October is National Cookbook Month, so today we’re perusing some of the season’s new bounty. There’s a little something for every taste.
Several books are being published today. Jacques Pépin’s Heart & Soul in the Kitchen is the companion work to the beloved French chef’s PBS series. Emeril Lagasse kicks it up a notch in Essential Emeril: Favorite Recipes and Hard-Won Wisdom From My Life in the Kitchen.
Philadelphia restaurateur and James Beard Award winner Michael Solomonov offers Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking, in collaboration with Steven Cook. And Tal Ronnen, Scot(cq) Jones, and Serafina Magnussen make plant-based eating chic with Crossroads: Extraordinary Recipes from the Restaurant That Is Reinventing Vegan Cuisine.
London-based Yotam Ottolenghi’s newest work, written with Ramael Scully and branching out from his usual Middle Eastern-inspired recipes, is NOPI: The Cookbook, due on Oct. 20. Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes, from Peter Meehan and the editors of ultra-hip Lucky Peach magazine, comes on Oct. 27.
Several books arrived in September. Paula Deen's behind-the-scenes colleague, Dora Charles, has shared her classic recipes in A Real Southern Cook: In Her Savannah Kitchen. Baker Holly Ricciardi, along with Miriam Harris, served up Magpie: Sweets and Savories from Philadelphia’s Favorite Pie Boutique. And Alice Waters, the seasonal/sustainable food pioneer, published My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own.
Former co-host of reality television show The Taste, Nigella Lawson, returns with Simply Nigella: Feel Good Food on Nov. 3. That day, you’ll also be able to buy Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars, by Clifton Collins, Jr. and Gustavo Alvarez, with a foreward by Samuel L. Jackson.
Clearly, publishers are offering an entire buffet table laden with variety.
Magnus Nilsson’s The Nordic Cookbook (Phaidon Press), coming on Oct. 26, is the first comprehensive work covering the foods of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
The owner of Fäviken, a remote restaurant in Sweden that is considered among the very best in the world, Mr. Nilsson was featured in Netflix’s documentary series Chef’s Table. He has written his book with a “mission to explain how similar our Nordic cultures really are, but also how they differ, how everything is tied together by our mutual history and our present culture and how it can all be tracked through the food we eat.”
This fascinating look at a region which has become immensely influential in culinary circles is a 608-page reference work and cookbook all in one. While a few of the dishes - Puffin Stuffed with Cake, Boiled Seal Intestines with Blubber, and Icelandic Rotten Shark, for example - aren’t particularly suited to Toledo tastes, others for hearty soups and stews, breads, spiced cookies, fresh and smoked fish, and comforting breakfasts are tremendously tempting.
In Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl (Lake Isle Press, published in September), Pierre Thiam and Jennifer Sit take readers to an entirely different region, as they enthuse and educate about West African food. Senegal is home to more than 10 ethnic groups, as well as significant communities of Lebanese and Vietnamese immigrants who have influenced the cooking, as did French colonists.
A number of the recipes, such as Chocolate Mango Pound Cake and Black-Eyed Pea Fritters, could easily be made with items found at standard grocery stores. Thus, even a cuisine considered exotic to Midwestern palates can be inviting and accessible. Some traditional ingredients for other dishes - fonio, a small grain similar to millet, and moringa, the leaf of a tree noted for its health properties, among them - might be difficult to find, though it is certainly interesting to learn about them.
Mr. Thiam is a native of Senegal who had studied science in Dakar before civil unrest led to the closing of universities. His intent had been to then attend Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, OH, until his money was stolen after he arrived in New York City. And so he stayed there to work in others’ restaurants before opening his own in Brooklyn, which he has now closed to become a self-described “roving food ambassador.”
In the language of the Wolof tribe, teranga “means ’hospitality’ or ’welcoming generosity.’ The word embodies how highly the Senegalese value the act of giving, in which wealth is measured not by how much you have but by how much you give away,” writes Mr. Thiam. “Food in Senegal is never only to nourish the body: it’s an act of sharing, of showing your love toward others.”
100 Recipes: The Absolute Best Ways to Make the True Essentials, due on Oct. 13 from America’s Test Kitchen, simultaneously takes readers on an international tour, with a chapter entitled The Global Essentials, and yet also offers definitive recipes for preparing such familiar favorites as Juicy Pub-Style Burgers, Grown-Up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, and even scrambled eggs.
The chosen recipes ”not only [cover] the bases in terms of what skills and techniques ought to be at the fingertips of a good home cook,“ write the authors, but ”changed how each of us here at the test kitchen cook at home,“ as they’ve perfected protocols and procedures to ensure success.
America’s Test Kitchen staff, who produce Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines, are noted for their thoroughness. “We really do test a recipe 30 times, 40 times, even 50 up to 100 times,” they write. And the recipes include equipment lists, tips and timelines, and also appropriate substitutions and variations, offering useful guidance to both new and seasoned cooks.
Whether you’re looking for reliable recipes, favorite chefs, a good read, a new type of cuisine, or an armchair world tour, cookbook publishers have something for you this fall.
Danish Burning Love
Brændende Kærlighed(cq), as this is called in Denmark, is an “everyday dish of mashed potato, bacon and onions,“ writes Magnus Nilsson. It dates back to the early 19th century.
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
Water
1-1/2 cups milk
7 tablespoons butter
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
11 ounces bacon, cut into small pieces
6 small yellow onions, finely chopped
Snipped chives
Put the potatoes in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. While the potatoes are cooking, combine the milk and butter in a separate pan and heat until the butter has melted.
Drain the potatoes thoroughly; peel them while hot. (Or leave the skins on, if desired.) Mash the potatoes, then beat in the hot milk mixture with a wooden spoon. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, put the bacon in a pan over a medium heat and fry until nicely golden but not crisp. Add the onions to the pan and continue frying over medium heat until the onions are deeply caramelized.
Spoon mash onto a warm serving platter, top with the bacon and onion mixture, and sprinkle with chives.
Yield: 4 servings.
Source: Adapted from Magnus Nilsson, The Nordic Cookbook.
Chicken Thighs with Red Palm-Coconut Rice (rice, then greens, then chicken on top)
Pierre Thiam writes that ”this comforting one-pot dish [is] reminiscent of our thiebou guinaar(cq), also known as ’the original jambalaya.’“
8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 cups jasmine rice
1-1/2 cups full-fat coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons red palm oil (see note)
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, or more to taste
Sautéed greens, for serving
Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In a large cast-iron pot or Dutch oven with a heavy lid, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When hot, working in batches if necessary, sear the chicken thighs very well, skin side first, letting the skin get a nice golden color (about 5 minutes) before turning once and browning the other side. Remove and set aside on a platter. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of rendered chicken fat.
Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the rice and stir to coat the rice well. Add the coconut milk and chicken stock and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and stir in the red palm oil. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
Return the chicken thighs and any juices to the pot, setting them on top of the rice, and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes or more, until all the liquid is absorbed, the rice is tender, and the chicken is cooked through. When you’re ready to serve, squeeze the lime juice all over the chicken and rice and generously top with cilantro. Serve with the greens.
Note: Red palm oil, an essential ingredient in African cooking, is available at the Toledo International Market at 2636 W. Central Ave.; it costs $7.99 for a 1-liter bottle. Substitute vegetable oil, if desired.
Yield: 4 servings.
Source: Pierre Thiam and Jennifer Sit, Senegal.
Chewy Brownies
The editors at America’s Test Kitchen wanted to replicate the chewiness of brownies prepared with mixes. So they ”began a two-month testing odyssey in search of the ultimate brownie.“
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs plus 2 large yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
Preheat oven to 350F. Thoroughly grease a 9-by-13 inch baking pan and set pan aside.
Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in oil and melted butter. Add eggs, yolks and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Whisk in flour and salt. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces and pecans.
Pour batter into prepared pan; spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool completely.
Trim 1/2 inch from edges, then cut brownies into 4 columns and 6 rows.
Yield: 24 brownies.
Source: Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, 100 Recipes.
Contact Mary Bilyeu at mbilyeu@theblade.com or 419-724-6155 or on Twitter @foodfloozie.
First Published October 6, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
