- The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Makingby Alana Chernila
joycelyn, my strategy - if you could call it one - is very simple: either I am struck by a sudden flash of consciousness foodwise and have to make use of all that healthy stuff I have bought at the grocers. Or there are enough rainy or dull weekends providing the opportunity to really browse through my cookbooks or cooking blogs. Then the kitchen table is emptied and my daughter and I make home-made pasta, pesto and aioli, bake bread and muffins and the like. Of course the time needed to eat it is nothing compared to the time required to prepare it. It is rewarding nevertheless, though. You see, there is no discipline applied or rule followed. Maybe I should?No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes 
Mon dieu - I did not know that there are so many spread varieties just out of beans. Sounds fantastic! It opens up a new world for me. I thought the bean spreads available in shops quite bland. Thank you, Shannon, for sharing.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes
This book is a new entry on my wishlist. I am so excited to hear more about how the recipes turned out.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes- mm107, thank you for directing me to SNE. Will definitely give the hard-cooked eggs with dukkah a try.
One of my favourites of SNE are the little quinoa patties. They are easy to make and easy to handle in a lunchbox, too. Together with fresh tomato and basil they taste just great.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes - The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Makingby Alana ChernilaThis sound so interesting. I am very attracted by the idea to really prepare staples from scratch. I have had some very exciting results with home-made pasta, home-made vegetable stock, home-made bread, pesto, ... you know, it makes such a difference. But - I fear I cannot provide the time after a full working day to really deeply dig in.
I am looking forward to read about your experience, though.1 like Can’t Like Unlike Like 1 like
- Shannon,
my daughter gets a lot of rice/ quinoa/ coucous plus vegetable combos ... now her taste buds yearn for something different and more refreshing. This crudité-and-spread sounds great. What is in your favourite spread? Is it homemade?No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes - Everyday millions of people bring their own food to work and mums and dads prepare lunchboxes for their kids. Everday we have to square the round: it has to be easy to prepare, be practical to eat, acceptable when not heated or cooled, recharge our energy level, be healthy and delicious ... Everday this is also an issue for me.
I am looking for new ideas and would like to know what is in your lunchbox? - Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africaby Diana Henry
Very fine for me, too.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes 
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mm107, I would like to recommend a long-time companion of mine, actually one of my very
first cookbooks: The Cooking of Italy: Foods of the World.It is a magnificent introduction to the mainly regional cuisine of Italy, arranging chapters according to the main cities Roma, Firenze, Bologna, Venezia, Genova, Milano, Torino, Napoli and their regions as well as Sardegna. I like it because it is full of stories and background information, creating a wonderful atmosphere through its pictures. It does not contain a tremendous amount of recipes, but presents the essential typical dishes (including some step-by-step directions). As a young girl I always wanted to be able to have Supplì al Telefono (fried rice balls filled with cheese). My edition is of 1978!, but I have checked, you should be able to find it second-hand. Maybe we can make a Cook-Along one day?
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I have treated myself with this lovely book. The chapters follow the seasons and the recipes promise a mix of English, French, Mediterean and Levant cuisine with some interesting twists and flavours, but without getting too complicated or time consuming. The wonderful pictures and the personal touch make me wish to have a lot of spare reading and cooking time.
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This one is new on my wish list. Just the front pictures are teasers. I love France, the cuisine and healthy food, many good reasons to have a new book in the library ;-).
- Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africaby Diana HenryLemon Basil Ice CreamHi Deb, one summer I was lucky to find an Italian ice-cream shop in my neighbourhood offering a Lemon Basil flavour - a rare occasion. It truly was delicious. The lemon was perfectly matched with the taste and zest of the fresh basil. From what I know about basil from my own cooking experience I think one cannot reach the same result with cooked basil. It is just another story. My guess is that the essential oils making fresh basil such a pleasure simply evaporate.
I am curious to hear about your cooking experience with macarons ot the like.
1 like Can’t Like Unlike Like 1 like - Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the Worldby Madhur Jaffrey
Sliced Tomatoes in a Tomato SauceOh, that's exactly what I do, when I have no time for "real" cooking - just some fried fresh tomatoes and garlic served with a bowl of spaghetti. We are especially happy with some brown sugar and a dash of balsamico added. When the pan is hot enough it will caramelize a bit and give a wonderful garlicy-sweet-sour twist to this simple meal. The smaller the tomatoes the better.
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Tomato Soup with Cumin & FigsHave made this soup several times now. Once I substituted half of the dried figs with dried apricots. Very nice, too.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes
Oatmeal Sandwich BreadRecent success in bread baking inspired me to give this a try. I really like oatmeal, and the other main ingredient, molasses made me curious, too. Was quite a quest to find it, though.
The bread is easy to make, it only takes some time to let the yeast play its role. I even steered through something called "autolyse" successfully ;-) Kim Boyce provides detailled instructions and context, this was very helpful and fun.
The bread tasted wonderful the first and second day, with a strong caramel/ molasses flavour. Exceptionally good with fresh goat's cheese and fresh figs or jam.
Unfortunately not feasible to make on a normal working day.
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Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce@Suzsuz: you are right, there must be an editing mistake. It is my experience that eggplants need very high temperature when baked in the oven, between 180 and 200 for the first 20 minutes, then - with the grill on - around 150 degrees Celsius for another 5 minutes. This way the get nicely baked and it is the easiest and least oil-consuming method to get a soft and tasty result.
I love sour cream with them, guess I will give the buttermilk version a try.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes- Tomato Soup with Cumin & FigsThis recipes creates a wonderful fruity, flavorful and light summer soup. Just perfect for a hot day. Had dried and fresh figs on hand as well as red bell peppers. Don't leave out any of the ingredients, all flavors blend well with each other. Definitely will make and enjoy this again.
loli99 commented on an answer to “What is your favourite chocolate cake recipe?”Sun 26 Jun 2011 21:33:17 GMTSounds perfect! I am happy that you liked it.No likes Can’t Like Unlike Like No likes
5 likes Can’t Like Unlike Like 5 likesIn Germany the Time Life series "Foods of the World" had been published in the 70ies. The Cooking of Italy was one of my first cookbooks I bought from my pocket money as a teen, along with The Cooking of the British Isles - just imagine! At this time, I remember, I was deeply impressed by the photography and the detailled background information you could get out of any Time Life book, be it on landscapes, wildlife, history, or cooking.
What struck me most with this cookbook was the splendour of the recipes names: Vitello Tonnato, Supplì al Telefono, Gnocchi alla Romana,...
3 likes Can’t Like Unlike Like 3 likesWarm Bread and Honey Cake: Home Baking from Around the Worldby Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra
"Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra has a multi-cultural backround" it says on the book cover, and that is what makes this bakery book so interesting. There are recipes abound from every corner of the world and with every ingredient you can dream of. Chapter titles give an indication of what can be expected: flatbreads, yeast breads, cakes, pastries and thread pastries ... with very interesting rescipes for Coconut/ Chocolate/ Spice Cakes. All in all, an interesting read, too, as Gaitri is a food historian and has some stories to tell behind the recipes.
Ingredients are listed in grams/ oz/ cups, a rare luxury and very helpful. The book itself: wonderful...
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