Oser Communications Group

SERENDIPITY www.kitchenwarenews.com n MAY 2014 n KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW 2 3 "I LOVE MEATBALLS!" This 156-page book packs a variety of ways to experiment with meatballs. They're great in soup, such as the classic Mexican albondigas. The variety of ethnic-inspired dishes from around the world includes recipes from Italy, Thailand, China, Greece, Vietnam, Sweden, Morocco, and Indian. Recipes feature beef, but also include meatballs made with veal, turkey, seafood, lamb, turkey and chicken. Suggested Retail Price: $19.99 Published by Andrews McMeel www.andrewsmcmeel.com "LARD: THE LOST ART OF COOKING WITH YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S SECRET INGREDIENT" Lard? Cooking with lard? Has anyone cooked with lard since the 1950s or 1960s? Lard, for those of you who never had an old coffee can on the side of your stove, is nothing more than rendered pig's fat – and the closer the fat came to the liver, the better it was supposed to be. "Lard" is, after all, a cookbook, so it's broken into sections. The first section, "Breads and Biscuits," is 37 pages of carbohydrate nirvana. The first recipe in the book is "Grandma's Homemade Biscuits." Chapter 2 is all about vegetables, with recipes for lard-fried okra, stuffed mushrooms and onion rings – real onion rings! The following chapters include "Main Dishes," "Cookies and Brownies," "Pies," "Cakes," and, as if three chapters on sweets were not enough, the book closed with an final chapter on "Desserts!" If you're of a generation that's unfamiliar with cooking with lard, this book would be a great introduction to a long-maligned source of kitchen bliss. Grit Magazine www.grit.com/lard-home.aspx "RED OR GREEN: NEW MEXICO CUISINE" In restaurants across New Mexico the most commonly asked question is, "Red or green?" All of which is asking if you prefer red chile sauce, which has a fuller, richer and milder flavor, or green chile sauce, which has a clearer bite and is spicier. However, the color can be deceptive, so it's always best to ask your server which of the two is hotter. Winner of the 2008 New Mexico Book Award for Best Cookbook, this cookbook spends just seven pages explaining chiles, one page on corn, two pages on beans, four pages on New Mexico's increasingly popular wines, a useful glossary in the back, but the balance of the book consists of recipes where you can discover for yourself: "Red or Green?" "Red or Green" is such a simple question, but it has become so much a part of New Mexico cuisine that in 1999 "Red or Green?" was made the "official state question." Suggested Retail Price: $14.95 University of New Mexico Press in Albuquerque www.unmpress.com "SIMPLY FRESH – CASUAL DINING AT HOME" "Simply Fresh – Casual Dining at Home" offers dishes inspired by Ruby Tuesday casual dining restaurants and begins with a section on drinks. Drinks is followed by appetizers and side dishes, brunch (an overlooked meal), salads and soups, pasta, seafood, beef/pork/poultry, and desserts. The Brunch chapter includes an appealing recipe for spinach, mushroom and feta cheese omelet. The recipes here are fresh, unusual, and appealing – and the photography is so sharp that it only accents the food! The vivid, colorful photographs really help sell the book. Suggested Retail Price: $25 Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing www.andrewsmcmeel.com "THE SLIM PALATE PALEO COOKBOOK" Written by Joshua Weissman when he was a teenager, "The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook" came to life as he chronicled his 18-month, 100-pound weight loss victory starting at age 15. Weissman says he had "lost touch with real food" and suffered "extreme ridicule and physical harassment from other students" from age 9 to 14, when he decided to reconnect with "real" – unprocessed – food. Weissman describes his food philosophy as "paleo," which he says "promotes the idea that we should be eating what the human body was designed to eat based on what humans have been eating for thousands of years." He notes that people who follow a Paleo/primal diet will be avoiding foods unavailable in the Paleolithic era, prior to the development of agriculture and the cultivation of grains. "This means no bread, no oatmeal, no quinoa, no beans; just real, whole, nutrient-dense vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts and seeds," he writes. For anyone interested in a delicious, natural diet free of processed foods, "The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook" has great recipes and beautifully photographed images of those recipes. It is available from major retailers, as well as from the publisher, Tuttle Publishing, via phone at 800.526.2778 or email at orders@tuttlepublishing.com. Suggested Retrial Price: $29.95 Published by Victory Belt Publishing Inc. www.victorybelt.com "THE DELTA QUEEN COOKBOOK: THE HISTORY AND RECIPES OF THE LEGENDARY STEAMBOAT" The classic American steamboat "Delta Queen" has plied the waters of the upper Ohio River and other mid-South rivers for years. Over the years, it has hired and trained local up-and-coming chefs, who bring a unique their own unique version of "Southern Cooking" to the galley of the Delta Queen. "The Delta Queen Cookbook" is a fascinating examination of this national historic landmark (since 1989) and its unique role in American history and American regional cuisine. The book alternates between sections on history and recipes, with a menu that reflects the region's food: New Orleans style barbecue shrimp, seafood gumbo, speckled trout with pecan, crawfish pie, shrimp creole, baby back ribs, and more. What more? How about iced tea julep, popcorn soup, fried catfish with creole tomato sauce, fancy fried chicken, low country (i.e., coastal Georgia and South Carolina) shrimp boil, and you can polish it off with some tasty Mississippi mud pie. "The Delta Queen Cookbook: The History and Recipes of the Legendary Steamboat" by Cynthia Lejeune Nobles and with a foreward by Captain Clarke C. Published by the Louisiana State University Press www.deltaqueenbook.com "ROBIN TAKES 5" In today's keep-up-with-the-treadmill fast pace of life, too often the temptation is to grab some "fast food" for the family waiting patiently for dinner. Robin Miller shows in this 400-page cookbook that there is a faster, simpler way to good nutrition. She presents 500 recipes, each with five ingredients or less, and all of which have 500 of fewer calories. Few ingredients does not mean the meals skimp on flavor. Some very interesting meals are presented. Robin takes on all aspects of what's expected at dinner- time, with sections on soups, stews and chowder; pizzas, flatbreads, calzones and strudels; pasta, risotto and rice; chicken and turkey; beef and pork; seafood and shellfish, side dishes; and desserts. Anyone who comes straggling in at the end of a long day at work just might find some refreshing (and easy) ideas in "Robin Takes 5." Suggested Retail Price: $29.99 Andrews McMeel Publishing www.andrewsmcmeel.com "ALLERGY-FRIENDLY FOOD FOR FAMILIES" In this day and age when so many products are advertised as gluten-free, peanut-free, and milk alternatives abound for the lactose intolerant, it's nice to come across a simple, well-organized book containing "120 gluten- free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and soy- free recipes everyone will love," as the book's subtitle suggests. After a brief introduction on food allergies, "Allergy- Friendly Food for Families" moves from breakfast to lunch, to snacks, dinner and dessert, with meals obviously geared towards accommodating a child's food needs. As it moves from meal to meal, there are five color-coded page edges that one could immediately turn to for gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free or soy-free meals. Thus, a parent whose child has allergies to peanuts can quickly to go "lunch" and find meals available that are nut-free. This book serves as a good introduction for families dealing with food allergies, but home cooks will probably want to move on to more advanced cookbooks once the basics have been mastered. Suggested Retail Price $24.99 Published by Andrews McMeel www.andrewsmcmeel.com cookbookery BY JAC POLSGROVE Serendipity

• Cover