i just realized that i have eight cookbooks or food-related books on just the first page of my amazon wishlist--i know there are others, scattered throughout the other five. it's kind of silly, since i rarely use cookbooks (except for the occasional crockpot inspiration, or jewish holiday, or whatever), but i do own a lot of them. partially it's that i like to look at the pictures, but mainly it's that i like to imagine that i am the sort of person who would use these cookbooks, to make mouth-watering four-course dinners and insanely gorgeous desserts. but who has that kind of time?
maybe this summer i will make an effort to use my cookbooks to make Real Food, with the added motivation of documenting it via flickr. i like to take pictures of food almost as much as i like eating it, and in theory this summer i will be able to spare an occasional hour to cook. my saag paneer experiment was pretty successful and that took less than an hour--and i even had leftovers!
so anyway. are there any particular cookbooks you guys like (for usefulness, for pretty pictures, or otherwise)? my own cookbooks all fall into one (or more) of three categories: 1) vegetarian, 2) jewish, and 3) dessert/bread.
how did you make saag paneer in less than an hour? I always have to make the saag a day in a advance.
ReplyDelete--Sarah (can't remember my Blogger password)
one of the local cheese-makers makes a paneer-type cheese--they sell it at weaver street. then you just have to cut it up and dunk it in flour (or matzah meal)! also, i used frozen spinach. :)
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem with cookbooks: a big shelf of them that I hardly ever look at. I usually just make stuff up, like the smoked mozzarella, tomato & basil pasta salad I made for the SILS picnic.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, two of my favorites are by Carol Fields, who is sort of a food anthropologist, or historian, or something: The Italian Baker (ISBN 0061812668), and In Nonna's Kitchen : Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers (ISBN 0060171847).
oh, you were at the picnic? i didn't go--i had my radio show, and anyway all that good food would have been torture during passover.
ReplyDeletei'll definitely check those cookbooks out--thanks for the tip! and i love how you put their isbn numbers, hee.