Random cookbook of the week

Lindsay · **Posted:** Sun Oct 27, 2013 1:17 pm

Yonan used to write in the Boston Globe and I enjoyed his writing. Maybe that's why I enjoyed reading Yonan's story about the rise and fall of the community garden as much as the recipes - something in that struck a chord in me. I also appreciated that he deals with cooking for one with a lot of respect rather than the shameful approach so many people seem to take.

cmd2012 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:53 pm **Posts:** 946

I've started cooking from "Save with Jamie". Budget friendly recipes designed to minimize food waste. Lots of vegetarian recipes (almost more than any other section). Then each meat chapter starts with a "mother roast" - chicken, brisket, pork butt, and lamb shoulder. All written as a complete meal with sides and gravy. Then you use the leftover meat to make several other recipes. Many look tasty. Since I have a bunch of cooked chicken in the freezer already, I plan to try a bunch of the leftover recipes.

The first recipe I tried though was a chicken tray bake. Very simple to make: toss quartered Roma tomatoes with red onion wedges, bell pepper chunks, some garlic cloves, bone in skin on chicken thighs, and thyme, smoked paprika, balsamic, and evoo in roasting pan. Spread mix out, make sure chicken is skin up on top, and roast. Very tasty with rice and a salad.

I made the leftovers into a pasta by shredding the leftover chicken, chopping the veg, adding a splash more oil &vinegar, and adding some heat with chorizo and red pepper flakes. Tossed with pasta and Parmesan. It was very good. It wasn't his recipe, it was just me using leftovers. But we got 2 dinners for 2 on 4 chicken thighs and some pasta and veg. Nothing went to waste. Plus DH has pasta for lunch.

cmd2012 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:53 pm **Posts:** 946

So I'm still cooking my way through Save with Jamie. Last weekend I made his roast beef brisket. The brisket itself was delicious. The gravy was a bit odd in flavour profile though as it uses red wine vinegar and black currant jam for a sweet and sour effect. Not a traditional North American gravy (I suspect British palates may be different when it comes to gravy), but it worked well to cut through the richness of the brisket. I didn't make the sides, and instead did a simple roast of carrots and potatoes and a salad. I not 100% sure I'd make the gravy again, but I'd make the brisket again for sure. I portioned the leftover beef and food-savered it and popped it in the freezer. I had 4 8-oz bags left over after dinner.

Friday I used leftover brisket to make his beef rendang. This was quite good. You make a homemade paste in the food processor with fresh ginger, onion, chilies, garlic, cilantro, turmeric and cinnamon that you fry slowly in a skillet until golden. Mix with beef and coconut milk, simmer until thick and slightly dry, served over rice with more cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and a dollop of plain yogurt. All in, it took about 45 minutes to make and simmer down, and tasted nothing like the original beef roast dish (which was cool, as this didn't at all seem like a left-overs meal, but instead felt like a meal you'd make on its own).

So far the recipes are a solid 7/10 for not a ton of work, and they are fairly cost effective to make. I like the planned leftovers from the freezer aspect, especially since none of them make you think that you are eating leftovers. The rendang fed us both for 2 meals, and if anything was better the next day. So 6 meals so far from a $27 cut of meat, plus I have 2 packs still in the freezer.

Da Bull Man · **Posted:** Thu Dec 12, 2013 2:46 pm

Cubangirl wrote:

Hi Emilie, hope you are recuperating well. Here's the recipe I made in 32 servings, I also have a 16 serving version. I made the original recipe exactly as written with dried blueberries, then the adapted one with half the batter with dried orange cranberries and the other half with dried apricots. The apricot ones were the winners (though the cranberry ones were a close second). Hope you like them as well as we do.

EXPORTED FROM LIVING COOKBOOK

MILK CRUMBS MS Servings: 32 Yield: 1½ cup

Oven Temperature: 225°F

15 TBS. nonfat milk powder divided
6 TBS. all-purpose flour
3 TBS. cornstarch
4½ tsp. sugar
3/8 tsp. salt
4½ TBS. unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted (90 g.)

Preheat oven to 225° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 7½ TBS. milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until dried and crumbly, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove milk crumble from oven and let cool completely.

Transfer milk crumble to a large bowl and fold in remaining 7½ TBS. milk powder and white chocolate. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Inactive Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour

Source: Martha Stewart
Web Page:http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/milk-crumbs

APRICOT AND CREAM COOKIES***** Servings: 32 Yield: 96 cookies

Original recipe uses dried blueberries and is great, the apricots and dried orange cranberries take it over the top. Better smaller than original. Excellent with apricots instead of blueberries.For other changes, the original can be found on the source link. Milk crumbs must be fully made before cookie recipe is started. Temp is 350° F convection bake or 375° F for regular oven.

Oven Temperature: 350°F Convection Bake

32 servings MILK CRUMBS MS (see above)
2¼ cups white whole wheat flour (270 g.)
2¼ cups all-purpose flour (270 g.)
5/8 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3¾ tsp. kosher salt
15 oz. Plugrá European-style unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Light-brown sugar packed
3/4 cup glucose 9 oz.
2 large eggs
1½ cup diced dried apricots (285 g) or use half orange cranberries

Make MILK CRUMBS if not already on hand.

Line 4 large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together butter, sugars, and glucose until well combined. Add egg and mix until well combined.

Add flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add apricots and milk crumbs and mix until well combined. Using a #50 disher, scoop dough into balls and place about 1" apart on prepared baking sheets (24 per cookies sheet). Transfer baking sheets to refrigerator until dough is chilled, at least 15 minutes but better for an hour or more or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350° F convection bake or 375° F regular. Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until cookies are golden brown and tops begin to crackle, about 9-11 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Will keep well in tins for several days. Also freeze well.

Preparation Time: 19 minutes Cooking Time: 11 minutes Inactive Time: 1 hour Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Recipe Type: ALINA'S ADAPTATION, Cookies, Desserts, Dried Apricots, Main Dish, Martha Stewart, Momofuku

Source: Adapted from the Momofuku Blueberry and Cream Cookies on Martha Stewart's Website
Web Page: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/blueberries-and-cream-cookies

What is glucose and where do I get it.

wino · **Posted:** Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:18 pm

WTF, you on holidays?????????? :lol:

Amy · **Posted:** Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:57 pm

It's an invert sugar kind of like corn syrup, but not. Anyplace that sells Wilton products, e.g., Michael's or JoAnn's will carry it. Just go to the bridal aisle. :mrgreen:

Amy

TheFuzzy · **Posted:** Sat Dec 14, 2013 11:30 am

This week's SFPL cookbook is Polpo. This oddly-bound book (you'd have to see it in person) is the chatty cookbook of a bar/restaurant in Venice, and as you might imagine from the name, there's a lot of seafood. However, there are some vegetarian recipes too. In general, the food is simple, uses only a few ingredients, and is relatively quick to make. Last night I made a gnocchi recipe from the book, which we immediately christened "Gnocchi al Pesto alla Bruce Banner":

That's potato gnocchi in a sauce made of pureed Tuscan cabbage, garlic and cheese. It was fairly tasty, although could have used a little something to give it a bit more depth.

If I didn't already have so many Italian cookbooks, I'd consider buying this one. If you're looking for an Italian cookbook as a gift, this would be a good candidate.

Tartine · **Posted:** Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:19 pm

Mouneh... This one was given to me a couple of weeks ago by a Lebanese/Armenian/German (I'm not kidding!) friend. We'd not seen each other in years. First impression, oh so beautiful. It's Barabara Massaad's recent book on preserving foods for the Lebanese pantry. Follows Man'oushe, Massaad's other work.

Mouneh is a huge encyclopedia of recipes, some well-known and others only a Lebanese will have had heard of. I was skeptical until I went through it.

- A very comprehensive piece of work. WOW, a lot went into this!
- Covers old techniques and obscure dishes that are absolutely stunning
- Beautiful photography
- A must have for anyone serious or even slightly interested in Lebanese food.
- Very pricey (Amazon lists it at $92+)

I feel better knowing that there is at least a resource out there for the much-loved recipes from my world, recipes that I still hope to ask mom for, and those that I have, still hope to get to digital form!

TheFuzzy · **Posted:** Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:33 am

Tartine,

Sounds like more of a library loan than a must-buy.

Tartine · **Posted:** Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:35 pm

Tru dat, my friend. I was SO LUCKY she gave it to me. I may be biased of course but the book is so beautiful. The foreword is written by the president of Slow Food International, Carlo Petrini, and positively reviewed by Alice Waters and others. It's divided into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. It covers all pickling and brining of everyday foods but also the things you rarely hear of: green (unripe) almonds, unripe grapes, verjuice, gundelia tumbleweeds, green thyme... jams of all sorts, molasses, cheesemaking, cheeses in brines, cheeses in oils, flavored oils (my favorite, bay laurel oil) all manner of breads and another favorite: kishk (fermented dry yogurt and parboiled cracked wheat) and awrama (meat preserves--lamb cooked in its own fat) . it even covers the beautiful olive oil soaps and the liqueur Arak... If you can get your hands on a copy, it's worth reading.

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