Weekend adventure – United Noodles

Ok, I admit, we go to United Noodles once in a while, so it’s not that big of an adventure, and really it's not that far away. Or maybe not as big of an adventure that it could be. I swear every time we go I say to myself we need to come here on a regular basis, and then it is months before we go again. We had to go this time because I wanted some rice for a little project of mine – non-dairy milk alternatives. I thought that it would be fun to do not only white rice milk but also rice milk made with red and black rices. I know that many people are getting into alternative foods (like gluten or dairy free) because of their kids and I think that kid food should be fun!

You may have seen United Noodles on the Food Network (both Rachel Ray and Andrew Zimmern have been there). They are located in Minneapolis and are the largest Asian grocery in the Midwest (or so their web site states.) They carry a vast array of Asian items from tableware to fresh fish. This weekend I saw belt fish in the fresh fish case. There is no mistaking the reason for the name.

We also got some noodles, one is called ‘oriental noodles’ and is made with sweet potato starch. They look sort of like rice noodles that were dipped in squid ink, since they have a sort of black tinge to them. The other kind we bought for ourselves is black rice vermicelli. I also got some pumpkin and tomato carrot noodles for our niece. We should not have gotten any noodles for ourselves, since this week we are going to go back on the Paleo diet. But I figure since I eat potatoes once a week at work, we should have one day a week where we can be ‘bad’ if we have been good the rest of the week without guilt if we so decide. Also since we are going through our cookbook collection and working on organizing, rating and reviewing them.


My new toy – bamboo steamer

I have always wanted one, but for some reason I have never actually bought one until now. I have no idea why not!

Of course we had to try it out right away so I got some beef and cabbage buns to steam as soon as we got home. They were very yummy!

Now I need to find or create good Paleo recipes that use a steamer.

Cookbook review - Turkish Cookery by Inci Kut

ISBN-10: 975-479-100-7
Original publication date: 1992
Edition publication date: 1993
Format: paperback
Publisher: Net Turistik Yayinlar
Pages: 141
Dimensions: 7.5 X 8.5 x 3/8
# of recipes: 175-200
Dietary scope: (Atkins, fat-free etc): Turkish Cuisine
Intended audience: people who want to cook authentic Turkish food
Photos: 1 or more photos every 2 pages
Index: no
Arrangement: by course
Other information (i.e. - tips, history, etc): there is a some historical or cultural notes
Lists Nutritional information: no
Lists Servings: yes
Utilizes packaged foods: only in a couple of recipes
Low fat: not really
Low sodium: not really
Low sugar: not really
Low carb: not really
Recommended skill level: Journeyman (I’m done with boxes – what’s next?)
Points – (each question can have up to 5 points) – 3.14
Hits the intended audience? 5
Picture to recipe ratio 4
Good format 3
Good table of contents 5
Good index 0
Anthropology rating: 1
% of recipes I would make: 75%
I like? yes

The only way this cookbook could have been more Turkish is if it was written in Turkish, my copy even has a price sticker in Turkish Lira. It could have possibly benefited from being proofread by a native English speaker, but that does give it a bit of charm. I can’t help but smile every time I look at a recipe with Egg-Plant in it even though this is one food that I can truly not eat, which is also why the % of recipes that I would make is smaller then it could be. If you take out the recipes with eggplant I would probably make over 90% of the remaining at least once. I am not a huge fan of liver or tripe, and there are a few other recipes that the ingredients would be a bit hard to come by in Minnesota, fresh anchovies for example. It is not written with American measurements, and at first you might look at a recipe and see that it calls for a ‘glass’ of something. There is a nice table at the front of the book that lets you know that a ‘glass’ equals 1 American cup, or 5/6^th of a British breakfast cup.

It has a lot of pictures, not quite a picture for every recipe but pretty close. One of the things that I liked about the pictures is that if you are unfamiliar with the food most are photographed in such a way as to show you what the finished product looks like, for example baked Borek. Now I understand what I didn’t from a previous book. Yes, you place the filling on the dough and roll it up like a cigar, and then you shape it into a big, flat snail shape.

The format, while not totally bad is, busy. The pages are separated into columns, two wider columns with a narrower one separating them which wouldn’t be bad. But then those two wider columns have a line on either side, and each ingredient listed has a line underneath it, all this just adds visual noise. Also the page numbers are a bit unusual; each individual number is in a black box, so page 26 has two black boxes each with a number in it. You will know what section of the book you are in because each page has top boarder in black with the section name in it. I don’t think that this was needed since it is pretty obvious what section you are in once you look at the recipe. So visually there is a lot going on on each page.

The table of content is almost as good as an index, which is good since there is no attempt at an index. You could argue that with a cookbook this small it doesn’t need an index, but really with a book this small how hard could it be to add one?

This cookbook could easily get a 4-5 rating except for the lack of index, historical or cultural information and the busy formatting.

Note: my husband, who is the kind of person that does exactly what the recipe says had difficulty with the recipes that he tried. I am a more of read the ingredients and interpret what it says to do. So depending on your ‘style’ this book may be more difficult to use.

　

　

Cookbook review - Gourmet Mustards: The How-Tos of Making & Cooking with Mustards by Helene Sawyer and Cheryl Long

(Sorry, for some reason the picture wants to be on it's side!)

ISBN-13 :978-1889531045
ISBN-10: 1-889531-04-9
Original publication date: 1987
Edition publication date: 2002
Format: paperback
Publisher: Sibyl Publications
Pages: 116
Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
# of recipes: 125 - 150
Dietary scope: (Atkins, fat-free etc): mustard
Intended audience: people who want to make mustard from scratch
Photos: none, some black & white drawings
Index: yes, but it is more like an expanded table of contents
Arrangement: by course
Other information (i.e. - tips, history, etc): some tips and mustard related quotes
Lists Nutritional information: yes
Lists Servings: yes
Utilizes packaged foods: only items like prepared horseradish, and jams
Low fat: yes
Low sodium: yes
Low sugar: mostly
Low carb: mostly
Cost per recipe (listed cover price/recipes): about $.06/recipe
Recommended skill level:  Journeyman – I’m done with boxes – what’s next?
Points – (each question can have up to 5 points) = 2.65
Hits the intended audience? 4
Picture to recipe ratio? 0
Good format? 5
Good table of contents? 2
Good index? 2
Cost per recipe (listed cover price/recipes): 3
Anthropology rating: 1
% of recipes I would make: 80%
I like? 3

I had high hope for this book, but sadly it fell short of them. There is only one ‘basic’ mustard recipe and it is a Dijon style mustard, which really isn’t that ‘basic’. I would have liked to have seen at least one or two more really basic recipes. As for the history of mustard there is a mere 4 sentences on the subject. Another thing that I didn’t like was even the basic recipe is based on powdered mustard, everyone knows that spices start to lose their pungency as soon as you start to crush, or grind them. If you are going to the trouble of making your mustard from scratch, you are certainly capable of starting with the mustard seed, in fact you are probably wanting to start with the seeds.

The recipes themselves look good. I almost wonder, however, if there is a recipe missing, since a few recipes call for "basic prepared bright yellow mustard". To me it seems silly, in a book about making mustards to have store bought mustard as an ingredient. There is another item about this book that I find annoying. There is a recipe called "Christmas Mustard" which looks like it would be a lot of fun to try because it is unusual, how many mustards have you seen with candied fruit in it? I think that since it is so unusual there should be some suggestions on what to use it with, and at least one recipe containing it. Unless I missed the recipe in the two or three times I have gone through the book there is not one mention of Christmas Mustard aside from the recipe itself. How hard would it have been to make sure that there was at least one recipe to go with each of the mustard recipes in the book? Christmas ham or turkey at the very least. Or perhaps a turkey, cream cheese and Christmas mustard wrap?

There are very short comments for each recipe, and many are followed by helpful ‘tips’. There are many mustard related quotes through out the book which adds a bit of fun to it.

For the most part I was looking for recipes on mustards, and maybe a recipe or two that contained some of the more unusual ones. And while there are almost 40 recipes for mustard (if you include all the variations) it clearly lacks on the basic mustard recipes.

Cookbook reviews

I am planning on doing reviews for every cookbook that we have, no small task since we have almost 400. We are also currently working on making sure that all of our cookbooks are listed on Library Thing.  And with a small house you can well imagine that they are not all in the same place.  Yes we even have a shelf of them in the hallway above a door.  You know that foot or so of space just below the ceiling is totally overlooked in most homes.  You can be so creative with that space.  It doesn’t need to be books, it could be whatever you collect.  Or instead of putting up a wide shelf put one up that is only a couple inches deep and use it to display photos or your children’s artwork and awards.

How do you rate a cookbook?  How do you get consistent ratings? I use a form for my reviews on books of fiction. I find that it helps me remember what I should be looking at, and this way I am comparing the same items, like plot, character, theme etc. I am working on a blank cookbook review form so I can approach it the same way.  A form will also make sure that I am listing the same information about a book. 

What would I like to know about a cookbook before I buy it? So many cookbook reviews I see give the book a bad review because it wasn’t what they expected.  I think that it is unfair to give a book a bad rating if you weren’t the ‘target audience’.  For example some of the reviews for the Hungry Girl cookbooks that I have looked at give them a bad rating.   Because the person who got the book clearly did not fit into their target audience, or did not understand what the concept was they gave it a bad review. It’s like getting a Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade cookbook and complaining that she uses prepared foods.  To me the Hungry Girl cookbooks are books, really hit their target audience, they are for people who really do not cook, or have no idea how to cook healthy. While they are not necessarily healthy recipes, they are healthier recipes.  They really are good for making you look at your food choices and teaching you how to make informed decisions.   My daughter, who is a diabetes health educator, uses the Hungry Girl cookbooks at work and she says that they are extremely helpful. 

So not only do you have to understand what the target audience is, for many of our books you need to understand the time period that they were written in.  Do you rate a book written in the 1930’s or 50’s the same way that you would written currently?  What makes a cookbook a truly great cookbook?  What is important to one person isn’t necessarily important to another.  So lots of questions to answer.

DS

Food should be fun, fetching and flavorful.

Food should be fun, fetching and flavorful.  Anyone who disagrees hasn’t eaten anything really good.  Food, here in America at least, has come to mean fast & fattening.  I think that we should change that.  There is nothing wrong with food created fast, or something that takes hours to create.  I admit that I am one of those people that don’t mind spending hours in the kitchen creating dishes.  But most days I want instant gratification, so none of this cooking for two stuff in my household.  I want cooking for eight!  Then I divide up the leftovers and freeze – instant frozen dinner.  The fact that I saved money by making it myself and that I know exactly what is in my food are bonuses.

Ok, I read cookbooks.  Yes, read them like other people read novels, and then I make up recipes in my head, when I am not making up stories to help relax so I can get to sleep.  Sometimes the making recipes to make me relax backfires and instead keeps me awake but I have come up with some pretty good recipes if I do say so myself.  The cucumber blue cheese boats that everyone request for example.

So today I made some fun food.  It’s kind of plain looking but it is tasty and fun – glutinous rice and banana tamales.  I was going to make Turkish Manti, but I have been feeling under the weather and they are a lot of work.

 

Ok, the picture isn't the greatest, did I mention that I have been feeling under the weather?  But it gives you the idea.  And is it simple??   Yes! Make glutinous rice, add coconut milk, sugar and some bananas (or really any kind of fruit), wrap it all up in the corn husk like a tamale and steam it.

So get into the kitchen and have fun!

DS

Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar

We went to Stillwater this weekend and stopped at the Stillwater Olive Oil Company where you can taste several different kinds of olive oil and balsamic vinegars.  Let me tell you there is a world of difference between the really good olive oil and balsamic vinegar and the regular stuff you buy at the store. 

I don't usually like either.  But one taste and I wanted to buy one of every thing! I think that we could have easily spent a couple hundred dollars there.  Instead we got one nice bottle of olive oil, a nice bottle of 18 year old balsamic vinegar and a small bottle of blood orange flavored olive oil (We are big fans of Blood Oranges in our household) and a dark chocolate balsamic vinegar.  If you bring back your bottle (cleaned of course) when you go back to buy more you get $1 off your ourchase.  It is kind of fun,  you pick out what you want, then pick out the size and they fill up the bottle, label and put one of those shrink wrap sleeves on the cork.

So I got out one of my berry bowls (yes, I know, who has berry bowls?) and had raspberries with cream and dark chocolate balsamic vinegar. I also have earmarked a recipe for ice cream that has balsamic vinegar swirls in it.

I didn't really think about it before but until you are looking for a recipe with balsamic vinegar, you don't notice that it is not really one of the ingredients that they have listed in the index.

It will be interesting to see how different the recipes taste with really good olive oil.

We also shopped for soup bowls, for our 52 soups in 52 weeks project.  Who would have thought that finding unique soup bowls would be so hard?

Slacker!

I have been a TOTAL slacker! 

Ok, maybe not.  I did read 121 books and start on Harry Potter in Turkish (which I do not speak or read – yet!) I also made my first pair of gloves and created a new candy recipe.

Starting January I am getting back on track with 2 major recipe projects:

The Retro Recipe project & 52 Weeks, 52 soups Project

I have a recipe hoard from my two grandmothers that I am trying to organize.  Thankfully one of them didn't actually cook so there is less then 300 recipe cards to go through (and a few seem to be duplicates.)  I am thinking to combine recipes with genealogy (which my mother does) for X-mas gifts.  I even have a recipe from my great-grandfather who was a well-known ENT doctor in Minneapolis.  His recipe starts out with take 18# grapes, stems removed (no rotten ones!)  . . .

Of course to me the most important one is Vernie’s Rice Pudding.  If I have it correct she was my great-grandmothers sister’s daughter and was born 03/08/1889 in Center City, Minnesota.    I always request this for the holidays and family get togethers.

I had already started on the hoard of my other grandmother (My Grandmother's Blue Books) so I will continue with that.

52 Weeks, 52 soups

The hubby & I are planning to try one new soup recipe a week this year.  They are great for lunches.  We have a pressure canner so we can make a big batch and can it.  He made some roasted carrot & tomato soup that was really good this month.