Cookbook Reviews
- Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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Nigella Christmas Nigella Christmas | By Nigella Lawson | (Hyperion, $35 hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 6:08pm
Nigella makes any size celebration spectacular Holiday cookbook covers dinner for two or a feast for the entire extended family By Kim Davaz “Nigella Christmas” by Nigella Lawson is a celebration between two covers, with everything necessary, kitchen-wise, for a spectacular Christmas. I should backtrack: While you can make a spectacular Christmas feast à la Lawson, she by no means limits your holiday festivities to the top of the “wow” meter. There is just as much attention paid to a quiet little dinner or brunch and cozy drinks as there is to the break-the-bank, 8 1/2 -pound standing rib roast beef…
- Wednesday, December 09, 2009
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The Grand Central Baking Book The Grand Central Baking Book | By Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson | (Ten Speed Press, $30 hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 5:08pm
‘Grand Central’ makes baking a breeze By Kim Davaz Although we are knee-deep in prime baking season, let’s try to spread the butter and sugar wealth around. Start now, but keep up the good work throughout the year. You will be thanked richly. The Grand Central Bakery in Portland was named one of the top 10 bakeries in the country by Bon Appétit magazine. Co-owner Piper Davis learned to cook from her mother, Gwyneth Bassetti, founder of the bakery. In “The Grand Central Baking Book” written with chef and food writer Ellen Jackson, Davis shares the recipes and techniques that won…
- Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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The Spice Kitchen The Spice Kitchen | By Sara Engram and Katie Luber with Kimberly Toqe | (Andrews McMeel, $29.99, hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 6:45pm
Authors spice up everyday dishes By Kim Davaz Sara Engram and Katie Luber love spices and herbs. They use the term spices to mean both spices and herbs. Some chefs consider the seeds and bark of plants to be spices and the leaves and stems to be herbs. Let’s not quibble. Call them all spices and use them often. Engram and Luber love spices so much, they started a company that makes little one-teaspoon packets sold online at tspspices .com and through stores such as Smart Spice. (You can find them in Portland at Zupan’s Market.) All are organic. To encourage…
- Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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The Scandinavian Cookbook The Scandinavian Cookbook | By Trina Hahnemann | (Andrews McMeel, $29.99, hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 1:14pm
Visit the flavors of Scandinavia By Kim Davaz “The Scandinavian Cookbook” is Trina Hahnemann’s yearlong journey through the beauty and food of Scandinavia, month by month, beginning in January. In her past life, Hahnemann was a caterer to people you may have heard of: Elton John, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen. These days, the chef and food writer lives in Denmark, where she owns cafes, including one in the Danish House of Parliament. Each month includes the foods that are best during that time of year, be it gooseberries in August, apples in October or root vegetables in the winter.…
- Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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Bubby’s Brunch Cookbook Bubby's Brunch Cookbook | By Ron Silver with Rosemary Black | (Ballantine Books, $30, hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 1:14pm
Generous chef shares secrets to better brunches By Kim Davaz Brunch, says chef Ron Silver in “Bubby’s Brunch Cookbook” is a flexible, forgiving and fun meal both to make and to eat. His restaurant, Bubby’s in New York City, is anything but fancy. That’s not his style. He prefers to feed people with the kind of food he grew up eating at home. While plenty of fancy people you’d recognize in a second eat at Bubby’s, there are also plenty of people you’d never notice. All of them love Bubby’s food. Silver is a generous soul, never hesitating to give out…
- Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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Confections of a Closet Master Baker Confections of a Closet Master Baker | By Gesine Bullock-Prado | (Broadway, $24, hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 1:14pm
Escape from L.A. just the ticket By Kim Davaz Gesine Bullock-Prado lived in Los Angeles and experienced everything that the L.A. lifestyle implies. As head of her sister’s production company (yes, Sandra Bullock, here known as Sandy), Bullock-Prado lived life in the fast lane in L.A. Not Los Angeles, where certainly many lovely people live, but capital L capital A - the land of excess, power lunches, the latest fashions and scripts being offered by everyone and his dog for her sister’s consideration. Did anyone care about her or was she merely a conduit to her sister? In “Confections of a…