I received three new cookbooks for Christmas this year. The one that I am really excited about is Baking Illustrated, by the editors of Cooks Illustrated. One of my cooking instructors once described the magazine as "cooking for geeks", and after perusing the baking cookbook, I understand why, and that's why I love the book. It has a section at the beginning about high altitude cooking, and how it will affect a batch of oatmeal cookies, what changes to make to different types of recipes, etc. There are illustrations of what fluffy (good) egg whites look like and what curdled (bad) egg whites look like. Perfect for me. It reminds me of reading a graduate thesis in the sense that about a 1/3 of the recipes have a short essay accompanying them explaining how the authors tested out every plausible ingredient substitution or baking pan material before settling on a final recipe. Am now pumped to make blueberry muffins with cinnamon sugar and the yeastless cinnamon buns.
Next cookbook is the Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook. There's a recipe for peanutbutter frosting that is appealing, and lots and lots of cakes. My final cookbook is Double Dishing, which is authored by a group of women popular in the Calgary food scene. I've taken classes from about half of them, actually. Lots of seafood recipes, but I go for the desserts, of course. Dreaming about the white chocolate blood orange tart (and I also received a tart pan with a removeable bottom for Christmas)!
I got the Les Halles cookbook by Tony Bourdain. The thing about French bistro food is that some of the dishes are really complicated, but there are an equal number that are dead easy. When paired with a chef with an attitude (sample: "You will have noticed by now that you end up using a very small amount of champagne. Since you had to open the bottle, and it's going to go flat anyway, and none of the remaining steps involve sharp things, you might as well start drinking. This is called the 'chef's prerogative.'"), you know you're in for a treat.
Posted by: Chris | December 31, 2004 at 12:30 AM
Wow those cooks books sounds awesome. I am more familiar with the first two. I received Nigella Lawson's fourth cook book Feast. It's marvelous. A Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your family!
Posted by: ani | December 31, 2004 at 09:27 PM
I'll be interested to hear how you like Baking Illustrated after using it for a bit. I like the Cooks Illustrated concept, but the whole concpet seems a bit flawed. I mean, they will tell you how to make a blueberry muffin that they find perfect, but people all have different tastes so not everyone will find that muffin to be their favorite. That said, I do adore the Best Recipe, so maybe I should pick up a copy...
Posted by: Christine | January 03, 2005 at 08:12 PM
I just reread my comment and it barely makes sense. Sorry about that. Its early and I'm 8 months pregnant. That's a dangerous combo.
Posted by: Christine | January 03, 2005 at 08:16 PM
I agree about making French cuisine - it can be quick and easy, particularly if one regularly has stock, garlic, fresh herbs, and lots of wine on hand :) I like the idea of a chef with attitude.
I haven't made anything out of Baking Illustrated yet. The recipes I'm most interested in request things like plain yogurt and buttermilk, which I don't normally buy. Because I like sweets to be not-so-sweet, I normally reduce the sugar in recipes ...
Christine, that's perfectly allowed :)
Posted by: laura | January 03, 2005 at 10:47 PM