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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Book Review: “The French Market Cookbook”

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The French Market Cookbook by Clotilde Dusoulier
Clarkson Potter, 2013
Buy it here

It’s a longstanding tradition in our household: For the opening ceremony of each Olympic Games, I like to serve a feast that would find itself right at home in the Games’ host country. Sometimes that means I’m making an entire Korean feast for six for the very first time the night of the ceremony; sometimes that means we’re ordering a suite of Chinese delicacies from our favorite takeaway place in town (South China, if you’re wondering). This year, what it meant was that I’d be trying my hand at some French food – and honestly, I found myself stymied at the prospect. French food isn’t really known to be as vegetarian-friendly as other cuisines, and I found myself at a loss for what to do. 

Until I found myself perusing my local library’s website, frantically searching for “French vegetarian.” And lo! The answer came up right away. The French Market Cookbook, by Clotilde Dusoulier. I reserved it at once, went to check it out, and that very afternoon I had my entire French menu planned out. Including the Boulevardier cocktail I decided to make, which wasn’t in the cookbook, but also who cares?

Unfortunately, this year our normal guests for the opening ceremonies were out of town, so it was just LeeLee and me knocking about the house. But I still cooked for an army, smug in my knowledge that we would have plenty of leftovers to enjoy as the days – and Games – went on.

I started with a batch of eggplant caviar, which was pleasantly briny due to the kalamata olives and paired beautifully with a water cracker. Now, there aren’t any photos of this dish because unfortunately it doesn’t look especially appealing – or at least my version did not – but frankly neither does “regular” caviar, so I’m giving it a net neutral in that regard. The taste, however, was what mattered, and the taste was indeed spot-on. In hindsight I probably added too much parsley, but that’s OK.

Then we moved on to the main course, a radish green pasta whose picture in the cookbook looked so good, I knew I had to make it. I dutifully purchased all the ingredients, brought them home, and promptly decided I’d ever be able to clean the radish greens well enough to remove the multiple layers of sand and dirt. So I pivoted! Instead of radish greens, my version included 1) spinach for greenery and 2) actual radishes, sliced up. This substitution did not hurt the final product one whit, and we mowed down heaping helpings (paired with a baguette I’d just bought from the bakery).

Finally, here came dessert. Here, I wanted something that was fun and festive, yet didn’t take a ton of work, and this peach caflouti fit the bill beautifully! It came together in a snap and had a chance to cool to room temperature before serving. While we watched the boats ferry athletes down the Seine, we enjoyed hearty slices of caflouti, topped with vanilla oatmilk ice cream. C’mon, now! So good. (Also, I should add, I didn’t have the 8×8 pan the recipe called for, so I just used my trusty ceramic pie plate and nothing was the worse for the wear.)

These are just three recipes from the book – made all in one evening to concoct a delightful menu. But each recipe possesses this same mix of easy prep and impressive final product. And now that the torch has been extinguished for another two years until winter 2026, I can’t wait to give this cookbook another try!

:)

Book Review: The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.

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The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook, by Neal Barnard, MD
Publisher and publication date: Da Capo Press, 2010
Amazon link: Buy it here

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’ve been cooking at home more over these past six months than I have probably ever. Now, I love cooking, and we’ve always had most of our weeknight meals here at home, but with this little Temporary Worldwide Insanity situation, we’ve been eating at home five nights out of seven – and every breakfast and lunch, to boot. And with more limitations in terms of how often I’ve been getting to the grocery store, I’ve needed some simple, healthy meals that fill us up without adding to our Quarantine 15.

Enter Dr. Neal Barnard’s “The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.” I’ve loved Dr. Barnard forever, from the days when I’d read his magazine columns in “Vegetarian Times” all the way through my several stints with the PCRM 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, so I knew I was in good hands when I came across this cookbook at the library earlier this year. I checked it out, brought it into the kitchen and got to work – and, because our libraries are still closed, I’ve kept it with me for lo these many months! It’s become a constant companion.

What I love most about Barnard’s book is the ease of use of his recipes. Now, I do love rolling up my sleeves in the kitchen and getting down and dirty with a labor-intensive recipe, but in these past few months, what I’ve really needed is a nighttime meal that doesn’t give me any sass. I’ve needed no-muss, no-fuss recipes that don’t require a ton of prep work or a plethora of pots and pans. And good old Dr. Barnard, God bless him, has come through for me.

One of my favorite recipes from the book is Ginger Tofu, a deceptively simple meal that spices extra-firm tofu up in a pan with broth, hoisin sauce, sherry, crushed red pepper, ginger (of course), and more. Paired with brown rice and some steamed broccoli, it’s an amazing meal that comes together in truly 15 minutes (not counting the rice cook time!). And it tastes like it’s been simmering all day. It didn’t take but a minute for Ginger Tofu to enter our regular recipe rotation!

Or for something a little spicier, try the Three-Layer Tortilla Casserole. Now, full disclosure: I did not expect to enjoy this recipe. Oh, sure, I thought it sounded intriguing when I first selected it and bought the ingredients, but by the time it came up on my menu plan, the thrill was gone. Suddenly it just looked so plain. So bland. So … boring. How wrong I was, friends! How wrong indeed. This tortilla casserole is teeming with flavor and pizzazz! I don’t mind telling you that the first time I made it, LeeLee was out of town (clearly, this was in the Before Times), and I ate on that casserole for the whole workweek – and looked forward to every serving. That is the hallmark of an excellent recipe indeed around here.

Barnard also has recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks and entertaining, and they run the gamut in variety. But one thing ties them all together – they’re tried and true, road-tested recipes that will keep your nutrition on the straight and narrow without sacrificing taste. Who can ask for more than that?

:)

Book Review: The Chinese Takeout Cookbook.

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The Chinese Takeout Cookbook, by Diana Kuan
Publisher and publication date: Ballantine Books, 2012
Amazon link: Buy it here

I am an avid collector – and all-around reader – of cookbooks. Vegetarian, vegan, homestyle, Ladies’ Auxuliary, salad, dessert, nondairy cheese-making, bread-baking … you name it, I love it. And though LeeLee and I have been vegetarian for going on 20 years now (!), I don’t eschew the meat-based books either. I just modify them, veg-i-fying the dishes as I go, as I’ve done for years. (As an aside, one of my cardinal beliefs in the kitchen is that if you’re having trouble making a meat-based dish vegetarian, you’re just not being creative enough.)

I’ve been in love with Diana Kuan’s “The Chinese Takeout Cookbook” for a long, long time. I stumbled across it at our local branch of the Alexandria Public Library years ago, checked it out at once, and to be perfectly honest, that same sweet copy has been at my home more often than it’s on the library shelves. LeeLee says I should just buy my own for home, buy at this point this book, this particular copy, is a dear friend of mine, and I would hate to say goodbye to it for a new one. 

So the photos you see here of the book are, indeed, the public library’s edition. As I type it sits here by my side, an amiable companion from week to week. With our current quarantine situation, the library is shuttered for the foreseeable future, so its stay in my home is even longer than usual. I think we’re both enjoying the journey.

What appealed to me first and foremost about this book is its promise to bring Chinese takeout cooking to your home for less time and less expense (and, honestly, less hassle) than ordering takeaway from someplace. As someone who has always adored the topic of Chinese takeout cuisine, this is a high bar indeed. But Kuan delivers; I’ve yet to make a recipe from her collection that hasn’t turned out great, a far better testament to her instructions than to my cooking. 

Take, for instance, her Dan Dan Noodles recipe. Oh man. I can’t think of greater comfort in a bowl, and it comes together in a snap. The sultry spice of the chili oil and Sichuan pepper (Kuan blessedly allows red pepper flakes to stand in for the latter if you get in a bind) infuse beautifully with the Chinese noodles, and the saucy ground veggie-beef that tops the dish brings an earthiness to everything that bursts with flavor. And – this may be the best part for me – it doesn’t take all day! Just 20 minutes from end to end and you’re on your way to an impressive dinner.

Quick and easy – and wonderfully tasty – are also the watchwords for Kuan’s Moo Goo Gai Pan recipe, which is a frequent attendee at our dinner table. We simply substitute chik’n strips or, more often, seitan for the chicken and go about our merry way with no ill effects whatsoever to the final product. Mushrooms, snow peas, garlic and ginger make the dish sing with a deeply rich umami flavor as well as some high notes, and the seitan pulls everything together into prefect cohesion. And, like the Dan Dan Noodles, the whole thing comes together in less time than it takes the accompanying rice to cook. Amazing. 

And the list goes on. Kung pao chik’n. Mongolian beef. Fried rice. A passel of desserts. Veggies on the side. It’s all here. And it’s all delicious. Make this cookbook your friend in an instant and it is sure to become a bestie in very short order.

:)

From the Cookbook Files: Non-Nuclear Tofu and Rice.

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So often, I find myself stuck in a rut of the same recipes over and over, with some variations here and there but generally in the same format. Meanwhile, I have an entire shelf of cookbooks of all shapes, sizes, and vintages, just waiting to be used! And yet I continue to go back to my faithful recipes (including Old Faithful, of course). It’s a shame.

Tonight I broke free of that rut and delved into a cookbook I’ve had for ages, having picked it up at a little bookshop in Havana, Florida, nearly 15 years ago. I’m a sucker for handmade cookbooks – those spiral-bound affairs that support the Junior League, or the volunteer fire department, or the Methodist church, or what-have-you – and I’m also a sucker for vegetarian-friendly materials. Put the two together, as in the one I have to show you tonight? Magic, folks. Magic.

The “Leon County Food Co-Op Cookbook, Second Edition,” circa 1979, is the book of choice for this evening, and it fit the bill just beautifully in terms of preparation and final result. But what is even more exciting, to me, is that I know the Leon County Food Co-Op all too well; I grew up in Leon County, Florida, and even though we now live far away, LeeLee and I remain card-carrying members of the city’s premier co-op, now named New Leaf Market! So to find this in Havana – a short drive from Tallahassee/Leon County – years ago was quite a thrill. To use it tonight was even more fun.

I decided to go to the “Main Dishes” section and grab the first recipe that caught my eye. Lo and behold, that happened to be member Frank Brown’s recipe for “Non-Nuclear Tofu and Rice”! (I don’t think the co-op will mind if I display a photo of the recipe down below this post – New Leaf friends, if you DO mind, please let me know and I shall cease and desist posthaste!)

This is an incredibly easy, hearty dish that didn’t take but a few minutes of hands-on work to put together (cooking the brown rice took a bit longer, but the rice cooker did the heavy lifting there). And though it takes longer, do use brown rice; I can see how it stands the test of the frying pan much better than white rice would, and it makes a heartier meal to boot!

I confess I misread the instructions a little bit and instead of “dous(ing) the heat and add(ing) tamari,” I doused the rice with tamari, and it was all the better for the mishap. So let my lesson be your instruction.

LeeLee and I each went back for seconds – of the non-nuclear entrée and the English peas I served alongside – and were pleased to see that there’s plenty left over for one of us to enjoy a nice lunch. We’ll definitely make this dish again – and we won’t be strangers to the rest of the cookbook, either!

:)