This new volume of cooking ideas from Anya Fernald contains pasta, vegetables, snacks, fish and meat and desserts. Fernald first introduces the reader to her kitchen and then some of what she calls the "building blocks" of cooking such as broths, lard, sauces and more. Some great tips and ideas but it just didn't have a lot of the type of cooking I do. Granted, I grew up with Southern home-cooked meals so perhaps I need to learn a healthier cooking style but doubt that will include such dishes as lamb hearts, pickled grapes, pinquito beans or rabbit and duck. Many of the recipes had ingredients I am totally unfamiliar with and unlikely to purchase to experiment with a new recipe.
All that to say, the book is nicely illustrated with colorful photos of many of the recipes or raw ingredients. I do have an appreciation for the fact that the author makes use of the abundance of fruits and vegetables, canning and preserving them to use in her recipes. That coupled by her suggestions for using leftover bones for broths and using meats that are often passed over for their more tender counterparts gives any cook some money saving tips. As for me, I am most likely to try her buttermilk biscuit or butter piecrust recipe along with desserts such as buttermilk pie or gingerbread, all of which have ingredients I can both pronounce and find readily in my pantry or local grocery store.
Nicely hard bound so will stand the wear and tear in the kitchen. The binding allows the volume to open out nicely on the kitchen counter, unlike many others I have reviewed. I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to write a positive one.
No comments:
Post a Comment