Blood Bones and Butter: The Roundup

It's time for the roundup of Cook the Books' Club June-July 2019 edition for which we read the memoir Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton.

Inspired by the fact that Hamilton is chef / owner of the NYC restaurant Prune, I decided to present our club's contribution as a menu. For each, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a quote from it — a taste that will entice you to follow the link and read the author's take of the book and how the reading inspired the cooking.

Cook the Books Club's BB&B-Inspired Menu

Apéritif: Negroni

Appetizers:
Herbed Olives, Hummus and Whole-Grain Spicy Mustard
Celery Toasts

First Courses:
Orecchiette with Pesto 
Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)

Second Courses:
Roasted Rack of Lamb  
Harissa Roasted Eggplant and Shrimp 
Eggplant Parmesan
Abruzzo Style Swiss Chard & Cannellini Beans

Side Dish:
Green Bean and Torpedo Onion Salad

Make yourself comfortable, then enjoy the meal.

---

Claudia of Honey from Rock mixed a Negroni

"I loved this book, found it a truly enjoyable read!... Gabrielle carries us along with her, from the beginning of her interest and contact with food prep, watching her French mother,  through years of camp cooking and catering, to the opening of her own unique little restaurant in New York City.  Her stint with various catering companies would certainly put one off ordering from them, by the way... There was also a drink mentioned frequently, in various places throughout the book, a Negroni, for which Hamilton does give a recipe... [which echoes] the sweet, the bitter and the sadness of their marriage."

---

Debra of Eliot's Eats made Herbed Olives, Hummus and Whole-Grain Spicy Mustard

"It’s funny revisiting a book seven years later, a book you once professed to love. Age will do that. My reexamination only left me liking the book this go around... Images of Hamilton rooting through her mother’s pantry as she was trying to fend for herself in her early teens also stayed with me. One weekend morning, I found myself preparing three recipes that I thought would pair nicely with this book:  Herbed Olives and Hummus and homemade Dijon mustard.  It just hit me that perhaps through foraging in the fields around the mill and hungrily searching through leftovers in the home larder that maybe Hamilton might have found some sustenance making something similar."

---

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen prepared Celery Toasts

"[Hamilton's] stories, descriptive writing and appreciation for good food and the craft of cooking make for an entertaining memoir that, although a bit uneven in places, had me readily following along on her journey... I went for the celery toasts. They sounded fun, and retro and perfect with a glass of wine. Plus, I didn't want to make/use blood or bones in a recipe, so that left butter from the book's title 😉 ... I thought that I would like these based on the ingredients list alone as I like celery and love blue cheese, toast with butter, lemon and garlic but I wasn’t prepared for how good these little toasts are."

---

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla prepared Orecchiette with Pesto 

"Hamilton can write... I enjoyed the clarity of the details as well as the vivid imagery she creates. She is also candid about herself and food industry... But, as much as I found her short-tempered and self-absorbed, she is certainly a strong person and I can honor her successes. Finishing the book raised a third question in my mind: given the opportunity, would I eat in her restaurant, Prune? I think I would. Though I wonder how hard it is to get a reservation there. The parts of the book that appealed to me the most were the descriptions of her trips to Italy and cooking with her in-laws."

---

Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures prepared Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)

Amy was definitely not impressed by the book. "However, there was no shortage for foodie inspiration.  I was more inspired by a food mentioned very early on in the book (like the first chapter – I almost quit reading right then and there, but decided to see this one through).  She mentioned the Pastitso she enjoyed on those rare occasions when the family got to go out to eat.  Having never heard of pastitso, I quickly googled it and found a fascinating Greek version of lasagna. As much as I didn’t love the book, I did love the pastitso! It was amazing!"

---

Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm prepared a Roasted Rack of Lamb

"I had never heard of Gabrielle Hamilton before this memoir was assigned.  I loved her honesty and transparency throughout the book.  I enjoyed her writing style and I love the vision of her American restaurant based on the warmth and comfort she found in various places during her time in Europe.

There is TONS of food inspiration but the first is roasted lamb.  Her parents would roast a whole lamb once a year and have a huge party.  It is one of Gabrielle's fond memories of a childhood before her family was turned upside down and scattered.  Lamb is mentioned several more times in the book in different aspects. Dinner doesn't get much easier than roasted rack of lamb."

---

Elizabeth of Literature and Limes prepared Harissa Roasted Eggplant and Shrimp 

"Hamilton’s book is a disjointed memoir. She brings us through her life and references food throughout, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood – showing us how she became the chef she is today. I have no doubt that Hamilton is a great chef. I did not think she was a great writer. While I am always intrigued in learning about a person, learning how they tick, Hamilton did a poor job getting me to care at all about her story... The only part of the book I really enjoyed was the part where Gabrielle spends time in Italy with her now ex-husband’s family... I decided to make something inspired by the eggplant with harissa and caraway she described. "

---

Tina of Novel Meals prepared Eggplant Parmesan

"Reading this memoir by Gabrielle Hamilton, a fellow Pennsylvanian, was a treat... Some of my favorite chapters were her interactions with her mother-in-law, Alda. It was clear Alda was beloved by her Italian family and Gabrielle fell in love with her too... As she studied her mother-in-law, and cooked beside her (cooking being a common language of its own) Gabrielle knew she needed to teach her young sons, Marco and Leone, about their Italian side. About kindness and respect... I was inspired to prepare... a rich meaty eggplant dish with the appropriate accompaniments."

---

Cathy of Delaware Girl Eats prepared Abruzzo Style Swiss Chard & Cannellini Beans

"Reading the book, and particularly the pages devoted to her in-law family, I was reminded of my grandmother Amalia from Abruzzo, Italy... [Hamilton's] description of Alda's cooking particularly rang true. She writes: 'Her food is so simple and prepared with such dispatch that it is almost unnecessary to speak of recipes, and wrangling one from her is more of a poetic than a didactic encounter.'... Sounds exactly like my own experience in collecting grandmother's recipes, but in her case, by dint of persistence I persuaded her to go back and measure after putting out her ingredients so now I have many of them for passing on to family."

---

Simona of briciole (your host) prepared Green Bean and Torpedo Onion Salad

"Hamilton's writing and storytelling style makes for an easy reading and the events she narrates with more details are well chosen... My favorite part is when she describes her boss and mentor Misty for which she worked while in graduate school in Ann Arbour, MI... Once the book moves to Italy, a lot of what Hamilton recounts sounded familiar... I remembered my first vacation away from my family... in Calabria. A lot of the foods I ate were either new or prepared differently from the way my mother prepared them. The latter group included green beans, which my friend's mother boiled and dressed like a salad, but with the addition of red onion from Tropea."

---

A great Thank you! to everyone who joined in this edition of Cook the Books.

I believe all the submissions I have received are presented in the roundup. However, mishaps are part of life, so if you find anything missing or in need of amendment anywhere in the roundup, please do let me know.

And now, I’ll turn things over to Deb of Kahakai Kitchen who is hosting the August-September edition in which we are reading the The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone.

Arrivederci a presto!

Simona, of briciole

June/July selection: Blood, Bones & Butter

 

This book was suggested to me and I am excited to read it with you all and see how the reading inspires us in the kitchen.

From the publishers' page:

Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Blood, Bones & Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Hamilton has inhabited through the years: the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; Hamilton’s own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamilton’s idyllic past and her own future family... By turns epic and intimate, Gabrielle Hamilton’s story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion.

And from a review in the NY Times Sunday Book Review 

Blood, Bones and Butter traces nearly all of Hamilton’s life and career, from an unmoored childhood through her triumph at Prune, which didn’t end the search for a sense of place and peace that is the overarching theme of this autobiography, as of so many others. It’s a story of hungers specific and vague, conquered and unappeasable, and what it lacks in urgency (and even, on occasion, forthrightness) it makes up for in the shimmer of Hamilton’s best writing. 

Simona

Deadline for contributing your post: Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Remember that anyone can participate in Cook the Books: simply pick up a copy of the selection from your local bookstore or library, take inspiration from said reading, cook and post the inspired dish. We look forward to having you read and cook along with in this selection period and beyond. New participants are always welcomed with open arms! (Leave a comment here or check out our Guidelines page if you have any questions.) 

This selection brings to a close the current set of four: be on the lookout for a post where we announce the next four selections.

Announcing Our Next Four Selections

Just in time for the Holidays, here are the next four selections of our book club:

Deb (Kahakai Kitchen) opens the series with Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman (published February 2018) for the December 2018 / January 2019 edition

I have long wanted to host a Hawaii-set book for Cook the Books and so I’m excited to pick this historical fiction set during WWII on the Big Island. 

From the Publisher: 

Hawaii, 1944. The Pacific battles of World War II continue to threaten American soil, and on the home front, the bonds of friendship and the strength of love are tested.

Violet Iverson and her young daughter, Ella, are piecing their lives together one year after the disappearance of her husband. As rumors swirl and questions about his loyalties surface, Violet believes Ella knows something. But Ella is stubbornly silent. Something—or someone—has scared her. And with the island overrun by troops training for a secret mission, tension and suspicion between neighbors is rising. 

Violet bands together with her close friends to get through the difficult days. To support themselves, they open a pie stand near the military base, offering the soldiers a little homemade comfort. Try as she might, Violet can’t ignore her attraction to the brash marine who comes to her aid when the women are accused of spying. Desperate to discover the truth behind what happened to her husband, while keeping her friends and daughter safe, Violet is torn by guilt, fear and longing as she faces losing everything. Again.

Author Sara Ackerman was born and raised in Hawaii and studied journalism, earning graduate degrees in psychology and Oriental medicine. When she's not writing or practicing acupuncture, you'll find her in the mountains or in the ocean. Here are links to her website and to her Instagram account where she posts lovely photos of Hawaii and books. 

Deadline for contributing your post is Thursday, January 31, 2019

---

For the February/March edition, Claudia (Honey from Rock) chose Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

As I am currently at number 184 on the library list, and have no personal reportage to present, we will go with clips from the Publisher Weekly Review and the NY Times. Needless to say, the novel has plenty of people eating interesting food. 

From Publisher Weekly Review: 

Kwan's debut novel is a fun, over-the-top romp through the unbelievable world of the Asian jet set, where anything from this season is already passe and one's pedigree is everything. When Rachel Chu's boyfriend, Nick Young, invites her home to Singapore for the summer, she doesn't realize how much gossip she's generated among Asian socialites around the world. To Rachel, Nick is a sweet, intelligent history professor-and the first man she's imagined marrying. To the Asian billionaire set, he's the gorgeous heir apparent to one of China's most "staggeringly rich" and well-established families who virtually control the country's commerce with their ancient fortunes. As soon as she steps off the plane, Rachel is ushered into the opulent world of castle-like estates and mind-boggling luxury. As if the shock of realizing the scale of Nick's wealth is not enough, she must also contend with a troupe of cruel socialites who would absolutely die before they let Singapore's most eligible bachelor get snapped up by a no-name "ABC" (American-born Chinese). There is also Nick's family: his imposing mother, Eleanor, who has exact ideas about who Nick should be dating; his beautiful cousin Astrid, who the younger girls dub "the Goddess" for her stunning fashion sense (she was "the first to pair a vintage Saint Laurent Le Smoking jacket with three-dollar batik shorts"); and Nick's cousin, the flamboyant Oliver, who helps Rachel navigate this strange new world. A witty tongue-in-cheek frolic about what it means to be from really old money and what it's like to be crazy rich. 

From the NY Times: 

Mr. Kwan knows how to deliver guilty pleasures. He keeps the repartee nicely outrageous, the excess wretched and the details wickedly delectable. Who knew that an Asian menu might boast of “Giant South Sea Scallop Consommé With Washington State Ginseng Vapors and Black Mushrooms?” (“Go figure,” writes Mr. Kwan, in a footnote about why the ginseng is imported.) Who knew that an Asian socialite might include Save the Shahtoosh among her favored fashionable causes? 

This should be a fun and food inspiring selection.

Deadline for contributing your post is Sunday, March 31, 2019

---

For the April/May edition, Debra (Eliot's Eats) has chosen Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee
  

Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee is a good companion piece coming off our reading of The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty. Lee not only traces his own food comforts and influences, but also all Americans as he travels the country looking for a national cuisine — ”that tension between two vastly different cultures creates something new” (Kindle location 129). Even the title talks about the melding of Edward:

The title of this book, Buttermilk Graffiti, is poetic shorthand for my life. Buttermilk is the iconic ingredient of the American South, one that I not only learned to cook with, but grew to love. Graffiti is the art form that first inspired my identity, the thing that connects me to the memories of my youth in Brooklyn in the 1980s. (Kindle location 102) 

I devoured this book in record time and I am confident the CTB members will as well. (Lee was an English major and I think it’s evident in his writing and style.) Lee travels on his quest to Louisiana, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, Michigan, Florida, Appalachia (with Ronni Lundy), the Mississippi Delta, Alabama, Connecticut, Washington, Texas, New Jersey, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Illinois. I’ve listed the states/regions he visits here, but Lee is journeying to each area for specific cuisines in specific cities (like the slaw dog and or food of specific cultures). 

Edward Lee is the author of Smoke & Pickles and Buttermilk Graffiti. He is the chef/owner/culinary director of numerous restaurants in Kentucky, Maryland, and D.C.. I first became aware of Lee through his role in the Emmy Award-winning series The Mind of a Chef. Fermented, a feature-length documentary is another recent project (2017). He splits his time between Louisville, KY and Washington, DC.

Deadline for contributing your post is Friday, May 31, 2019

---

To round up the list of selections, for the June / July edition Simona (briciole) picked Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton 

This book was suggested to me recently and I am excited to read it with you all and see how the reading inspires us.

From the publishers' page:

Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Blood, Bones & Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Hamilton has inhabited through the years: the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; Hamilton’s own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamilton’s idyllic past and her own future family—the result of a prickly marriage that nonetheless yields lasting dividends. By turns epic and intimate, Gabrielle Hamilton’s story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion.

Deadline for contributing your post: Wednesday, July 31, 2019.

---

Remember that membership in our book club is open to anyone and we hope you will join us by reading these selections and creating inspired recipes.  For more information about participating, click here.  

As always, specific announcement posts can be found at Cook the Books as the current year ends and the new one marches on.

To recap:

December/January: Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman (hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen)

February/March: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (hosted by Claudia at Honey from Rock)

April/May: Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee (hosted by Debra at Eliot's Eats)

June/July: Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (hosted by Simona at briciole)







Happy reading and cooking!