Buy, Borrow, Skip

I am not a chef, a food critic or someone who preps a show-stopping meal every weekend. I am a home cook trying to navigate the politics of the table (in all the sense of the word). These reviews reflect my love of easy baked goods and my need to get dinner on the table at 6:30. The three questions I ask when I read a cookbook are:

Utility: are most of the ingredients, pans, and cooking strategies easily obtainable?

Ease of Use: is the book (and are the individual recipes) well organized and readable?

Appeal: does this book inspire me to get into the kitchen?

With these 3 questions in mind, I recommend:

Buy: purchase the book

Borrow: get it from a friend or your library whenever you’re in the mood

Skip: Have a cup of tea and relax instead

I do not receive any proceeds from these reviews. I have not received free copies of these books. I do not receive commission from any of these links. 

December 2024 Cookbook Recommendations

Everyday Harumi: Simple Japanese Food for Family and Friends by Harumi Kurihara, 2009 Buy

I know little about Japanese cooking, but that was not a hurdle when cooking from Everyday Harumi. The recipes are incredibly simple and easy and most work perfectly. We loved the Tofu “Steak,” and I don’t think I could have had an easier recipe to learn how to make egg drop soup. These recipes remind me, in the best possible way, of Martha Stewart recipes: the ingredient list is limited, the instructions are clear and the steps are all separated. In fact, by the end of my time reviewing this book, I had the confidence to go to the internet to figure out how to make the flavors just a bit more complex. This is a selling point because it means that it starts with simple, quality recipes and, as I gained confidence, I began using it as a building block and then look elsewhere to complicate things. I found one error in Kurihara’s cookbook, and that was the recipe for Dashi. It was convoluted and I screwed it up the first time, then the second time realized that the ingredient amounts are way off. This was, however, the only error that I found. So, on the whole, you can pick this book up and cook from it right away and be guaranteed success. The only reason to pass on Everyday Harumi is if you are already well-versed in Japanese cooking. If you’re interested in Japanese meals but don’t have a strong backgrounding Japanese cooking, this is the book for you.

New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian by Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli, 2021 Borrow

 I was excited for this book because it promised me that I could work with “Native” American ingredients but not be confined by them and that these Native American inspired recipes would use ingredients that I can (mostly) find at my local grocery store. But, as a whole, the number of errors in the recipes made this book a bit of a disappointment. My family wanted to love the bison chocolate chili, but the proportions of the chocolate were off. In fact, my gut told me that the proportions were wrong and I used less chocolate than the recipe called for, but still it was so overpowering and so sickly sweet that no one in my family could eat it. Next, I made the Sumac Navajo Lamb with onion sauce. It also had some glaring errors. There was no way that you need 1 cup of sumac to cover a 3lbs lamb roast, so I used 1/3 cup. (I found a version of this recipe published in the Washington Post where the amount was updated to1/3 cup). That said sumac and lamb paired well, and, while I also had to adjust the ingredients in the onion sauce, the flavors were lovely. My advice is to check this book out if you’re looking to take your cooking in new directions. You can explore with seasonings, learn a bit about how to cook with game and still have most of the ingredients will already be in your pantry. But proceed with caution, and follow your kitchen instincts when working with Bitsoie’s recipes.

Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat, 2017 Buy

Since this book has a pretty vocal following, I had not intended to review it; however, I was talking to someone at Trader Joes about what would be a good cookbook for someone trying to learn something about cooking (and not just about following recipes). Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat is the book that I recommend hands down. There are a few books similar to Nosrat’s for instance: Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly (2023), and The Flavor Equation Nik Sharma (2020) among others, but Nosrat’s book is the best. It’s the easiest to engage with and, of the three, Salt Fat Acid Heat is the one that has changed my cooking the most. Read her book and you’ll understand how salt, fat, acid, and heat “work” and you’ll have a cook book with recipes you understand. Norsat has the best chocolate pudding, the best blue cheese salad dressing and the best weeknight green bean recipe. And now you’ll understand WHY they are the best, as well as how to adapt these recipes as needed. If you like cooking and want to learn more about how cooking “works” but you don’t want to be overwhelmed by too much information, then this is the book for you.

Ina Garten: A Memoir: Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten 2024 Borrow

If you’re currently shopping for Christmas presents for home cooks who grew up watching Garten, this book will have a certain amount of appeal. Unfortunately, beyond the lovely photos of Ina and Jeffery Garten, Be Ready When the Luck Happens has few pearls that the reader will want to return to. The first part of the book focuses on Garten’s early life and is both painful and plodding. You get the impression that she (understandably) didn’t want to share about her traumatic years at home and that she remains at a distance in her account of those years. The story picks up a bit when Garten buys her very famous store: Barefoot Contessa, and you might chuckle a little as Garten describes her early forays into the tv world. But even this part of the book is fairly dry and superficial. Go buy one of Ina Garten’s fantastic cookbooks. Reserve her memoir at the library and don’t begrudge the time you’ll spend waiting to get it. There won’t be any spoilers.