New Year's Resolution: Cook More!!

Call it a new year's resolution if you want. I have tens of cookbooks and tens X tens of recipes I want to try. Sooooo, I'm starting my own book of the month club! Of course, I'm the only member... *sniff*

January's book is...ta da!! "Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry" by Donna Hay. A practical looking book with an enticing picture of every recipe (thank you!) She makes plain spaghetti look appetizing, which goes to show you shouldn't underestimate presentation.

The overall approach of "Off the Shelf" is that a simple meal with interesting flavors can come together easily with a well stocked pantry and a few fresh ingredients. Because the ingredient lists tend to be short, the quality of each ingredient is more important. I like the organization around pantry items: rice, pasta, noodles, pastes, Asian, Mediterranean, etc. For each section, she also features a "short order" page with super easy recipes.

I was so anxious to get going that I started a couple days early. Last night's dinner consisted of:
steamed broccoli
Toasted Sesame Rice -- short order
Coconut Beef Skewers -- short order
Festering Loon, er Smoking Loon Syraz, 2001

Anyone can serve fluffy white rice on the side. Toasted Sesame Rice is a quick way to punch it up a little. J.T. loves sesame seeds so it seemed like a safe bet. We forgot the green onions, but it was good all the same.
Easy & Great

Coconut Beef Skewers were not made according to recipe. We had to substitute coconut milk for coconut cream, and it was raining cats and dogs outside so no skewers on the grill. That said, I think we got the gist of it. I recommend salting the beef a little before applying the paste.
EASY & Good

The beef is a little spicy so we went with a stronger wine. It paired well.

Smoothies: the perfect food

I have two preferred smoothie books: "Smoothies" and "Super Smoothies", both by the same authors. I've had good luck with most so far.

This morning, we had the Scale Tipper Sipper from the "Super Smoothie" book. Neither of us have compromised immune systems, but Bel Aire had lots of good looking mango and we had to do something with it. I give it a great.

E-mailed to Cook's...

"To whom it may concern,

PLEASE remove me from your postal mailing list. Please do NOT mail me any cards that I have to return to prevent a book from showing up on my doorstep. Marketing that forces one to "opt out" after the fact, rather than "opt in" is rude and a burden on the customer. I am disappointed to learn that Cook's does this.

Thank you"

I'm faced with a moral dilemma. I love Cook's Illustrated and the magazine they put out. I learn from their write-ups and their approach is unique to other cooking sources. But I'm disappointed to learn they use slimy marketing to get people to buy their cookbooks. The "Restaurant Favorites at Home" showed up on my doorstep unannounced. I dug back through my unsorted mail and found a card that said "we're sending you this book unless you return this card by Dec 8". The burden is on me to return the card, or now, since I'm un-organized, the burden is on me to return a book. This sort of marketing is weasely. The first time it happened (*sigh*), I thought maybe I accidentally ordered something on the web site... Guess not. I'm on to their wiley ways.

So the dilemma is I'm angry enough to boycott them. I abhor this kind of marketing strategy. But I love their cooking approach. What's a girl to do?

My inclination is to boycott, but let's see how they respond to my communications first.

Dessert marathon

At least it seemed like a marathon, but it was nothing to my cousin and her daughter staying up until midnight baking cookies... Happily, they were gifts so we reap the benefits. ;)

For today's holiday potluck, I brought the desserts. Many people seem to be watching their weight so I wanted to take it easy with the calories. The first two were from the Cooking Light 2003 annual recipes book.

The Peanut Butter-Banana Cream Pie (cover picture on the book) was a lighter replacement for another "death by peanut butter" dessert I have that is so rich it makes you gag. Well, makes me gag - my husband loves it.

Cooking Light's version has peanut butter, cream cheese and whipped cream, but unbeknownst to the eater, it's done with less fat. The layer of banana slices on the bottom completes the classic combo.

The second was a Lemonade Layer Cake, one of their top self-rated recipes for the year. No argument it was yummy, but if this is the best the book has to offer, that would be disappointing. Lemon lovers will enjoy this dessert - don't skimp on the zest.

Luscious Lemon Cake
From Cooking Light Magazine, April 2003
Rating: great

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie
From Cooking Light Magazine, June 2003
Rating: great

Lastly, I choose a snack bread for those that didn't want sweet. I baked an Applesauce Spice Bread, which included homemade applesauce. What's the appeal for homemade applesauce? It wasn't spectacularly better than store bought. Healthier, but not much better. I used Rome, Fuji and Ya pears (yes, pears) - and the pears took for-ever to cook down! Perhaps other apple combinations would yield better results.

The recipe for the applesauce, and the bread too, was not exact. The book left the seasoning details up to the cook. The author also alternately suggested pears and/or quinces in the "apple"sauce (again more room for improvement through experimentation). I used cardamom over cinnamon because cinnamon seems overused this time of year. The cardamom gave it an unfamiliar flavor for a this style of bread. It was good, but strange because you expected the classic cinnamon. *sigh*

The bread was taken from my latest cookbook purchase: a vegetarian book. I'm not vegetarian by any definition; but it's an award winning book so what the heck. I skimmed its 700+ pages (whew!) and was attracted to many of the recipes. Of course, the book includes breads, eggs, cheese, tofu, pasta, beans, ...you get the picture...it ain't just leafy greens. I also appreciate that the recipes don't seem to rely on farmer's market quality produce - if only that were convenient. Don't be too intimidated by the volume. The index sucks :( , but the chapters are arranged logically and you can skip sections that don't appeal to you. I also noticed that the cook is sometimes required to apply a little common sense - now that is intimidating...

Applesauce Spice Bread
From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison
Rating: good
I'd try it again with cinnamon instead of cardamom (or use less). I suspect it would let more of the fresh apple/pear flavor come through.