It's a classic early vegetarian cookbook, but a lot of the recipes are either reliant on cheese or suspiciously "ethnic" in a way that seems less than authentic by today's standards. As usual, I found refuge in the desserts.
Ukrainian Poppyseed Cake
Showing posts with label cookbook experiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookbook experiment. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Cookbook Experiment: The Moosewood Cookbook
This week's foray into cookbooking is The Moosewood Cookbook (1978), which is hand-illustrated and written by the author. An unimaginable feat today, though apparently she's still working in the same method.
It's a classic early vegetarian cookbook, but a lot of the recipes are either reliant on cheese or suspiciously "ethnic" in a way that seems less than authentic by today's standards. As usual, I found refuge in the desserts.
Ukrainian Poppyseed Cake
It's a classic early vegetarian cookbook, but a lot of the recipes are either reliant on cheese or suspiciously "ethnic" in a way that seems less than authentic by today's standards. As usual, I found refuge in the desserts.
Ukrainian Poppyseed Cake
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Cookbook Experiment: Cusines of Mexico
Number two in The Cookbook Experiment is Diana Kennedy's Cusines of Mexico (1972). Well, number three really, because number two should have gone to Ann Clark's Fabulous Fish, but I forgot to take a picture. It happens sometimes.
Cusines is a fairly intimidating book, and I flipped through it for a while trying to find a recipe that looked simple enough for me to prepare without too much extra shopping or prep. Finally I settled on a cold squash salad, or ensalada de calabacita, garnished with pickled onions called cebollas encurtidas.
The recipe called for zucchini and also a chayote squash, which I'd never cooked with before. According to Kennedy, the light green ones that we see most frequently are also the least prized of three different varieties of chayote.
The pickled onions, with oregano
A three-sisters dinner: corn tostadas, pinto beans, and the salad, with queso fresco
(and carrots from the farmer's market)
Closeup!
The salad was ok, but I'm still working on my taste for chayote. It's certainly an expressive vegetable, though.
Cusines is a fairly intimidating book, and I flipped through it for a while trying to find a recipe that looked simple enough for me to prepare without too much extra shopping or prep. Finally I settled on a cold squash salad, or ensalada de calabacita, garnished with pickled onions called cebollas encurtidas.
The recipe called for zucchini and also a chayote squash, which I'd never cooked with before. According to Kennedy, the light green ones that we see most frequently are also the least prized of three different varieties of chayote.
The pickled onions, with oregano
A three-sisters dinner: corn tostadas, pinto beans, and the salad, with queso fresco(and carrots from the farmer's market)
Closeup!Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Cookbook Experiment
I'm temporarily living with my mom, which has given me access to her library of cookbooks, a small selection of which you can see in the picture below. She has been collecting cookbooks since her own young adulthood, and even has a few from my grandmother's generation. It's an astounding collection of recipes, tips, and other food-related wisdom.
In an effort to get to know these books better, I'm starting a semi-Julie/Julia inspired project to make one recipe from each of these books. Along the way, I'll rate the recipe on various factors (ease of preparation, availability of ingredients, tastiness of results, etc.)
First up, Paris Home Cooking, by Michael Roberts. I was wanting to make vichyssoise, never having had it but thinking leeks and potatoes would make a good midwinter soup, for an unusually cold and wet Austin February. Well, apparently the soup isn't French in origin, but I did find a hot potato and leek soup (not pureed).
It turned out well - even without the bacon the recipe called for. I had to make some substitutions for other ingredients: didn't use the exact type of wine called for; improvised an herb bag - not having cheesecloth - with a tea strainer; green onions rather than chives. Otherwise the recipe was fairly simple and ingredients not unreasonably exotic.
Ease of preparation: A- | Availability of ingredients: B+ | Taste: A
In an effort to get to know these books better, I'm starting a semi-Julie/Julia inspired project to make one recipe from each of these books. Along the way, I'll rate the recipe on various factors (ease of preparation, availability of ingredients, tastiness of results, etc.)
First up, Paris Home Cooking, by Michael Roberts. I was wanting to make vichyssoise, never having had it but thinking leeks and potatoes would make a good midwinter soup, for an unusually cold and wet Austin February. Well, apparently the soup isn't French in origin, but I did find a hot potato and leek soup (not pureed).
It turned out well - even without the bacon the recipe called for. I had to make some substitutions for other ingredients: didn't use the exact type of wine called for; improvised an herb bag - not having cheesecloth - with a tea strainer; green onions rather than chives. Otherwise the recipe was fairly simple and ingredients not unreasonably exotic.
Ease of preparation: A- | Availability of ingredients: B+ | Taste: A
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