Nadia Damaso loves food, but also loves to be healthy. In Eat Better, Not Less she proves that healthy food isn’t boring, and filling your body with the right ingredients can make you feel amazing.
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Dessert
Cookbook Review: Dorie’s Cookies
Over the course of her baking career, Dorie Greenspan has created more than 300 cookie recipes. Yet she has never written a book about them—until now. To merit her “three purple stars of approval,” every cookie had to be so special that it begged to be made again and again. Cookies for every taste and occasion are here. Ms. Greenspan pays great attention to detail. There are over 500 pages filled with recipes, tips, techniques and notes on gear and ingredients.
The author offers up treats like Portofignos, with chocolate dough and port-soaked figs, and lunch-box Blueberry Buttermilk Pie Bars. They Might Be Breakfast Cookies are packed with raisins, dried apples, dried cranberries, and oats, while Almond Crackle Cookies have just three ingredients. (more…)
Cookbook Review: How to Bake Everything
I adore Mark Bittman. Having followed his New York Times food column for years, I have always found his evocative view of the world of food quite refreshing. Bittman has written more than 20 cookbooks, including this new one, “How to Bake Everything.” For an occasional and frightened baker like myself, his witty, caustic and opinionated banter provides a compelling counter to the usual staid baking books. (more…)
CookBook Review: The Pie Project
I love this book! Two women, one mission: to share their ultimate collection of decadent sweet pies in all their bubbling, fruity, caramelized, and buttery glory.
The Pie Project is a collection of 60 delicious sweet pie recipes. Pies are very forgiving desserts for bakers: spillages are, really just an opportunity for more caramelisation and a mis-shapen pie just adds to the rustic feel! Readers are encouraged to use imperfect fruit, play around with lattice, design their own pastry top and bake the pies in whatever they have handy (some are cooked in skillets, or even enamel bowls). (more…)
Cookbook review: Alimentari: Salads + Other Classics from a Little Deli that Grew
‘Alimentari’ literally means ‘good food and camaraderie’ – and that is just what this celebrated Melbourne-based café/deli stands by. They present delicious, attainable Italian, modern European, and Middle Eastern food (with some cheffy touches) alongside a compelling story of success of the little deli that became a beloved cornerstone of the thriving and unparalleled cafe culture that Melbourne fosters.
Family Recipe: Grandma’s Rhubarb Cake
I’ve come to realize that many of us have been bequeathed a cherished family recipe. Be it simple or elaborate to prepare, it’s a dish so fiendishly delicious that it is the unmistakable star of the family meal, whether celebrating triumphs, comforting woes, or keeping family traditions alive. Withholding such heirloom recipes from the world seems almost cruel. Hence, I am championing the family recipe. I will entice the people in my universe to share favourite, nostalgia-infused family recipes, and I will give one of them centre stage in this very space on a monthly basis. In the end, we are all family, and these recipes represent the legacies of our shared passions. This month’s post is written by my buddy Truds. Enjoy!
I remember as kids raiding the garden for stalks of rhubarb. For this cake, I cut the rhubarb up really small so you get a sour taste in each bite. A lot of people don’t like the sourness of rhubarb—but I really do. The cake has just the right amount of sugar to make it completely perfect (although, I do admit that in some instances, I will reduce the amount of sugar in both the cake and in the topping.) I think the next time I get my hands on someone’s rhubarb stash, I’ll try making this recipe as a rhubarb/strawberry cake. A divine combination! Hope you enjoy!
Book Review: Israel Eats
I must begin with a confession. I adored/obsessed over this cookbook so much that I hesitated to write about it. You know that feeling when you encounter something or someone so great that you are left to fall silent? I felt a bit unworthy. Thankfully, I moved past my insecurities and decided that it was more important to introduce my readers to the brilliance of this book.
Equal parts revelatory memoir, insightful travel guide, expedient cookbook, and sumptuous coffee table book, Israel Eats is an eye-opening experience of Israel’s food culture today.
Family Recipes: Finnish Coffee Bread
I’ve come to realize that many of us have been bequeathed a cherished family recipe. Be it simple or elaborate to prepare, it’s a dish so fiendishly delicious that it is the unmistakable star of the family meal, whether celebrating triumphs, comforting woes, or keeping family traditions alive. Withholding such heirloom recipes from the world seems almost cruel. Hence, I am championing the family recipe. I will entice the people in my universe to share favourite, nostalgia-infused family recipes, and I will give one of them centre stage in this very space on a monthly basis. In the end, we are all family, and these recipes represent the legacies of our shared passions. This month’s post is written by my pal Sherry. Enjoy!
My paternal Grammie emigrated from Finland with her sister when she was 17 years old. Landing at Pier 21 in Halifax, she brought with her a few material possessions and an unwavering passion for baking. One dish in particular took centre stage in her repertoire—pulla coffee bread. The Finnish people know this bread well and every household makes a slight variation from the next. Sitting around the kitchen table with a strong brewed coffee and a slice (or four) of pulla bread is a time honoured custom.
FAMILY RECIPES: Etelka’s Cocoa Chiffon Cake
I’ve come to realize that many of us have been bequeathed a cherished family recipe. Be it simple or elaborate to prepare, it’s a dish so fiendishly delicious that it is the unmistakable star of the family meal, whether celebrating triumphs, comforting woes, or keeping family traditions alive. Withholding such heirloom recipes from the world seems almost cruel. Hence, I am championing the family recipe. I will entice the people in my universe to share favourite, nostalgia-infused family recipes, and I will give one of them centre stage in this very space on a monthly basis. In the end, we are all family, and these recipes represent the legacies of our shared passions. This month’s post is written by my good friend Eva. Enjoy!
Etelka’s Cocoa Chiffon Cake
By Eva
The grand finale of every family birthday dinner was THE CAKE. My mother, Etelka, always served her signature Chocolate Chiffon Cake. Festooned with tiny, lit candles, it was ceremoniously placed before the celebrated one as the room broke into a full-throated, charmingly off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.” (We are not a family of gifted singers.) A hasty, silent wish, a quick whoosh to blow out the candles, and then bliss ensued as the cake was sliced, handed around and savoured.
The cake’s appearance underwent a few metamorphoses over the decades. Sometimes it was rectangular, at other times round, depending on the baking pans my mother had on hand. The cake’s magic lies in its ratios rather than its aesthetics. It has just enough cocoa and sugar to give chocolate lovers their fix without overpowering its rich texture, a combination of moist, delicate cake and silky icing.
Book Review: Spring, the cookbook
Photograph by Andy Sewell
Spring has arrived in the form of a cookbook. Published to celebrate Chef Skye Gyngell’s new restaurant in London, Spring presents a collection of artful and luxurious recipes from the menu.
Crab salad with chilli, pumpkin, curry leaves and lime, Pappardalle with oxtail ragu, Guinea fowl with faro and parsley, Kimchi and Warm chocolate and espresso puddings are just a few of the recipes on offer.