The Cultured Cook » Great Cookbooks

Super Nutrition for Babies

Lisa — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:12:02 +0000

“Super Nutrition for Babies” is inspiring, it’s friendly, it’s approachable, and most importantly, it’s comforting. Even though there is a lot of information here to be digested, the overall positive tone and the reinforcement of how important mom-baby nurturing is makes all of the info supportive rather than overwhelming. Great blend of recipes + info! And the focus on mom’s nutrition as well as the baby’s is wonderful. The gentle way that Kelly and Katherine empower parents to help their children (and themselves) is incredibly encouraging, even to people who don’t have kids. A book like this is exactly what parents and prospective parents — and anyone who cares about children’s health — needs to have and read regularly. I really do think that the title should be “Super Nutrition for Everybody,” because adults have the same needs, too, in terms of making sure we optimize our nutrition and understand how our bodies work.

As a food coach and professional recipe developer, I read a LOT of books about food and wellness researched and written by a variety of authors. Kelly and Katherine’s book is one of the best I have ever read on how nutrition relates to everyday AND long-term health. Do yourself a favor and get reading! You’ll be enjoying tasty and wellness-enhancing meals for you and your baby in no time.

Clean Start

Lisa — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:51:10 +0000

She’s done it again! Terry Walters is back with a second installment of her innovative and creative recipes. Normally, I’m not too crazy with vegan recipe collections because of their heavy reliance on tofu and tendency to try to imitate meat despite the fact that produce is so wonderful in its own right. Terry, however, barely acknowledges the existence of tofu. Plus, she celebrates vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, nuts, and all of their plant-based brethren with the joy and respect they deserve. The recipes are organized by season, which is quite helpful — and inspiring! — when you’re cooking by the seasons.

Nuts: Recipes from Around the World that Feature Nature’s Perfect Ingredient

Lisa — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:32:41 +0000

You’ve probably baked with almonds and walnuts and pecans; if you’re a fan of Southeast Asian or Indian food, you’ve probably cooked with peanuts. But have you done much with hazelnuts or chestnuts or macadamias in the kitchen? I know I haven’t! And that’s a shame, because nuts are one of the most nutritious ingredients on the planet — wherever there are edible nuts, you can be sure a nearby community is gathering and eating them. This innovative cookbook not only has 180 recipes featuring nuts of every origin, the authors also give us plenty of historical and cultural insight into each of their top 12 nuts: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, coconuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts. (Interesting tidbit: 100 pounds of freshly harvested macadamias only yields 7 pounds of edible nut kernels. No wonder they’re so pricey!)

Super Natural Cooking

Lisa — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:39:51 +0000

I cannot say enough good things about Heidi Swanson’s first cookbook (her second cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, just hit the shelves): she emphasizes good-quality ingredients, she uses a wide variety of ingredients, many of her dishes are overlaid with international flavor and flair, and her photography — which she does herself — is stunning. In short, she’s a kitchen goddess as far as I am concerned. (Mesquite flour in chocolate-chip cookies! I love it!) This is the most innovative cookbook I’ve yet to come across, and you can tell from her refreshing take on food that she’s as good at nurturing as she is at cooking. Black Tea Spring Rolls, Red Indian Carrot Soup, Coconut Panna Cotta…I can’t wait to get my hands on her latest book!

Thai Food

Lisa — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 20:08:40 +0000

I’ll be honest: this is not a book for the casual cook. Or for someone who isn’t somewhat obsessed with Thai cooking and Thai culture and all things Thai. If you’re serious about Thai cuisine, though, or if you’ve always wanted to know more than you thought was possible to know about Thai cuisine, this is the book for you. Part history, part cultural essay, part recipes, part reverence of all things Thai…this is probably the most intricately researched and complete tome — er, book — I’ve ever seen on any cuisine. If Thai food is your thing, this is your book.

Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables

Lisa — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 20:02:06 +0000

Want to know what to do with burdock? Or salsify? Or true yam, or black radish, or any of the other seasonal oddities you may have spotted at the market? Elizabeth Schneider has done a thorough (and enchanting!) job of providing readers with plenty of examples of and recipes for less-common plant foods. Each section also includes tips on selecting, storing, and combining the uncommon fruit or vegetable being showcased. Cookbooks like this are fantastic for curious cooks who like to pick up random strange items in the produce section. Having this compendium handy will let you pick up rutabagas and rambutans whenever you spot them, because you’ll be confident that you’ll know what to do with them as soon as you get home and see what Elizabeth has to say.

The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook

Lisa — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:16:54 +0000

“Wildman” Steve Brill inadvertently kicked off his foraging/educational career by getting arrested for eating dandelions in New York’s Central Park in 1986. That led to nationwide fame, late-night appearances, and his first published book, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in the Wild (and Not So Wild). This cookbook is his second major work, and it picks up where the first left off — now that you’ve harvested your goods (or found them in a well-stocked grocery store), here’s how you can prepare them. I frankly cannot WAIT until spring to make use of plants that I formerly thought of as pesky weeds, like wood sorrel and dandelions. Even purposely planted ornamental trees and flowers can be enjoyed in the kitchen — did you know that redbud blossoms and daylilies are delicacies? You’ll find all sorts of berries and mushrooms in this book, too, plus nuts, greens, and even sea plants. From Mulberry Wine to Watercress Bisque, you’re bound to come across some forage-able plant recipes you’d like to try.

Fiesta: A Celebration of Latin Hospitality

Lisa — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:38:57 +0000

The celebrated author of Please to the Table — which most regard as THE definitive Russian cookbook in English — has since turned her sights to many other cuisines, including Latin and South Pacific. Fiesta is a wonderful collection of all things really south of the border, from Brazilian vatapá to the ubiquitous gallo pinto-style dishes that are essentially spiced rice and beans…deliciously spiced rice and beans, that is. (Such dishes are found everywhere in Latin America, albeit with different names.) Each recipe is accompanied by its Spanish name and origins, a blurb about the specific ingredients or traditions associated with the dish, and suggestions for accompaniments. In other words, this is one heck of a fantastically complete ethnic cookbook. My favorite kind!

Dinners in a Dash

Lisa — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:23:22 +0000

Aside from this cookbook’s immediate one-dish/one-pot appeal, the wide variety of simple dishes it offers makes for a great jumping-off point to dream up your own dinners. (The recipes in the “Main Salads” and “Soups & Stews” sections are particularly changeable.) This isn’t one of those glossy cookbooks with lavish pictures, but the 275 recipes it offers — from many different cuisines and traditions — are nicely formatted and make for pleasant browsing. The sidebars also offer plenty of tips and cook’s notes to make the meal prep even easier.

The Barcelona Cookbook

Lisa — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:26:41 +0000

Okay, I admit that I’m a sucker for Spanish food. And that I regard La Boquería in Barcelona (one of the world’s most tantalizing farmer’s markets) as holy ground. But I think that this cookbook would appeal to anybody who likes good food, whether they’ve been to Spain or not. This book is all about the tapas, of course, and tapas are by nature miniature works of culinary art and flavor. Chorizo with Sweet & Sour Figs, Roasted Olives, and Wild Mushrooms with Herbed Cheese are all simple but elegant ideas that are easy to carry out and a delight to serve. In addition to plenty of tapas — both hot and cold — the authors offer recipes and information about Spanish cocktails, wines, and desserts. Who wouldn’t love a cookbook about this stuff? ¡Que rico!

From the Cook’s Garden

Lisa — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:20:40 +0000

Not only is it enlivening to browse through recipes based on what can come out of your own garden, it’s a refreshing relief to see that the author lives in Vermont, not California or Florida. Proof positive that you can have a successful garden wherever you are! And even if you don’t have a garden, the ingredient/produce sections in this cookbook will help you learn more about what’s available in your local grocery store. Along with oodles of recipes for salads, soups, and main dishes, Ellen Ogden also offers some delicious produce-based desserts, like Blueberry & Basil Custard. (Yum! Can’t wait for basil season to be here again!) And to round things off, her “Preserving the Bounty” section has recipes for making chutneys, jams, mustards, and other tasty accompaniments. If you love to garden and cook, this is a great book to have on your shelf year-round.

Mediterranean Fresh

Lisa — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:25:25 +0000

If you thought salads just involved lettuce, think again! Joyce Goldstein presents a treasure trove of salad traditions from all over the world…and none of them are just lettuce. The term “salad” derives from the Latin sal, or salt — a salad is simply a dish that’s seasoned in part with salt. From grain-based pilafs to seafood-laced potato salads to lamb kebabs served on a bed of couscous, a salad can be anything you want it to be. Paging through these luscious and quick-to-prepare recipes is a revelation, because not only are salads the easiest thing to whip up in the kitchen, there are endless variations on the theme. The second half of the book features a compendium of dressings that you can use with the recipes in the first half of the book…or use with your own creations, which is the author’s obvious intent. To sum up her message in one word: CREATE!

Lucid Food

Lisa — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:06:14 +0000

Beautiful recipes, beautiful pictures, beautiful ideas. Louisa Shafia’s collection — appropriately subtitled “Cooking For an Eco-Conscious Life” — presents a multitude of ways to use ingredients ranging from everyday to unusual. Her divided-into-seasons recipes are punctuated by essays on everything from how to incorporate native plants into your garden to how to host potlucks and dinner club suppers. I’m happy to say that I tried carob for the first time when I made her Carob Pudding with avocado, maple syrup, and lemon juice…and loved it! If I hadn’t just made the pudding myself, I would have sworn up and down it was chocolate mousse with a slightly earthy flavor. The next day, I tried her Green Smoothie for breakfast and thought it was one of the most refreshing and hearty smoothies I’d ever had; for dinner, I invited a friend over to share some Watermelon Gazpacho. We both thought it made a great summertime supper.

In short, if you’re looking for some very innovative and fresh ideas, check out this gorgeous collection!

King Arthur Whole Grain Baking

Lisa — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:23:58 +0000

Wow. There is simply no other word to express my admiration for King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking cookbook. It is a culinary tome — one of the crown jewels, really — that’s in the same class as The Joy of Cooking. The thorough and well-chosen recipe selection is bested only by its treasure trove of tips, hints, and tricks that make baking much more enjoyable and successful. And the recipes are all whole-grain! This is one of the very, very few baking books I’ve found that doesn’t rely on “all-purpose” (read: “stripped-out”) white flour. Even if you’re a gluten-free baker or are baking for someone with food allergies, this is still worth reading — the techniques explained here can be applied across the culinary spectrum, plus you’ll have a great collection of recipes as a starting point to use for tweaking and customizing. Bake on!

Where Flavor Was Born

Lisa — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:27 +0000

Want some culture along with your recipes? How about some great photos and inadvertent travel tips? In what is possibly the coolest collection of recipes I’ve ever seen, Andreas Viestad manages to supply all of the above. His lush cookbook is based on the cuisines along the the fabled spice routes: he begins in South Africa, travels north to Tanzania and Ethiopia, curves over to Oman and Pakistan, moves through India into Southeast Asia, and finishes in Australia. (There are far too many stops along the way to mention them all.) Each chapter highlights a specific spice — turmeric here, vanilla there — and illustrates the way that particular spice has influenced the cuisines of a wide swath of regions. Seeing as I’m a huge fan of spices and culinary anthropology, I’d have to say that this is one of my favorite cookbooks of all time. What a great way to taste some history!