll get to the review of the book afterwards – and you have to try the burgers with tomato bacon jam and that blueberry, buttermilk, croissant bread pudding – but first, let’s get that bulgogi going! Read More

Jacques Pépin’s Quiche with Bacon and Cookbook review: Essential Pépin

jenniferguerrero1 July 16, 2018

#hmhco #jacquespepin #essentialpepin #fcdallas #worldcup #france

What a soccer weekend it’s been! FC Dallas had a killer deal on tickets this weekend as they were trying for their 300th MLS win. It was 100ºF in the hot Texas sun, but oh so worth it, as they got that 300th victory in a 3-1 game! It was a fan’s dream game with constant possession of the ball. We had too much fun. Then we woke up and watched the final World Cup game. Vive la France!

In honor of France’s victory, I thought I’d share my favorite French cookbook, Essential Pépin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in Food. Jacques’ Quiche with Bacon is fantastic, and easy peasy. Perfect, foolproof crust and gorgeous flavor. I can’t imagine a holiday brunch without it. It’s also lovely on a plain old Saturday morning with a simple green salad. A big thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for letting me share it with you! I’ll get to my review of the book afterwards, but first, that glorious quiche!

If you need more Jacques in your life, here’s my first blog post, Jacques Pépin Heart & Soul in the Kitchen. That one’s filled with photos and Jacques’ charming artwork.

Butterscotch-Potato Chip Balls recipe and Cookbook review: The Vintage Baker

jenniferguerrero1 July 10, 2018

#chroniclebooks #jessiesheehan #thevintagebaker

Love everything vintage? Can’t resist a recipe that’s off the beaten path? Or maybe you just need the perfect sweet and salty mash-up. Oh baby! Butterscotch-Potato Chip Balls do all of that. They are amazing cookies. I found them in a fabulous book I’ve been playing in, The Vintage Baker: More Than 50 Recipes from Butterscotch Pecan Curls to Sour Cream Jumbles. Thanks to Chronicle Books for letting me share the recipe with you! I’ll get to my review of the book later, but first, let’s go make those cookies!

Elizabeth Orsini’s (Grilled Teriyaki) Tofu Broccoli Salad and cookbook review: From Garden to Grill

jenniferguerrero1 June 25, 2018

#CiderMillPress #ElizabethOrsini #FromGardentoGrill

Summer grilling season has arrived! I’ve been playing in a great produce-centered grilling book, From Garden to Grill: Over 250 Vegetable-based Recipes for Every Grill Master. My review of the book is below, but first I wanted to share a terrific grilled teriyaki tofu and broccoli dinner with you. This recipe is vegan, but the book itself is vegetarian with a lot of suggestions of how to make recipes vegan, paleo, gluten-free, or how to add meat. It’s delicious and super filling, so no side dishes are required. Perfect dinner on the patio. You just need a few string lights overhead and icy Pellegrino, lemon cucumber water, or lovely white wine to go with it.

If you’re new to tofu, a nice dish is all about the drain. Cut it into chunks as the recipe instructs, wrap it in a lot of paper towel, set a plate on it, and set a big can on that and let it sit for 15-30 minutes. Or, I sometimes cheat, and just stick it in my panini press for the same amount of time. Saves, paper, too. Niiice. In this recipe, I threaded the tofu on soaked skewers, so I’d have less to turn on the grill.

Serena Cosmo’s Maltagliati with Creamy Lemon Sauce AND Ravioli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe with a Browned Butter and Sage Sauce recipes and Cookbook review: The Ultimate Pasta and Noodle Cookbook

jenniferguerrero1 June 16, 2018

Do you have a pasta roller collecting dust? Oh, baby! Let’s break that thing out! I’ve been playing in an amazing pasta book for a week. The Ultimate Pasta and Noodle Cookbook. It’s just fantastic.

I couldn’t decide which recipe to ask permission for. Maltagliati with Creamy Lemon Sauce is the perfect first homemade pasta. As the author explains, “Maltagliati translates to “badly cut” in Italian.” It’s generally the scrap pieces from making more specific pasta like ravioli, so she has you cut diamonds and triangles in the sheets with a pasta wheel without any fussiness. And the creamy lemon sauce is the easiest and it’s delicious. It would be the perfect first pasta to tackle, getting you that wow at the table right out of the gate

At the other end of the spectrum, is a Ravioli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe with a Browned Butter and Sage Sauce, showing you what you can do when you want to flex in the kitchen.

I couldn’t decide. So I asked for either one of those. A huge thank you to Cider Mill Press for giving me permission to share both so you can really taste that book! I’ll tell you all about the book first, then give you the recipes to try! Read More

Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies recipe and Cookbook review: Dorie’s Cookies

jenniferguerrero1 June 12, 2018

Do you love cookies? Me too! I have the ultimate cookie book, Dorie’s Cookies. I thumbed through it and it had so many beautiful cookies that I was surprised that she’d chosen such a humble looking cookie for the cover. Then I found the recipe, World Peace Cookies. I had to try them. They are amazing cookies. She’s really not overselling it with that name. A huge thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for letting me share the recipe with you. I’ll get to my review of the book afterwards, but first those cookies! Read More