Cookbook of the Month

An Unapologetic Cookbook: Final Review

11/7/2021

We’ve covered the Starches and Staples from Scratch sections of An Unapologetic Cookbook in deep detail up to this point because of my initial concerns with accessibility in the cookbook for a normal home cook. Hardware and ingredient accessibility was less of an issue than initially anticipated-- and I’m happy for that. The rest of this book is broken down into primary protein sections such as fish, chicken, etc. It’s built upon the first two sections in minor ways.

You can expect to see some of the items from the From Scratch portions of the book called for in nearly every recipe. Among the ingredient lists in each recipe, you’ll see those guys in big bold letters to remind you to refer back. You do not have to do that if you don’t want to. Many of the times this happens, its for the sauces, butters, or condiments you could have created earlier on. We live in a world of convenience. Use those conveniences when you want to, or don’t.

A relieving aspect of these bigger recipes is that Weissman does provide options for some of the stranger ingredients he calls for. An example of this comes in his mojo braised pork recipe that mentions seville oranges, but he also allows for limes. Nobody is getting seville oranges in their neighborhood grocery store. You’re a lucky person if you do. This lowered my concerns about the accessibility of the book a lot. Thank you, Weissman.

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That Sounds So Good - Nov 2021

11/1/2021

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Our November Cookbook of the Month is from an author we’ve already reviewed once before, That Sounds So Good by Carla Lalli Music. We enjoyed her first foray into cookbook writing while she was still at Bon Appetit-- Where Cooking Begins-- and she won a James Beard Award for the thing. I’ve gifted her first book to several family members first moving out on their own either during or after college as a flexible meal planning aid, and I hoped that That Sounds So Good will follow the same format.

I was pleased to see that one of the ways that she writes recipes that I enjoyed so much, the Spin It sections in the ingredients, remained. They no longer appear beside the initial ingredient list but now at the bottom of the recipe. That’s okay. It’s still there, and it was a relief to find it again in her second outing. It’s perhaps the most identifiable Carla Lalli Music Thing in a cookbook, and it makes her style so accessible to everyone. No extra grocery store trips for one ingredient you forgot. Chances are, you’ve got something in your pantry to spin with when you’re cooking.

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An Unapologetic Cookbook: Final Review

That Sounds So Good - Nov 2021

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