Cookbooks, Etc.

[heyalice]

Oooh! Honeybee! What's the Gourmet Shops of NY like? I've been circling it at the bookstore..

[kkslider]

dis said:

Around here, the recipes in those regional cookbooks that the church ladies do inevitably involve large quantities of Campbell's Cream of ___________ Soup. And Tater Tots.

I'm no food snob, but I just can't go there. I just can't.

Sure, you have to sift through a bunch of that crap - canned biscuits wrapped around a spoonful of canned pie filling and then deep fried, anybody? - but I've found some absolute treasures in there too. It's mostly the recipes from older ladies with names like Beulah and Opal that are the best. Elementary school PTO cookbook - maybe not so great. Small rural church with an average age of 60? Pay dirt, baby.

[Deleted]

heyalice said:

Oooh! Honeybee! What's the Gourmet Shops of NY like? I've been circling it at the bookstore..

It mainly focuses on stores in Manhattan and it is broken down by neighborhood. It gives a little bit of history about each neighborhood and a description of the shops. The sections on Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are a lot shorter but there are some shops there that I definitely want to check out. It has a wide variety of recipes from Chinese, Greek, Latin, Indian etc. They all seem pretty easy and straight forward.

The only recipe that I've made so far is the Molten Chocolate Cake. It is sooooooooooo good.

But I love it mainly because they mention quite a few shops that I practically grew up on like Kossar's Bialys, Economy Candy, and the Doughnut Plant.

[heyalice]

Thanks honeybee. I visit NYC twice a year and I'm always looking for new adventures.

[Carolinian]

Daisy Pusher, thanks for the rec of Fashionable Food. I got it from the library today and it's a blast! While some of the recipes make me cringe (salad of banana, mayo and popcorn?) some of the others look tasty. For dessert tonight I made whole wheat toast spread with cream cheese, orange marmelade and chopped pecans (a '20s recipe) which was pretty tasty.

For me, The Vegetarian Epicure is an old favorite, as are The Joy of Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. My Time-Life series is The Good Cook/Techniques and Recipes. I like to cook out of The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors though I dislike his writing style. Oddly I don't like any of his other cookbooks. One of my favorite unusual cookbooks is The Medieval Kitchen. All the recipes I've tried from it are delicious, and the history is interesting.

[heyalice]

I just received two Deborah Madison cookbooks, the 10th anniversary edition of VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE and VEGETARIAN SUPPERS.
I also got signed editions of the new Nigella Lawson book and INDULGE by Claire Clark, the pastry chef at French Laundry.
I'm so excited!!

[cantienne]

Oooh, report back on Claire Clark's book. I love good dessert cookbooks.

[woodchipper]

heyalice said:

I just received two Deborah Madison cookbooks, the 10th anniversary edition of VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE and VEGETARIAN SUPPERS.
I also got signed editions of the new Nigella Lawson book and INDULGE by Claire Clark, the pastry chef at French Laundry.
I'm so excited!!

Oooh! Nice presents! If you like tofu, try the Golden Tofu in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I made it Saturday for dinner. Yum!

[heyalice]

cantienne said:

Oooh, report back on Claire Clark's book. I love good dessert cookbooks.

Dessert cookbooks? I own my bloody weight in dessert cookbooks
Thanks for the recommendation Woodchipper. It's a big book so it's nice to have someplace to start.

[woodchipper]

Oh, there's also a recipe for goat cheese and corn? (I think) enchiladas with homemade mole sauce. It's really good, although I don't use all of the goat cheese because it's so strong. The mole sauce is delicious, and well worth the effort.