Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat

Summary from Goodreads:
A visionary new master class in cooking that distills decades of professional experience into just four simple elements, from the woman declared “America’s next great cooking teacher” by Alice Waters.

In the tradition of The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything comes Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, an ambitious new approach to cooking by a major new culinary voice. Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhances flavor; Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture; Acid, which balances flavor; and Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food—and anything you cook will be delicious. By explaining the hows and whys of good cooking, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will teach and inspire a new generation of cooks how to confidently make better decisions in the kitchen and cook delicious meals with any ingredients, anywhere, at any time.

Echoing Samin’s own journey from culinary novice to award-winning chef, Salt, Fat Acid, Heat immediately bridges the gap between home and professional kitchens. With charming narrative, illustrated walkthroughs, and a lighthearted approach to kitchen science, Samin demystifies the four elements of good cooking for everyone. Refer to the canon of 100 essential recipes—and dozens of variations—to put the lessons into practice and make bright, balanced vinaigrettes, perfectly caramelized roast vegetables, tender braised meats, and light, flaky pastry doughs.

Featuring 150 illustrations and infographics that reveal an atlas to the world of flavor by renowned illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will be your compass in the kitchen. Destined to be a classic, it just might be the last cookbook you’ll ever need.

With a foreword by Michael Pollan.

I love, love, love Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Part "this is why we cook food the way we do" guide, part cookbook, 100% delightful. Nosrat's writing style and tone are easy to understand and completely not-intimidating. While reading this I was inspired to try some changes in the way I cook based on her advice in each chapter - it seemed to work and make me more inventive. Along the way, Wendy MacNaughton's delightful artwork helped illustrate ideas with charts and graphs as well as providing some humor and whimsy. A must-have for home cooks!

Dear FTC: I bought my copy of this book.

Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home Cooking Triumphs by Julia Turshen

Summary from Goodreads:
"I can't wait to cook my way through this amazing new book," Ina Garten writes in the foreword to this cookbook of more than 400 recipes and variations from Julia Turshen, writer, go-to recipe developer, co-author for best-selling cookbooks such as Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good, Mario Batali's Spain...on the Road Again, and Dana Cowin's Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen. The process of truly great home cooking is demystified via more than a hundred lessons called out as "small victories" in the funny, encouraging headnotes; these are lessons learned by Julia through a lifetime of cooking thousands of meals. This beautifully curated, deeply personal collection of what Chef April Bloomfield calls "simple, achievable recipes" emphasizes bold-flavored, honest food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. More than 160 mouth-watering photographs from acclaimed photographers Gentl + Hyers provide beautiful instruction and inspiration elevate this entertaining and essential kitchen resource for both beginners and accomplished home cooks.

Small Victories is a very readable and gorgeous cookbook. Each recipe comes with a lovely headnote (the source of the "little victories" - those tips from an experienced chef to make the food really taste good or preparation easier) and ends with "Spin Offs" for ways to use leftovers or substitute ingredients in variations. It ends with a chapter with drinks and lists of meals, etc. A must-have if you love to read about your cooking and definitely for fans of Ruth Reichl's My Kitchen Year.

(When I unboxed this at the store I knew I had to have it.)

Dear FTC: I bought my copy of this book.

Anything That Moves by Dana Goodyear

Summary from Goodreads:
New Yorker writer Dana Goodyear combines the style of Mary Roach with the on-the-ground food savvy of Anthony Bourdain in a rollicking narrative look at the shocking extremes of the contemporary American food world.

A new American cuisine is forming. Animals never before considered or long since forgotten are emerging as delicacies. Parts that used to be for scrap are centerpieces. Ash and hay are fashionable ingredients, and you pay handsomely to breathe flavored air. Going out to a nice dinner now often precipitates a confrontation with a fundamental question: Is that food?

Dana Goodyear’s anticipated debut, Anything That Moves, is simultaneously a humorous adventure, a behind-the-scenes look at, and an attempt to understand the implications of the way we eat. This is a universe populated by insect-eaters and blood drinkers, avant-garde chefs who make food out of roadside leaves and wood, and others who serve endangered species and Schedule I drugs—a cast of characters, in other words, who flirt with danger, taboo, and disgust in pursuit of the sublime. Behind them is an intricate network of scavengers, dealers, and pitchmen responsible for introducing the rare and exotic into the marketplace. This is the fringe of the modern American meal, but to judge from history, it will not be long before it reaches the family table. Anything That Moves is a highly entertaining, revelatory look into the raucous, strange, fascinatingly complex world of contemporary American food culture, and the places where the extreme is bleeding into the mainstream.

I heard about Anything That Moves from Rebecca (of Book Riot and Bookrageous) and I thought this would be an interesting read as the holiday season heated up.  I like to eat good food and enjoy a good meal, so I consider myself a "foodie", but I won't eat just anything.  I was a very picky eater as a child and I'm still a picky eater as an adult (there's a whole category of foods, led by onions, that hate me therefore I hate them back).  However, there is a different aspect of foodie culture that will put just about anything in their mouths ala Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold.  And I mean anything.  But some of these food(-ish) items, while strange to Western/US tables, are standards of cultures particularly in South Asian and Pacific Rim countries.  (A particular food that keeps coming up is "balut" - if Filipino food is not your thing, do not Google this until you put your cast-iron stomach on first.)

Dana Goodyear grew up hunting with her father and so has a willing, adventurous streak to her diet.  She readily jumped into the foodie lifestyle - her style is reminiscent of Mary Roach without the funny footnotes - and brought a very balanced view to the fringes of food culture.  She followed food critic Jonathan Gold who sort-of pioneered the "eating as sport" idea; Ottolenghi and the food culture of Las Vegas; the Rawsome incident/movement; the molecular gastronomy and haute cuisine movements; and dinners that don't occur at "restaurants" (think word-of-mouth private parties) and that serve not only expected food items but also, in one instance, an entire dinner centered around the idea of marijuana as an ingredient (it is a plant, effects of THC aside).  In what was my favorite chapter, she covered the ethics of eating endangered animals in the US where in other countries those animals are still very much on the menu; she also tangentially touches on the issues of using horse meat in the US where horses are often seen as pets rather than livestock as in other parts of the world (this reminded me of how often in historical novels I see the term "cattle" applied to a team of horses).  Goodyear discovered she was pregnant during her research for the book so she also touched briefly on how her own views on eating had to change and whether she should or should not eat certain items because of the baby.

A very quick read but also very informative.  If you're like me, you might want a bottle of Tums during your reading (I did actually feel like I was developing indigestion during one chapter).  If, on the other hand, you're more in the Bourdain camp you will want make a bucket list from all the places and food items that appear in Goodyear's book.

Dear FTC: I borrowed a copy of this book from my store.

A Feast of Ice and Fire

Who likes interesting cookbooks?  Meet a GAME OF THRONES COOKBOOK endorsed by GRRM himself!!!!!!

A Feast of Ice and Fire had me with the cover art - gorgeous and yummy.  I hope there's a second volume once all the books are finished.

I really liked the research behind the recipes as well as offering a more "traditional" medieval recipe and a modern version of most dishes. This is apparently based off a blog, The Inn at the Crossroads, which I have since started following.  There are great pictures, too, a must for a cookbook in my opinion (there's another Game of Thrones cookbook by some other people but it isn't near as nice).

The authors included some oddball recipes for the more adventurous gourmand, like snake (blech) which I will not be trying.  Lemon cakes and honeyfingers are much more my style.
 
I baked the modern Wintercake recipe for an autumn-themed potluck at the bookstore - it smelled wonderful and tasted really good.  Thumbs up from the booksellers!  It killed my food processor, though, so I have that on my Christmas list now.

You know you're a foodie when...

...you're geeking out at your new cookbooks.

I ditched a whole box of old cookbooks I didn't use/had nasty recipes/had actually never opened before I moved.  I've been eating much better since I moved (odd how not being depressed by your house and its crappy level of hard water can affect your desire to cook and eat at home) so last weekend I wanted to get a couple of new cookbooks about decently-easy-to-make healthy food.

I like the recipes from Whole Living magazine, just not enough to buy the magazine regularly, so the power foods cookbook is perfect.  Martha Stewart isn't a massive favorite of mine, but I know the Everyday Food magazine always has easy-to-prepare meals (and the pictures look yummy).

And then, last night, I scored a fantastic deal.  There were cookbook box sets - like gift sets - at the store that got really discounted.  As in "about 75% off" discounted.  These are fancy cookbooks, great for reference or have AMAZING recipes (also with ingredients I'm pretty sure I never heard of).  I actually had been considering buying one or the other of these sets but just couldn't justify the expense before.  I'm so excited about this one:

Can you guess what it is?

 It's the deluxe set, Volumes I and II of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in a beautiful blue cloth box.  Love.

And then there's this one, which makes me do a little "sqeeee":

The Essential Thomas Keller box set - French Laundry and ad hoc at home.  I may never make it to the restaurant in Napa but I can attempt to make things served there.  Keller notes in the introduction that the chef is the soul of the recipe; you can make a "perfect" dish, but if you didn't feel the passion while making that dish then it wasn't perfect for you.

 

It even comes with a facsimile copy of the opening-night French Laundry menu, signed by Keller.  Wheee!


I had a gift card left to use so I only had to fork over 7 dollars cash for those two sets.  Seriously geeking out and drooling all over that French Laundry cookbook.  Now I just need Bouchon for yummy bistro cooking.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Omnivore's Dilemma has been on my radar for quite some time.  A number of friends have read it (one even went vegan after reading it) and it was universally recommended.  I was curious to read what Pollan wrote about the food industry.  I wasn't expecting to be terribly surprised.

I wasn't.  In reality I was only interested in The Omnivore's Dilemma because of the central "Pastoral" section where Pollan looks at the two sides of the organic movement - industrial and polycultural (pastoral, more like the old family ).  Pollan documented a week he spent on a polycultural family farm - Polyface Farms - that sells their naturally grass-fed and organically raised beef, chicken, pork, eggs, and produce to local residents and restaurants.  The principle behind the farm is to use polyculture to fuel the cycle of life on the farm - the cows eat grass, the chickens root for grubs and eat grass while their poop fertilizes the grass, etc - without the use of.  The extensive look at Polyface Farms in Virginia was very enlightening.  I buy the bulk of my groceries from the local co-op (particularly eggs, dairy, meats, and produce) and it's important to support local farms.  The whole industry won't change overnight (there's too much involvement from major corporations to alter mass-produced agriculture quickly) but I do think that the more people demand better and wider access to grass-fed and humanely raised beef/chicken/pork and organic produce it will lessen the demand on the current factory farm system.

I pretty much skimmed through the first section (about corn, processing, stock yards, monoculture, etc) because:
1) I live in Iowa, grew up here, and attended a school district that was half farm kids, half suburban kids.
2) My mom has a set of cousins who are all farmers, have farmed corn and soybeans for years, and at least one of them is the Pioneer seed rep for the area. So I know how factory farms work.
3) I have a Masters degree in Epidemiology - part of getting an Epi degree in a rural state is that when you take Infectious Disease Epi you learn about Zoonoses and how agribusiness plays into disease transmission.
So part one was completely not shocking to me.  It is pretty gross to think about the cows raised in overcrowded herds and over-medicated so they can be fed a diet of grain....grain isn't a natural cow dietary item.  Confession, I do occasionally eat at McDonald's (it's the french fries) and I would be happy to pay more for my burger there to get more humanely raised beef.

Part three was about Pollan's attempt at foraging/hunting for all the ingredients of a meal. It was interesting (and I'm glad it all worked out and his guests thought it was a good meal) but I wasn't as personally invested in that section of the book.  I'm pretty much allergic to being outdoors for extended periods of time (asthma, hay fever, and sunburn-prone skin will do that to you), I hate mushrooms, and I have no desire to go hunting.  If civilization collapses I'll deal then.  I have an uncle and cousins who hunt and I've tried a little of the wild game they've caught; I'm not missing much, in my opinion.

I'm glad I read The Omnivore's Dilemma.  It didn't drastically change any of my opinions about food or impart any drastically new knowledge, however, it is a good book to remind me to try to be more conscious about the origins of my groceries in future (as we all probably ought to be).

Current book-in-progress: The Poisonwood Bible and Age of Wonder
Current knitted item: Alexis's baby sweater and shrugs for the older nieces
Current movie obsession: The Hurt Locker
Current iTunes loop: Filmspotting

Is that my ass?

My supremely awesome friend Kate has created a blog in which we, and all the friends we invite, may chronicle our adventures in battling the bulge or not becoming a chronic-disease statistic or whatever.

It is called "Is that my ass?" I totally love the name (and URL) and, unfortunately, I am totally forced to agree with the disbelieving tone because my posterior looks nothing like I want it to (probably never will). Most of my Be Healthy/diet/food problem posts will migrate in that direction. Come visit. Wish us well.

Schadenfreude

I've spent the last week and a half drowning in schadenfreude because of the flu. My boss looks like hell (she looks a bit better this week), everyone else is running up and down working on disaster preparedness in case every crazy in the region wants to be tested for swineflu, and I get to sit in my nice, quiet office drinking my tea and playing with my database. I feel a little bad; I keep asking if anyone needs help but I keep being told that everyone is fine so I guess I will keep playing with my database and try not to worry about it.

I keep playing on Twitter. It's turning into a lucrative past-time because I've acquired three books via contests/give-aways on Twitter plus I was introduced (also via Twitter) to a VP from a publishing firm who is interested in sending me promotional copies (I think I'll share with Kat). I recently received a copy of Burnt Shadows via a PicadorUSA drawing (that's two from them now) and a copy of Water Ghosts is coming from Penguin. They both look very good. I feel a bit greedy now that I've got three plus the possibility of more...am I always this ridiculous? It does keep me on my toes as regards my reading since I really have to finish things if I get them gratis and the Book Clubs have a good May line-up.

Speaking of the BN Book Clubs, you can follow them on Twitter, too, haha (BNBookClubs). They've also just announced enrollment for the next First Look Book Club to start on June 1; the editors have picked Of Bees and Mist, a debut novel by Erick Setiawan, and it looks to be a wonderful piece of writing. To enroll in the FLBC you need to sign up for a My B&N account at http://www.bn.com/ (click on the red My B&N button); then go to this thread and follow the instructions (you'll need to have your "Private Message" function, aka PM, enabled to enroll). There is a limit to the number of books available so sign-up soon! While you're waiting for your book to arrive, visit the other groups - I moderate "Literature by Women" (shameless plug, I know).

On a side note I've been very good as regards the diet, er, healthy eating, since I managed to find the grocery store last weekend. I'm already dreading the idea of going back but I have to (HAVE TO) get back in the habit of going frequently so as to keep the fridge full of good fruits and veg. Prevents me from making rice as a "snack" (bad, bad habit).

PS: Dead serious, I'm being followed on Twitter by someone who goes by the name of Jane Eyre (Thornfield Jane). Odd.

Current book-in-progress: Wives and Daughters, The Palace of Illusions, A Canticle for Liebowitz, A History of God,...anything else?
Current knitted item: Karma's poncho, now about 2/3 done
Current movie obsession: Time Bandits (how is it that I've never watched this movie?) and Three Days of the Condor (also, given my parents' affinity for Robert Redford, how is it I've never watched this?)
Current iTunes loop: Blue Monday by New Order (had to get this from iTunes because the Muzak at the store was taunting me) and Thursday Next on audio (first book is abridged, bah!)

Tricky, very tricky

This morning I was forced to concede that I still cannot make an omelette, no matter how hard I try. I just can't get the eggs to set before the bottom burns and then I can't get it flipped to cook the other side (I can't stand even remotely "wet" looking eggs). I must need either different/specialized utensils or a better set of cooking genes. So my omelette just looked like a cross between a fried egg and scrambled eggs mixed with whatever I meant to put on the inside. At least it still tasted OK.

I was having a lazy Sunday so after the omelette mess (which I cleaned up right away for once in my life so my kitchen is still clean) the cats and I crawled back into bed - the boys to have a nap and be petted, me to finish Three Bags Full. I'll post more thoughts later (I have a few friends who are also reading it who might not be done, yet) but suffice to say I think the sheep were brilliant, I love all their names (does anyone know where the word "Mopple" drives from?), and the novel was deliciously funny. A great scene - the flock debates whether or not humans have souls.

On tap for the rest of the day:
- Dusting/organizing/arranging the Hydra that is my office/library
- going to work at 3pm
- taking my gym things so I can go to the gym after work (this is why I've joined a gym that is open 24hrs even though I've never taken advantage of that)

Food crisis (crises, rather, because they are many)

Crisis #1: I have a secret - I really can cook. I can. I'm very good at cooking; I can take pretty much any recipe and make whatever that is and it tastes good. What I'm not good at doing is time, planning (if you've ever met me, you know this is a perpetual problem, along with procrastination), and cleaning up.

I have plenty of cookbooks, some of which are useful and some are just for drooling over. The Opera Lover's Cookbook: Menus for Elegant Entertaining is a drool over; with chapters like "English Pub Supper with Gilbert & Sullivan," "Vodka Tasting with Russian Composers," "Mozart Dinner Party," and "Bel Canto Elegant Five-Course Dinner" I need a different lifestyle to get mileage out of the book's recipes. I love the recipes in the Earthbound Organic cookbook, they just take quite a bit of time to get the dishes made, which I know is the secret to great-tasting food, but when you spend most of the day at both jobs and then curled up in bed asleep a speedier (but still healthy) cookbook is necessary. So I'm consulting my Canyon Ranch cookbooks - mmm, spa food - there's a great frittata recipe right at the beginning of Canyon Ranch Cooks.

Crisis #2: I really need to lose about a stone because I look like food and I spend a lot of time together. My relationship with food is not good. I'm an ex-dancer and I have about as many hangups and binges as the rest; I just have slower metabolism. I'm not terribly overweight for my frame (I refuse to look at a BMI because all the number does is induce a major depressive episode and a succession of binges) but I've nearly passed the first third of my life and my metabolism was never speedy. I need to get a grip on feeding myself correct portions of good food so I don't eat out so many times; I love the noodle place and the bagel place but they are murder on my waistline (the coffee shop, too, since my biggest weakness is scones). I did actually cave and pick up several of the South Beach diet cookbooks. I don't ascribe to the no-carb theory; humans were not made to function on a no-carb/low-carb diet because the brain actually needs something like 60-70 grams of good carbs/day (if you've ever met me on a day when I haven't eaten much, you know I do not function at all; worse if there's no coffee or tea in sight). The Quick and Easy version has a great pear and goat cheese salad and the regular one has a really yummy Apricot Muffin (made with Splenda, it surprisingly tastes good).

Crisis #3: I am cooking for one. ONE. A recipe that makes two servings is great because I have a leftover for lunch or dinner the next day. If there are more than 3 or 4 servings, the dish gets kind of old. Some are really hard to halve - how to you divide three eggs? What is half an egg?

So this is my wish: A healthy/natural foods cookbook with recipes that take less than 20-30 minutes to prepare, has a proposed meal plan for those of us are calorie-impaired, uses ingredients that are available in the landlocked areas of the country, does not attach itself to any silly diet craze, and serves two (or one). Can I find a cookbook like this? Not really.

Current book-in-progress: Whatever I was reading yesterday.
Current knitted item: Eeyores (the little buggers are complicated - who thought this pattern up?)