Moroccan lentil and chickpea soup from 1000 Vegan Recipes

It is -30 outside, time for a nice warm soup. I looked at 1000 Vegan Recipes looking for something that looked warm, rich and delicious. I found the Moroccan lentil and chickpea soup as a good option. I went to Metro to get all the ingredients, they are pictured below.

Unfortunately none of the ingredients for the Harissa sauce was available. We decided to substitute with A Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce, which has a good taste but is a bit sweet and not too vinegary.
The soup turned out delicious.

This is not a very good picture, but as you can see it is very tomatoe-ey, with a taste of garlic and ginger and some cumin. Delicious and totally recommended.

Escargot With Rosemary

This recipe was sent by Anastasia Koutalianos, author of From the Olive Grove: Mediterranean Cooking with Olive Oil.

In Greece, escargot are known as saligaria, and they can be found in dry shrubbery throughout the countryside. After picking our saligaria, we leave them in a covered basket with some flour and a few branches to start the cleansing process. But you can buy them in a can—don’t eat the ones from your garden!
Serve this appetizer with crusty bread and a glass of good red wine.

3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
3 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves
1 can of 24–36 escargot (without shell), rinsed well
3 tbsp dried rosemary (or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary)
½ tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tbsp wine vinegar
¼ cup red (or white) wine
¼ tsp dried marjoram
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp flour

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan on medium to high. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 5–10 minutes, or until softened. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a new saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat, add garlic and sauté on low until fragrant. Stir in escargot, rosemary, salt, pepper, and the cooked mushrooms.
Reduce heat to low, and add wine vinegar, wine, marjoram, thyme, and flour.
Simmer for 10–15 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

Excerpt from From the Olive Grove cookbook. Printed with permission and published by Arsenal Pulp Press.

It sounds delicious and sooo garlicky!

She also has a few other recipes in her book, such as Faki (lentil soup,vegetarian), Fasolada (romano bean soup, vegetarian), Psarosoupa (fish chowder), Oxtail barley soup, Stifatho (Venison & Pearl Onion) Stew, Roasted leg of lamb (super-garlicky), Mousaka (Eggplant Lasagna), Pastitsio (Beef & Noodle Casserole), Shrimp with Feta (also super-garlicky), Gigandes (Giant Baked Lima Beans, vegetarian and garlicky!), and lots of other Greek style dishes.

The Joy of Cooking and The Joy Kitchen

Last week I got an email notifying me about the Joy of Cooking and its new website, The Joy Kitchen. My mother used to have The Joy of Cooking and I used to consult it a lot in my early days of learning how to cook.

The Joy of Cooking is celebrating is 75th anniversary (in 2006, actually) and it is credited to Irma S. Rombauer (the original author), Marion Rombauer Becker (her daughter), and Ethan Becker (their grandson and son, respectively).
It is Ethan Becker who took care of this latest edition includes a note from Julia Child dated 2004, who was consulted as an authority for this revision and helped with the revisions. A letter from Ethan Becker dated 2006 explains all this and also tells about the sampling of the recipes, the work it took to bring this 75th anniversary edition to print, etc.
I do not have my mom's edition with me to compare, and I don't remember exactly what it included, but this edition has a lot of helpful information and ideas, including A History of the Joy of Cooking by Anne Mendelson. Apparently the first instruction that the original Joy included was to stand facing the stove and that's how Anne Mendelson named her book published in 2003. It is an appropriate addition to this edition of Joy.

The book also includes information about nutrition, and an explanation of the Nutrition Facts sticker and how to read food labels. I'm pretty sure this is something recent in the book, since the inclusion of food labels and nutrition facts is quite recent (definitely less than 75 years).
It also includes a heading about vegetarian diets. Too bad it says "in the United States, some vegetarians happily eat chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy products", ah well, people who eat chicken and fish are definitely not vegetarian, they may not eat red meat but they should not label themselves vegetarian. Too bad a misconception like this is included in such an important book.

There is a section about entertaining, including details that go beyond the menu, such as table decor, table setting, seating, etc. It also includes suggested menus for holidays, special occasions, 30 minute recipes, etc. All with recipes that can be found in the book. A suggested menu for a vegetarian event includes:

• White bean dip with rosemary and garlic


• Tuscan bread and tomato soup


• Gazpacho


• Mushroom barley soup


• Wonton soup

There are, of course, lots of other recipes for vegetarian dishes throughout the book.

The beverages menu has section has a great explanation about coffee and different types of coffee pots, including recipes for different types of coffee beverages. The section also includes explanations for juices, punches, and other soft drinks. But, and this is what is super exciting, there is a section for wine and beer, and a section for cocktails and party drinks. No more fiddling around to find the perfect margarita or martini recipe, everything is clearly explained with measurements and everything.

This is the most complete cooking book you'll ever find, and what better than getting this new updated edition instead of going back to your mom's recipe books. It is published by Simon & Schuster and retails for $35 in the US and $39.99 in Canada. Definitely an investment worth making.

On a further note, I am proud to say that they spell "portobello" for the mushrooms, which is how I've been spelling it all along. And if such an authority in cooking spells it like that, I very well take it that such is the correct spelling.

Been very busy

Sorry guys for the lack of posting. I've been really busy doing stuff... summer and all. But I have been cooking and will post recipes soon.

Meanwhile I got an advance copy of The Complete Book of Garlic, by Ted Jordan Meredith. It is, according to their tagline, "a guide for gardeners, growers and serious cooks". I've taken a look and it looks great. It is indeed more a guide for gardeners and growers. And it has no recipes, but some tips on how to use it when cooking. I'll have a more complete review in a few days. All you need to know now is that it is coming out in August and will be available at Amazon and other retailers. And yes, sadly, we Canadians will end up paying more for the same product, it retails for $39.95 in the US and for $45.95 in Canada. That's 15% more in Canada, when at today's rate it should retail at $40.83 in Canada. Shame on publishers, shame!
OK, rant over. Happy garlicking!

Comfort Food, by Kate Jacobs

When I first heard of this book, I thought it was a cooking book, because of the title. But it is a novel, by the same author of The Friday Night Knitting Club. I didn't have a chance to read that book but some of my knitting friends said it was good, so I was glad to have the opportunity to read her next novel.
It is the story of Gus Simpson, the most famous cooking celebrity in the Food Channel. Gus is going through some changes in life and is forced to evaluate who she is and what she has done so far with her life, including her family and her professional life.
It is nice and agreeable read. Jacobs's style is best-selling type, easy to read and entertaining to follow. It has a lot of pop-cultural references and I wonder if she based any of her characters on real people, not that I would know who they are, but sometimes insiders recognize someone they know in this type of books.
The book has really good character development and an easy to follow story. It is in the chick-lit style but I believe it appeals to a wider demographic, from mothers and grandmothers to young women.
I have to confess that I developed a fondness for the characters and I even shed a couple of tears when I was reading their story. I read the whole book in less than a week and I kept looking forward to reading, I wanted to know what would happen to these people.
I really recommend this book as an easy, agreeable read.
Although it talks a lot about food (and a lot about Spanish food, which I looooooove!!) it has no recipes.
Kate Jacobs has a website and a blog.

He said beer, she said wine, by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old

I've been super busy lately and haven't had much time to blog at all. But I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to talk about a great book I got recently: He said beer, she said wine, by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old.
I was really looking forward to this book, especially because it's published by DK which is one of my favourite publishers. I recently wrote about another book that they published, Morimoto. Well, they did not disappoint this time. The book has great pictures and a good amount of text as well, and is a great fun read.
Sam Calagione is the beer guy and Marnie Old is the wine woman. At the beginning of the book they explain who they are and why they are defending beer/wine. Then follows a short history of wine and beer, how they started to be part of culture, and who were the peoples drinking them. They also defend their choice of drink.
I particularly liked the story of wine, how it is produced, the difference between red and white. since I've been trying to learn a bit more about all of it (I am getting there, my readers may remember that I rate Educating Peter by Lettie Teague. Well, I can now distinguish some types of wines, and I now go beyond only knowing that there's red and white). It is very useful to have a reference about wine flavours and what it all means. I especially like the "travel guide" approach, which is not surprising since DK makes so many travel guides. The same approach comes a bit later with an explanation and "guide" to beer.
Later the Food Debate section comes, which explains food pairing for both wine and beer. There are sections for pairings with cheese, veggies, sandwiches, pizza and pasta, spicy food, shellfish, fish, poultry, meat and desserts. Quite interesting to learn about how beer can be paired with some food that are usually associated with wine, and viceversa. The only problem is that I believe it may be difficult to get half of the beers and wines in the book here in Ontario. We are at the mercy of the LCBO, and if they do not bring those wines, I believe we have little choice. Now I know how to do substitutions with yarns, so a similar approach may be useful for the beers and wines presented in the book. Nevertheless it is super interesting and worth a read.
At the end of the book there are a few recipes with suggested pairings of both beer and wine, the idea is to have a few friends or family over and see which drink is preferred with the foods. Lots of fun, indeed.
All in all, this is a great book that I totally enjoyed reading and having. It is a great reference and includes user-friendly and fun information for learning about both beer and wine.

Oh, one extra thing, the retail price for Canada is $28.

Morimoto

I was really excited to receive my pre-release copy of Morimoto, published by DK, DK is one of my favourite publishers, their Eye Witness travel guides are just amazing. I was expecting beautiful pictures and I was not disappointed.
So who is Chef Morimoto and why should I get his book? Masaharu Morimoto is the regular iron chef Japanese in the Iron Chef and Iron Chef America shows. I always have fun watching these shows on the Food Network, and I was curious to see what a book by him could provide.
The book starts with a 2-3 page biography of Chef Morimoto and his career as a chef, this biography was written by JJ Goode (a long-time food writer). It is then divided in several chapters:

• Sashimi and Sushi: Including a description of how to cut fish, clean octopus and clean clams
• Rice, Noodles, Breads and Soups: With several recipes for rice dishes, including my beloved sticky rice in lotus leaves
• Fish and shellfish: With recipes for lobster, crab, shrimp, etc.
• Duck, Chicken, Pork, Beef and Lamb: This is the chapter that seems to be the most "fusion", since it includes a lot of recipes that seem French-ish, and stuff with hot fiery chiles
• Vegetables, Tofu and Eggs: A chapter that I was especially interested in, because of its vegetarian content. It includes a recipe for tempura vegetables. Sadly, a lot of veggie and tofu recipes include some type of meat, or cheese
• A special chapter called Recipes to Contemplate: Which includes an abalone croquette. Curiously, there is a typo on the title and it says "albalone" (page 211).
• Desserts: There is a tofu cheesecake that looks delicious (my readers will have to try it for me and let me know what they think, since I cannot eat any cheese)
• Stocks, Oils, Spices and Sauces: Recipes for different sauces and stocks that are needed for the various recipes in the book

There is not a lot about specific garlic content, there is a Grilled Steak with Garlic-Soy Jus that looks delicious, the garlic-soy jus includes 6 garlic cloves!, fresh ginger, sugar, veal reduction (recipe included in the book), soy sauce, mirin (fortified wine made from glutionous rice and used solely for cooking, according to the glossary), sesame oil and onion. The truth is that it looks delicious! There is a lamb carpaccio that includes "shiso buds" or garlic flowers as garnish, this is such an original way of garnishing that I'm looking forward to trying it. Garlic is included in some other recipes, but not very prominently. It doesn't matter, the recipes are so delicious this is a book worth having. The thing that I liked the most is that it has a kind of "guide" in each chapter describing how to use the ingredients, like how to cook the rice, what dashi is, how tofu is made, etc. All the explanations and most of the recipes are accompanied by step-by-step photos illustrating the process.

This is definitely a book worth getting for reference and as a cook book. The only "but" for me is the same as always, the price is $40 USD but it is $50 CAD. At today's conversion rate it should be about $42 CAD. A 25% markup is too much for us Canadians. I recommend ordering from an American bookstore, like Barnes & Noble, they give you a discount and even with the shipping it's well worth it. (Sorry Canadian retailers, it's not my fault, it's just common sense).
The amazing photography is by Quentin Bacon.