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Cookbooks for the Borrowing

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It probably goes without saying that handling books in a public library can introduce you to titles you might not otherwise come across. I tend to notice the cookbooks, especially those with mouthwatering photos of the finished recipes. Maybe it’s in the middle of the afternoon when my stomach starts to growl in anticipation of dinner when cookbooks look the most tempting. Anyway, here are a few that I’ve borrowed from the library (and then purchased when they passed the first kitchen test).

Noodles Every Day: Delicious Recipes from Ramen to Rice Sticks / Corinne Trang

It’s not just the Italians who can do tasty noodle dishes. In fact, there is some speculation that Marco Polo brought pasta to the Venetian Republic after one of his forays to Asia. And Asian influences form the focus of this cookbook— Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Malaysian. If you want to go beyond instant ramen with its foil flavor pack, then see if these recipes make your mouth water-- somen noodles with shrimp and curry and peas, cold sesame egg noodles, soba with grilled asparagus and sea scallops with sweet miso sauce. Most are easy to prepare. A trip to a specialty grocery may be required for certain ingredients, but that can be an adventure all on its own. I googled “Asian grocery store” and my local town and was surprised that a Japanese food store was located just minutes from where I live. I got my somen noodles there for my first experiment, and am sure to go back. It was like a little trip to Tokyo. If you like noodle houses like Wagamama and Ippudo NYC, then this cookbook is for you.


Real stew : 300 recipes for authentic home-cooked cassoulet, gumbo, chili, tagine, curry, minestrone, bouillabaisse, stroganoff, goulash, chowder, and much more / Clifford A. Wright

Stews are comfort food, so now that autumn is fast approaching, some of these are definitely worth trying out. And it’s not just familiar Western dishes like Irish stew or carbonades flamandes, there are some exotically flavored African and Indian stews as well. What could be better than coming home to a slow cooker gently melding the wonderful tastes of meat and veg, filling the entire house with wonderful olfactory sensations, and suggesting a fantasy of having a fulltime cook on your household staff? There are some good recipes in here, but some were definitely beyond my skill level—I probably will never make a bouquet garni or probably not even my own stock. If you pick and choose and maybe even judiciously modify, you will still have a stick-to-your ribs meal to enjoy.

Just One Pot : Over 320 simple and delicious recipes, from hearty stews to tasty tagines

Okay, so the Reader’s Digest Foundation put this one out. To me that suggests Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and crispy French-fried onions from a can, but wait, I guess that would have been an unfortunate assumption, because honest to goodness there’s some tasty eating in here. And it’s probably easier to put on the table than some of the recipes in Real Stew. Maybe Reader's Digest publications are for me.





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