Cookbook #5: Chicken (by Fiona Biggs)

The name pretty much sums it up. I have a lot of good memories from this cookbook, which I’m pretty sure I picked up at Barnes & Noble. I bought it in college and cooked a lot of my first meals for myself with it. My friend Stephanie, who lived across the hall and inspired me to get more involved with cooking, would frequently steal it herself to use, and I eventually bought a copy for her as a gift.

I’ve made several recipes from this book: an Asian chicken noodle, soup, lobster-stuffed chicken, chicken tikka, chicken and ginger stir fry, Italian chicken packets…and there are plenty more I’d like to make. This week, I settled on Whiskey Roast Chicken, as I wanted something for a whole chicken that involved minimal ingredients purchased (I had everything on hand except for the oats.

Adaptations: I used the white parts of bok choy in lieu of celery because I didn’t have any. I also cooked some roasted potatoes under the chicken so that they would sop up the fat as the chicken cooked. This meant I actually had to add a little fat to the gravy (and I used decadent duck fat), but it wasn’t a big deal. I used steel cut oats instead of regular, which may have changed the stuffing texture slightly. Perusing the recipe, looks like I accidentally omitted the thyme from the stuffing as well.

What I learned: Bok choy works in stuffing, and whole chickens and I have a fiesty relationship – even if a thermometer tells me it’s done, it’s often not cooked all the way through. I also enjoyed using oatmeal in a savory application for the first time.

Recipe results: Very good. The white meat took longer to cook than expected, but it wasn’t the end of the world. The glaze on the chicken really brings a nice flavor to the chicken skin.

Cookbook verdict: You can tell I have a lot of affection for this cookbook, and there still are many recipes to try from it. My only complaint is sometimes the ingredients involved are pretty obscure – fromage blanc, yellow bean sauce, lime marmalade, etc. One asked for some sort of “brown sauce” I’ve never heard of. What?

Recipe results: See beyond the jump.

Cookbook #4: Crock-Pot Best Loved Slow-Cooker Recipes

I love using slow cookers during the winter. They’re helpful when you have a busy lifestyle; I’ll often prepare something in one when I have to review a play later that night or something.

That said, I haven’t spent that much time with my only slow cooker-themed cookbook. I think it was a gift from my old roommates, Kari and Vanessa. I decided to make two recipes, both involving barley, because I’ve been trying to cook more with grains this year.

Adaptations: Besides using buffalo instead of ground beef for the stroganoff, I pretty much stuck to the recipes here.

What I learned: Both barley and dried mushrooms are natural fits for the slow cooker.

Recipe results: I wasn’t wowed by the stew (there was a slight sweetness, probably from the carrots or the veggie broth, that tasted slightly off to me), but John was a big fan. I liked the stroganoff dish a lot – the barley was filling and healthy, stretching out the meat in the recipe.

Cookbook verdict: A lot of these recipes were hit and miss, using a lot of processed ingredients like condensed soup, or just a bit more homestyle than my taste. But there still were some interesting options in there. I’m definitely looking forward to making a Thai Pumpkin Soup at some point from it.

Recipes: After the jump.

Cookbook #3: Cook’s Encyclopedia of Vegetarian Cooking

I picked up some parsnips at the farmer’s market, as I’ve been making more of an effort to cook with in-season root vegetables this winter. I went through two of my veggie-focused cookbooks before I found a good looking recipe that incorporated them.

This cookbook has been on my shelves for awhile. I think I got it not long after moving to DC, possibly off the Barnes & Noble sales rack? I’ve made a couple recipes from it before, including a couple risottos.

I decided to make parsnip, eggplant and cashew biryani (though the fried root veggie chips were a tempting alternative).

Adaptations: I trimmed down the calories on this recipe by cutting down the butter, oil and cashews, and by using brown rice instead of white. The brown rice meant for a significantly longer cooking time, but it ultimately worked well.

What I learned: This recipe used the classic technique for cooking biryani, and I think I’d be much more inclined to make a traditional Indian version now. The parsnips were a nice touch – sweet and substantial.

Recipe results: This is a doozy of a recipe, with tons of steps. It probably took me a good three hours to pull off, so this is not a weeknight meal. But it’s a tasty vegetarian meal that looks pretty impressive when you pull it off.

Cookbook verdict: I already knew this was a reliable cookbook for vegetarian meals, though the recipes are often very time consuming.

Recipe: See beyond the jump.

Cookbook #2: The Hungover Cookbook

New Year’s Day seems an appropriate day to sample this cookbook, right? It was for John, anyway, who was suffering from the malady in the book’s title. So I grabbed this cookbook (a Christmas gift from him) to find something I could make with the ingredients we had on hand in the house.

I actually really love this book (by Milton Crawford). It’s a cheeky, whimsical book that has a very British feel and definitely embraces the hangover. It starts with a funny quiz you take to find out what sort of hangover you’re suffering from, and then the cookbook is divided into recipes to appeal to each subset of hangover.

We determined John was dealing with “The Atomic”, and one of the suggested recipes was for a potato hash with avocado and bacon.

Adaptations: The cookbook encourages you to experiment with this recipe, whether it be adding cheese, putting a poached egg on top, etc. My only adjustment was using a bit less potato than asked for (just because we only had one potato in the house) and using turkey bacon for mine (John got regular).

What I learned: All about hangovers. Also, I should be putting Worcestershire sauce in my home fries more often, apparently.

Recipe Results: Any recipe prominently featuring avocado and bacon is all right with me, and we were really blown away by how delicious this was. It hit all my breakfast cravings.

Cookbook verdict: Funny and (for better or worse) practical, with surprisingly good recipes. I look forward to experimenting more with this cookbook, particularly a lot of the spicy-looking dishes. Not that I’m going to be hungover soon or anything…right?

Recipe: See beyond the jump.