Too Many Cookbooks?

An article in this month's issue of Elle à Table suggests that too many cookbooks are being published in France. A new book about food or wine is published every day, and the market is saturated, especially for inexpensive books focusing on a single type of food. I have indeed noticed a proliferation of attractive cookbooks in the 7 to 10 euro ($8.50-$12.00) range, such as the excellent titles by the Marabout publishing house. According to Elle à Table, though, the new trend is huge, comprehensive tomes such as Cochon & Fils, which exists in a luxury edition that weighs in at a porky 5 kilograms (11 pounds) and costs around 70 euros ($85.00.) I'm not sure I'll be making the investment.

Spaghetti Salad: Recipe

I think you can argue that it isn't really Summer until tomatoes are juice-down-your-chin ripe. When a tomato is at it's sweet peak, I'm not alone in believing it should be eaten raw. In countries where tomatoes are grown, there are lots of great recipes for using fresh, uncooked tomatoes--Italians make Insalata Caprese, Spaniards make Gazpacho, Americans make tomato sandwiches, etc.

Around twenty years ago I remember a potluck dinner where someone who was a restauranteur brought a bowl of pasta tossed with a fresh uncooked tomato sauce. It was a revelation to me that something so basic could be so delicious. It wasn't until I lived in Italy that I learned such simple fresh ingredients are really what Italian cuisine is all about.

In Italy a sauce of uncooked tomatoes is called "salsa cruda", but in English that sounds just horrid. So I'm taking the liberty of calling this "Spaghetti Salad" instead. It makes a great weeknight dinner or a terrific potluck dish because you serve it at room temperature. You can add more herbs like parsley to this, or red pepper flakes, olives, capers, anything that appeals to you. I like it basic because when tomatoes are at their best, anything else is just a distraction.

Note: Only make this recipe with super delicious ripe juicy tomatoes.

Spaghetti Salad
serves 2-4 depending if this is a first or main course

1/2 lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta
4 tomatoes, fresh, ripe, about 2 cups finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, smashed
4 large leaves fresh basil, roughly torn
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (a fruity or peppery one is good)
salt & pepper to taste

Trim the stem off the tomatoes and chop finely. Do not drain the tomatoes! Save the juice, it will get absorbed by the pasta. Smash a large clove of garlic and place it in your serving bowl along with the olive oil, basil and tomatoes. Cook the pasta in salted water just until al dente. Toss the drained pasta with the sauce and let it sit and absorb the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Walnut-Pomegranate Spread with Feta

 

My inspiration for this spread comes from a Persian dish I grew up eating (khoresht fesenjan) that features a stew of walnuts, pomegranate, and braised chicken which is traditionally served with steaming white rice, and which is, in my humble opinion, finger-licking good.  This recipe calls for pomegranate paste, which is a syrup made from the seeds of a tart member of the pomegranate family. 

I'm not completely sure if you can find pomegranate syrup at a gourmet grocer; you should ask in any case.  However, you can definitely find it in middle eastern/persian spice markets in your town.  You may want to look here if you live in:

Paris

New York City

Boston

San Francisco

Los Angeles - Walk out your door, you will likely find a Persian grocery store within a 200-foot radius.

As for the taste:  rich, nutty, sweet, slightly tart, and very delicious.  As you see in the top photo, I enjoy eating this spread with feta and crusty sourdough bread, but how you eat it is up to you.  I imagine it could go very well with goat cheese - if you have any other suggestions please let me know!

Walnut-Pomegranate Spread w/ Feta - makes about 2 cups spread
This spread can be stored in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.

2 cups walnuts

1 tablespoon flour

1/4-cup pomegranate Molasses

2 tablespoons sugar

crumbled feta cheese

1.  Toast the walnuts in your oven or on the stove; 350 degrees for ten minutes in the oven, medium heat for 10 minutes on the stove.

2.  Once they have cooled to room temperature, chop them up roughly, then transfer to a food processor and grind to a powder, about 10 seconds in the processor.

3.  Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat; add the flour, and toast lightly, 2-3 minutes.

4.  Add 1 cup water, and stir until flour and water are just combined.

5.  Add walnuts, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and oil rises to the top, about 20 minutes.

6.  Add pomegranate paste and sugar, sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper, and cook until mixture thickens to a spread-like consistency, about 5 minutes longer.  Serve as is or add more pomegranate paste, salt, and pepper to taste.

7.  Let cool to room temperature; spread on a slice of bread and top with crumbled feta.

Curry Deviled Eggs: Recipe

Despite my aversion to Christmas, I have always loved Easter. My experience of it was never religious, but purely secular. Growing up, Easter meant a celebration of Spring, egg hunts, fluffy bunnies and chicks, dyeing eggs with onion skins and flowers, and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. For several years I got to work in a gourmet store in the weeks leading up to Easter. The only thing better than taking home broken chocolate Santas had to have been taking home broken chocolate bunnies

My other favorite memories of Easter include the ones spent in Italy where I saw the spectacular exploding carriage ritual in Florence known as Lo Scoppio del Carro. Of course there was also food, including those lovely hollow Perugina eggs filled with toys and the traditional dove-shaped sweet bread called La Colomba.

How much do I love Easter? I even love deviled eggs. That's the featured recipe today over at the Dannon Kitchen. Read my post about angel food and devil's food. It's tricky to take pictures of deviled eggs, but this photo is one of my favorites from the project.

Curry Deviled Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced in half, lengthwise
1/4 cup, drained Dannon® All Natural Plain Yogurt (see note)
2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. hot sauce (or more to taste)
2 tsp. green onion, minced
1 Tbsp. celery, minced
1/8 tsp. salt, or to taste

1. Carefully remove egg yolk from eggs and place in mixing bowl and mash.

2. To the yolks, add Dannon® All Natural Plain Yogurt, mustard, curry powder, hot sauce, green onion and celery. Mash together and mix well. Taste filling and add salt to taste. Add more hot sauce, if desired, for spicier eggs.

3. Use a spoon or pastry bag to fill egg whites with yolk mixture.
Note: Spoon one cup yogurt into a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Place a bowl under strainer to catch liquid (whey) that drains from yogurt. Cover and refrigerate 3 hours. Discard liquid.

Yield: 6 servings

Enjoy!

FOOD

Photo du Jour

A tunnel through the old rempart walls. I love these! They feel like secret passageways.

Potluck Posts 12/2

Since my last post I've been to Miami where I snacked on a fabulous medianoche sandwich. I made appetizers and Emily Luchetti's Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Upside Down Cake for Thanksgiving and am now heading off again, this time to Montreal for the weekend.

Over on the Frommer's website, on the Amy & Amy Between Bites blog you'll find a post that features an interview with Dorie Greenspan. I got her thoughts on cooking at home and in Paris and bunch of great recommendations plus a recipe. You'll also find an interview with Vanessa Barrington where she shares tips for making food to take when you travel, plus a recipe from her book, DIY Delicious.

On the Epicurious blog, EpiLog are posts on intriguing flavor combinations. Read about the combination of Peppermint & Mocha, Pecans & Pumpkin Pie Spice, including a recipe for roasted pumpkin pie spice pecans, Cranberries & Camembert, and a post on Savory Oatmeal ideas.

Next week I hope to have some more cookbook recommendations, and a new recipe. I've been working on a number of recipes for clients and as soon as those go online I will let you know.

Win the Baker's Delight/Menu for Hope

Once a year food and wine bloggers put together prizes for the Menu for Hope raffle, with the proceeds going to charity. For every $10 donated, you earn one virtual raffle ticket to bid on a prize of your choice. At the end of the two-week campaign, the raffle tickets are drawn and the results announced on Chez Pim. 

This year I am offering the Baker's Delight (prize code UW18) a fabulous baking kit designed for a home baker or professional pastry chef with brand new cookbooks, a selection of artisanal American chocolate and a set of silicone spatulas.

The package contains four of the years' best baking books:

* Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes, and Confections for Everyone by French pastry chef extraordinaire Francois Payard

* Baking for All Occasions by much loved author Flo Braker

* The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread: Cakes, Cookies, Bars, Pastries and More from New York City's Favorite Bakery, your source for bakery treats like Amy's signature scones, White Chocolate Cherry Chunker Cookies, Definitely Devil's Food Cake, Soft Brioche Rolls with Melting Chocolate Centers, etc.

* The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Pastry Professional, an excellent reference guide for every kitchen cookbook shelf

It also includes four pounds of E. Guittard chocolate wafers, a top choice of professional bakers and chefs:

* One pound E.Guittard 72% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate, this super-dark chocolate has a smooth mouthfeel and provides intense chocolate flavor. It’s the perfect choice when a dessert is unequivocally about chocolate – flourless cakes, molten chocolate mini-cakes or an unforgettable chocolate fondue.

* One pound E.Guittard 61% Cacao Semisweet Chocolate, the super-rich chocolate flavors last and last, with a refreshing chocolate finish. This chocolate is extremely popular with pastry chefs, and makes a great eating chocolate as well.

* One pound E.Guittard 38% Cacao Milk Chocolate, enjoy bold, rich, milk chocolate flavors with caramel accents, fresh dairy notes and a signature hint of cinnamon that set this milk chocolate apart from all the others. It’s an extremely versatile blend that can be used in recipes ranging from crème brulée to ganache.

* One pound E.Guittard 31% Cacao White Chocolate, this French-style white chocolate has a sweet, fresh cream flavor with nutty undertones and lingering hints of citrus and vanilla. It adds a balanced dairy flavor to any recipe, and stands alone as an extraordinarily smooth white chocolate with rich cocoa butter taste.

To use with your next recipe:

* A set of four silicone spatulas, perfect for mixing, scraping and folding, they won’t chip or crack and can be used can be used to stir extremely hot mixtures

The Baker's Delight prize package is worth nearly $200! A big thanks to Guittard for the chocolate, and to Clarkson Potter, Chronicle Books, and Wiley for the books.

Where does the money go?
The funds raised by Menu for Hope this year will got to a school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. Providing food for the children helps keeps them in school so that they learn the skills to feed themselves and their families in the future. The program in Lesotho is a model program in local procurement - buying food locally to support local farmers and the local economy. Instead of shipping surplus corn across the ocean, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is buying directly from local subsistent farmers who practice conservation farming methods in Lesotho to feed needy children.

To win this or other fabulous prizes:
1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at Pim's site, the Baker's Delight prize is UW18
2. Go to the donation site or click on the Menu for Hope logo below, to make a donation.
3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone and no one but us will be able to see it.

Click here to donate:

For the US West Coast prizes specifically, please visit Matt at Matt Bites, the West Coast host (and food photographer extraordinaire.)