"French Country Cooking: Meals and Moments from a Village in the Vineyards" and "A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse"--two charming memoir cookbooks from chef, author, food blogger, and TV Star--Mimi Thorisson. (see my reviews)

 

A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse

With beguiling recipes and sumptuous photography, A Kitchen in France transports readers to the French countryside and marks the debut of a captivating new voice in cooking.
 
When Mimi Thorisson and her family moved from Paris to a small town in out-of-the-way Médoc, she did not quite know what was in store for them. She found wonderful ingredients—from local farmers and the neighboring woods—and, most important, time to cook. Her cookbook chronicles the family’s seasonal meals and life in an old farmhouse, all photographed by her husband, Oddur. Mimi’s convivial recipes—such as Roast Chicken with Herbs and Crème Fraîche, Cèpe and Parsley Tartlets, Winter Vegetable Cocotte, Apple Tart with Orange Flower Water, and Salted Butter Crème Caramel—will bring the warmth of rural France into your home.

MY REVIEW:   Chef, author, food blogger, and TV Star--Mimi Thorisson has traveled and lived all across the globe. When she and her photographer husband, Oddur, moved from Paris to a remote peninsula in rural France, she was not fully prepared for the sea change she and her family would experience. This self-proclaimed "city girl" would leave many of her creature comforts behind--only to discover comforts of a different kind as she and her family settled into a time-weathered chateau. Now, with seven children, and twice as many dogs, Mimi and Oddur are savoring their country life. "A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse" is a marvelous blend of Mimi's food, local flavor and color, and Oddur's beautiful photos. Making the most of the foods available each season, and making each season a celebration, this cookbook is a vibrant homage to family, friends, and food. Prepare to be both transported and transfixed by such delights as: "Parisian Sole"; "Gateau Basque"; "Garden Cake"'; "Tomato Salad with Parsley and Shallots"; "Peach and Cherry Papillotes"; "Strawberries in Wine with Mascarpone Cream"; "Coffee Cream Puffs"; "Harvest Soup"; "Potatoes a la Lyonnaise"; "Butternut Gratin"; "Chocolate Tart"; "Winter Vegetable Cocotte"; "Roast Potatoes with Herbs and Garlic"; and "Sarah Bernhardt Cakes". A lovely, lovely book filled with fabulous food and memorable images of life in rural France.
 
Book Copy Gratis Clarkson Potter Publishers via Blogging for Books


 

French Country Cooking: Meals and Moments from a Village in the Vineyards

A captivating journey to off-the-beaten-path French wine country with 100 simple yet exquisite recipes, 150 sumptuous photographs, and stories inspired by life in a small village

Readers everywhere fell in love with Mimi Thorisson, her family, and their band of smooth fox terriers through her blog, Manger, and debut cookbook, A Kitchen in France. In French Country Cooking, the family moves to an abandoned old château in Médoc. While shopping for local ingredients, cooking, and renovating the house, Mimi meets the farmers and artisans who populate the village and learns about the former owner of the house, an accomplished local cook. Here are recipes inspired by this eccentric cast of characters, including White Asparagus Soufflé, Wine Harvest Pot au Feu, Endives with Ham, and Salted Butter Chocolate Cake. Featuring evocative photographs taken by Mimi’s husband, Oddur Thorisson, this cookbook is a charming jaunt to an untouched corner of France that has thus far eluded the spotlight. 

MY REVIEW:  Mimi Thorisson’s cookbooks are a marvelous ménage of memories combined with the current everyday experiences of food, family, and friends. With “French Country Cooking: Meals and Moments from a Village in the Vineyards”, readers are once again treated to the epicurean expertise of Ms. Thorisson accented by the beautiful color photos captured by her husband, Oddur. In this book, the family and their dogs move to the small village of St. Yazans in the Medoc region of France. The historic chateau which becomes their new home bears a rich legacy as a former renowned hotel and restaurant. The locale of the chateau offers a bounty of resplendent resources as friendships are made with “winemakers, hunters, vegetable growers, and local gourmands”. Each new find inspires creativity in the kitchen and a growing sense of familial contentment. Reading the book, savoring the recipes and the photos, and dreaming of such a life in the French countryside is glorious feast for lovers of good food and the “good life”. Here is a sampler of the wonderful recipes you will find: “Fig and Pistachio Cake”; “Rhubarb and Raspberry Cordial”; “Pumpkin Quiche with Bacon”; “Cassoulet”; “Black Peppered Filets Mignons with Cognac”; “Roast Chicken with Chestnuts and Cabbage”; “Wine Harvest Pot-Au-Feu”; “Ham and Spring Onion Omelette”; “Wise Guy Chicken”; “Garlic Potato Chips”; “Salted Butter Chocolate Cake”; “Walnut Tart”; and “Orange Blossom Cake”. MIMI THORISSON is the author of A Kitchen in France and Manger, a blog devoted to French cooking and her life in the French countryside. She is the host of the French cooking shows La Table de Mimi and Les Desserts de Mimi. She lives with her husband, their children, and their smooth fox terriers in an old château in St Yzans, in the Médoc region of France.
 
Book Copy Gratis Clarkson Potter Publishers via Blogging for Books


Mimi Thorisson



Chef, author, food blogger, and TV Star--Mimi Thorisson.

mimithorisson.com/  

"The Grand Central Market Cookbook: Cuisine and Culture from Downtown Los Ángeles"--A world within a world, and a true blend of cultures, cuisines, old favorites, and new beginnings (see my review)

The Grand Central Market Cookbook: Cuisine and Culture from Downtown Los Ángeles
 
by  Adele Yellin, Kevin West

Founded in 1917, Grand Central Market is a legendary food hall in Downtown Los Ángeles that brings together the many traditions and flavors of the city. Now, GCM's first cookbook puts the spotlight on unique recipes from its diverse vendors, bringing their authentic tastes to your home kitchen. From Horse Thief BBQ's Nashville-Style Hot Fried Chicken Sando to Madcapra's Sumac Beet Soda to Golden Road's Crunchy Avocado Tacos, here are over 85 distinctive recipes, plus spectacular photography that shows off the food, the people, and the daily bustle and buzz. Stories about the Market's vibrant history and interviews with its prominent customers and vendors dot the pages as well. Whether you've visited and want to make your favorite dishes at home, or are simply looking for a cookbook that provides a plethora of multi-national cuisine, The Grand Central Market Cookbook is sure to make your kitchen just a little bit cooler. 

MY REVIEW:  A world within a world, and a true blend of cultures, cuisines, old favorites, and new beginnings, the Grand Central Market has fed and fascinated the fortunate folks of Los Angeles, California for one hundred years. “The Grand Central Market Cookbook: Cuisine and Culture from Downtown Los Angeles", by Adele Yellin and Kevin West, celebrates a century of serving fabulous food and so much more to longtime residents and to visitors who can’t resist exploring this one-of-a-kind marketplace and food hall. Each of the market’s 38 vendors is featured, and here’s a sampler of the recipes you’ll find: Eggslut’s popular “Slut", which features coddled eggs with potato puree served in a mason jar; Sticky Rice’s Thai barbecue chicken; Horse Thief BBQ’s Nashville-Style Hot Fried Chicken Sando; Madcapra’s Sumac Beet Soda; and Golden Road’s Crunchy Avocado Tacos. Divided into sections like breakfast, tacos, carbs, happy hour, meat and fish, veg and sweets, the book also offers recipes for a wide variety of foods, including coconut-cream doughnuts, watermelon slushies, savory carnitas, and cold, smoky ramen. The original flavor, color, and spirit have been maintained, and after a refreshing renovation in 2012, the market is now also a haven of inspiration for both professional chefs and home cooks. If you visited the Grand Central Market every day, you still wouldn’t have time to see, hear, touch, and taste everything, but you sure would have fun trying, and this cookbook will provide much enjoyment for cooks and armchair travelers. 100 years looks mighty fine on the Grand Central Market.

Book Copy Gratis Clarkson Potter Publishers via Blogging for Books 

About the Author

 

ADELE YELLIN is president of the Yellin Company, a Los Angeles real estate management and development firm that own and operates Grand Central Market. Adele has two children with her late husband, Ira Yellin, and two grandchildren.

KEVIN WEST served as a creative director during Grand Central Market’s revitalization from 2012-2016. His previous books include Saving the Season: A Cook’s Guide to Home Canning, Pickling and Preserving and Truffle Boy with Ian Purkayastha.

"The Cottage Kitchen: Cozy Cooking in the English Countryside"--Share in a gorgeous, thoughtful life in the charming English countryside with Norwegian-born photographer and tastemaker Marie Forsberg. (see review)

The Cottage Kitchen: Cozy Cooking in the English Countryside

by Marte Marie Forsberg

Share in a gorgeous, thoughtful life in the charming English countryside with The Cottage Kitchen, a cookbook of recipes and stories by Norwegian-born photographer and tastemaker Marie Forsberg.

MY REVIEW:   Noted photographer and blogger Marte Marie Forsberg was born in Norway, but she has found an idyllic way of life in a 200-year-old cottage nestled in the English country woods. With “The Cottage Kitchen: Cozy Cooking in the English Countryside”, the author shares her everyday life and treasured memories through words, photos, and recipes. Along with her beloved dog, Mr. Whiskey, Marte explores the bounty of nature surrounding her home. Her visits to the local village are always a delight—shopping for cheese, wine, produce, and meat inspires her to create wonderfully flavorful dishes. Her Norwegian heritage and European travels also influence her cooking, and she loves to recreate the favorite foods from her childhood. Of course, many cozy pots of tea are prepared and consumed along the way. Recipes include a variety such as: “Norwegian Yellow Pea Soup with Thyme”, “Tomato Tarte Tartin with Burrata”, “Black Pudding with Scallops and Caviar”; “Potato Soup with Smoked Salmon”; “Truffled Vegetable Toad-in-the-Hole”; “Foie Gras and Kidney Bruschetta with Parsley”; “Elderflower Fritters”; “Campian Citrus Marmalade”; “Kale and Almond Soup”; “Warm Salmon, Mint, and Potato Salad”; “Norwegian Pork Belly with Mustard Coleslaw”; “Sour Cream Porridge”; and “Troll Cream”—a favorite of her father--made with sugar, egg whites, and cranberries.

Book Copy Gratis Clarkson Potter Publishers via Blogging for Books


Marte Marie Forsberg

 

MARTE MARIE FORSBERG is a professional food and lifestyle photographer, as well as the creator of the blog My Cottage Kitchen. Her work has been featured in magazines and newspapers around the world, and she regularly runs cooking and photography workshops. Marie lives in a charming cottage in the English countryside with her English pointer, Mr. Whiskey.

www.mmforsberg.com/

"Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook" and "Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts"--eat your fill, then sit on the porch for a while and let yourself "settle"

 

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook

by Ken Beck and Jim Clark

"Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook" by Jim Clark and Ken Beck, with recipes edited by Julia M. Pitkin contains more than 300 recipes served by Aunt Bee and others on The Andy Griffith Show "TM". Includes wonderful, rare photos from the show and interesting sidebars. Illustrated and indexed.
 

Aunt Bee and her friends have stirred up a cookbook that brings home all the flavor of the mouth-watering recipes (but not all?included is the recipe for Kerosene Cucumbers) for the foods served by Aunt Bee and others in Mayberry. From good old-fashioned, down-home cooking to some of Mayberry's more unusual meals, you'll discover favorite Mayberry-style dishes for all occasions inspired by Aunt Bee's unsurpassed talents in the kitchen and her special love for her family and friends.

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook is also chock-full of wonderful, rare photographs from "The Andy Griffith Show" and offers entertaining glimpses into "the friendly town." Many of the recipes are favorites from members of the show's cast and crew.

 

Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts

by Ken Beck and Jim Clark

"Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts" is filled with over 250 recipes for the lip-smacking desserts Aunt Bee and friends used to cook up on "The Andy Griffith Show." From candies and cakes to rare photos from the show to trivia, this cookbook brings home all the sweet flavor of Mayberry. Illustrated and indexed.

 

Aunt Bee
 

 

Aunt Bee is a fictional character from the 1960 American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Played by Frances Bavier, the character migrated to the spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971) when The Andy Griffith Show ended its run in 1968, and remained for two years. Though she was the aunt of Sheriff Andy Taylor, virtually every character in Mayberry called her "Aunt Bee".

"The Soup Club Cookbook: Feed Your Friends, Feed Your Family, Feed Yourself"--Foods are healthy, happy, and homemade--"soul-satisfyingly good"

The Soup Club Cookbook: Feed Your Friends, Feed Your Family, Feed Yourself
 
by Courtney Allison, Tina Carr, Caroline Laskow, Julie Peacock

Food-sharing is the hot new thing in the "getting dinner on the table" conversation, and in The Soup Club Cookbook, four busy moms share not only their formula for starting a soup club--which gives you at least three meals every month when you don't have to worry about dinner--but also 150 fantastic recipes for soups and sides and storing tips for stretching those meals across the week.

The Soup Club began when four friends (who, between them, have four husbands and ten hungry kids and several jobs) realized that they didn’t actually have to cook at home every night to take pleasure in a home-cooked meal. They simply had to join forces and share meals, even if they weren’t actually eating them together. Caroline, Courtney, Julie, and Tina happen to be neighbors, but a soup club is for anyone: colleagues, a group of workout buddies, a book club. All you need are a few people who simply want to have more home-cooked food in their lives.

In a soup club each person takes a turn making soup—and sometimes other dishes for sides or for when everyone needs a break from soup, so if a club has four people, in a month each person will have dinner delivered three times—a dish that can start as a full meal and stretch into more dinners or lunches or even morph into a sauce. Soup is forgiving, versatile, and perfect for sharing; it can be spiced to taste, topped elaborately or not at all, and dressed up or down. It travels well and reheats beautifully.  The Soup Club Cookbook also has dozens of tips for cooking in quantity and for tailoring soup to individual tastes and needs. Here, too, are simple guidelines for starting your own soup club, anecdotes, and a few cautionary tales  that will inspire anyone to share food and eat well.

Recipes include quick and easies, classics, twist on favorites, and dozens of flavor-rich new crowd pleasers:

   • Carrot Coconut and Chicken Chili,
   • Senegalese Peanut Soup
   • Faux Ramen
   • Red Lentil Curry Soup
   • Potato Cheddar Soup
   • Sun Dried Tomato Soup
   • Jeweled Rice Salad
   • Cheddar Cornbread,
   • Summer Corn Hash
   • Soy Simmered Chicken Wings

MY REVIEW:  What a lovely idea--"The Soup Club"--made even more appreciable by the theme "Feed Your Friends. Feed Your Family. Feed Yourself.". Authors Courtney Allison, Tana Carr, Caroline Laskow, and Julie Peacock have taken a philosophy dear to my own heart--I believe in "The Kitchen Table"--and given it a modern, mobile twist. One day a week, each of the club members will prepare and distribute an edible blessing, and then they will be repaid in turn. The ideal of nurturing your family in body and soul, providing healthy, home-cooked food, and giving them the blessing of personal time spent together is often in great conflict with the pressures found in our contemporary society. Why not share your heartfelt goals with like-minded family and friends? "The Soup Club Cookbook" is filled with fabulous food, beautifully photographed in vivid color, and it offers ideas on how you can start your own "Soup Club". The recipes include sensational soups and sides, delectable desserts, super salads, bodacious breads, and a marvelous mix of old favorites with a new attitude. Foods are healthy, happy, and homemade--"soul-satisfyingly good". Hard-to-resist recipes include: "Potato Cheddar Soup"; "Borscht"; "Sun-Dried Tomato Soup"; "Winter Minestrone"; "Chicken Tortilla Soup"; "Cheese Crisps"; "Red Cabbage Salad"; "Quick Pickles"; "Maple Butter Carrots"; "Cheddar Cornbread"; "Jeweled Rice"; "Spinach and Onion Quiche"; "Garlic Herbed Cheese"; and "Cinnamon-Sugar Walnuts". This is one club where "lifetime membership" takes on a whole new meaning, and you will enjoy paying your dues.

Book Copy Gratis Clarkson Potter Publishers via Blogging for Books


THE SOUP CLUB

"We grew up in other places and settled in New York City. We are an educator, an ecologist, a filmmaker, a nutritionist, a yogi, a traveler, a feminist, a mother, a runner, a Dane, a Jew, a Yankee, a Christian, a vegetarian, a gardener, and a coffee drinker. We make sure each other’s glasses are filled with seltzer or wine, as the case may be. We pick up, hang on to, feed, and hug each other’s kids with abandon. We try to be honest and kind and sometimes succeed at doing both. We are four friends who cook and we are Soup Club."

http://thesoupclubcookbook.com/

"My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own"--by Alice Waters--A well-stocked pantry is quite a comfort to home cooks

My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own  by  Alice Waters

In this sweet, petite collection of essays and recipes, Alice Waters showcases the simple building-block ingredients she uses to create gratifying, impromptu meals all year long.
 
In her most intimate and compelling cookbook yet, Alice invites readers to step not into the kitchen at Chez Panisse, but into her own, sharing how she shops, stores, and prepares the pantry staples and preserves that form the core of her daily meals.  Ranging from essentials like homemade chicken stock, red wine vinegar, and tomato sauce to the unique artisanal provisions that embody Alice’s unadorned yet delightful cooking style, she shows how she injects even simple meals with nuanced flavor and seasonal touches year-round.  From fresh cheeses to quick pickles to sweets and spirits, these often-used ingredients are, as she explains, the key to kitchen spontaneity when combined with simple grains, vegetables, and other staple items.  With charming pen-and-ink illustrations by her daughter, Fanny and Alice’s warm, inviting tone, the latest book from our most influential proponent of simple, organic cooking ensures a gracious, healthy meal is always within reach.

MY REVIEW:  A pantry is defined as a “small room off the kitchen, where cooking ingredients, utensils, pots and pans, china & etc. are kept”. I once lived in a house with a pantry, and it had a window looking out over the back yard. It was a pleasant space, one where I not only perused the items available on the shelves, but often took a moment to pause and reflect on events of the day and life in general. I miss that pantry. Alice Waters and her daughter Fanny Singer have combined their considerable talents to produce a charming little kitchen companion: “MY PANTRY: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own”. A well-stocked pantry is quite a comfort to home cooks, and Ms. Waters states that “A familiar pantry is like being surrounded by friends who won’t let you down, within instant reach”. Building your own “food fortress” is valuable not only for long-term meal planning--it also allows for flavorful impromptu dishes. The book’s sections include: Spice Mixtures and Condiments; Nuts; Beans and Other Legumes; Savory Preserves; Whole Grains; Preserved Fish and Meat; Cheese; and Sweet Preserves. Some of the recipes included are: Chile-Lime Salt; Chocolate Nut Bark; Lentil Soup; Roasted Tomato Sauce; Zucchini Pickles; Multigrain Porridge; Oat Pancakes; Salted Fish; Beef Broth; Chicken Stock; Farmer’s Cheese; Crème Fraiche; Raspberry Syrup; Candied Citrus Peel; Mary Jo’s Brandied Cherries; and Vanilla Extract. Author and Chef Alice Waters is the owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She is also the founder of the Edible Schoolyard Project, which integrates gardening, cooking, and sharing school lunch into the core academic curriculum. Fanny Singer, who provides the delightful illustrations for “MY PANTRY”, is an art historian, curator, and illustrator based in London and Cornwall.

Book Copy Gratis Pam Krauss Books via Blogging for Books


ALICE WATERS

 

Alice Waters is a chef, author, food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995 she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for a free school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school.

She has been Vice President of Slow Food International since 2002. She conceived and helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project in 2003, and the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome in 2007.

Her honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007; the Harvard Medical School’s Global Environmental Citizen Award, which she shared with Kofi Annan in 2008; and her induction into the French Legion of Honor in 2010. In 2015 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is a political act, and that the table is a powerful means to social justice and positive change.

Alice is the author of fifteen books, including New York Times bestsellers The Art of Simple Food I & II and The Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea.

http://www.chezpanisse.com/about/alice-waters/

 

"One to Five: One Shortcut Recipe Transformed Into Five Easy Dishes"--by Ryan Scott--invites home cooks to think creatively about cooking while using supermarket staples.

One to Five: One Shortcut Recipe Transformed Into Five Easy Dishes   by Ryan Scott



If you can't prep it, cook it, and sit down to eat it in less than an hour, chef and television personality Ryan Scott doesn't want to do it. It's just that simple.

One to Five is cooking for real life: master one basic recipe and learn to spin it into five quick, affordable, and crowd-pleasing dishes. Discover how Ryan's killer marinade, a simple rotisserie chicken, or an easy slow-cooker roast can turn into soul-satisfying meals like carnitas, stuffed egg rolls, sliders, a Vietnamese salad, and a hearty stew.

From taco night to breakfast as dinner, this book is all about flexibility as Ryan invites home cooks to think creatively about cooking while using supermarket staples. He offers ingenious strategies, tricks, and guidance on stocking the freezer and pantry so that great-tasting meals are always ready at the drop of a hat.

One to Five makes cooking so simple that readers can eat a delicious home-cooked meal without the hassle - and have fun while making it.


MY REVIEW:   Cooking provides sustenance, but it also provides pleasure. Food for family and friends should always be fun—especially for the cook. “One to Five: One Shortcut Recipe Transformed into Five Easy Dishes” by chef Ryan Scott (with a foreword by star chef Rachael Ray) is written with enjoyment and love of subject. With the motto for cooking at home of “prep it, cook it, and sit down to eat it in an hour or less”, the author shows how he does just that with more than 100 quick and tasty recipes that are a blend of scratch-made dishes, precooked ingredients, and ready-made foods. The “Staples: Stocking your Fridge, Freezer, and Pantry” and “Essential Kitchen Tools” sections offer very helpful, detailed information that will be appreciated by both beginners and seasoned cooks. Ryan Scott has an interesting inside note for each recipe, and the love and influence of family and friends is felt throughout the book. The chapters are designated by the main ingredient like Eggs, Biscuit Dough, Ground Beef, and more. Here’s a sampler of the recipes you’ll find: “Ryan’s Deviled Eggs”; “Garlic-Basil Biscuit Bombs”; “Broccoli-Kale Slaw”; “Sweet ‘N’ Hot Pickled Cauliflower”; “Carrot, Cranberry, and Zucchini Muffins”; “Kale Caesar”; “Mozzarella-Stuffed Crispy Portobello Burgers”; “Lesley’s Biscuit Chicken Turnovers”; “Elvis Pancakes”; “Many Onions Pork Shoulder”; “Mama Pat’s Meat Sauce”; “Rogue Pot Pie”; “Pot Roast Breakfast Hash”; “Green Chile Hushpuppies”; “Danny’s Lemon-Pepper Scampi”; “Brown Rice-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls”; “Cream Cheese Custard French Toast Casserole”; “Mama Pat’s Chocolate Brownie Pie”; and “Kitchen Sink Cookies”. Ryan Scott is a chef, restaurateur, and an Emmy-Award winning food host. He appears regularly on national television, including Today and Rachael Ray, and is the host of The Ryan Scott Show, a weekly radio show. Ryan is chef and owner of Finn Town in San Francisco. One to Five is his first cookbook.

Book Copy Gratis Oxmoor House via Shelf Awareness


RYAN SCOTT

Chef Scott, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy, has cooked and learned in the kitchens of many of the country’s best chefs including Gary Danko. You may recognize him from his appearances as the emmy award winning host on Food Rush, HSN, on Top Chef, special guest appearances on NBC's Today Show, Bar Rescue, The Rachel Ray Show, and The Talk. You can hear him weekly on his highly rated radio show, The Ryan Scott Show, on KGO 810, San Francisco Bay Area.

https://www.ryanscottenterprises.com/