Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Monday, 29 September 2014

Vegan Mofo Day 29/I Bought A Book: Vegan Pizza

Day 29 of Vegan Mofo and I'm slowly coming to the realisation that being hot and cold all the time and tired and having sniffles may actually mean I've got a cold. Possibly being slow on the uptake is another symptom. Anyway in what I expect is the last review of Vegan Mofo I'm going to take on Vegan Pizza by Julie Hasson.

I bought the kindle copy because I'd heard there weren't really any pictures inside. It's true, apart from the cover all you get are a couple of stock photos. For me that's not a deal breaker but it made me decide I'd rather not pay extra to get it in paper.

The book starts with recipes for your pizza parts: base, cheesy sauces, and meaty stuff. The remaining five chapters are recipes for how to turn them into fabulous pizzas, creatively topped with everything from peperoni to broccoli. There's a lot more actually but peperoni and broccoli being my favorites I didn't really take it in.



I was slightly disappointed in some of the pizza recipes though. The meatball pizza (which I'm desperate to try) calls for '1 (16-ounce) bag frozen veggie meatballs' which is disappointing, especially because they seem to have disappeared from the shops at the moment. When cheese is called for it's mostly 'shredded vegan mozzarella-style cheese' which is discussed as being optional and you can sub in one of the cheesy sauces but it makes me sad that an entire chapter is devoted to the cheese sauces when the recipes suggest store bought. Much more helpful, I think, would have been a discussion about which cheesy sauce would have gone best on each pizza.


So then I made a pizza. I started with the base. I went for the Easy-Peasy Pizza Dough. I didn't find it as easy as advertised. Possibly I left it to rise too long (but within the 2-3 hours the recipe suggests) or perhaps I don't get on with no knead dough but it was sopping wet. I needed so much flour rolling it out. Admittedly out of the oven it was crisp as anything and really delicious.

For my creamy layer I went with the Cheadery Cashew Cheese which was delicious and added some lovely flavours and textures. Definitely more comparable to american cheese then the extra strong cheddar we favour but that's not a bad thing on a pizza. The rest of the toppings came from the recipe for Mushroom Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza. The overall effect was fabulous.



My overall impression was that Vegan Pizza isn't quite as comprehensive as I would like - there is no deep dish pizza for example - and for that reason I'd be hesitant to suggest shelling out for the print version. At only £5 on kindle though (on 29th October 2014 at least) it's a good deal. Pizza lovers (everyone, in other words) should treat themselves.

Vegan Pizza: 50 Cheesy, Crispy, Healthy Recipes

Monday, 15 September 2014

Vegan Mofo Day 15/ I Bought A Book: Salad Samurai

Terry Hope Romero's latest book was released back in June but please don't take my silence on it so far to be a lack of enthusiasm. Truth is that I was sold on this one sight unseen but as I'm still lacking that unlimited budget it had to wait until now. But haply it was worth it.

I'm not in general a salad person. Most salads I get served are sad, pathetic, wilting afterthoughts served with a side of no imagination. I like big flavours, big portions, big protein hits. All the things that the salads in my life have been lacking. Until I opened this book.

And bless Terry Hope Romero because vegan salads needed some rehabilitation and someone awsome running their PR campaign. And they've got it. This is a stunningly designed book with fabulous pictures and - above all - incredible recipes.

So, what have I made?


This one had it's sneak preview at Lunchbox School on Friday. It's the Smokehouse Chickpea 'n' Greens Salad. That's a spinach base with carrot and avocado add ins (I've taken some stuff out due to personal taste/availability from the two salads I made from recipes here) with a topping of delicious smoky barbeque chickpeas. In a moment of weakness I doubted this recipe. After I took the chickpeas out of the pan I had a tased and thought they could do with a shot of hot sauce. I resisted and I'm glad I did because the heat from the dressing was fierce and when it was draped over the salad everything came together perfectly.


Next up was the Almond Falafel Crunch Bowl. Stephen wanted to see if he'd like the almond falafel and as a result he got the plate without greens. His verdict was that there were too many new flavours at once but he's happy to try this one again. My verdict was not to be hard over furious chewing. I already knew I was a big falafel fan but turns out I'm a big sumac fan too.



The last recipe I wanted to try for this blog was the Red-Hot Saucy Tofu. I served it on a bed of little gem, with some of those dried crispy onion things and the lemon tahini dressing from the falafel salad to cool it all down. It was bliss. Red-Hot Saucy Bliss.



There is nothing in this book that I don't want to try. I'm considering seaweed. Excitedly. The salads in here are perfect for eating at home or packing in my beloved lunchboxes. There are tips on what is good cold, how to pack things in a jar. One even has bento in the name.

I'm excited by everything I've made and the things I've yet to make. I feel that this book revolutionise salad like 'Vegan Sandwiches...' revolutionised the Sandwich or 'Vegan Cupcakes...' revolutionised the cupcake. I need this on my shelf and I think you should check it out.


Salad Samurai: 100 Cutting-Edge, Ultra-Hearty, Easy-to-Make Salads You Don't Have to Be Vegan to Love

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

I bought a book: Drawing Food: A Journal

Here is a problem I'm presented with: I like to draw, I enjoy doing it, sometimes though it's too hard to think of what to draw. The effort to figure out what to draw takes more brain power than I often have. So I don't draw and that's sad. because I like to draw and I don't like atrophy. I saw a copy of Drawing Food shopping in Manchester and I didn't buy it. I regret not buying it so much that in a fit of insomnia I ordered a copy.



So what is inside? It starts with a set of lessons encouraging you to draw things using different materials. You start with a Simple Line Drawing with Pencil and finish with one too so you can see how you've improved. In the middle you use pastels, pencils, colouring pencils and make all sorts of different lines and marks and shades. There's some fun things to try.

I didn't actually consider that this book might not be suitable for vegetarians but twice you're called on to draw meats and dairy. Whatever. Tofu is better.

Fruit and Veg practise
After the lessons you get 52 weeks of prompts like 'A Food I've Never Tried Before' to get you drawing. And it's exciting. I think this is going to end up being both a challenge to my pencil and to my pallet. Especially as I go out to restaurants and try new foods just to draw them. Despite the meat I really recommend this to anyone who wants to play a bit more with their food.

If you want to follow along what I do then I'll be periodically posting pages over here. I'm posting a sketch a day even if they suck (especially if they suck?) to give me motivation to draw something, anything.

Friday, 25 April 2014

I Bought A Book: Vegan Food Gifts

Yesterday when I was talking about books that don't get used in my kitchen as much as they should I thought about the other type of underrated books on my shelf. The ones I just never talk about. The big one I feel really guilty for not talking about is Vegan Food Gifts. It's an amazing book. One of my favorites. It is, however, all about gifts so if I ma ke something from it chances are I can't post it here.


But I do have something I can show you today so let's have a little natter about the book. There are so many different types of food gifts in here that can be enjoyed by everybody. There's baked goods and confectionery, hardly anyone is going to turn their nose up at that. There are preserves when you need something that will last a little longer before the recipient gobbles it up. My favorite part is the mixes. Perfect for housewarming gifts or  to give to new, time pressed parents.



Of course as it's a book of gifts there is a lot of focus on presentation: wrapping, gift boxes grouping things into lovely hampers. It really helps you put together a gift someone will appreciate. This Easter I made Chocolate Bark for my in laws with roasted almonds on top wraped in a cellophane bag. I'm never certain if these things are appreciated but I did witness them eating a piece.



Score.

Vegan Food Gifts: Spread the Vegan Love DIY-Style with More Than 100 Inspired Recipes for Homemade Baked Goods, Preserves, and Other Edible Gifts Everyone Will Love

Thursday, 24 April 2014

Exploring Isa Does It

When I get a new cookbook I tend to sit with it beside me for a couple of weeks, read it front to back, flip through it a lot and make whatever comes to mind. Then I come here and post a review and a bunch of food pictures. After that I use the book to make those recipes and occasionally scan it for new ones. A good book becomes a regular part of my cooking life.

Sometimes that doesn't happen. Even a good book I forget about. It can get overshadowed by another book, the recipes I want to try may not be seasonal, I might just be depressed and not cooking and forget all about it. That last one happened to Isa Does It. A cookbook which I reviewed with great enthusiasm and then forgot about. Which is a real shame, because it's incredible.

Olives + Roasted Red Pepper = Happiness?

I've been making more of an effort to flick through it and try more stuff. As the recipes are all super easy and super tasty it's hard not to be inspired. This week I made myself The Mediterranean Overnight Scramble. It's actually (shockingly?) the first tofu scramble I've ever had and is quite incredible. The fabulous roasted red pepper and olives shine through. I suspect you can't fail to start the day right with olives in you breakfast.

Okay some look more sausagey than others...
Speaking of olives I couldn't resist making the pizza bowl again following its success last week. This time I read the recipe correctly and threw in brown rice. I even went for the home made sausages. The Steamy Beany Sausages were ridiculously fun to make and taste really good.

Still not going easy on that sauce though.
If you started reading this post by feeling sorry for me for not getting into Isa Does It enough hopefully you can now take comfort in my attempts to rectify that. If you'd like to recommend one of the recipes for me to try I'd be grateful.  

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

I Bought A Book: Every Grain Of Rice

Right, so I already spoiled this review last week when I got so excited over the spring rolls I made that I had to post them. Okay. So all tension is now drained from the post, you know I love, adore and recommend this book I'm just going to post a link to it over at Amazon so you can click it, buy it, and come right back.


Okay? Let me tell you why you won't be disappointed you just did that. Every Grain Of Rice is a nice big chunky book of Chinese home cooking. Which means the food in here is simple, honest and mostly very quick. Most of the recipes are weeknight proof. With the help of a few 'magic' ingredients you can turn whatever is lingering in your fridge into a great meal very quickly.



I cooked myself a simple meal of Firm Tofu With Green Pepper, Twice Cooked Swiss Chard and plain white rice in twenty minutes or so. It didn't taste thrown together at all. It was incredible and I actually ate the stalks of the chard for the first time. I did have to buy some specialist ingredients but only of the kind that costs very little, lasts forever and adds a lot of taste. Back when I lived in the north it was much easier to find these things (most of them you can even get in supermarkets) but ordering online from places like Sous Chef isn't much more difficult. 

If you aren't used to shopping in Chinese Shops or for Chinese ingredients there's a really stunning section at the back to talk you through what each ingredient is, what it looks like and what you can do with it. Including a whole page of tofu. Be still my vegetarian heart.

Really the thing that stopped me from buying this when it first came out was that I didn't know the ratio of veggie to meaty recipes. Well there isn't much in here I can't cook. It's so full of vegetables that it's absolutely perfect for people with veg boxes or allotments. If you've ever had a vegetable in your hand and no idea how to make a meal out of it you should buy this book. 

Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Fresh Spring Rolls

I've met a few new people this week and as new people often do they asked me about being a vegetarian. 'Why' is a question that I never like to get into while I'm eating. 'Don't you miss bacon' is met with the loudest, longest 'no' you ever did here. Except possibly the one when I was asked if I ever get bored. One person asked what it was that I ate anyway and I instantly thought of these.


Even the photo makes me start drooling again. These are Fresh Spring Rolls and the recipe can be found in Every Grain of Rice. I do intend to do a proper review of the book but this picture was tempting me, sat on the hard drive waiting for me to do something with it. The vegetables I couldn't slice finely enough, the pancakes were misshapen and too fat but this is one of the greatest things I've ever eaten.

I'm usually one of those people who claim that a salad is not a food that can fill you up all the way. I offer my apologies. Turns out roots, peppers and sprouts in a spicy soy-ey (that so should be a word. we'll just got for it) is filling as anything and the pancakes... they make you feel decadent and happy. And turn down that heat a little. I adore this, I want to make it for everyone I know. It would be the perfect picnic dish and I think you should go make them now. For a tiny amount of effort you'll have one of the best meals of your life. Trust me.

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Hello Socks

I'd never looked twice at a pattern book of knitted socks. I only like plain socks anyway (I keep telling myself) and I can find what I want on ravelry (I repeated in desperation). One day, though, a member of my knitting group showed me her copy of Knitted Socks East and West which she'd just picked up for super cheap.



I kept thinking about it. The Tsunami socks especially weighed heavy on my mind. I knew that my friend would lend me the book if I wanted but what if one day I decided to knit another of the socks and I'd given the book back. What then? So I just went out and bought the book.



Unfortunately for the Tsunami Socks I didn't have the yarn for them hanging around. I did have spare balls of Cascade 220 Superwash in my leftovers pile so I went with the Konnichiwa to use as house socks. Such an addictive, easy and elegant pattern.

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Three Of The Best Books For Beginner Knitters




I've met a lot of people who are starting to knit recently. It's great, especially when I'm with our knitting group because everyone there is an expert at something and can always help a new person out, if you have a question in our facebook group someone always knows a good video but I'm the type of person that learns from books so here are my top three for new knitters.



 1) Stitch 'n Bitch.

This book was a huge deal when I first started knitting. Everyone had an opinion of Stitch 'n Bitch: was it irreverent and disrespectful? was it the only book catering to young knitters? was it the perfect beginners book? was it sloppy and just too hip?

Take it from someone who learned from Stitch 'n Bitch: It's a great book. Personally I found Debbie Stoller's personal story and the way she puts knitting into a social context engaging and respectful of the craft. If you don't skip it, ignore it exists. Get to the information. It's comprehensive, without being overwhelming. It will teach you your knit and purl without fuss and I think the Kitschy Kerchief  is a great way to learn shaping.

Big Bad Baby Blanket
After that there is the stuff that keeps me coming back. Eight years after I first learned to knit I'm still flipping through the techniques to read up on something I haven't done before (or much of before) Just last week I was using it to knit colour work.

Official Kittyville Hat

As for the patterns? There is a variety of techniques, styles, degrees of hipness. Some I'll never wear but I've knit about seven of them. My default adult hat and default baby hat are in here. More sit in both my Ravelry queue and that part of my brain where I keep all those 'some day' ideas.



2) The Knitting Answer Book

Unlike Stitch n' Bitch I never read this one cover to cover. Well, okay, I did. I'm a complete nerd so I did but you don't have too. This one is for keeping in your knitting bag, or on your kindle. Or both. When you hit a problem, whether it's a problem purling or a casting on your first lace shawl there is an answer in here.




3) Knit 2 Together

Honestly, after you've learned the basics I think the best thing to do is just knit. Pick the pattern you want and just make it. Learn any new skills you need as you come to them. Nothing is harder to learn than knit and purl anyway.
Luxe Neckwarmer

So the third book I recommend is a pattern book. Knit 2 Together is bright fun and full of stylish knits aimed at the adventurous beginner. The pattern 'First Hat' is perfect for your... first hat and as the book goes on you'll find lace, colour-work and adventure. There's always the reminder section in the back if you have forgotten your ssk or M1 (I'll confess this now, I always forget how to M1)

First Hat

The best thing about this book is that it gives the beginner a bunch of confidence to try something new. But if it's not your style? There's plenty of knitting books out there...

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

I Bought A Book: Isa Does It

Like any good veggie cook book obsessive I bought my copy of Isa Does It as soon as I could. I'd usually link here to Amazon or wherever I bought the book but I wanted one of the US editions and ordered it imported from two places, both of which screwed up my order so I have nothing to recommend. Except the book of course.

So Isa Does it is the new book from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and there is a lot of things to recommend about it. If you get this book, and you should, the first thing you'll notice about it is that it's huge. 311 pages, hardback and gorgeous. We're talking full colours, plenty of pictures, drool worthy fonts. It's a huge book packed full of really pretty things and I love it.

Also there are recipes. I know that it's taken three paragraphs so let's just get to the pictures and I'll explain what I made.

Sticky Orange Chicky Stir-fry
Sticky Orange Chicky Stir-fry is a revelation. It's amazing. The chicky in this case is Seitan, sliced and browned to crisp, chewy glory. The veggies are lovely and then you put sauce on it. And the sauce is just pure tangy, sweet, happiness. I loved this.

Alphabet soup
I really tried hard to spell a message out in the middle of the soup like the picture in the book but that's really hard, so sorry. This is a great basic vegetable soup which I was really happy to serve. It has potatoes in to make Stephen happy and pasta  in to make me smile. I left out the celery because I can't touch it without breaking into a rash but otherwise the recipe is perfect. And really I'm not expecting authors to take my allergies into account when writing this stuff. I have a hight opinion of myself but not that high.

Tempeh Meatballs and Spaghetti
My second attempt at a meal appropriate for both Stephen and me was the Tempeh Meatballs and Spaghetti. I got double the amount of meatballs that night. Sometimes Stephen being picky does me really big favours because I loved these meatballs. I had a go-to meatball recipe and a go-to tempeh meatball recipe but this one is better than anything I've tried.

Bistro Beet Burgers
I've also made the Bistro Beet Burgers. Why I made them was is basically the story of why Isa Does It is so great. I've been meaning to make these burgers since they appeared on the PPK blog in 2012. I was growing vegetables professionally and surrounded by beetroot in 2012 so why didn't I make them.

Making your own veggie burgers takes ages and is a pain in the ass. Or so I thought. The recipe lists an active time of 20 minutes and I thought sure. Whatever. But I had all afternoon to make them so I went ahead and did it. I made my own almond butter, cooked the rice and lentils myself. That didn't even take more than half an hour. The rest of the burger took... about 20 minutes of active time. My mind is blown.

Those Tempeh Meatballs? Quick and easy. The soup and the stir-fry? Quick and easy. The Lentil-A-Roni which was impossible to take a picture of was really easy to cook. These recipes are either all super quick or they take a long time but you don't need to do anything for that time. This is a perfect everyday cook book. I love involved recipes but most of the time I don't have time to be that involved. So I need simple, quick tasty. Anything that means we don't waste money on take-aways or supplementing our diets with snacks.

This book just makes life so much easier. And yummier.

Thursday, 5 September 2013

I (forgot I) bought a book: Chloe's Kitchen

I bought Chloe's Kitchen at the same time as Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day. I spent so much time being excited by Vegan Sandwiches, I cooked from it constantly for two weeks that poor Chloe's kitchen just got left.

Really there were two reasons why Chloe's kitchen didn't inspire me half as much. The main reason was the paper. It's super glossy and there are pictures everywhere but on my first read through I missed some recipes because the pages were sticking together. I tried to find the garlic knots recipe and it took me forever to get that page open.

The second reason is that it just feels like I have a lot of these recipes elsewhere. I tried and loved the Garlic Knots and the BBQ pizza (without pineapple) but I used my go to dough and BBQ sauce rather than take the risk with a new recipe.

I include that last paragraph not to dissuade you from buying the book. There is plenty of cool original stuff that makes worth buying. I just wanted to say that if this was my first vegan cook book, or in my first ten I would have shouted 'five stars' at the top of my voice. As it is I'm shouting 'three star, four if you get rid of that bloody awful paper'


Bunny Eared Meat Balls


So I though I'd try something completely new to me to judge the book fairly. Then I though screw that I want meat balls. So I made the Sweet-and-Sour Party Meat Balls. The balls are thempeh based (with a soy free option) and coated in Sweet-and-Sour sauce for extra noms. It takes no time at all to whip these up and there are make ahead tips if you actually do things like have guests around instead of swallowing a whole batch yourself. I was a bit annoyed that there was no indication of how long the balls would take to cook or how to tell when they are done but I could make an educated guess so hay ho.

They where fabulous and now I'm wondering what else I've missed. So please, please, leave you Chloe's Kitchen recommendation in the comments.


Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way