Cookbook Project, Book #16
Feb. 4th, 2009 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladysprite"Fresh and Simple Cooking For Friends," Better Homes & Gardens
This book was an impulse buy, plain and simple. It was on the display rack in the front of a bookstore, discounted down to about 80% off its cover price, and the pictures werthat e shiny and nice, and a quick flip-through suggested that it'd be full of interesting and clever recipes. Unfortunately, when I got it home and looked through it in more detail, it didn't seem nearly as cool, and it has languished unused on my bookshelf since then.
Alas, I think that was the right place for it.
I've been taking the easy route with the past few books, just going for the easy-to-use cookbooks I've used before instead of challenging myself to haul out the stuff I've never actually dared to try, so I promised myself I'd make at least one meal from a never-before-used book this week. And Bacon and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto sounded *really* good.
The first problem was their assertion that I could incorporate all the liquid into the rice in 15 minutes. Luckily, I've made risotto enough times before to know that it would take just a bit longer than that. The second problem was their insistence that it was a "one pot meal," while telling me to fry the bacon in a skillet, heat the broth in one pot, and cook the rice in another. Again, not a major problem, but I respect honesty in my cookbooks.
The last problem was the taste. The wine added at the end of the cooking process utterly overpowered any flavor of bacon or tomato. I have no problem cooking with alcohol - it adds depth and flavor and complexity that you can't get any other way, sometimes. But I want it to round out my food, not bludgeon it to death with boozy overtones.
It wasn't actively bad, but it was... not near as heavenly as I would have expected. I'll give the book one more chance, in case I just happened to coincidentally pick the only mediocre recipe in there - but if the next one is as flawed, it may be taking a one-way trip to the secondhand bookstore.
And that's it for food posts for the week. Between yoga, middle eastern dance, and an extra-long work day on Friday, we're feasting on leftovers and quick-tossed-together food until Saturday at the earliest....
This book was an impulse buy, plain and simple. It was on the display rack in the front of a bookstore, discounted down to about 80% off its cover price, and the pictures werthat e shiny and nice, and a quick flip-through suggested that it'd be full of interesting and clever recipes. Unfortunately, when I got it home and looked through it in more detail, it didn't seem nearly as cool, and it has languished unused on my bookshelf since then.
Alas, I think that was the right place for it.
I've been taking the easy route with the past few books, just going for the easy-to-use cookbooks I've used before instead of challenging myself to haul out the stuff I've never actually dared to try, so I promised myself I'd make at least one meal from a never-before-used book this week. And Bacon and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto sounded *really* good.
The first problem was their assertion that I could incorporate all the liquid into the rice in 15 minutes. Luckily, I've made risotto enough times before to know that it would take just a bit longer than that. The second problem was their insistence that it was a "one pot meal," while telling me to fry the bacon in a skillet, heat the broth in one pot, and cook the rice in another. Again, not a major problem, but I respect honesty in my cookbooks.
The last problem was the taste. The wine added at the end of the cooking process utterly overpowered any flavor of bacon or tomato. I have no problem cooking with alcohol - it adds depth and flavor and complexity that you can't get any other way, sometimes. But I want it to round out my food, not bludgeon it to death with boozy overtones.
It wasn't actively bad, but it was... not near as heavenly as I would have expected. I'll give the book one more chance, in case I just happened to coincidentally pick the only mediocre recipe in there - but if the next one is as flawed, it may be taking a one-way trip to the secondhand bookstore.
And that's it for food posts for the week. Between yoga, middle eastern dance, and an extra-long work day on Friday, we're feasting on leftovers and quick-tossed-together food until Saturday at the earliest....
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Date: 2009-02-05 05:53 pm (UTC)