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Category: Cooking, Food, Wine

Giveaway: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

[ 150 ] August 23, 2010

3 readers will win a copy of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer!

Like many young Americans, Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between enthusiastic carnivore and occasional vegetarian. As he became a husband, and then a father, the moral dimensions of eating became increasingly important to him. Faced with the prospect of being unable to explain why we eat some animals and not others, Foer set out to explore the origins of many eating traditions and the fictions involved with creating them.

Traveling to the darkest corners of our dining habits, Foer raises the unspoken question behind every fish we eat, every chicken we fry, and every burger we grill. Part memoir and part investigative report, Eating Animals is a book that, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, places Jonathan Safran Foer “at the table with our greatest philosophers.”

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Visit EatingAnimals.com and JonathanSafranFoer.com

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This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on September 10th.

Giveaway copies are provided free of any obligation by Back Bay Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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“The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion” by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark

[ 7 ] July 27, 2010

Reviewed by Jen K.

There are so many baking books on the market that it becomes a real challenge to find one that stands out from the crowded bookshelves. Some are fair, some are quite useful and a very few sweep me off my feet. The Perfect Finish fits neatly into that last category, as an absolute standout. Wow. This book really does has all the components of a fabulous cookbook: intriguing stories, splendid photos, great instructions and of course, amazing recipes.

I like that the authors acknowledge that sometimes we need to impress our guests. Thus, they offer big, show stoppers like Mamie Eisenhower’s Cheesecake with a Chocolate Crust or Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt that will stop your company right in their tracks. The Orange Flower-Scented Kugelhopf states “Simply put, this is a spectacular display of your baking prowess.” Fear not, the book is not that limited. There are also many simple recipes that are appealing in a different way. Bake up a pan of Apple and White Cheddar Scones for your own family on Saturday morning, become known for bringing Pecan Toffee Bars to the office on Mondays, or select your own signature from the twelve recipes presented in the “Birthday and Celebration Cakes” chapter.

Although this book is full of great recipes, it’s not solely the recipes that make it outstanding. The commentary from the authors plays a huge part in making the reader feel like a professional chef is whispering pointers right in your ear. Rather than just assembling a host of recipes, they made a point of sharing exactly why each dish is their favorite and the steps to take to make sure it becomes one of yours. The result is a very personal collection – like you somehow stumbled upon a secret diary from the most amazing and [amazonify]0393059537[/amazonify]personable baker. The photos, of which there are many, are so well done that I found myself thinking “I want to make that!” even before I read the recipe title. They are that good. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I found a cookbook as intoxicating as this.

As well as a baking genius, author Bill Yosses is currently the White House Executive Pastry Chef. Click here to read a very nice Q & A with him. If you only buy one new baking book this year, make it this one. Even if you think you don’t really need another baking book, at the very minimum take a moment to leaf through this one at the bookstore. I would classify this book as on par with Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, which is a very high compliment. The Perfect Finish is an apt title, indeed.

Jen lives in Michigan with her husband and five year old son. She writes reviews of children’s book on her blog, FIRR-Kids. She enjoys trying new recipes and using her baking as an excuse to add more cookbooks to her collection.

This book was provided free of any obligation by W.W. Norton & Company. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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“500 Beers” by Zak Avery

[ 6 ] June 13, 2010

Reviewed by Jen K.

The author describes 500 Beers as “a user’s guide to the world of beer”. I thought that sounded pretty neat and maybe it could be exactly the sort of thing to teach me a bit more about beer. The author also states that this will be the only beer compendium you’ll ever need. In case you were wondering, a compendium is is a concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge. In this case, this is everything you need to know about beer.

The introduction includes a key page that explains how to use this book. There are four components to each listed beer: a flag icon that shows from where the beer hails, the suggested serving temperature, the percentage of alcohol per volume and two scales that show the beer’s color and intensity. The beers are grouped according to type, beginning with light and moving to dark. The contents page lists the ten categories and each chapter begins with a nice explanation on that type of beer.

[amazonify]1416207880[/amazonify]I was really hoping that each beer would have been assigned a rating. That way, you could pick up the book, read the ratings and race right out to buy the highest rated beers. I also would have enjoyed reading the praises and criticisms of each beer. Instead, the author’s descriptions center around the specific aromas and flavors present. That does seem like a more practical approach, but I would have appreciated more personal insights from the author.

Most of the beer descriptions were quite detailed and a little bit over my head. I think you would have to be a more of a beer connoisseur than I am to really understand and appreciate this book. Nevertheless, if you know of a serious beer drinker or someone who is fascinated by the subject, this may very well be the perfect gift!

Zak Avery’s website can be found at http://www.thebeerboy.co.uk/pith.html if you are looking to do more beer research.

Jen lives in Michigan with her husband and five year old son. She writes reviews of children’s book on her blog, FIRR-Kids. She enjoys trying new recipes and using her baking as an excuse to add more cookbooks to her collection.

This book was provided free of any obligation by Sellers Publishing. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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"Substitute Yourself Skinny Cookbook" by Chef Susan Irby

[ 6 ] May 24, 2010

Reviewed by Jen K.

Author Susan Irby is known as The Bikini Chef because her recipes capitalize on fresh herbs and citrus flavors, which are referred to as “figure flattering flavors”. Her aim with this book is to teach us how to make simple substitutions with ingredients to make the same great tasting dishes that contain fewer calories.

To be totally honest, the title of the book had me a little worried that her calorie cutting recommendations would be things like replacing full fat mayo with reduced fat mayo, coupled with a heavy reliance on fat free cheeses. Honestly, those substitutions seem pretty self evident and I’m fairly sure most people could work those out on their own. Sure, this book does make use of those common sense recommendations, but I was relieved to find that Susan takes it much further. She puts an emphasis on healthy cooking, while also reducing the fat content of the dishes. The recipes call for whole wheat breads, pastas and tortillas, lean meats, and of course, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

I think the best part of Substitute Yourself Skinny is that is teaches how to make dishes that feel as though they are more indulgent than they really are. You can eat lighter without feeling like you’re depriving yourself of the treats! Feeling snacky? Grab a handful of baked tortillas chips and take your pick of Queso Dip, Three Cheese Dip, or Blue Cheese Dip. Need something to soothe a savage sweet tooth? Choose from a full chapter of desserts that include tweaked classics like Peanutty Butter Cookies and Apple Pie to the more decadent Mud Pie or Chocolate Torte.

It’s very helpful that calorie counts are provided for each dish, but I think it’s silly that she claims how many calories you are “saving” from the original dish. The “Calorie Savings” figures even show up in a highlighted box at the top of each page. Since the original, higher calorie recipe is not provided, hopefully readers won’t rely on these numbers as accurate. That one paltry annoyance is easy to overlook compared to the positive aspects of the book.

I love how she depends on a wide variety of spices and juices to add so much flavor that you don’t even realize the calorie reduction when you sit down to eat. There are plenty of full page, full color photos scattered through the book, and great written intros for each recipe. Plus, extras called “Skinny Secrets” show up in the outside columns – little useful tips from the author. I appreciate that that the book includes a full range of recipes from simple soups and salads to company worthy entrees and accompanying sides. Make yourself an easy lunch of Summer Savoring Mac n’ Cheese, whip out Chuck Wagon Chili on a cooler day, and save Bavarian Cornish Hens for company. Overall, a very useful cookbook for people who need just a bit of help lightening up their cooking.

Jen lives in Michigan with her husband and five year old son. She writes reviews of children’s book on her blog, FIRR-Kids. She enjoys trying new recipes and using her baking as an excuse to add more cookbooks to her collection.

This book was provided free of any obligation by FSB Associates. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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"Latin Grill: Sultry and Simple Food for Red-Hot Dinners and Parties" by Rafael Palomino and Arlen Gargagliano

[ 7 ] May 17, 2010

Reviewed by Jen K.

I love creating dishes in my kitchen. I enjoy baking, sauteing, broiling and the occasional deep fry. I draw the line at grilling. The grill is foreign to me – it may as well be its own country out there on our deck. Occasionally it occurs to me that we are probably missing out on some really good foods due to my grill resistance, but then I stumble across a new bread recipe to try and the thought flies out of my head. Then Latin Grill came along and forced me to take a hard look at what I am missing out on.

Rafael Palomino is from Colombia, where grilling is part of the culture. The intended purpose of Latin Grill is to provide dishes that are full of that flair, but remain easy to prepare. Ethnic recipes can be intimidating when you are starting green, but this is a great way to wade in. I have zero experience with Latin style cooking, and I didn’t come across any terms or foods that were not well explained. I’m not saying I’m in a rush to try the Grilled Sweet Plantains, but I would definitely give the Grilled Arepas a chance.

The first chapter – Ceviches, Tortillas & Arepas – offers some great starters that are different (and very welcome!) from what I typically serve. A little wordy, but the Grilled Flour Tortillas with Goat Cheese, Peruvian Olives and Roasted Red and Yellow Peppers nearly caused me to drool right on my book. This is followed by some ingenious salads and sides, including a great looking Poor Man’s Salad (bread salad). Even the traditional Caesar Salad appears with a twist, where you lightly brush the romaine leaves with a tiny bit of olive oil and then sear them sear them on the grill for one minute. I’ll admit I’m pretty curious about that one.

You can’t have a grill book without including a chapter on big hunks of meat, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The meaty main dishes featured here are brought to life with flavorful marinades, sauces and glazes. The pork chops are far from ordinary when served with the Passion Fruit-Jalepeno Sauce, while the Grilled Skirt Steak sizzles under a coating of glaze of Basil-Garlic Olive Oil. There are many great sounding meat dishes, but it was was the Grilled Chicken Chipotle Tacos that really caught my eye – spicy strips of chicken nested in taco shells, topped with Chipotle Puree, plum tomatoes, shredded romaine and sour cream.

For me, the real gem of Latin Grill is the last chapter – Beverages. Lemonades and mojitos, sangrias and martinis. Oh, the photos! These drinks just scream summer barbecue. I feel obliged to invite a group of friends over this summer, just so that I can wow them with these Grilled Pineapple Mojitos. I need to be admired as the amazing hostess who can produce drinks like these.

Latin Grill strides to provide dishes that are easy to prepare but still chock full of flavor. It has done such an excellent job of this that I think it has achieved the near impossible – flipping through these pages makes me want to stride out onto our deck and whip that cover from our grill. This summer, I will be the envy of our neighborhood as I sip my Pomegranate and Raspberry Margarita while casually turning my Grilled Chicken Mini Brochettes!

Jen lives in Michigan with her husband and five year old son. She writes reviews of children’s book on her blog, FIRR-Kids. She enjoys trying new recipes and using her baking as an excuse to add more cookbooks to her collection.

This book was provided free of any obligation by FSB Associates. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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“Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession” by Julie Powell

[ 9 ] May 7, 2010

Reviewed by Lauren O.

Julie Powell, fresh from Julie and Julia fame, has gone from the kitchen to the butcher shop. Unfortunately, Cleaving: A Story of Meat, Marriage, and Obsession is a sort of self-sponsored hatchet job on Powell’s personal life and, if I may, narrative skill. And the hatchet is dull.

To her credit, Powell assembled the raw materials of delicious nonfiction. She found the setting, an upstate New York “hippie butchery” that she periodically forgets is magical, and a cast of slightly caricatured but charmingly rendered co-workers. The scenes at Fleisher’s are warm, visceral, and engaging – her descriptions of a turkey roulette, cutting through boars’ heads, and, yes, even a pig slaughter, warranted repeat reads. This is a red-blooded woman, and her passion for the product and labor of butchery made for some delicious reading.

Yes, Powell can certainly write about meat. Unfortunately, she writes about all the meat, including that of her ever-suffering husband, Eric, and her mostly-off-again affair partner, D. In a book that encompasses recipes with items like “behead animals; soak in brine,” it may be a surprise that the most cringe-worthy moments address Powell’s personal life. Consider this unsavory triumvirate: her husband knows that she is having the affair; D, short for douche bag, dumps the author partway through and displays little to no personality; and Powell details every pitiful, pink-wine-soaked voicemail she leaves in an attempt to win back this ever-charming man.

There’s something to be said for honesty in memoir, but when you are honestly a self-pitying, married woman with a job (okay, unpaid internship) you don’t hate, and you’re still behaving in an embarrassingly adolescent, self-destructive manner, it’s time to stop pouring more ink into the wound. It’s just time to stop, period.

Powell’s strongest moments occur in the kitchen or the cutting room, a place where her hands are too busy to get her into trouble, her mind is focused on a novel, visceral task, and her companions fall into a natural rhythms of conversation. Whether she’s detailing her family’s reactions to her Christmas-dinner crown-roast or breaking down an entire cow side, these are the choice cuts of Powell’s prose. If only there had been larger portions…

Check out our review of Julie Powell’s first memoir, Julie and Julia.

Lauren has always been a voracious, though somewhat indiscriminate, reader.  Professionally, she’s run the gamut from bartender to teacher to legal assistant, but she’s published a few articles in Ohio, Montana, Vermont, and Argentina.

This book was provided free of any obligation by Hachette Book Group. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

[ 0 ] July 22, 2009

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova

Let’s say, for example, that you are in your late twenties, living in New York City in a something-is-always-going wrong apartment, and working at a miserable dead-end secretarial job at a government agency. What do you do to stir up your life? Well, cook every recipe – 524 of them – from Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in 365 days of course! And that is precisely what Julie Powell, the author of Julie and Julia, set out to do.

Living in one of the most exciting cities and having a loving and supporting husband aside, Julie Powell was stuck in a rut. On a visit to her parents’, Julie rediscovered the cookbook that appealed to her so much when she was a child; at her husband’s urging, Julie decided to cook and blog her way through the entire Mastering The Art of French Cooking, dubbing it the “Julie/Julia Project”. What followed was a year of entirely too much butter, aspic, things that refused to gel together, extracting bone marrow, the trauma of killing lobsters, and the list goes on. Through her cooking triumphs and disasters, frozen pipes, a freezing apartment and sludge filled sinks, Julie discovers a new meaning to life and comes to the realization that anything is possible.

Julie and Julia is a joy to read; you might find yourself laughing (or at least smiling) at Julie’s remarks and her susceptibility to calamities of all kinds. Julie spares no punches when it comes to her beliefs, – her anti-Republican remarks may be offensive to some – but her memoir is straight forward, witty, inspirational and often flat-out hilarious.

Be sure to check the Julie & Julia movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams releasing on August 7th!

Bon Appetit!

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