ladysprite: (cooking)
[personal profile] ladysprite
"Casseroles, Soups & Stews," Classic Pillsbury Cookbooks

And still with the glossy checkout lane booklets. This one is yet another hand-me-down from [livejournal.com profile] umbran's mother, and another one that I never actually looked through. I know, bad of me, but when a whole big stack arrives at once, somehow about two thirds of them get stuck on a shelf and forgotten. And, looking at them, to be honest that's not such a big loss. While they all have a recipe or two that are redeemable, on the whole the books are more or less forgettable.

This one wasn't too bad, though. It had a few decent looking recipes, and given the weather lately we wound up making Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini. Winter is soup time, at least in my mind, and I'm always on the lookout for new good recipes.

Luckily, this was, in fact, a good recipe. The soup wasn't oily, which I had been a little afraid of with the sausage, and the broth had enough flavor of its own that it wasn't just stuff-in-slightly-beefy-water. Add in inexpensive and easy, and this recipe, at least, is a keeper. The book.... I don't know. But this was good.


"Beard on Bread," James Beard

And a real cookbook to balance it out. One of [livejournal.com profile] umbran's cookbooks, but an actual book nonetheless. I've never read through it before, mostly because I have plenty of other bread and baking books and never got around to this one. Besides, it's small and unimpressive-looking, and my other books have pretty, shiny pictures.

On the other hand, on an actual read-through it's a pretty darn useful book. Aside from recipes, it has a lot of detailed information that would be good for a beginner, or if I were going to try making a style of bread that I didn't have a lot of practice with. Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to experiment with new yeast bread recipes, time has been rather in short supply lately.

So, given the lack of time, when my husband pointed out the handful of bananas starting to turn brown on the back counter and suggested turning them into banana bread, I found Mr. Beard's recipe and gave it a try. And I am so glad I did - this was quite possibly the best banana bread I ever made. Good the first day, warm from the oven, good a couple of days later, toasted. There's half a loaf still in the freezer, and when that runs out, I'll make it again. And when I have more time, I'm certainly going to try some of the other recipes.

In other news, toasted banana bread with peanut butter is purely heavenly.

Banana bread

Date: 2010-02-10 02:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] msmemory.livejournal.com
If you haven't, try the Quick Banana Bread in Joy of Cooking too.

Date: 2010-02-10 03:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreda.livejournal.com
I love Beard on Bread - it is the bread cookbook I recommend to anyone who wants to try making bread. The intro recipe is great, and I have never ever had one of his breads fail.

(I love the Myrtle Allen Brown Bread - no knead, quick, and really tasty and well-textured.)

Date: 2010-02-10 03:09 pm (UTC)
mermaidlady: heraldic mermaid in her vanity (Default)
From: [personal profile] mermaidlady
I used to make Beard's Irish soda bread and Sally Lunn and challah all the time. It's one of those cookbooks that just falls open to particular pages. Or it would, if it wasn't in one of my parents' packing boxes.

Date: 2010-02-10 03:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gyzki.livejournal.com
Beard on Bread was my intro to breadmaking, I join the chorus of praise.

Also, toasted banana bread with peanut butter sounds like Elvis would have loved it too.

Date: 2010-02-11 12:07 am (UTC)
curmudgn: Gareth Blackstock from the TV comedy 'Chef' (Chef)
From: [personal profile] curmudgn
My thought exACTly. If that ain't a slightly modified peaner butter and 'nanner san'wich, I don't know what is.

Date: 2010-02-10 03:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladymondegreen.livejournal.com
I have Beard on Bread also, but I've never tried his banana bread. Time to experiment.

Date: 2010-02-10 05:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] redfishie.livejournal.com
It dawned on me the other day that I will really miss when you stop doing these reviews - though you have inspired me to start going into my own cookbooks more. :)

Date: 2010-02-11 03:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com
*blush* Thank you. I'm going to miss doing them, though I'm looking forward to delving back into my backlog of Cooks Illustrated once I'm done....

Date: 2010-02-10 08:57 pm (UTC)
citabria: Photo of me backlit, smiling (Default)
From: [personal profile] citabria
Re: bread, yesterday I took the La Brea Bake Shop cookbook out from the library. I intend to start my first starter, made from our very own household yeasts, today. This could lead to a long saga of experimentation and sourdough baking. Wish me luck!

Date: 2010-02-11 03:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com
Good luck! Let me know how it goes - that's something I've always wanted to try, but just sort of assumed would never work....

Date: 2010-02-11 01:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] z-gryphon.livejournal.com
Somebody's gotta say "if there's a beard on your bread, that's a bad thing." So it might as well be me. :)

Date: 2010-02-11 03:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joannahurley.livejournal.com
Mmm...the soup sounds good.

Beard on Bread

Date: 2010-02-11 09:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wren13.livejournal.com
Does he have a good pizza dough recipe in there?

Re: Beard on Bread

Date: 2010-02-12 09:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] micheinnz.livejournal.com
Yes, yes he does.

Date: 2010-02-12 09:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] micheinnz.livejournal.com
_Beard on Bread_ is the best bread book I have ever used. No muss, no fuss, no gimmicks, just good solid recipes, great tips on technique and useful illustrations.

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