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Book Reviews

22
Aug 2011
Baking Book Reviews Recipes

Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

If you like coconut, there's almost no better use for it than macaroons. It's such a pure coconut experience, colored only by maybe a little almond extract or in my case, a good dose of lemon zest. But after spying this chewy chocolate macaroon recipe in Terry Walters' Clean Start, those pure thoughts went by the wayside. There seemed no reason not to go full bore, mixing in a good bit of chocolate, rather than just doing a dip.
26
Jul 2011
Book Reviews Recipes

Zoku Popsicle Maker: Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet Pops

I must have looked for David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop for almost 6 months at my fave used bookstore, thinking a copy would turn up eventually. It never did. And now I know why! You'd be crazy to give up this book! Covering ice cream, gelati, sorbetti, granitas and a full spectrum of accompanying sauces, The Perfect Scoop offers a mix of more traditional (chocolate & peanut butter, rum raisin, chocolate sorbet) and not-so-traditional flavors (orange-Szechuan peppercorn, pear-pecorino, roquefort-honey). If it tastes great on its own, why not in ice cream? The book is a must for anyone who likes frozen treats, dairy or non-.
26
Jun 2011
Book Reviews Recipes

A16 Chocolate Budino with Sea Salt

I have a love/hate relationship with restaurant cookbooks. On the one hand, I'm thrilled that one of my favorite restaurants is sharing its recipes, but on the other, the dishes don't always seem to measure up to the versions I've had when dining out. We loved A16 in San Francisco under Nate Appleman (who's since moved on to consult for Chipotle) and had a number of wonderful dishes there -- from the burrata to the housemade salsiccia pizza w/ spicy chile oil to the chocolate budino. The A16: Food and Wine cookbook delivers on those dishes and more. It was the A16 cookbook that introduced me to "00" flour and the overnight rise for pizza dough. The ricotta gnocchi is good, and even better in brodo with spicy pork meatballs, and the chocolate budino...well, what can you say about that other than "Mmmmm."