What cookbooks have you gotten / added to your wish list - 2022

We happen to have an extremely secured and organized chemical shed for other reasons, so it’s not outside of the realm of possibility

After looking through her first two books (from the library) I didn’t have an urge to buy the books, decided the blog was good enough for me. A friend knew I liked the blog so surprised me with the second book one Christmas. It sits on the shelf.

Honestly, I found so many in Keepers that I’d like to try.

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Welp, that just went on my wish-list.

Pretty sure I’ll be getting Keepers this weekend (b-day). I didn’t love the first one, but use the second one, and her website, all the time.

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I’m about to get it from the library (the green pasta vividly reminded me of the green pasta from Simply Julia by Julia Turshen, though one uses garlic butter and the other has garlic with cheese). Curious to get the book and go through.

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I admit that the terrific photography is a big draw for me. Here are some of the recipes I want to try:

Sour Cream & Flaky Cheddar Biscuits
Challah Cheesecake Buns (with raspberry jam)
Blueberry Pancake Cobbler (has hot sugar crust)
Pea, Feta and Mint Fritters
Toasted Ricotta Gnocchi with Pistachio Pesto
Crispy Chili Garlic Butter Shrimp
Bee Sting Bars

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She’s writing on Saveur if you want to get a preview (Parla’s Pastas). Do you like seafood? Can’t recall.

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Yes, I LOVE seafood.

recommend then!

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I love both of them but the first one more than the second. I’m going to see her next week -

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jealous!

Got the book and read through – I flagged a few things, but can’t say I’m excited about too much aside from the green pasta (which is on the website too).

There are a few familiar-from-other-places things (slow roasted chicken with schmaltzy croutons, pea fritters, baked polenta, harissa braised beef) that I may eventually try, but I think I was expecting something different.

@Saregama - same, underwhelmed and hoping for something more classic? I made the Swiss chard enchiladas and they were well-received. I loved the filling and used the extra to make quesadillas.

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@sallyt @LulusMom1 and everyone else — I was thinking about a couple of Cooking From threads starting with SK (woks of life is another one I see a lot of folks posting from) if people would participate?

(I made the green angel hair yesterday, and while the end result was tasty, it needed a LOT of adjustment to get to that point vs the recipe.)

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I’m in @Saregama !

What kind of adjustments?

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I’d be in on a SK Keepers Cooking from thread, for sure. But I might not get started until January. So many things happening, and stuff that is expected to be cooked around the holidays. But definitely in. I feel the same about the new(ish) Melissa Clark.

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I used frozen spinach and a greater proportion of it based on comments on the blog (increased garlic confit accordingly).

The flavor of the spinach “sauce” was just flat. I could taste the roasted garlic when I was tasting the sauce, but it did not seem enough for the pasta portion.

So. I added more garlic, a few splashes of red wine vinegar (which really helped), and calabrian chile paste at the end (I couldn’t taste the red pepper flakes, and black pepper was incongruous) which faded into the background but gave a nice flavor and slight heat.

The purée timing doesn’t work with angel hair, so I used plain water and made the sauce first. Cooked the purée in a nonstick pan to meld flavors while the capellini cooked, then added the pasta with splashes of pasta water to loosen.

Pecorino melted in and couldn’t be tasted against the spinach, so I think it would be better with ricotta salata or feta (there’s feta in the the Turshen version, which might make it reminiscent of spanakopita in a good way, as fresh ricotta might of palak paneer, but fresh ricotta wouldn’t be salty enough).

And instead of using all the butter/oil from the confit in the sauce while blending, I drizzled some over at the end, so it could be tasted more clearly.

So, lots of (minor) changes to make it palatable to me, but the end outcome was tasty and I’d make my version again.

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That’s a LOT of changes! You’re so nice to write it up - but basically the given recipe was not very tasty…

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Well really it was more garlic and a bit of vinegar :joy: But I am verbose!

Here is Turshen’s.

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I started a new topic for 2023 here What cookbooks have you gotten / added to your wish list - 2023