Potluck
Cookbook
By Stefanie Berntson
For the past eight years, our food-minded (and lucky) staff members have taken home early copies of some of the fall’s most anticipated cookbooks, cooked from them, and shared the delicious results. Happily, the tradition continues, and I’m able to pass along their feedback about this season’s books to you.
Homage:
Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen
By Chris Scott
I love cookbooks with strong personal narratives and was lucky to get to read and try out two such books. Homage had me from its very first pages, with author Chris Scott’s “Letter to Us” (which states that cooking is political, and food is his tool for healing). After a beautiful introduction where we learn about Scott’s family’s journey from Virginia to Pennsylvania and the origins of the cuisine he calls Amish soul food, recipes follow. I tried out Johnnycakes with Apple Butter (super easy and tasty) and Macaroni and Cheese (maybe the best I’ve ever made). Scott gives great instructions and his side notes are filled with terrific ideas like using buckwheat flour in spaetzle. Written with love for family and ancestors, Homage welcomes everyone to the table.
Home Food:
100 Recipes to Comfort and Connect
By Olia Hercules
I thoroughly enjoyed both reading and cooking from Ukrainian chef and food writer Olia Hercules’s new book. She has a warm and personable voice and her recipes are filled with nostalgia for people and places (including Eastern Europe, Italy, and Cyprus) from throughout her life. As a potato lover, I had to try Mother Taralezhkova’s Potatoes with a yogurt, feta, and carrot topping, and it was marvelous. The Green Bean Salad with Apples, Fennel & Nuts was fresh and crunchy and perfect for fall. Both dishes were quite easy to make, but for some of the more complicated recipes, Hercules has even provided QR codes that take you to videos of her making the dishes.
Pasta Grannies Comfort Cooking
By Vicky Bennison
If you’re not familiar with the Pasta Grannies, they are Italian grandmothers who have spent a lifetime making pasta by hand and who share their techniques and wisdom on YouTube. Jenny loved their new book Comfort Cooking, not only because it’s packed with great instructions and recipes, but because it’s also “overflowing with so much love and goodness from all of these nonnas!” One of the standout recipes she tried was Escarole Pie. She said that the crust, the savory, spicy, salty combination of filling ingredients, and the expert assembly techniques resulted in a dish that made her very popular among her feasting family.
The Woks of Life:
Recipes to Know and Love from a Chinese American Family
By Bill, Judy, Sarah & Kaitlin Leung
Jocelyn tried out the Leung family’s highly anticipated cookbook The Woks of Life and found it to be a beautiful, engaging, and friendly book that is a great way for experienced cooks to try out Chinese and Chinese American dishes. She and her partner made the Chicken Curry Puffs from the dim sum section of the book. All of the ingredients were easily obtained and only some basic equipment was needed to execute the recipe—although Jocelyn notes that tips like flouring the work surface and rolling pin would be helpful for beginner cooks. She says the puffs she made “weren't the prettiest,” but they were all delicious, with the pastry melting in their mouths and giving way to a subtly delicious, addictive filling. The two of them ate all but four of the entire recipe before they knew it and will definitely be making it again!
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen
By Noor Murad & Yotam Ottolenghi
I’m always excited to try out a new Ottolenghi cookbook, because one thing’s for sure: The food is never boring. And that’s certainly the case with Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things, which features flavor boosters (ginger crumbs!) that range from pickled to preserved, fermented to fried, that punch up recipes. I made the Broccolini with Peanut Gochujang Dressing and 2-Scalloped Potatoes with Chimichurri. Like so many Ottolenghi (and OTK) recipes before them, they were not only super tasty, but they made me think of vegetables and combinations of flavors in whole new ways. You might need to track down a few ingredients to make the sauces, dressings, butters, oils, and fried aromatics, but if you’re already an Ottolenghi fan, you’ll likely already have much of what you need in your pantry.
Rice Is Life:
Recipes and Stories Celebrating the World's Most Essential Grain
By Caryl Levine, Ken Lee & Kristin Donnelly
Speaking of pantry staples, rice, the world’s most popular grain, is the focus of Rice Is Life by the founders of Lotus Foods. From whole grain rice to rice noodles to rice pudding, this book showcases the grain’s incredible range and diversity. It was almost impossible to choose what to try out first, but I settled on the Quick-Marinated Salmon with Coconut Rice, Herbs, and Fried Shallots. The instructions were easy to follow, the results super tasty, and it was a big hit
Nadiya's Everyday Baking:
From Weeknight Dinners to Celebration Cakes, Let
Your Oven Do the Work
By Nadiya Hussain
Ivy, our head Children’s book buyer, loves to bake and couldn’t choose between two new baking books, so she tried out both. Already a fan of Nadiya Hussain (of The Great British Baking Show and her own Netflix series), she started with Nadiya’s Everyday Baking. Featuring recipes both sweet and savory, Hussain’s book is split into sections based on the type of cooking you want to do that day (“chill out” vs “everyday” vs “baking”), which allows you to take as little or as much time as you like. The Eat Later Honey Cake Ivy made was scrumptious, with simple ingredients she already had in her pantry.
The Cookie Bible
By Rose Levy Beranbaum
The second title Ivy tried out was decidedly sweet. Rose Levy Beranbaum, the author of 12 cookbooks (including the award-winning The Cake Bible and The Baking Bible), is all about precision and excellent results. In The Cookie Bible, she turns her attention to every kind of cookie imaginable—simple drop, roll-and-cut, sandwich, frosted, dipped, and more. Ivy made the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Shortbread Cookies and they were delicious. She says Beranbaum’s books are not for the outright beginner, but any extra effort required for these recipes is totally worth it.
Stefanie Berntson has had the pleasure of being the cookbook buyer at Bookshop Santa Cruz for more than 25 years.
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