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Book Review - The Art of Scottish-American Cooking

The Art of Scottish-American Cooking
Kay Shaw Nelson
Pelican Publishing Company
298 pages

Although this cookbook doesn’t contain any pictures, you will have a little Scottish grandmother in your mind before getting to page 10.

Comfort foods that have fed many generations can now make their way onto your table.

And although you might not know what Rumbledthumps are (essentially potatoes, cabbage and cheese), it might be just the thing that changes the way you cook and eat.

A lot of the recipes here are full of hearty ingredients like oats, potatoes, meats and seafood and in a world where light and diet ingredients have taken over our lives, it’s kind of fun to think about heavier, heartier dishes.

I had a great great grandmother who was Scottish but she died well before I was born. I am hoping that by embracing some of Scotland’s traditional dishes, I can carry on the family tradition.

And plus, how much fun will it be at my next dinner party to announce that the next course will be Rumbledthumps?

- Stephanie

Book Review - A Gringo's Guide to Authentic Mexican Cooking

A Gringo's Guide to Authentic Mexican Cooking

Mad Coyote Joe
Northland Publishing
142 pages

Okay, so when the author has a name like Mad Coyote Joe, you know you're in for a good time.

The television host and author of The Sonoron Grill has brought some of Mexico's most exciting dishes to the page and has some valid points about North America's take on the cuisine of the South. On Burritos, Enchiladas and Quesadillas he writes:

"This is where American-style Mexican food gets really ugly. The worst, by far, has to be the convenience-store microwave burrito. First of all, what is that filling from? It sort of looks like some kind of meat substance with a gelantinous spicy gravy, but I've never met anyone who knows for sure."

I love a cookbook writer with a sense of humour. And doesn't that make you feel more at ease tackling tamales for the first time?

This festive, colourful book is filled with the basic ingredients and terms so if you're a novice at making Huevos con Machaca (Eggs with Dried Beef) or Caldo de Mariscos (Seafood Soup), not to worry. Mad Coyote Joe wrote easy-to-follow instructions and before you know it, you'll be rolling your r's and pronouncing the Veracruz Red Snapper like an expert.

It's Huachango a la Veracruzano, by the way.

- Stephanie

Book Reviews - Vegetarian Cookbooks by Nava Atlas

Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons: Bountiful Vegan Soups and Stews for Every Time of Year - the updated edition, now dairy-free and featuring 20 new recipes

The Vegetarian Family Cookbook

The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet: 250 Simple Recipes and Dozens of Healthy Menus for Eating Well Every Day

All by Nava Atlas

One of my favourite cookbook authors is Nava Atlas. She writes tasty recipes that are good for you and don't take much time or effort at all. That is hard to do and she does it extremely well!

She's had a ton of experience, as these are not her first books, and each one gets better and better!

You do not have to be a vegetarian to appreciate them and in fact, I think they are a great accompaniment to any cookbook collection because they all contain incredibly healthy food. You do not have to sift through each recipe searching for something that's good for you. It's ALL good for you. I just love that!

The Vegetarian Family Cookbook is a thick tome featuring more than 275 quick recippes for quick breakfasts, healthy snacks and lunches, classic comfort foods, hearty main dishes, wholesome baked goods, to name just a few.

There are also options for vegans throughout, but I'm neither and I have picked out a whole bunch of favourite dishes that I think might just become your favourites too. Like Mexican Green Rice, Vegetable Upside-Down Casserole, Mixed Mushrooms Stroganoff and Cincinnati Chili Mac. And Nava offers different variations on the dish, so you can change it up and keep it interesting.

In The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet, you can eat well and quickly, which is what we're all craving these days. There's emails to answer, meetings to ruch off to and have you ever tried to cook during house hunting? It's a nightmare!

But with Nava's guide in hand, you can make simple meals that will satisfy everyone at the table. How about White Pizza Florentine, Barbecue-Flavoured Baked Beans and Red Onion and Almond-Stuffed Winter Squash?

There's 247 more of them. Isn't that exciting?!

And if you are a soup freak like me, you'll love Nava's Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons filled with 120 soups and stews. And as an extra bonus, she's included breads, muffins and scones like Quick Sunflower-Cheese Bread, Onion-Rye Scones and Scallion Pancakes.

Oh my!

And the soups? Devine, delicious and so ready to be devoured! There are so many that it might take you months to get to them all. Next on my list to make are Okra-Rice Gumbo, Red Bean Puree with Zucchini and Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage and Bread Stew.

When I see a Nava Atlas cookbook, I know I'm getting a book filled with scrumptious dishes that will transform my regular meal routines.

These are just three of her books.

You’re going to want all of them and the rest of her collection too.

- Stephanie

Book Review - Simply Salads

Simply Salads
Jennifer Chandler
Thomas Nelson Publishers
272 pages
$30.99 CDN

I love salad more than anything but I find it hard to think outside the box and really get creative with them.

Thank goodness for Jennifer Chandler.

She has created a book filled with over 100 recipes that are made from packaged greens and “a few easy-to-find ingredients.” It is also beautifully photographed so you get a real sense of what it should look like – always helpful when assembling a salad, I think.

The book is divided into succinct sections – greens, poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit, beans/grains/rice/pasta, slaws and vinaigrettes and dressings – so you can find what you’re looking got quickly.

Jennifer gives you a list for what to stock in your kitchen in order to make salads. The list includes basic kitchen utensils, pantry items and perishable and refrigerator items, so you can be sure that you will have what you need on hand when making your salad.

I am excited to add these new salads to my roster of usual suspects. I would have never come up with these on my own, like:

Southern Caesar Salad (with grits croutons)
Jalapeno Chicken Salad with Avocado Dressing
Grilled Lamb and Tabbouleh Salad
Lobster Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette
Crawfish Salad with Spicy Cajun Remoulade

So tonight, I am going to leave my Italian mixed greens with carrots behind and try something completely different.

I can’t wait.

- Stephanie

Book Review - Food Play

Food Play
Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
Chronicle Books
320 pages
$21.95 CDN

This is the perfect gift for the surrealist and food lover in your life.

A fun, playful look at how food can be transformed into familiar faces and places in 350 ways, you may never look at an orange or beet the same way again.

It's the kind of thing that you really have to experience because it's so oddly fascinating that there aren't sufficient words to describe what you're about to see - a radish cat, aliens from red peppers the cutest little mushroom people.

Like the Surrealist Gourmet, you are in for a visual treat. You may just have to wait an hour before eating. The screaming orange stays with you.

- Stephanie

Book Review - Real Women Eat Chiles

Real Women Eat Chiles
Jane Butel
Northland Publishing
194 pages
$21.95 US

The title doesn't do the book justice. It's filled with the history of chiles along with women's stories of how chiles have impacted their lives.

Chiles are so good for you (see pages 13 and 15) and you can get everything from mild to tears streaming down your face varieties.

For the secrets of cooking with chiles, there is a whole section to help you unravel the mysteries. And then my favourite part, the recipes. And they're good ones - Black Bean and Goat Cheese Chalupitas; Spicy Beef and Potato Salad with Hot Red Chile Dressing, Lamb Chops with Jalapeno Jelly and Chile-Seared Salmon with Sweet Pear Pineapple Salsa.

The recipes are easy to follow and most involve few ingredients. These are recipes that you can actually use. And these are dishes that you can have on the table quickly.

There are plenty of full-page colour photos to feast your eyes on and make you hungry, but you'll be most excited about making sumptuous meals that are easy to prepare. But don't worry - your secret is safe with us.

- Stephanie