An Inspired Cookbook for Summer Entertaining
When the weather gets warm and we can spend more time outside, it just seems like the perfect time to have more casual get togethers. In the summer months, it’s just so easy to ask friends to stop on by for brunch or dinner. When I saw the title of Rick Rodgers new cookbook, Summer Gatherings: Casual Food to Enjoy with Family and Friends, I was immediately intrigued.
Now, when it comes to a new cookbook, the first thing I look at are the pictures. This book does not disappoint; there are pictures of almost all of the recipes. I like to know what the finished dish should look like before I attempt it, and sometimes a picture will inspire me to try something I might not have if I didn’t know what it looked like in the first place. I agree with the saying that you “eat with your eyes”; presentation is everything.
Traveling Up the Mississippi River with Alton Brown. Again.
The last time Alton Brown did a book signing in St. Louis, it was a small enough affair to fill Left Bank Books. My friend Allison presented Mr. Brown with a pair of flame-printed potholders she’d made. He saw her to-go box, asked what was in it, to which Allison’s husband replied, “It’s her leftover Reuben from Duff’s across the street. Have you eaten there? They’re great! Here - take it with you!”
Allison had to fight the TV personality for her lunch, but that’s a fair exchange for being able to tell people that Alton Brown tried to steal her Reuben.
When Mr. Brown returned to St. Louis for his most recent book signing on April 27, the crowds far exceeded the small bookstore quarters. They nearly overwhelmed the St. Louis Ethical Society. The sanctuary was filled to standing room capacity with a room of overflow fans in the basement who listened to Mr. Brown’s presentation through the intercom. It was an affair large enough to merit a catered meal by a local culinary school, so Mr. Brown probably didn’t have to battle for boxed leftovers this time.
The Alton Brown who came to St. Louis on that earlier book tour was merely the guy from Good Eats, who’d just released his first book, I’m Just Here for the Food: Food + Heath = Cooking. That was before his hosting gig on Iron Chef America, two successful seasons of Feasting on Asphalt, and the books I’m Just Here for the Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking and Alton Brown’s Gear for Your Kitchen. St. Louis was the only city Alton visited during both seasons of Feasting on Asphalt, so it makes sense that his local following would rival that of a rock star. And yet, in his seersucker suit, he still blushed a deep beet at the wild applause that greeted him from a crowd eager to ask questions and hear his tales from the road.
While watching both seasons of Feasting on Asphalt, where Alton and crew motorcycled the backroads of the U.S., spontaneously eating at whatever mom ‘n’ pop joint caught their attention, I kept hoping for at least a DVD set. It never occurred to me that the show was perfectly suited for book format. As Mr. Brown told the St. Louis crowd, photographer Jean Claude Dhien took so many wonderful photos during the second season that it was a shame for them to not be seen. Thus, the TV show evolved into the book, which not only features those gorgeous photos of the people and food that line the small towns between southern Louisiana and northern Minnesota, but tales from the road and over 40 recipes.
In the preface Mr. Brown specifies that some of the cooks they met in their travels happily shared their recipes, while others were more secretive. The book gives credit to those generous cooks and indicates which recipes were altered for home cooks or inspired by the trip and developed by Mr. Brown afterwards. In christening my newly autographed copy of the book, I opted for two restaurant original recipes: Nana Deane’s Pecan Coconut Pie from Ray’s Dairy Maid in Barton, Arkansas, and Hot Chick on a Stick from Fast Eddie’s Bon-Air in Alton, Illinois.
“The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook”
I’d be lying if I said photography isn’t important in a cookbook for me. The truth is that I enjoy savoring the photography of a good cookbook almost as much as I enjoy savoring the recipes. The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook delivers beautiful photography, interesting stories, and tasty recipes.
This coffee table-worthy book is presented by Renewing the Countryside. Quoting directly from their website:
Renewing the Countryside strengthens rural areas by championing and supporting rural communities, farmers, artists, entrepreneurs, educators, activists and other people who are renewing the countryside through sustainable and innovative initiatives, businesses, and projects. We do this by sharing stories of rural renewal, building awareness and support for sustainable endeavors, connecting people interested in sustainable rural development to each other, providing practical assistance and networking opportunities for those working to improve rural America, and fostering connections between urban and rural people.
The cookbook features local restaurants and merchants who live close to the land of Minnesota and are all about keeping it local. The book gives a marvelous travel tour across the state via the various communities and restaurants featured in the book. You’ll learn many interesting factoids, including: why the trout is so angry and just what the Scandinavian link to Minnesota’s cuisine is.
The recipes range from exotic and fairly difficult to very basic and simple. I tried 3 recipes from the book. All were a success. My family especially enjoyed the Tourlou recipe from page 129 (which is pictured above). But we also enjoyed the Salsa and the Hummus recipes from page 99!
I’ve never been to Minnesota. But after reading this local cookbook, I think I’ll be planning a trip soon! The photography alone makes the book worth it’s $29.99 price. You can purchase the book by clicking here.
Pure Food
Pure Food
As Christine describes at the beginning of the book, there are five very important factors that are woven throughout the book:
Flavour, Flavour, Flavour
Quality of Ingredients
In Season
Ease of Preparation
Health
Literary Tapas
A collection of small dishes from the realm where paper meets palate.
New Yorker David Gelin publishes a book on Southern BBQ. The 43-year-old Gelin’s opus, BBQ Joints: Stories and Secret Recipes From the Barbecue Belt (Gibbs Smith Publisher, $15.95) is less a book about BBQ recipes and more an exploration of the people who devote their lives to “Que.” Gelin traversed the Southern states in search of the best, most authentic “joints” in the country; he lists 60 in all. According to the author, “They don’t have these kinds of places up North, and I believe we all ought to seek them out and celebrate them.”
Coastal Living magazine has just released its list of the Top 25 dives in the country. The list includes places like Bozo’s Seafood Market in Pascagoula, MS, R&O Seafood in New Orleans, and Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile, AL. The list appears in the April 29 issue of Coastal Living.
What is Kindle? Imagine carrying only one book with you the rest of your life. It is a magic book, mind you, that mystically changes its pages to provide whatever book you want to read. Sounds like science fiction, right? Kindle is Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device and it does just that. Kindle allows you to download hundreds of thousands of books in less than a minute, as well as magazines, your favorite blogs, and even newspapers. Available publications include the New York Times (home of the best food and restaurant section in the country), Vineology (a wine blog), and hundreds of books on diet and nutrition.
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
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