Editor’s Note: Judy Long is a copy editor at the Bangor Daily News. When she’s not working, she spends much time in the kitchen making everything from home-brewed India pale ale to corn chowder. From time to time, she also tests recipes from new cookbooks piling up at… Read More
Here’s a foolproof way to tell whether or not a restaurant’s any good: Order soup. Or bisque. Or chowder. If it’s love at first slurp, the rest of your meal won’t disappoint. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
GREAT GRILLED CHEESE: 50 INNOVATIVE RECIPES FOR STOVETOP, GRILL, AND SANDWICH MAKER, by Laura Werlin, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2004, 136 pages, $16.95. What is it about a grilled cheese? Even in these carb-weary times, it’s hard to deny the certain culinary magic… Read More
FOOD THAT ROCKS, by Margie Lapanja and Cindy Coverdale, Conari Press, York, ME; 2004, 304 pages, $24.95. “Food That Rocks,” at first sight, is a fun idea. Who doesn’t want to know what their favorite musicians are throwing together in their fabulous kitchens. OK, you… Read More
JAMIE’S KITCHEN: A COOKING COURSE FOR EVERYONE, by Jamie Oliver, Hyperion Books, New York, 2003, $39.95. It seems like Jamie Oliver is barely off the bookshelves these days. There’s another book by Jamie linked to another television show starring Jamie. It’s little wonder that in… Read More
ARTISAN BAKING ACROSS AMERICA: THE BREADS, THE BAKERS, THE BEST RECIPES, by Maggie Glezer, photography by Ben Fink, Artisan, New York, 2003, $40. It seems that in the last few years, many food lovers have decided that the best thing since sliced bread is unsliced… Read More
When I picked up a copy of “What’s Cooking at Moody’s Diner,” a newly revised edition of the famed Waldoboro restaurant’s 1989 cookbook, I rolled my eyes at the large dose of nostalgia I was sure I would find within its pages. Nostalgia, that is, for a time… Read More
BIKER BILLY’S HOG WILD ON A HARLEY COOKBOOK, by Bill Hufnagle, Harvard Common Press, 2003, 312 pages, hardcover, $19.95. Apart from the brief absence of snow and ice, one of the other sure signs of summer in Maine is hearing country roads echo with the… Read More
MOLLIE KATZEN’S SUNLIGHT CAFE, by Mollie Katzen, Hyperion, $29.95. Mollie Katzen is out to change the way you eat. Again. You’re probably familiar with Katzen’s name. If not, then you may still recall her 1972 “Moosewood Cookbook”- one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time… Read More
THE ZUNI CAFE COOKBOOK, by Judy Rodgers, W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2002, 550 pages, $35. It seems there are certain prerequisites to becoming a chef of true stature. One of those appears to be having spent some formative years in France or Italy,… Read More
EULA MAE’S CAJUN KITCHEN: COOKING THROUGH THE SEASONS ON AVERY ISLAND, Eula Mae Dore with Marcelle R. Bienvenu, 2002, 254 pages, The Harvard Common Press, Boston, $22.95. Those of you who recently made rash promises to shed a few pounds and get in shape can… Read More
HAPPY DAYS WITH THE NAKED CHEF, By Jamie Oliver, Hyperion, New York, 2002, 320 pages, hardcover, $34.95. These last few years really have been filled with happy days for the Naked Chef, now better known as Jamie Oliver. Ever since he was plucked from relative… Read More
THE PESTO MANIFESTO – RECIPES FOR BASIL AND BEYOND, by Lorel Nazzaro, Chelsea Green Publishing Co., New York, 2002, paperback, 200 pages, $14.95. Basil has an ability to attract. Only the other day, as I was buying a couple of verdant bunches of the stuff,… Read More
THE BEST AMERICAN RECIPES 2001-2002, series editor Fran McCullough, Houghton Mifflin, New York, 2001, 360 pages, hardcover, $26. The genuinely astute and dedicated need never buy a cookbook. Recipes are somewhat ubiquitous; promiscuous even, appearing everywhere you turn: Cookbooks, sure, but also in magazines, newspapers,… Read More
THE AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN COOKBOOK, by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, Boston Common Press, 2002, 352 pages, $29.95. I regularly fill my kitchen with plumes of bad words. They can come blubbing from my mouth like lumps from a gravy boat after another bold… Read More
TASTE OF LAOS, by Daovone Xayavong, Snow Lion Graphics, Berkeley, Calif., 136 pages, $15.95. TASTE OF INDONESIA, by Helena Soedjak, Snow Lion Graphics, Berkeley, Calif., 136 pages, $16.95. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE COOKBOOK VOLUME II, edited by Michael Bauer and Fran Irwin, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2001, 470 pages, $22.95. If you can live with a book that begins by telling you that “The San Francisco Bay area is the epicenter of food… Read More
THE MAFIA COOKBOOK, by Joseph “Joe Dogs” Iannuzzi, Simon & Schuster, 2001, 253 pages, $18. Can it really be only a year ago that “The Sopranos” made all things Mafia kinda cool? Yes, offices were buzzing with the antics of the lovable ruffians as they… Read More
LA TERRA FORTUNATA: THE SPLENDID FOOD AND WINE OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA, by Fred Plotkin, Broadway Books, New York, 2001, 412 pages, $35. If Napoleon was right, and armies do march on their stomachs, perhaps we could say the same of tourists – and particularly of… Read More
I have a bipolar kitchen. When I invite company for dinner, out come the cookbooks and the scavenged Martha Stewart back issues. The fussier the better. It makes me happy to have ingredients such as pine nuts and anchovy paste in my condiment-laden fridge. I… Read More
1,001 DELICIOUS RECIPES FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES; edited by Sue Spitler; Linda Eugene, R.D., C.D.E.; and Linda R. Yoakam, R.D., M.S; Surrey Books, Chicago, 2001, $19.95. Take one part best-selling cookbook author, one part diabetes specialist and one part nutrition expert; blend thoroughly and you… Read More
THE ARTFUL CHICKEN, by Linda Arnaud, Steward, Tabori, & Chang, New York, 2000, 174 pages, $29.95 Did you know that certain chickens were considered by the Romans to be sacred and viewed as oracles, that “the patterns of their pecking and scratching for grain were… Read More
ZARELA’S VERACRUZ: COOKING AND CULTURE IN MEXICO’S TROPICAL MELTING POT, by Zarela Martinez (with Anne Mendelson), Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 2001, 400 pages, $35.00. Some of the following may not be true. I’m just making an educated guess here, because I’ve yet to see… Read More
THE NAKED CHEF TAKES OFF, by Jamie Oliver, Hyperion, New York, 2001, 288 pages, $34.95 I can hear you snickering at the back there, and I will put up with it no longer. I know that some of you may find the concept of an… Read More
Sandre Moore’s most treasured childhood memories are of being read to and watching her parents happily bustle about in the kitchen. As a parent, she wants to ensure that her own children gain the sense of family and security she did through these traditions. And in writing “The… Read More
APPLE COOKBOOK, by Olwen Woodier, Storey Books, North Adams, Mass., 2001, 187 pages, $9.95. Remember the clich? “As American as apple pie”? Well, don’t believe everything you hear. Apples definitely are not native to this continent. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
COOKING WITH WILD BERRIES OF DOWN EAST MAINE, Bar Harbor Jam Co., Bar Harbor, 2001, 224 pages, $12.95. Nothing compares to the tongue-tingling joy of a berry still warm from the summer sun. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
ENOTECA: SIMPLE, DELICIOUS RECIPES IN THE ITALIAN WINE BAR TRADITION, by Joyce Goldstein, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2001, 196 pages, $24.95. I scrape myself up onto the stool next to you. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
I’ve been known, on many occasions in recent years, to tell people I hate Italian food. Of course, that’s a lie. I pretty much love most Mediterranean cuisine. No, it’s not Italian food in general I dislike; it’s pasta. OK, I don’t actually dislike pasta… Read More
SIMPLICITY FROM A MONASTERY KITCHEN, by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette, Broadway Books, New York, 2001, 224 pages, $25.00. Reading the first few pages of Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette’s book, one might expect to begin delving into the mysteries of religion, philosophy, spiritualism and ascetism. “Authentic simplicity,” he… Read More
HOPPIN’ JOHN’S LOWCOUNTRY COOKING, by John Martin Taylor, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 2000, 345 pages, $18. Every New Year’s Day, southerners eat Hoppin’ John – a dish of black-eyed peas and rice – for good luck. Sometimes the dish is served with… Read More
THE FOODS OF THE GREEK ISLANDS, by Aglaia Kremezi, Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston and new York, 2000, 298 pages, $35. As far as I’m concerned, it is sad that Greek food is not one of the big bruisers of Mediterranean cooking. While it’s tough to… Read More