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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
The pictures are all very nice. I like feeling like the recipes have been tested many times before publication. I am having a hard time picking a favorite recipe. The harvest roast chicken is fantastic. I've made the green slaw, turkey meatballs, smashed chickpea salad, tomato scallion shortcakes, mushroom bourguignon, and brownie cookies several times. I make pasta with cauliflower all the time, and I've added her cauliflower pesto recipe into the rotation. My only real complaint is that the introductions are so long that they push the recipes onto a second page. I would prefer if they book was arranged so that it isn't necessary to try and turn a page while in the middle of cooking.
Everything in this cookbook sounds so delicious. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to make most of them.
Made the Cheddar cheese rolls for Ben. Everything looks so good, uses normal ingredients, and there are many non-boring vegetarian dishes!
I admit, I was disappointed that the book contained so few recipes from her website. But then I realized most of her website recipes are from other people's cookbooks, so reprinting wasn't a possibility. So far, I've made the beer braised short ribs (dark and divine), whole lemon bars (bright and fresh), tiny but intense chocolate cake, and harvest chicken with olives and grapes (very very good). Deb's writing is great, but somehow not quite as fresh as the blog - the stories aren't as winsome, the quips don't pop as brightly. But that's ok. The food is interesting and simple, the photography excellent, the directions very good, and I just LEARN a lot by reading it, even without cooking everything. Her way of thinking about cooking and baking is innovative and just interesting, without feeling unreachable.
Read 2/2014: great recipes, very entertaining dialog from the author. I actually read the entire cookbook like a novel.
What a lovely cookbook, full of delicious recipes that for the most part, aren't too daunting. There are headnotes and color photos for every recipe, and the book is divided into several sections - including two for mains, meat and veggie - and she has some great info at the start of the book and in the appendix. At a glance you might think that these recipes would call for high-end ingredients, but that's not necessarily the case, and this comes across. The author has the same "real life" type approach that we probably all have - sometimes my veggies come from the farmer's market, other times they come from the grocery store or the bodega, either way you can make them delicious. You can also tell how much she has tested and perfected these recipes, which I think is an important step that I think tends to get left out in a lot of cookbooks these days.
I absolutely loved this cookbook. I would buy it for the breakfast section alone. Or the photography. Or Deb Perelman's friendly and personable writing. Or the unique and interesting vegetarian dishes.
That being said, do I wish this book came in spiral form for ease of use? Yes. Do I wish the recipes and list of ingredients were presented in a more organized form? Yes. However, these flaws in no way diminished my enjoyment of this cookbook. (Because normal people read cookbooks like fiction all the time, right? RIGHT?)
That being said, do I wish this book came in spiral form for ease of use? Yes. Do I wish the recipes and list of ingredients were presented in a more organized form? Yes. However, these flaws in no way diminished my enjoyment of this cookbook. (Because normal people read cookbooks like fiction all the time, right? RIGHT?)
Deb Perelman is my favourite cook. Her book is just like reading her blog, full of unexpected humour, admissions of food quirks, and gorgeous photos. I wouldn't have learned to embrace my inner vegetable loving hipster if it wasn't for Deb.