Umbrian Olive Oil: Casa Margherita

As I was writing the last piece on olive oil, Adrian, a friend from my London days, contacted me about his new cookbook. He now lives in Umbria in an organic olive orchard, and has chronicled his experiences into his book, Casa Margherita Cookbook—CUOCO—Recipes Inspired by Umbria’s Larder. The book features recipes from local towns with an emphasis on their signature foods: Perugia’s chocolate, Cascia’s saffron, Trevi’s olive oil. Photos below show layouts from the book, which includes personal photos and insights into the Italian lifestyle. The book can be purchased directly from the website, for about $15. Or, while you are at the website you might want to adopt an olive tree (around $105) which gets you: a gift box with tin of extra virgin olive oil, certificate and olive oil handbook; a copy of Cuoco; and at harvest time, 2 litres of extra virgin olive oil from your very own tree. See the recipe for salt cod fritters below from the book. It could be the perfect antipasto to serve to your next guests.

SALT COD FRITTERS
Serves 4
8 oz salt cod (baccalà) soaked overnight in lots of unsalted water with the bones removed and then shredded in a food processor
2 oz flour
salt
oil for frying
In a mixing bowl add the flour and salt and mix well. Take a tablespoon of salt cod and form a pattie with your hands and dust well in the flour. Deep fry these in batches in hot oil until they are golden brown.

La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life

Want to escape to an ideal world where all the food is pretty, and the landscapes are to-die-for? Take a look at La Tartine Gourmande for inspiration on cooking (and for taking a trip somewhere!) Béatrice Peltre, a photographer, stylist, and food lover, brings all her talents together in this lovely book. Her recipes typically focus on one amazing ingredient, and are healthy, and simple to create—but mostly, look tantalizingly delicious. Take a peek at this piece in the New York Times, which highlights the video created to promote the book. Well done. You can see a sampling of the book on Amazon, or visit the blog for sample recipes and tons of beautiful photos. Enjoy the trip!

HOLIDAY HELPERS FOR YOU: Edible Gifts

Gourmet Gifts:100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself and Wrap with Style
This book is loaded with great recipes for gifting, plus creative ways to package and present to your host. The recipes fall into a gamut of categories, like Hazelnut Brittle, wrapped to look like vintage letters, Whole Preserved Lemons stored in jars with instructions attached, and Rose Petal Vinegar (as seen in the photos). Dinah Corley takes into account foods that ship well over a long distance, and how long items will last. Check out the website for behind-the-scenes photos on her blog and more about the book.

HOLIDAY HELPERS FOR YOU: French Techniques

The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food that French Women Cook Every Day
I saw tons of recipes that were perfect for entertaining in this book by Wini Moranville, who brings the spirit of the French lifestyle with her recipes inspired from spending summers at her house in France for the past 15 years. The easy techniques and speedy preparation will have you choosing to make one recipe after another. The following recipe would be a welcome hostess gift, or be great to have on hand for the holidays—the crackers keep for a week refrigerated (tightly covered), or up to one month in the freezer. 










Comté-Walnut Crackers
Makes about 24 crackers
1 cup shredded Comté, Gruyère, or Emmental cheese, at room temperature (about 4 ounces)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley or chives, or a combination
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon ice water, plus more if needed
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the cheese and butter on low speed until combined. Add the herbs, salt, cayenne pepper, and a few grindings of black pepper; mix briefly to combine. Add the flour and mix until crumbly. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture and toss with a fork to combine. If needed, add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough clings together.
2. Gather the dough into a ball, place the ball on a clean, flat surface, and shape it into an 8-inch log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or lightly grease them).
4. Using a very sharp knife, cut the log into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1 inch apart on the sheets and bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool the crackers on the sheets for 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Summertime Cookbooks

Three ideas for healthy summer eating.

Summer = TACOS
300 BEST TACO RECIPES offers a world of flavors perfect for summer feasting. You just might spend the entire season trying them all. Here’s just a sampling: Pollo Verde Tacos, Gingered Short Rib Tacos, Green Chile Stew Tacos, Tres Taquitos with Guacamole, Spicy Chorizo Tacos, and Mahi Mahi Tacos with Citrus Salsa. The book also shows you how to make your own authentic flour and corn tortillas, salsas, and other sauces. Author Kelley Cleary Coffeen knows how to make nutritious food, having assisted in the development of healthy, ethnic recipes for Diabetics with the Joslen Center at Harvard Medical School and New Mexico State University. Available at Amazon.

ARTICHOKE AND SPINACH TACOS
Makes 8 tacos

1 cup spinach leaves, trimmed and torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup chopped drained canned artichoke hearts
1⁄4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1⁄4 cup chopped drained canned water chestnuts
Juice of 1 lemon

Jalapeño Cream Sauce
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 roasted jalapeños
1 TB minced fresh cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a blender, pulse mayonnaise, yogurt, jalapeños and cilantro until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to an airtight container or squeeze bottle. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or for up to 4 days.

8 taco shells, warmed
1⁄2 cup crumbled Cotija cheese

In a bowl, combine spinach, lettuce, artichoke hearts, red onion and water chestnuts. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or for up to 2 hours to allow flavors to blend. Just before serving, toss with lemon juice and Jalapeño Cream Sauce.

To build tacos, divide mixture equally among taco shells. Top with cheese. Fold tortillas in half.

Excerpted from 300 Best Taco Recipes by Kelley Cleary Coffeen © 2011 Robert Rose Inc. www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Cool Kitchen: Cook Zen

Summer heat makes you want to spend less, not more time in the kitchen. And if you don’t have to turn the oven on, even better. The Cook Zen pot goes into your microwave, turning it into a healthy zone for creating meals—and gets your food on the table fast, without losing nutritious vitamins and minerals. You can also prepare foods without adding excess oil, a tremendous saving in calories. Imagine serving spareribs in 14 minutes? You can also make Chocolate Truffles (1 minute cooking time), Creamy Kabocha Pumpkin (6 minute cooking time), and Spicy Coconut Chicken (9 minutes cooking time). The recipe below comes from the appliance’s second cookbook: The Cook Zen Way to Eat, which features more American-style recipes than the first edition. The pot is available on Amazon for $43.98, the cookbook for $12.29.

ASIAN-STYLE SPARERIBS

4 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
8 pork ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar

Place the olive oil and garlic in the Cook-Zen. Heat on medium-high, uncovered, for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and heat on medium-high for 13 minutes with the steam holes set to “close.” Makes 4 servings.

Live Raw

Live Raw: Raw Food Recipes for Good Health and Timeless Beauty  For those who live raw, or want to venture into it, this new cookbook from Mimi Kirk is packed with recipes for smoothies, mocktails, soups, salads, cheeses, and more. With the help of a dehydrator, you can even create breads and pancakes. Mimi tells you how to detox, what vitamins you need daily, and how to successfully live a raw lifestyle. The recipe below from the book makes a great dip to include in your spread for vegetarian guests. Click here to order on Amazon. 

ZUCCHINI HUMMUS

2 zucchinis, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup raw tahini
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt or to taste
Freshly milled pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Water as needed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Paprika
Chopped parsley for garnish

Put all ingredients in blender, reserving the olive oil and paprika. Blend, adding water a little at a time to make a thick, smooth consistency. Taste for seasonings. A little bit more tahini, salt, or jalapeño? You decide.

Place on a flat plate and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus with a tablespoon. Add the olive oil to the well, sprinkle with paprika, and garnish with finely chopped parsley.

Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT)

America, once the land of plenty, is losing its food traditions along with valuable and tasty food sources. For instance, a century ago, Americans grew 15,000 varieties of apple; today, there are only 1500. That’s why the members of RAFT have created a book to cherish and showcase foods in America that are in danger of becoming extinct. The mission of RAFT is not only to educate the population about what is endangered, but also to share time-honored recipes using the ingredients, and ways to stop the decline. A chart in the back of the book points to which species are threatened (marginally available), endangered (hard to locate, but not gone yet), and functionally extinct (unavailable except in private collections). What can you do about it? Grow your own, create your own recipes, or support those who do! Get a peek at what’s inside the book at this link.

Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking

You’ve probably been hearing all about the series of books by Nathan Myhrvold (and co): Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Over three years, and a super equipped team went into the making of this book, testing cooking techniques and theories on the most scientific level. I recently attended a lecture with Nathan, hosted by Padma Lakshmi, at the National Academy of Science, across from the WTC site. Unfortunately, I ended up going a few stops into Brooklyn on the N train, so missed the beginning of the standing-room-only lecture. Fortunately, I did not miss the sample of the pistachio ice cream which was made without any dairy, using only the oils from the nuts themselves to create an ultra-nutty tasting treat. The 6 book set explores the topics of food safety, baking, braising, stewing, grilling, barbecuing, roasting, frying. The photos, alone, are enough reason to purchase the set, which feature appliances cut in half, to show the cooking within, food ballistics, and beautifully lit step shots. The set retails for $675, but is available on back order at Amazon for around $465. Check out the in-depth review at the New Yorker.

Junoon: Upscale Indian in a Peaceful Setting

I have the honor and joy of designing Chef Vikas Khanna’s upcoming cookbook, Flavors First. For the last month or so, in the process of designing the pages, my mind has been focused and attracted to Indian ingredients. I discovered Vikas’ recipes contain some attractive, unexpected combinations (like beet and poppy seed chutney) plus a lot of entertaining stories that take you from his time as a watchful young boy growing up in his grandmother’s kitchen in India to the chef he is today. (May I also mention that he won one round of NYC’s Hottest Chef on Eater?) I had been dying to go to Junoon, his current restaurant, since its opening in December, and thought my cousin’s birthday at the end of January to be the perfect excuse for a night of feasting. We ordered some appetizers and entrees, while Vikas generously offered us a taste of his personal favorites. I have to say, despite the amount of food we ate, I did not have an overly full feeling—all the dishes were flavorful and fresh, but not at all heavy. The 3 types of naan we tried, alone, were to die for, especially the one that had a prune and walnut filling. The night went on and on—see photos from the birthday dinner, and be sure to stay tuned for the cookbook’s debut towards the end of this year. In the meantime, check out some photos from the publisher's party.

Barney’s Version: the Genius of Paul Giamatti

I’m not a big movie-goer, but last Monday night my friend Peter invited me to the pre-showing of Barney’s Version, the new movie starring Paul Giamatti. Since then I have been spreading the news. If you enjoy movies with a twisting story that includes hilarity, suspense, mystery and scandal, you will eat this up. Based on a novel by Mordecai Richler, the story bounces around the life of Barney Penofsky, touching on his bachelorhood in the 70s in Rome, through three marriages and his success as a television producer in Montreal. Dustin Hoffman makes for a great sidekick as Barney’s endearingly outrageous dad. The movie is shot beautifully, and the characters age so realistically you feel as if you have spent a lifetime with them. After the showing of the movie, The Creative Coalition, who sponsored the event, had Paul Giamatti and director Richard J Lewis on hand to answer questions about the inspiration and shooting of the movie. I was already a Paul Giamatti fan, now this movie puts him on the top of my list. Go see it!

A gift for the decorating diva: Hats OFF to Mary McDonald

Once hat designer, now interior designer extraordinaire, Mary McDonald has come out with her first book, Mary McDonald Interiors: The Allure of Style. The book is loaded with beautiful objects and tons of design ideas for tieing rooms together. I like how the book is divided into in themes, like the Theater chapter, which features the Hollywood homes that have been boldly color-coordinated and artfully accessorized in moods of: Classic, Graphic, Obsession, Exotic. The book is truly a visual feast.

my latest design project: SOUPS + SIDES cookbook

Catherine Walthers, author of Raising the Salad Bar, has followed up with a soup compendium. Soups + Sides features a savvy collection of flavor-matching duos, from standards like Tomato Soup with Herbed Grilled Cheese Sandwiches to truly creative combos like Minted Honeydew Melon Soup with Coconut Sorbet and side of Lime Spice Cookies. The book contains great choices for all the seasons, plus handy tips on how to simmer a soup and create stocks for use in future cooking projects. Allison Shaw’s colorful, minimalist photos, had my mouth watering the whole time I was designing the book! Luckily, I had the recipes right there, so could immediately address my cravings.

Iron Chef America: Watch it in Brooklyn

Chef Pierre Thiam plans to watch his bout on Food Network's Iron Chef America in style—and hopes you will join him! On Thursday, June 24th Le Grand Dakar will be swaying to the sounds of Jojo Kuo and the Afrobeat Collective, and Mandekalu while serving up signature Senegalese dishes—like Oven Roasted Dates Stuffed with Spiced Lamb and Black Eye Pea Fritters to name a few. All this for only $25 in advance, or $30 at the door. Unlimited sangria is included, and there is cash bar available. You will feel like you’ve gone on a trip faraway, but you’ll only be on 285 Grand Avenue, between Clinton Place and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn. Buy tickets at this link. If you want to learn to cook like Pierre, be sure to get a copy of his book, Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal published by Lake Isle Press.

tips from the top

The Bryant Family Vineyard, known for their extraordinary wines by collectors, has gathered top chefs from around the country to create dinner recipes with matching wines suggestions (by the grape) in their new cookbook, The Bryant Family Vineyard Cookbook. See what Thomas Keller or Eric Ripert have to recommend for your next dinner party.

tasteful how-tos

The Tasting Club is the handbook for throwing all types of tasting parties: wine, chocolate, cheese, even apples. Author Dina Cheney guides you every step of the way—to help you assemble ingredients, show you what to serve as accompaniments—with recipes and hints on how to educate your palate. What a great way to learn.