The Best Cookbooks List

COOKBOOK REVIEW: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams At Home

 

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

This is my new Bible for making ice cream. I live on the East Coast and can't get to a Jeni's ice cream store, but I can as of this month buy Jeni's amazing cookbook for making her inspired artisinal ice creams at home. She even suggests using the exact ice cream maker I have, making it even more encouraging.

You see, I have a lot of ice cream recipe books. I have old ones. I have retro ones. I have almost every one I could find. I also have hand-written notes from my grandmother for her favorite homemade icy concoctions. They all go to the bottom shelf for now. The only other one I am keeping close at hand is David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, also a great reference for anything frozen.

This is by far the one that offers flavors an adult would crave. This is by far the easiest to follow, makes the most sense, and is the most exciting. I was turning the corners of pages to bookmark ice cream recipes I wanted to try when I realized I was bookmarking every page. Can you tell I love it?!

Think of making Sweet Basil & Honeyed Pine Nut ice cream, Pineapple Piment d'Espelette, Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Cognac Figs, or Cucumber Honeydew Cayenne Frozen Yogurt, Sour Beer Sorbets, Star Anise Ice Cream with Candied Fennel Seeds, or Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet. I plan on starting at the front and making each and every single one. 

Those of you that follow this blog know how much I love macarons. There is a whole section on how to make your own Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches!

And what about that old fashioned favorite of mine, Baked Alaska? Jeni offers us a guided tour on how to easily make a Baked Alaska Pie. If the results are as good as the pictures look, I am going to be very very happy!

This is a heart-felt book, one written with thoughtful care, attention to detail, compassion for the uninitiated, encouragement for the timid. Jeni speaks about ice cream the way a sommelier speaks of wine. "Fudge like texture and a pleasingly dry finish" ....."cardamom, with notes of citrus and pine, adds a blunt floral perfume."

But there is more. Recipes for "Swanky Cocktails" using the ice cream or sorbets, Vino Santo Sauce, rainbow colored terrines, and the story of how Jeni came to this place in her life running throughout the book, so by the end you feel as if you have taken the journey with her. Bravo Jeni. A truly valuable and entertaining anthem to making creative artisanal ice creams at home. I am so happy to have this new cookbook!

Such a fun video to watch of them making Jeni's ice cream! Click below to watch!

Good Time from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams on Vimeo.

MY CALABRIA by Rosetta Costantino

How does a girl who lives in the southernmost region of Italy, whose father was a shepherd and winemaker, end up in California as a cooking teacher and author of one of the most satisfying and endearing cookbooks about Italian cuisine?

And where exactly is Calabria?!

I googled images of Calabria and my breath stopped. How have I not visited? How soon can I go?! It looks exquisite, and if the cuisine is as luscious as Rosetta's recipes and prose paint it, then it's my next culinary journey. As soon as I can make it happen.

And then there was the table of contents, normally pretty dry stuff. Reading the contents page of My Calabria made me want to dive right into each and every page. Handmade fusilli wrapped around a knitting needle.....featherlight fritters to accompany the evening's first glass of wine.....an exotic green tomato tart with ricotta ice cream.....

From this very first page my emotions were entwined with the pages before me. Rosetta is an evocative writer. So this, then, is more than a cookbook. It is great reading.

The opening paragraph of My Calabria:

"The home that so many Calabrians once had to abandon is a painfully beautiful place, a remote land of majestic castles and ancient fortresses; snow-covered highlands that resemble Switzerland; markets proffering salt cod, unusual salumi, and fresh ricotta cheese; and miles of beaches and unspoiled coastline, the longest in all Italy."

Wow. Makes you want to go, doesn't it?

This is homey food. Comfort food. No foams, no tricks. It's about homemade jams and pasta and simple meat and fish dishes. Simple to make but complex in flavor, with a punch of spiciness. 

Today is Sunday, when I block off the entire day just for me to play with food. Today I am going to make desserts from My Calabria. And today, I share with you a recipe from this wonderful cookbook, so you too can have a taste of Calabria.

Ricotta Ice Cream with Strega

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups top quality whole milk ricotta

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons Strega liqueur

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 cup heavy cream

2 oz. candied orange peel, chopped (optional)

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend the ricotta, sugar, Strega, vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cream. Pulse to combine, then scrape down the bowl and pulse again until completely blended.

2. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream freezer and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. By hand, fold in the candied orange peel, if using. Pack the ice cream in a freezer container and freeze until ready to serve.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts. "Because there is no egg in the ice cream, the texture does not remain velvety for long. If possible, serve the ice cream the same day you make it..."

My Calabria: Rustic Family Cooking from Italy's Undiscovered South by Rosetta Costantino with Janet Fletcher, W. W. Norton & Company

SALTED by Mark Bitterman

Mark Bitterman knows how to write.

Listen to his words, "Gradually the essence of my life took physical form: a lifelong pursuit of food and travel, curated in salt."

This wonderful book is at once both a historic and scientific reference guide to salt as well as a poetic expression of Mark Bitterman's passionate interest in it. Most of the stunning photography is his and shows that the creation of this book was a work of love.

Once you have read it, you will never look at or taste salt in the same way again.

He steers us away from the bland white industrial salt we find in cardboard boxes on supermarket shelves loaded with anti-caking aluminum and bleaching agents towards the artisanal all natural salts, still full of life-giving minerals and in colors of the rainbow.

"Let fall dark crystals of Cyprus black flake salt on medallions of seared pork and plantains and you will feel the turgid rush of Incan discovery."

The first part of the book covers the history of salt and how and where it is produced, including a valuable reference guide to over 150 artisinal salts.

"South African Pearl is basically a snowball of powdered salt. As you bite, the salt's pearlike shape vanishes before you can identify its presence; only the finest film of salt remains, and this, too, dissolves instantly into whatever moisture is present, be it your food or your mouth."

The second half of the book is recipes. The first one that I am going to try? Soft Pretzels with Hickory Smoked Salt! When I work my way to the recipes made on salt blocks, my first try will be the Fried Bacon and Eggs.

I was so enamored with this book that I went to visit his newly opened store, The Meadow, in New York City. It's small and packed with fresh flowers, chocolates, all kinds of salt varieties.....and apricot colored salt blocks to cook on.

I learned from reading Salted that these blocks can attain a very high heat of 600 degrees, making them excellent for searing, grilling and frying---not to mention making them an intriguing table presentation.

 
 
You can also buy large chunks of salt and finely shave them with these salt microplanes.

Between the book, Salted, and the store, The Meadow, you come away with a vastly improved understanding of the most common and most essential ingredient in cuisine. It may be a crazy idea, but I would love to see them go one step further and open a restaurant or cafe dedicated to celebrating all the many uses and types of salt. Salt Block Cafe?! 

Salted by Mark Bitterman

The Meadow, 523 Hudson Street, New York, New York

The Meadow, 3731 N. Mississippi Avenue, Portland, Oregon

Recipe from SALTED:

Printable Recipe

Honey Ice Cream With Sugar Maple Smoked Sea Salt

Ingredients:

2 vanilla beans

3 cups half-and-half

1/2 cup aromatic honey, such as eucalyptus, avocado, or heather

4 extra large egg yolks

2 two-finger pinches maple smoked sea salt

Method:

1. Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds and the pods in a medium saucepan with the half-and-half and honey and stir to disolve the honey. Heat over medium heat until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 8 minutes.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool covered for 1 hour. Remove the vanilla pods. Mix in the egg yolks and cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly, until lightly thickened and a thermometer reads 170 degrees (about 10 minutes). 

3. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Transfer to an ice cream maker and make according to the manufacturer's instructions. Scoop out and serve the ice cream. Serve sprinkled with a little smoked salt.