Book Review: My Paris Kitchen

My Paris Kitchen: Recipes and Stories
David Lebovitz

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Book Description:
A collection of stories and 100 sweet and savory French-inspired recipes from Chez Panisse pastry chef turned popular food blogger David Lebovitz, reflecting the way modern Parisians eat today and featuring lush photography taken around Paris and in David's Parisian kitchen.

French cooking has come a long way since the days of Escoffier. The culinary culture of France has changed and the current generation of French cooks, most notably in Paris, are incorporating ingredients and techniques from around the world. In My Paris Kitchen, David Lebovitz remasters the French classics, introduces lesser known French fare, and presents 100 recipes using ingredients foraged in the ethnic neighborhoods of Paris. Stories told in David's trademark style describe the quirks, trials, and joys of cooking, shopping, and eating in France, while food and location photographs reveal modern life in Paris.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
Egalley courtesy of Ten Speed Press via NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.

Paris! What can I say? I simply can’t resist my fascination, love, and admiration for the city of lights. Then you add food to the mix… and I really can’t help it. I spied My Paris Kitchen while browsing on NetGalley one day and I had to have it, so I’m incredibly grateful for a chance to get acquainted with this gorgeous and inspirational cookbook and feel honored for a chance to share it with you.   

David Lebovitz, the man behind My Paris Kitchen, is no stranger among foodies and food enthusiast. He is a celebrated food writer, blogger, and former top pastry chef. He first started his food blog in 1999 (you can check it out here), and even though I don’t regularly follow the blog myself, I peek around once in a while and often find his recipes and suggestions – creative and inspirational. But what I enjoy most about the blog and this cookbook, are the approachable manner in which David manages to present his recipes and ideas.  

Book Review: The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
Deb Perelman

Release Date: October 30, 2012

Book Description:
The long-awaited cookbook by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen—home cook, mom, photographer, and celebrated food blogger.

Deb Perelman loves to cook. It’s as simple as that. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. How do you choose? Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad?

So Deb founded her award-winning blog, smittenkitchen.com, on the premise that cooking should be a pleasure, and that the results of your labor can—and should be—delicious...every time. Deb is a firm believer that there are no bad cooks, just bad recipes. She has dedicated herself to finding the best of the best and adapting them for the everyday cook—the ones with little time to spare, little money to burn on unpronounceable ingredients, and little help in the kitchen. And now, with the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her blog is known for, Deb presents her first cookbook—more than 100 new recipes, plus a few favorites from her site, all gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of Deb’s beautiful color photographs.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking: stepped-up comfort foods, stewy dishes for windy winter afternoons, an apple cake that will answer all questions: “What should my new signature dessert be?” “What is always welcome at a potluck?” “What did Deb consume almost single-handedly a week after having a baby?” These are the recipes you bookmark and use so often they become your own; recipes you slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws; and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you how to host a brunch and still sleep in—plus what to make for it!—and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and pizzas; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Pancetta, White Bean and Swiss Chard Pot Pies; from Buttered Popcorn Cookies to Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is comfort food refined and perfected, and is on the level of its own genius. It is by far one of my favorite cookbooks and certainly one that I keep referring to all the time. And this review has been long overdue.

Let me tell you why I think everyone should check out The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by the fabulous, award-winning, food blogger Deb Perelman whose blog I’ve been following quite religiously for a few years now. Her recipes are creative, inspiring, scrumptious, and yet absolutely approachable. I simply get lost every time I open this cookbook because I keep turning the pages, unable to decide what I want to make first – everything looks and is delicious. All of Deb’s recipes both from the cookbook and her blog [which you should check out here] that made it to my family’s table turned out wonderfully, and several made a few reappearances since. Clearly I can’t help but gush about how awesome this cookbook is and my opinion might be absolutely biased [but that’s why you wanted it, right?] but trust that I’m not the only one expressing my love for this cookbook.   

Book Review: Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Jerusalem: A Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi

Release Date: January 1, 2012

Book Description:
A collection of 120 recipes exploring the flavors of Jerusalem from the New York Times bestselling author of Plenty, one of the most lauded cookbooks of 2011.

In Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi explore  the vibrant cuisine of their home city—with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. Both men were born in Jerusalem in the same year—Tamimi on the Arab east side and Ottolenghi in the Jewish west. This stunning cookbook offers 120 recipes from their unique cross-cultural perspective, from inventive vegetable dishes to sweet, rich desserts. With five bustling restaurants in London and two stellar cookbooks, Ottolenghi is one of the most respected chefs in the world; in Jerusalem, he and Tamimi have collaborated to produce their most personal cookbook yet.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
Absolutely fantastic!

Book Review: Balaboosta

Balaboosta
Einat Admony

Release Date: September 3, 2013

Book Description:
Einat Admony is a 21st-century balaboosta (Yiddish for perfect housewife). She’s a mother and wife, but also a chef busy running three bustling New York City restaurants. Her debut cookbook features 140 of the recipes she cooks for the people she loves her children, her husband, and the many friends she regularly entertains. Here, Einat’s mixed Israeli heritage (Yemenite, Persian) seamlessly blends with the fresh, sophisticated Mediterranean palate she honed while working in some of New York City’s most beloved kitchens.

The result is a melting pot of meals for every need and occasion: exotic and exciting dinner-party dishes (harissa-spiced Moroccan fish, beet gnocchi), meals just for kids (chicken schnitzel, root veggie chips), healthy options (butternut squash and saffron soup, quinoa salad with preserved lemon and chickpeas), satisfying comfort food (creamy, cheesy potatoes, spicy chili), and so much more.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
Egalley courtesy of Artisan via NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.

Surprisingly this and the other cookbook [Franny’s: Simple Seasonal Italian] have been on my NetGalley request list for quite some time, perpetually pending approval. I’ve had time to forget I’ve requested them in fact. And then, one after another, I got the magic email notifying me that I’ve been approved. A pleasant surprise indeed! Cookbooks always make me happy.

Book Review: Franny's: Simple Seasonal Italian

Franny's: Simple Seasonal Italian
Andrew Feinberg, Francine Stephens, Melissa Clark

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Book Description:
A Brooklyn favorite with a national following, Franny's is known for its simple, seasonal Southern Italian dishes and exceptional pizza. Alice Waters says it best in her foreword: "This book captures the beating heart of what makes Franny's so beautiful: its simplicity, its ability to make the ordinary surprising, and--above all--its celebration of honest everyday cooking."

Franny's is filled with recipes that are destined to become classics. Chef Andrew Feinberg plays with traditional Southern Italian cuisine and makes the dishes lighter and brighter. New favorites--including Roasted Romano Beans with Calabrese Olives, Clam Pizza, and Linguine with Meyer Lemon--sit side by side with perfect executions of timeless Italican dishes like Marinated Artichokes, Baked Sausage and Polenta, and Bucatini alla Puttanesca. Feinberg breaks down his techniques for the home cook, while offering cutting-edge food combinations, spinning the typical ingredients in unexpected directions. Teeming with irresistible full-color photographs, Franny's shows how simple preparations of quality ingredients can create food that is much more than the sum of its parts.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
Egalley courtesy of Artisan via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

From the owners of the Brooklyn’s franny’s, Francine Stephens and Andrew Feinberg, with the help of food writer, NY Times food columnist, and native Brooklynite herself – Mellisa Clark, comes a cookbook filled with many simple, seasonal, Italian recipes. Similar to the mantra of their restaurant this cookbook follows into the mission of its namesake restaurant by further promoting the idea of increasing sustainability by offering various ideas for use of seasonal, locally grown food, so you too can partake in their mission.