This is a both a cookbook review and a giveaway. Five copies of this cookbook will be given away, the winners being selected on October 31, 2010 when there will be a simultaneous live event by Meredith Laurence, the author, on QVC on In the Kitchen with David at 12pm EDT. She will also be introducing her line of cookware along with her book on that day. The details on the giveaway are found later in this post.

Table of Contents

• Soups and Salads
• Snacks and Sandwiches
• Pasta
• Meat and Poultry
• Fish and Seafood
• Vegetables
• Breakfast
• Desserts and Treats

As with any cookbook author, Laurence seeks to present a select group of recipes to the reader in a certain way to make cooking easier and more enjoyable. Laurence crafts her book around core or basic recipes that introduce basic techniques. She shares some of her experience in these basic recipe sections to help the reader feel more comfortable with these techniques and suggests cookware and tools that makes the job easier. She then shares related recipes that helps novice cooks spread their wings with confidence and creativity.

Examples of basic recipes include:

• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Mac n Cheese
• Roast Chicken
• Meatloaf
• Hamburger
• Mussels
• Roasted Vegetables
• Pancakes
• Cheesecake
• Pie Dough
• Dessert Souffle

For this review I chose the “Chicken Fried Steak” recipe which is listed under the basic recipe “Pan Fried Chicken”. In my version I used pork because thats what I had on hand!

I cut thin medallions from the loin to use in place of the tenderized beef steaks.

I found that we got a delightful and moist result from this simple recipe, I recommend it! As a side, I made fried green tomatoes because its the end of our gardening season and I have an abundance of green tomatoes! That recipe is not one I found in this cookbook.

Chicken Fried Steak (Page 118, modified here to pork vs beef)

Ingredients

• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 C + 2 tablespoons flour, divided in half
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 tenderized round steaks (~5-6 oz each, 1/2 inch thick)
• 1 pound shortening (2 C oil)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 C milk, room temperature

Directions
Preheat oven to 170 F. Pour buttermilk into shallow bowl. Combine 1 C flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and divide mixture between two separate bowls or plates.

Heat shortening/oil (I used olive oil) in a 12 inch heavy bottomed saute pan, about 1/2 inch of oil. Heat to ~ 350 F. When hot, dip tenderized steaks, one at a time, in the flour, then the buttermilk, then the flour and then put into the pan. Fry about 2 – 3 minutes per side (until golden) and then remove to the oven to keep warm.

When done cooking all meat, drain all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan. Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the pan along with the fresh thyme. Cook about 2 minutes or until flour is cooked. Add the room temperature milk to the pan and scrub up all bits of fried meat from bottom of the pan. Whisk this sauce and cook until it comes to a boil and then thickens. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour this gravy into a gravy boat ad serve with the steaks as well as your desired sides.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes
• 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 C bread crumbs
• 1/2 C corn meal
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• enough oil for about 1/4 to 1/2 inch oil in bottom of pan

Directions
Preheat oven to about 200 F. Heat oil to about 350 F. Slice green tomatoes about 1/2 inch in thickness. Dip tomato slices in eggs/milk and then dredge in the flour mixture. Place dredged slices into hot oil and cook until golden on each side. Remove slices to a baking pan in the 200 F oven to hold until time to serve. Sprinkle with some salt before serving.

Giveaway Details
To enter for a chance to win one of five copies of this cookbook you must do at least one of the following and may do all three to enter up to three times:

• Leave a comment below telling me about your most important basic go-to recipe
• Tweet about this giveaway with this specific tweet ” I entered 2 win @bluejeanchef ‘s cookbook Comfortable in the Kitchen @ Nikas Culinaria visit http://bit.ly/c8Hwh1 2 enter! #recipes #foodies ” MAKE CERTAIN to comment below to let me know about the tweet
• Blog about this giveaway and then let me know that you blogged it (with valid link) in the comments below

At the end of the contest, I will use a random number generator to select the winner.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Product Details

• BLUE JEAN CHEF: Comfortable in the Kitchen
• By Meredith Laurence
• Walah!, LLC Publishing
• October 2010
• $24.95/Softcover
• 96 full-color photos
• ISBN-13: 978-0-9827540-3-0

When I was offered an opportunity to review the book “Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers” by Terry Hope Romero I was intrigued. Knowing latino cuisine as I do, the thought of a vegan adaptation of this heavily pork laden foodway boggled my mind. You can see from the traditional Colombian recipes that I have blogged about on this site, meat often figures heavily in our cuisine.

It should not have boggled my mind but it did. One has to banish the thought of chicharrones from one’s mind to be able to grasp vegan latino food and that seemed like too dear a price to pay! (winks)

When I got the book and browsed the recipes I had a huge head-bonking “I get it” moment.. of course! Latino food is at its VERY best when you eat the freshest ingredients and that doesnt really encompass chicharrones but avocados, cilantro, tomatoes, corn, platanos (plantains), yucas (casava), lime, and so much more.

When you remove the pork and replace it with olive oil you still have the beautiful flavors of latino foods. I would not recommend the margarines that the author does but she is trying to recapture some of the magic of butter that veganism bans. Any vegetable fat that is solid or semi-solid at room temperature is in some way modified (hydrogenated) and that is not good for your body. The best solution here is coconut butter – organic only and produced by a company that you trust and KNOW isnt using benzenes to purify their product.

The book consists of two parts and within those two parts a broad array of basic knowledge about vegan cooking and the adapted recipes:

Part One:

• The Vegan Latin Pantry
• Kitchen Tools (or How do I slice a mango)

Part Two:

• A Few Essential Latino Vegan Recipes
• Salsas and Condiementos
• Bocadillos, Snacks, and Appetizers
• Ensaladas
• Beans and Rice, Los Dos Amigos
• Vegan Asado: Tofu, Tempeh, and Seitan
• Complete Your Plate: Vegetables, Plantains, and Grains
• One Pot Stews, Cassaroles, and Cazuelas
• Super Fantastico Latin Soups!
• For the Love of Corn: Arepas, Pupusas, Tortillas, and More
• You, Too, Can Tamale
• Empanadas!
• Drinks
• Desserts and Sweets

For this review I intentionally chose a recipe that uses a common vegetarian/vegan ingredient that is relatively foreign to latino cuisine – tempeh – so that I can see if the author had been successful at making the translation. I prefer authenticity and loathe fake meat concoctions (tofurky?). I like tofu for its tofu-ness and would never eat it hoping to feel like I am eating meat.

What is tempeh? Trust me the following description might sound a bit – umm – revolting and it kept me from trying it for a long time but also trust me that tempeh is in fact really quite delicious!

“Tempeh, or tempe in Indonesian, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempeh is unique among major traditional soy-foods in that it is the only one that did not originate in China or Japan. It originated in today’s Indonesia, and is especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh’s fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. It has a firm texture and strong flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue.” Source

I bought the organic three grain tempeh for this recipe (in addition to whole soybeans – brown rice, barley and millet). I can highly recommend this product – quite delicious!

Just a quick side note: The notion of “stuffing” an arepa is most popular in Venezuela versus Colombia. In Colombia, generally, arepas are not stuffed but eaten simply with butter and salt. I am sure now a days the propensity to “stuff” them is also spreading into Colombia (its not immune to change!). I qualify the term “stuff” here because the arepa isnt really suited for stuffing because it falls apart. Its not a pita bread. You cant really form a hinge by cutting half way through it and then stuffing it. Its more like you cut the arepa in half and then make a sandwich sort of thing.

The Recipes

For today’s review I worked from the following recipes (with some modifications based on availability of ingredients):

• Pan-Fried Tempeh with Sofrito (page 112)
• Basic Onion-Pepper Sofrito (page 32)
• Black Bean – Corn Salsa Salad (page 72)

Feedback: I can tell you ahead of time, before we go through all the recipes, that my non-vegan chicharron-eating family (3, 6, 13, adults) reveled in the deliciousness of this tempeh dish. I was fully ready for the kids to reject this new food (and I didnt tell them how it is made, they just need to trust me that its edible) but they LOVED it.

The tempeh has a unique nutty flavor (a stretch for our family too, we have extreme nut allergies here) and had a great mouth feel. My 13 yo said it tasted sorta like meat (likely with respect to the texture). They also gobbled down the corn-black bean salsa.

It was a definite hit here! I hope you give it a try and see for yourself. You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian to love these foods, they are a way to expand your own personal food habits and expose you to new flavors!

Pan-Fried Tempeh with Sofrito (page 112)

Ingredients:

• 1 (8-oz) cake of tempeh
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• vegetable oil, for pan-frying
• 1/2 cup Basic Onion-Pepper Sofrito (pg 32)
• 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup white wine, vegetable broth, or beer
• olive oil for pan-frying

Directions:

Slice the tempeh cake in half lengthwise, slice into thirds (I cubed it). You now need to steam it in a steamer basket, a covered saucepan with 1 cup water or in a microwave (covered dish, 1/2 cup water, nuke about 5 minutes). Drain all the water and then sprinkle with the soy sauce (I also sprinkled with lemon juice). Set aside.

Make your sofrito (see below).

Pan fry your tempeh on medium high in small amount of oil until golden on all sides.

To the hot pan add the following: sofrito, tomatoes, wine vinegar, cilantro, cumin; fry all until tomatoes are soft – 6-8 mins. Add in the tempeh and stir to coat and warm, ~ 5 mins. Pour the wine over this until almost absorbed, some sauce remaining. Serve in arepas, as shown.

Note on my modifications: We do not drink so we have no wine on hand, didnt add that. I also didnt add vinegar but added a splash of lemon juice.

Tempeh before preparation.

Steamed tempeh on to toast.

Golden tempeh

Basic Onion-Pepper Sofrito (page 32) (note – I made a few key changes to this recipe for this review)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely
• 2 pounds green bell peppers, seeded, chopped finely
• 2 pounds yellow onions, diced
• generous pinch of salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Saute peppers, garlic, onions, salt and ground pepper in a heavy pan on medium heat for about 10 mins. Lower heat and continue to cook for some 20 – 30 mins until all is soft and reduced to a 1/3 original volume.

Use immediately or cool and store in the refrigerator as a condiment.

Note on my modifications: In Colombian cuisine, we call the analogue to this “Hogao” and it doesnt include peppers or black pepper and would NEVER be made without cumin or cilantro. I had no peppers on hand so I made more of a traditional hogao versus this version. This means I also added cumin and tomatoes. Green onions are also especially good in this.

Arepas

Ingredients:

• 1 C “La Venezolana” or “ArepaHarina” precocida masa harina (extremely fine precooked corn meal – you simply can not use any substitutes here, find this ingredient)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 C boiling hot water

Directions:

Mix arepaharina with salt and hot water, mix well. Set aside for 5 – 10 mins. Shape into small balls (larger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball) and then flatten into pucks (smooth edges).

Toast in a hot pan until brown on sides, put into 350 F oven until ready to serve. Poke holes on top and slather with butter and sprinkle with salt or prepare as per desired recipe.

Black Bean – Corn Salsa (page 72) (I am leaving out the salad part as I only made the salsa portion)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups roasted fresh corn
• 1 (14 oz) can organic black beans (2 cups cooked black beans)

Directions:

Drain the can of beans, add the roasted corn.

Note on my modifications: I added 1 tablespoon chopped vidalia onion (raw), 2 plum tomatoes (chopped), salt, good sprinkle of cumin, 1 teaspoon minced garlic.

Bring all of this together for a delicious meal! In a traditional latino home, this would not be served without rice (I recommend organic brown rice) but we are dealing with a nasty heat wave here in the Northeast (104.7 in the shade the other day, 109 with heat index) so cooking and eating rice was the LAST thing we wanted or needed. As it was, making these arepas and hot hogao and roasting corn – it all made my kitchen hot and I was POURING with sweat – not a happy picture, that.

There are MANY more very delicious recipes in this cookbook. I recommend it for all – vegan or not. I also especially recommend it to the Latino/a who is considering or is a vegan and would like a taste of home with not so much pork in it!

Product Details:

• Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738212733
• ISBN-13: 978-0738212739

[This was cross posted at my raw food blog Raw+Simple]

I had an opportunity to dive into the book, written by by Mark Reinfeld, Bo Rinaldi, and Jennifer Murray, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw.

I had not previously read one of these Idiot’s Guides but I found that they use uncomplicated first person language that feels quite direct and the layout is actually a great one because there are useful summaries as you move through the content which leads to great knowledge pick-up and retention. There are little call out boxes with nice tips relevant to the recipe or topic on that page.

There is a VERY useful chart showing you times and temperatures for dehydrating a range of foods. As recommended by many raw food chefs, this book suggests starting the dehydrating run at 145 F and then turning it down to 105 F some 2 hours later. This might seem contrary to what you have heard, which is likely that you should NEVER raise the temperature on living foods above 115 F. What is happening in those first 2 hours at 145 F is that the rate of evaporation is higher because there is the most water at the beginning of the cycle. This evaporation COOLS the food so the food is not actually at 145 F, just the air blowing over it. This 2 step process is recommended to ensure that the food you have put so much work into does not begin to mold before it dries sufficiently.

There is so much fundamentally useful information in the first several parts that its hard to cover. I think there really is very little if anything they have failed to cover for the beginner and the experienced.

The chapters are well organized and include:

Chapters

• Part 1: Raw Foods Illuminated
• Raw Benefits
• Myth Busters
• Going Green with Raw Cuisine
• Ancient Foods, Superfoods, and the Future of Food
• The Perfect Pantry
• Tools of the Trade
• Part 2: Raw Techniques
• Preparation Basics
• Soaking and Sprouting
• Advanced Techiques
• Part 3: Recipes on the light side
• Appetizers and Spreads
• Salads and Dressings
• Sublime Sauces and Toppings
• Sumptuous Soups
• Nut Milks and Cheeses
• Bountiful Beverages
• Part 4: Hearty Fare
• Unbeatable Breakfasts
• Filling Wraps and Sandwiches
• Pizzas, Crackers, and Breads
• Delicious Main Dishes
• Puddings, Pies, and Parfaits
• Cakes, Cookies, and Energy Bars
• Part 5: Raw Transitions
• A Day in the Life
• Fasts and Cleanses
• Four Week Raw Success Program
• Glossary
• Further Resources

As usual in these reviews, I choose a recipe and test it as well as photograph it.

I chose the following mushroom recipe and I can tell you, I was quite happy I did. This is an explosively flavorful dish with a lovely contrast between the intense meaty mushroom and the fresh tartly marinated asparagus. It was a huge thumbs up from everyone in my family from the 2.5 yo to the old adults.

I also found the marinade so beguiling that I used it on other vegetables, loved it all.

Portobello Mushroom Steaks with Balsamic Asparagus (Page 226)

Ingredients

• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1/4 cup plus 3 teaspoons nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• pinch salt
• pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
• 1 bunch asparagus (or enough for 4 servings
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 medium yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and diced
• undisclosed amount of maple syrup (try 1/4 cup) – book left this out of the ingredients!

Directions

Must caps in quarters and place in a baking pan with gills facing down. Add the water and 1/4 cup nama shoyu and put into 145 F dehydrator for 30 minutes. Remove from dehydrator and pour off the marinade (save 1/2 cup).

In a separate bowl mix basil, garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons nama shoyu, salt, black pepper. Push mushrooms into this marinade, coat evenly.

In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, stone ground mustard, maple syrup, 1 teaspoon nama shoyu.

Clean and trim asparagus, put into pan, add this balsamic marinade.

Put asparagus in pan into 145 F dehydrator for 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes.

After this hour, add remaining 1/2 cup balsamic marinade to bottom of mushroom pan and put it into the 145 F dehydrator with the asparagus for 45 to 60 minutes.

Remove from dehydrator and serve warm, if desired (its not bad at all cool). Recipe suggests sprinkling with the bell peppers but I didn’t for my photos.

Again, this recipe was amazing and I would recommend it completely, lots of amazing flavor.

Product Details

• Title: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1 edition (July 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1592577717
• ISBN-13: 978-1592577712
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches

Some time ago I reviewed a cookbook called “Tassajara Cookbook: Lunches, Picnics, and Appetizers” by Karla Oliveira where I covered Tassajara, a magical mountain retreat for the San Francisco Zen Center.

Today’s review covers the related book Tassajara Dinners & Desserts by Dale and Melissa Kent, a beautiful and delicious cookbook that shares simple go-to vegetarian meals used at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat to nourish the monks, trainees and students who live in this amazing place.

The photography is just fantastic, inviting you to dive into this book to learn how to make these tasty dinners. The front cover holds nothing back, just take a look at it!

Contents:

Foreword by Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts

Introduction

• What is it like to do active cooking meditation
• How the zen kitchen works

Starters

• Ginger Hummus
• Grandma Chu’s Sweet & Sour Marinated Asparagus

Vegetable Side Dishes

• Pungent Cucumber Salad with Black Sesame ad Ginger
• Moroxican Spiced Potatoes

Vegetable Entrees

• James Creek Farm Ratatouille
• Tagine with Apricots, Olives, and Artichoke Hearts

Baked Entrees

• Baked Muffaletta Crepes
• Annie’s Frittata with Caramelized Onions, Goat Cheese, and Sage

Beans & Legumes

• Butch’s Black Eyed Peas
• Chickpea Stew with Collard Greens and Indian Spices

Tofu

• Dragon’s Head Tofu
• Mole Verde with Tofu

Grains & Pastas

• Mushroom Squash Risotto
• Mint-Cilantro Udon with Fresh Ginger and Meyer Lemon

Desserts

• Lemon Sponge Custard with Raspberry Sauce
• Ricotta Chevre with Ginger Berry Compote

Basic Techniques

• Vegetable Stock and Variations
• Basic Ingredients and Sauces

For this review I chose to make the a vegetarian lasagna with a change to the book’s recipe. Instead of just using a store bought past (fresh or dried) I used some homemade lasagna I made from organic sprouted whole wheat I had made (see this post for information on making your own sprouted whole wheat flour “Making Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour” and this post on how to make lasagna pasta out of it “Homemade Sprouted Whole Wheat Pasta“). I also used homemade goat cheese (chevre) from our own goats in our backyard (Making chevre cheese from our home-milked goat milk) and organic chard I grew in our garden and egg from our chickens (Humble Garden).

Tofu Lasagna with Mushrooms, Goat Cheese, and Chard

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried pasta or 1.5 pounds fresh pasta
• Sauce:
• 1.5 cups chopped onions
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minded
• 1 tablespoon dried italian herb seasoning (I used fresh oregano and basil from garden)
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cups crumbled tofu
• 4-5 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
• Filling:
• 1 bunch chard
• 1 pound mushrooms, washed and quartered
• 1 pound goat cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt and pepper
• 3 cups grated Provolone, Mozzarella, Fontina, or Gruyere

Directions

Sauce:

Saute onions, carrots, and celery over medium heat until soft and a bit brown. Add garlic and herbs without stirring. Turn up heat to brown and then add wine to deglaze (scrape up fond – stuck bits). Add tofu and cook with much stirring until liquid almost gone. Brown the tofu a bit, coat with all other sauce parts. Add tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes.

Filling:

Wash greens, remove stems, set the stems aside. Cop stems into tiny bits. Blanch greens and stem bits in boiling water (or steam them) until cooked through. Shock in icy water (this “sets” the chlorophylls so that the chard will be a bright green) and then drain. Chop roughly and then dry completely.

Bake the mushrooms in a 425 F oven or sear them on the stovetop. Set aside with the greens.

Mix the goat cheese, egg, parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Prepare the lasagna pasta as per instructions.

Oil a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, ladle some sauce on the bottom, add first layer of pasta. Spread 1/4th of the filling over the pasta and cover with some sauce. Layer on some tofu, goat cheese, greens, mushrooms as well as mozzarella (if using). Put down the next layer of pasta and repeat as before, 3 more times. The whole thing should end with a layer of pasta at the top and some more sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan and even, possibly bechamel sauce. (I didnt put the bechamel sauce, seemed a bit much to me).

Bake at 350 F for 30 – 40 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and top is toasty brown.

Our Take on this dish:
Everyone from the toddler on up completely enjoyed this dish. Remember that sprouted wheat yields a bit sweeter product (because the sprouting process started some of the starches on their enzymatic journey) and that any whole wheat pasta product will have a different sort of mouth feel than your usual “white bread” sort of “enriched” pasta product. In this case, the pasta had a lot of presence in this dish, lending an almost “meaty” sort of sensation, which was a plus to those family members who like to have meat at every meal!

My Take on this cookbook:

The book is simply beautiful, the recipes are diverse and quite inspiring for all sorts of eaters: vegetarians to omnivores! I can only say good things about this cookbook, it has been a pleasure to review and oogle over. I suggest giving it a try!

Product Details:

• Title: Tassajara Dinners & Desserts
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (January 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423605209
• ISBN-13: 978-1423605201
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds

In concert with the Can Around the Nation canning event this weekend (see this post for more details Join the Canvolution!) in Somerville, MA where I will be teaching pressure canning, I am sharing a review of a cookbook I received on putting up food!

The cookbook is called Putting Up: A Seasonal Guide to Canning in the Southern Tradition and it was written by Stephen Palmer Dowdney.

These recipes are meant to have a southern bias. When I lived in the south, for decades, I never hooked into the Southern Canning Scene (as it were) so I dont know if these are, in fact, old southern goldies.

I can say that they all sound delicious! I can also say that the recipe I tested out, for Peach Mint Preserves, is delicious and easy. I share my experience with it below.

The author of this book, Stephen Palmer Dowdney, has quite a varied background, from Citadel grad to United States Army: Airborne, Ranger and Special Forces qualified, other various activities, and is the owner of Rockland Plantation Products, a company focused on canning traditional recipes previously found in pantries all across America. Its from a background of producing small batch preserves in a commercial setting for 12 years in the deep south (South Carolina) that Dowdney writes this book.

After the introduction is a chapter called Canning and in it the author spins a beautiful remembrance of an idyllic childhood on a southern self-sufficient plantation next to the ocean. From there he launched into many other endeavors but 50 years later, he came back to a nurturing place when he began to make the preserves and pickles of his grandmother.

Note that to use this cookbook you MUST read the Canning chapter and in particular the “How” part. He explains in great detail all the fundamentals of boiling water canning (no pressure canning in this book). Please read this section completely. You will need to understand what he means by hot packing, raw packing, etc to be able to do the recipes.

The book is then organized into recipes by month of the SOUTHERN food calendar. I note it’s southern-ness as I live far north of South Carolina so what we get, comes into season at a different time. If you are working with produce from the store, seasonality will not be an issue. If you live up north and are putting up the bounty of your own production or that of local farmers markets, you will need to adjust your monthly expectations!

The chapters, with sample recipes, include:

Part One: Canning

Part Two: The Recipes

January

• Lowcountry Pluff Mud

February

• Artichoke Pickles
• Artichoke ChowChow

March

• Strawberry Preserves
• Pickled Asparagus

April

• Strawberry-Orange Marmalade
• Pickled Beets

May

• Green Tomato Chow-Chow
• Very Berry Preserves

June

• Pickled Shrimp
• Dilled String Beans

July

• Garden Vegetable Soup
• Hot Pepper Jelly

August

• Whole Fig Preserves and Jam
• Watermelon Rind Pickles

September

• Pear Relish
• Corn Liquor BBQ Sauce

October

• Pumpkin Chips
• Sweet Potato Butter

November

• Cranberry Chutney
• Mint Jelly

December

• Christmas Morning Marmalade
• Field Pea Relish

Part Three: Afterthoughts

Resources

So now, on to the Peach Mint Preserve! I can tell you it comes out delicious and it is quite easy to do.

Peach Mint Preserves (page 118)

Ingredients

• 4 C peaches (peeled)
• 1/2 C chopped mint, packed tight
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 pack pectin or 1/3 C bulk pectin
• 5 1/2 C sugar

He provides canning notes, as follows:

• This is a hot pack, acid recipe
• pH is not an issue, no testing is required
• Recipe makes 6 1/2 pint jars
• Recipe can be halved or doubled

Directions

Prepared and place all ingredients except the sugar into the pot.

Over high heat, with much stirring, bring to a strong boil. Add the sugar and stir hard, bring to a rolling boil (Watch out for hot sugary splatters!)

Begin the 1 1/2 minute timing before canning: but after 1 minute, check for signs of jelling (see book for details).

Hot pack according to the book.

And then, Enjoy!

Product Details:

• Title: Putting Up: A Seasonal Guide to Canning in the Southern Tradition
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (June 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423602803
• ISBN-13: 978-1423602804
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds

Goat Cheese by Maggie Foard (published by Gibbs Smith in July 1, 2008) is a delightful cookbook that explores a range of ways for using goats milk cheeses.

You may remember that we have our own herd of 18 LaMancha dairy goats and that we milk 7 does on a daily basis (we are up to 2 gallons a day). I blogged on how to make chevre cheese from goats milk some time ago – Making chevre cheese from our home-milked goat milk. Its quite easy and I do it now on a daily basis! Only difference between the chevre I make and what you buy in the store is that ours is extremely fresh (taste just blows you over) and its raw – has not been pasteurized.

With 1 gallon making about $30 worth of cheese (about 30 ounces) we have a lot of cheese! I also make yogurt, Labne (strained yogurt), and buttermilk. We also drink it fresh. All of this is consumed raw so that we can get the full benefit of the special ecology of our goats. We do love them so!

Back to the chevre. In the near future I will be making semi-soft, semi-firm and hard cheeses from the goat milk but for now its chevre. This cookbook could not have come at a better time. Not all of the recipes are for chevre, some are for the other sorts you can buy at better cheese shops (Whole Foods for example).

I tested out a chevre recipe and found it to be simply fantastic and one that I think I could eat several times a week and at any time of day (great for breakfast, lunch or supper).

I highly recommend this book for the experienced cheese type and to those of you who are new to goat cheeses. Foard has an excellent section at the back of the book that goes over the different types of goat cheeses that are made. She does a beautiful job in the introduction to the book giving you a sense for how she came to goat cheese (she kept a goat and then it all spiraled out from there). The many recipes and photos span a great variety of palate pleasing dishes that are sure to hit on some of your own favorites or entice you to make something new!

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Morning Breads and Pancakes
• Frittatas, Omelettes and Eggs
• Pizzas and Quesadillas
• Appetizers and Sandwiches
• Soups and Salads
• Main Dishes and Pastas
• Desserts
• A Beginners Guide to Goat Cheesesz

I tried out a recipe on Page 86 called “Farmstand Lettuce with Baked Goat Cheese Buttons and Rosemary Walnuts” but had to change a few things.

I can tell from the photo that this would be a fantastically delicious salad. Thing is, we have nut allergies so I had to pass up on those delicious sounding rosemary walnuts.

I also had to improvise a bit with the rest as I realized I had no panko!

I decided to use some unsweetened organic flaked coconut with rosemary and turmeric (to give it a golden color) as a replacement for the panko.

One last change I made was that I pan fried it (in organic coconut oil) instead of baking it as the book suggests. I served it with lettuce from our garden (mustard greens and other mesclun types) as well as coconut oil sauted red bell peppers that were so sweet and a delightful counter-flavor to the tangy goat cheese.

I will list to recipes here – the one as found in the cookbook and then the one I actually made that you see in the photos here.

“Farmstand Lettuce with Baked Goat Cheese Buttons and Rosemary Walnuts” (Page 86)

Ingredients

• Several heads of young farmstand lettuce or 1/2 pound baby lettuce mix
• 8 ounces fresh chevre
• 2 tablespoons minced herbs, like rosemary, thyme, and oregano
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1/2 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice
• 1 – 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• pinch salt
• Rosemary Walnuts (see below)
• Fresh Baquettes

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Wash and dry lettuce, set aside. Place chevre and herbs in a small bowl. Poach the garlic in the olive oil (do not let get dark). Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil into the chevre and then mix with a fork. Make 4 little chevre patties and dredge them in the crumbs. Cover and put in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

Pour remaining oil into the bottom of a large salad bowl, add the vinegar or lemon juice, mustard, honey, and salt. Whisk vigorously until emulsified. Toss lettuce in this and put out onto 4 small salad plates.

Bake the cheese buttons for about 7 minutes or until the cheese JUST begins to soften. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve out onto the salad plates, top with the Rosemary Walnuts and add toasted baquettes.

Rosemary Walnuts

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups walnut halves and pieces
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh or dried rosemary, roughly chopped
• kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small baking pan, combine walnuts,olive oil and rosemary. Toss and coat. Spread them out in the pan and sprinkle with some salt. Bake 7 – 8 minutes or until fragrant. Do not overbake or burn!

Nika’s Coconut Rosemary Goat Cheese buttons

Ingredients

• 8 ounces freshly made chevre
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh marjoram, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 3 tablespoons organic unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 3 tablespoons organic coconut oil

Directions
Mix chevre, minced herbs and salt until distributed. Form into buttons or patties, mix coconut, turmeric and rosemary, at coconut mixture onto the two sides of the cold chevre buttons, put in freezer for 10 – 15 minutes.

Add coconut oil to a medium cast iron pan and allow to melt.

Fry the buttons until golden. Use a heavy metal ad sharp spatula, flip quickly and then remove carefully.

Serve with eggs or as a salad.

Enjoy!

Product Details

• Goat Cheese
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423603680
• ISBN-13: 978-1423603689
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the famed mountain retreat of the San Francisco Zen Center. SF Zen center was founded by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in the 60s. It is a vibrant Zen community (sangha) that has been instrumental in bringing Zen to the West and has served as an important crucible in the inevitable forging process as Eastern and Western thought forms have mixed, melded, and reacted against one another to form a uniquely American form of Zen.

You can learn so much by visiting their sites (listed above) and also, if you would like to go deeper, you can listen to teishos on podcast. Teishos are essentially lectures that are interspersed between 30 to 45 minute blocks of silent meditation. The center leader will speak on all manner of things that will help the sangha develop their practice. The more traditional teishos cover koans – extended riddle type narratives that have been used for millennia by the Chinese and Japanese to facilitate the awakening (kensho) of the sangha.

There are three locations for the community: City Center, Green Gulch Farm, and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center lies north of San Francisco in the Ventana Wilderness, near the Pacific. I know of it from reading about the SF Zen center, their history (good and bad) and from my life long personal journey in Zen.

It is the first zen monastery in the west and is tasked with keeping body and soul together for the many people who dedicate their lives to deepening their zen practice. Part of this has been a delicious tradition of feeding the monks and other visitors delicious vegetarian foods.

I have never even really entertained the fantasy of being able to spend time at any of these centers as my life doesn’t afford me such opportunities. Its ok, I, like a huge number of other zen practitioners, practice quietly at home.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t think on how splendid it would be to be able to spend time at Tassajara in quiet bliss, practicing and also enjoying the wholesome foods (grown on site and also at Green Gulch Farm).

All of this is prologue to explain why I would jump at a chance to review two cookbooks from Tassajara (published by Gibbs Smith in 2007): Tassajara Dinners & Dessertsand Tassajara Cookbook: Lunched, Picnics, and Appetizers

Today I am going to talk about Tassajara Cookbook: Lunched, Picnics, and Appetizers and will cover Tassajara Dinners & Desserts in another post.

This book gives you some background on the monastery as well as how lunches have become elevated to these feasts of wholesome and tasty goodness. The recipes in this book open a window onto some of these offerings. The breadth is fantastic and the images are simply beautiful.

Whether you are vegetarian or a carnivore, you should be able to appreciate the mouth watering recipes in this cookbook.

The Table of Contents reads as follows:

• Dairy Spreads
• Vegan Spreads
• Pate & Loaves
• Tofu, Tempeh & Egg Salad Sandwich Fillings
• Chutneys, Sauces & Salsas
• Marinades for Tofu, Tempeh & Vegetables
• Salads, Dressings, Pickles & Relishes
• Dairy Cookies
• Vegan Cookies & Sweets
• Composing Your Movable Feast

There are so many delicious possibilities to chose from, it was hard to pick. In the end, I went shopping for ingredients on a very hot day (we were taking a run for 95 F on that day here in MA) so I chose a cold recipe. It is also the recipe featured on the cover of the book. I certainly didn’t do the cover any justice but we were VERY happy with the results.

Our taste testing for this recipe came out a resounding YUM. We usually do NOT eat tofu (so many issues with soy products and we are not vegetarian so we don’t use it to replace other protein) but I made an exception for this review. This means that my family (DH, kids – 12 yo, 5 yo, 2.5 yo) are not accustomed to eating tofu.

When the DH and 12 yo tried it, they loved it and got many tastes. The 5 yo is in a picky phase so she decided against more. The surprise was the toddler, who called it cheese, he could not get enough! He just loved it. He loves any sort of cheese, especially brie, so I am guessing he just fit this into his cheese universe.

I am definitely going to be making more of these recipes. Let me know if you get the book and which ones become your favorite!

Tofu Marinated with Parsley and Olive Oil (page 125)

Ingredients:

• 2 (12 ounce) blocks firm tofu
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• pinch ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, or thyme (optional)
• 1/3 cup olive oil, best quality

Directions:

Slice the tofu into cubes. Mix garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, capers, lemon juice, and fresh herbs in a small bowl. Let this mix sit a few minutes and then add the olive oil, stir. Add the tofu and gently mix to coat all pieces. I added all this to a baggie, purged the excess air and then closed it up. I let this marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Next day, let come to room temperature and serve with a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

Product Details

• Tassajara Cookbook: Lunches, Picnics & Appetizers
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers (August 31, 2007)
• ASIN: B001TLPEZK

It is always inspiring to meet people who are passionate about food. Sandor (Sandorkraut) Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, spoke at BU’s “The Future of Food: Transatlantic Perspectives” conference and I snagged a front row seat.

Sandor was there a bit early (along with us early attendees) and chatted with us as he methodically cut up a cabbage and carrots, salting them as he went.

He then launched into an extremely well articulated and impassioned talk on his journey into wild fermentation, about why fermentation is such a powerful method of food preservation and transformation and how fermentation, especially lacto-fermentation, is really important for our health.

Take home message 1: Fermentation is the OPPOSITE of canning.

Take home message 2: Fermentation is safe BECAUSE of the beneficial bacterial populations (lactobacillus) that create an acidified environment which suppresses the toxin producing bacteria.

Take home message 3: When canning fails it is dangerous BECAUSE it kills all of those beneficial bacteria and allows toxin producing ones like Clostridium botulinum (botulism) to thrive in the oxygen-free environment.

Here is some kraut I am making (red from red cabbage).

And here I am pressing down on the covering plate to get the juices up – to suppress molds on surface of the kraut.

Sandor also spoke of other popular ferments such as kefir. In the image below he is showing us some kefir grains, necessary for making a sparkling kefir drink!

The wikipedia describes kefir as:

Kefir (alternately kefÄ«rs, keefir, kephir, kewra, talai, mudu kekiya, milkkefir, búlgaros) is a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region. It is prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep’s milk with kefir grains. Traditional kefir was made in skin bags that were hung near a doorway; the bag would be knocked by anyone passing through the doorway to help keep the milk and kefir grains well mixed.

Someone asked him about kombucha and he talked about its history and culture. Someone in the audience “just happened” to have some on hand so he got to show us the “mother” culture (called a mushroom by some but it is DEFINITELY not fungal in composition).

Wiki describes kombucha as:

Kombucha is the Western name for sweetened tea or tisane that has been fermented using a macroscopic solid mass of microorganisms called a “kombucha colony”.

Sandor was of the opinion that you would be better served with whole food ferments like kraut versus a tea and sugar water one like kombucha.

There is SO much more to learn from Sandor about this lacto-fermented world! Pick up his books Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved – and also visit his site – Wild Fermentation.

If you get a chance to see him speak in person, you will not be disappointed!

I showed you my new sauerkraut above. I have also been starting a wild sourdough culture too.

My first one got too stressed out and was harboring mostly an acetone producing bacteria, dumped it. I am now onto the second try.

Am crossing my fingers this one will take off!

The room was packed to the gills with people who were eagerly awaiting the start of his talk.

One minute we were waiting for him to come and chatting with each other and the next, Morimoto is walking down the center isle, greeting everyone.

The relatively dry and humorless guy who was interviewing Morimoto (a great shame) had to stop his odd monologue at the beginning as Morimoto had to reconfigure his traditional Japanese outfit.

The interviewer proceeded to try to ask questions that were less than scintillating and asked with too much complexity.

At times, thankfully, Morimoto’s interpreter would get up and help him understand the question and help formulate an answer.

Despite the fact that Morimoto has lived in the US for some 20 odd years, his english is not yet perfectly polished. Even though, you can see his charisma and spark. He seems like a genuine authentic person.

After the keynote session, Morimoto had a book signing out in front of the lecture hall but there were WAY too many people in line for the number of available books so I went down to the show floor where he would continue the signing with more books.

He is promoting his new and fantastically beautiful book –

Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking

I waited in that line, chatting with new friends from Chicago and Michigan, for more than an hour! When he came down to the booth, there was this enormous rush of people that surrounded us, standing there in line.

He walked up and got ready for this next hour of signing.

I was second in line and a bit freaked out by the crush of the paparazzi behind me. Morimoto was as cool as a clam as he got settled in.

He was extremely kind when I came up. I had asked him during the questions after the keynote to consider doing a project with kids – teaching them about bento boxes. He and his interpreter recognized me from that question and smiled and laughed. I smiled and mostly remember still tweaking about the crush of people behind me and the security guys on their radios asking for more back up.

He wrote a lovely note to me in my copy of the book, in Japanese too.

As I walked away, grown men (two asian fellows) asked to see my signed copy. I did and asked them to translate it. I vaguely remember that it says something like “Follow your big dreams” or something like that.

This book is simply stunning in it’s beauty. I shot a few pages for you to sample.

Here is a page that shows what he did at the beginning of the talk!

It was totally worth the wait, I enjoyed my time there that day immensely!

Here are all the shots relating to Morimoto that I took that day.

Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden

Eating homegrown food is not only good for you and your bank account but it can be fantastically tasty and quite photogenic.

I recently received a review copy of “Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden” by Jeanne Kelley (published in April 2008 by Running Press Books). Kelley has decades of experience writing for Bon Appetit, Cooking Light magazine and many of her recipes have been published in LA Times Magazine, Natural Health, Islands and Spa Magazines.

Her professional life and her home life come together in Blue Eggs Yellow Tomatoes as she writes about how she raises some of her own food (chickens, vegetables) at her suburban home in Los Angeles and shares recipes that yield simply delicious concoctions that should satisfy anyone, whether you are growing your own food or if you go to the farmer’s market.

The book includes a charming mixture of fantastic food photography and the author’s own photographic glimpses into her family and backyard. She is not a professional photographer but her images are candid and enjoyable.

She covers various topics not necessarily found in your average cookbook, from how to garden in your own backyard to growing chickens to how to compost.

Nascent gardeners are given plenty of reasons to start growing their own food – 150 delightful recipes that span the range from salads to desserts in 10 chapters.

• Appetizers and Small Plates
• Soups
• Salads
• Sandwiches and Tartines
• Pizza and Pasta
• Fish and Poultry
• Meats
• Vegetables and Sides
• Desserts and Sweets
• Breakfast and Brunch

I found her salads chapter to be particularly enticing. They are quite beautiful and diverse, many interesting ingredient ideas. My attraction to the salads is also fed by a hankering for the veggies that have not even sprouted in my garden.

I really enjoyed the craftsmanship of this book. It is a large book (3.8 pounds) with bright white pages mixed in with country-home pages featuring a sunny palette of colors. As I mentioned before, the food photography is quite enticing.

Other attractions include a guide on pantry stocking and equipment choices, a kitchen garden primer, a section on how to use a recipe, and a guide for chicken keeping.

I am obviously biased positively toward anyone making an effort to grow their own food (veggie and animal). We have our organic garden, a flock of layer chickens, and a growing herd of dairy goats.

I would recommend this lovely cookbook to anyone who loves food and who is interested in pouring love and nurturing into their cooking.

Product Details:

• Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (March 31, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0762431830
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.8 x 1.3 inches
• Price: $23.10