WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Announcing the “French Lessons Winner” for Cook the Books

Hello again!

Sorry to have kept you waiting.  Beth, our guest judge from Beth Fish Reads, has chosen a winner, so please read below. I have included her whole email:

Thanks so much for contacting me about being the judge for
the Cook the Books experience with Peter Mayle’s French Lessons. I was
so flattered to be picked. Once I got over that, however, I realized
that is an incredibly hard job. I have a new found respect for all your
previous judges.

First let me say how impressed I am with each entry. Wow, you are all
so ambitious and did such a great job with your dishes whether you
loved French Lessons or not. I now also understand why every judge
mentions how hard it is to pick a winner. The quality is amazing, and
I could clearly see the thought and effort and research that go in to
creating or finding a dish that fits with the selected book. Everyone
gets my admiration and applause.

I reviewed French Lessons on my blog last January, and although I
liked A Year in Provence better, I enjoyed following Peter around
France and virtually sharing in some good meals and festivals.

Okay, enough about me and let’s get on to the judging. Well, one more
thing about me: I’ve added several recipes to my must-try-really-soon
list. Thanks!

The runner-up is Beth of Seventh Level of boredom with her Poulet a la
Crème. There was more than one entry that used this fabulous dish;
each was different and each looked wonderful. But I loved Beth’s write
up, and I could totally relate to her surprise of how amazingly easy
it is to make chicken this way. Too bad, as she says, we can’t eat
this every day. I love the idea of serving the sauce in a dipping
bowl. I would have never thought of that, but it expands the
possibilities of making a pretty presentation on the table.
The winner is Claudia of Honey from Rock with her Omelette aux
Truffes. I admire her search for the perfect (or, well,
not-so-perfect) truffle and her willingness to expose the emperor’s
nakedness. Thanks to her, I know a lot more about truffles and what to
buy if I ever decide to try them myself. Besides that, I loved the
omelet recipe and the pairing with the asparagus — so lovely on the
plate and a nice foil for the richness of the eggs.

Thanks so much for letting me be a judge for your great
cooking/reading event. I’ve been a follower of the Cook the Books blog
for a while and I just love the whole idea of it. One day I’ll find
the time and energy to enter one your cook-offs! In the meantime, I’ll
be watching, reading, cooking, and eating!

So, CONGRATULATIONS Claudia! You did it again! As you will all know, Claudia was also our previous Cook the Books winner (Last Chinese Chef), so she does have a Winner badge already and her special place on the HALL OF FAME blogroll! And of course congratulations to you Beth!

See you all on a couple of months

Jo

French Lessons: the roundup

Hello everyone!

I am Jo from Food Junkie, this term’s host of Cook the Books, and it is time for all of you to meet our contestants, who read and cooked from Peter Mayle’s French Lessons.

I was sure that the book would inspire some mouth watering dishes with an inclination towards cream and cheese, and I was very excited to see the results. I was also intrigued by the fact that the book was not so popular with all of the contestants, some found it mediocre while others completely uninteresting, but I admired their frankness and I think that this is more important than keeping everyone happy all the time. After all we all have very different tastes in food, so why not in literature too?

Ok, so here is a list of all participants with a small description of their dish. Our judge  will be Beth from Beth Fish Reads, who maintains a very thorough literature blog and is a passionate foodie too!

Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies was inspired by the chapter on the “Thigh Tasters of Vittel” and especially the early morning wine pairings that Mayle describes in the book. So she made Crepes aux Epinards et Fromage (Spinach and Cheese crepes) for breakfast and had them with some red wine. A very decadent way to start the day for sure!

Claudia of Honey from Rock moderately liked the book, but was inspired enough by the three-Michelin Star restaurant descriptions of the last chapter when Mayele enjoys a spa and gastronomic weekend at Eugenie-les bains spa. So she set out to make Omelette aux Truffes, a rather extravagant dish because of the use of the expensive fungus, but admittedly one of the best ways to showcase the aroma and texture of good truffle. Unfortunately she couldn’t find any fresh ones and the preserved one she used didn’t have a very strong taste. However, this plump omelette surely looks inviting enough!

Joanne of Eats well with others also didn’t like the book that much, but she did enjoy the chapter on the Marathon du Medoc. I actually agree with her that it was one of the best chapters in the book. Being a runner herself she was amazed by the heavy meal the runners had the day before the race, but since she wasn’t going to run any time soon, she made Macaronis et Fromage Avec Des Champignons (Macaroni and Cheese with Gruyere and Mushrooms) a “play on the macaroni and cheese we all know and love. I don’t know about you, but I think this is perfect comfort food!

Beth of Seventh Level of boredom really enjoyed the book, despite the fact that at first it struck her “as an arrogant account of one man’s travels through France on a no-holds-barred mission to eat and get drunk, with a seemingly limitless line of credit”.  She actually found the meal that Mayle had in Bresse very inspiring, so she cooked the kind of dish I always associate with French bistro cooking,  Poulet a la creme (chicken with cream). She suggests you eat this the minute you make it and I couldn’t agree more!

Maria of Organically Cooked liked the book and found that the French have many similarities with the Greeks living in Crete. She notices that “they both love smoking and find it frigging hard to obey the recently introduced smoking bans in their countries. Then they both love their long extended lunches and siestas. They both also take pride in their institutions, which may sound a little old-fashioned in some ways, as if they have not moved on with the times, but hey, that’s the Greeks (or the French) for you”. I would also add that they both take great pride in their cuisine. Anyway, Maria left her Mediterranean diet aside for a while and made Chicken with creme and mushrooms, also inspired by Mayle’s meal in Bresse. She tried to get hold of an excellent quality chicken and to make do with ingredients that were available in her part of the world and from what I see the results were excellent!

Simona from Briciole , an Italian-English blog, was inspired by the chapter dedicated to the wine auction in Burgundy. Although she doesn’t like wine that much, she was intrigued by the puff pastry nuggets Mayle tried together there, so she made Gougères a la Gouda. And guess what, the Gouda she used she made herself too! Now HOW COOL IS THAT!?

Judy of Judy’s Gross Eats liked the book and particularly the chapter on the Marathon du Medoc. So she cooked up not one but two dishes: a gratin Savoyarde and Porc a la Normandie. Unfortunately she doesn’t give us any of these recipes!

Alicia of Foodycat didn’t like the book that much and wasn’t moved to either taste any of the food described in there or visit any of the food festivals. Inspiration for cooking up something French-related only came while watching Eating in the Sun on BBC television and their visit to Alain Ducasse’s restaurant La Bastide de Moustiers.  So she cooked up a squash and truffle spelt risotto which would tie in nicely with the whole chapter on truffles that Mayle had in the book. The final result was not as good as expected truffle-wise, because, like Claudia (of Honey from Rock) she didn’t use any fresh truffles, only jarred ones (I have now decided never to buy anything but the real thing). Other than that, however, it was a yummy dish and I certainly believe her!

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, co-founder of Cook the Books Club, liked the book and since she had a hard time finding something entirely related to the book to cook she decided to stick to something French instead, so she made Coq au Riesling. This is a traditional an Alsatian variation of the more well-known Coq au vin, where the red Burgundian wine is substituted by the white fruity Riesling wine which is abundant in the area. She actually prefers it to Coq auVin and I couldn’t agree more!

Last but not least the Rachel of The Crispy Cook, also a Cook the Books co-founder, really loved the book and  was inspired to visit some food festivals in her area (Bennington’s Garlic Festival and the Washington County Cheese Tour)! Rachel loves cheese so she decided to make a pastry wrapped Brie, which sounds like an easy thing to do but isn’t if you are making it gluten free (her blog specializes in wheat and gluten free recipes).

Finally,  my own entry for Cook the Books, which, compared to all the lovely food presented above is going to be very boring indeed, was a wedge of Livarot cheese inspired of course by the chapter “Love at first sniff” which describes Mayle’s visit to the village of Livarot for a cheese festival. I was actually so surprised and excited to be able to find this cheese in Greece, that I didn’t think twice about cooking up anything. Plus, since I am the host, I am not being judged!

That was it folks! I hope we will see all of you for our next November-January Cook the Books event where Rachel, The Crispy Cook will be hosting. She will take us on an adventure around the globe with her pick the foodie/travel memoir, “A Taste for Adventure: A Culinary Odyssey Around the World“ by Anik See.

Till then au revoir! 

Announcing Our Next 3 Cook the Books Titles!

Due to all the positive feedback on announcing our Cook the Books selections in advance so you all have time to locate the book, here are the next three picks that will follow our current selection, Peter Mayle’s “French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew” being hosted by Jo at Food Junkie Not Junk Food. (Remember the deadline on French Lessons has been extended to November 8th).

Once again we tried to come up with great books, a little variety, and books that you can find in paperback, used or at your local library.

Cook the Books Selection: November – January

Rachel, The Crispy Cook will be hosting this round and decided to take us on an adventure around the globe with her pick the foodie/travel memoir, “A Taste for Adventure: A Culinary Odyssey Around the World“ by Anik See. (NY: Seal Press, 2002).  (Originally published in Canada by Macmillan under the title “A Fork in the Road”). The author is a Canadian currently living in the Netherlands, writing and working as a bookbinder and letterpress printer.  She interspersed her years as a food researcher for the Canadian television show “The Urban Peasant” with many cycling trips around the world and showcases these travels in this collection of essays, with many recipes and photos sprinkled throughout.  See travels to Malaysia, Singapore, Patagonia, Thailand, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Indonesia, Northern Argentina, Iran, Mexico and British Columbia, so there will be a smorgasbord of culinary cultures to ruminate on in our blog posts.

Since this book hits around holiday time, we are taking an extra few weeks and extending the deadline into January. You should have this selection read and your dish posted by Friday, January 22nd.

Cook the Books Selection: February-March

For me, Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, finding a new book to love is fun, but I also like to revisit a favorite book that I haven’t read in a while. For my pick, I am taking us back to a classic and a novel I love, “Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies“  by  Laura Esquivel. Many of you may have read it or seen the movie (also wonderful), but for those who have not, “Like Water for Chocolate” is set in turn-of -the-century Mexico, and tells the story of Tita, the youngest daughter of a well-born rancher. As youngest daughter, her destiny is to remain single and care for her aging widowed mother but she falls in love with Pedro anyway. Her mother quickly takes care of that by making her sister marry Pedro. Tita pours all of her emotions into cooking and the results make for a fun, fanciful and often poignant story of love, life and of course FOOD! A recipe starts each chapter of this classic book and since this is a good excuse to delve into some traditional Mexican cooking, get out any Rick Bayless and Diana Kennedy cookbooks you have lying around.

Our deadline for reading this selection and posting your dish is Friday, March 26.

Cook the Books Selection: April-May

Jo from Food Junkie Not Junk Food is back as host for this round and is jetting off with us to Britain to find out from a favorite chef and food/cookbook writer just what those Brits eat!  “Eating for England: The Delights & Eccentricities of the British at Table“, is Nigel Slater’s personal portrait of the British and their food. With his witty, warm and nostalgic tone Slater addresses favourite British cuisine staples (high tea, scones, black pudding, Sunday roast etc.) and products (biscuits, chocolates etc) sometimes with love and others with apprehension. He is both entertaining and informative, often focusing on the sociological aspect of foods, painting a vivid portrait of nation whose relationship to food “is unlike any other“.  If you have never read any of Nigel Slater’s books or cooked his recipes you are in for a treat, the man is amazing! We can’t wait to see what dishes everyone comes up with for this one.

The deadline for reading and posting your dish for this selection is Friday, May 21st.

And there you have it–our next three selections! We hope that you can join us as we travel the globe these next few months, reading great books, cooking and eating wonderful food and sharing it all with good friends.

Now collect your knife, fork and corkscrew and get back to your “French Lessons“!

Your hosts,

Deb, Rachel & Jo

Note: If you are new to Cook the Books, welcome! We are a bi-monthly virtual book club, reading great food-related books and cooking and posting dishes inspired by them. Anyone is welcome to join our group. If you have any questions, you can find the details here, or leave a comment and we’ll get back to you.

Next Cook The Books Selection: French Lessons, Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew

Hello everyone!

Just a reminder that our next book is Peter Mayle’s “French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew”, a joyous exploration and celebration of the infinite gastronomic pleasures of France. Mayle (http://www.petermayle.com/) visits France’s most exciting foodfestivals, such as the Foire aux Grenouilles (frog thigh festival) in  Vittel, la Foire au Fromages (cheese festival) at Livarot or the Medoc Marathon in Burgundy where runners refresh themselves with bottles of expensive red wines. His tone is funny and relaxed and he makes you feel you’re on holiday too!

Mayle loves France and her people. Born in Brighton U.K. he and his wife live in Provence (South of France) . He is the author of  many books, such as “A Year in Provence”, “Chasing Cezanne” and “A Good Year” and has has contributed to The Sunday Times, the Financial Times, The Independent, GQ, and Esquire.

THE DEADLINE IS: Sunday, November 8th.

Please email me ( jdimopoulosATgmail.com) when your post is up and remember to link both here and to my blog (jodimop.wordpress.com), as I am hosting this round.
Thank you!

Jo

We Have a Winner! Announcing "The Last Chinese Chef" Winner for Cook the Books

OK, Cook the Books Members...We have a winner for this round of our bi-monthly book club selection, the wonderful foodie novel "The Last Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones. I'll let you read Nicole's email below so you can hear her choice in her own words (Since she is going through the process of making edits to her current book, I promised her not to edit this!) ;-)

--------

I think picking the winner from all your wonderful participants was harder than writing the novel. What a great circle of readers and cooks you have! I have never seen a book group so perfectly attuned to this novel. Then again, it would be hard to cherry-pick readers more ideally suited to resonate with The Last Chinese Chef…

Everyone put so much imagination and energy into their dishes and menus! I really hate to have to pick one. Some things were truly creative—like lapsang souchong panna cotta with star anise plums – plus she made trotters, which is brave. And the Beijing wontons in rich broth looked PERFECT, worthy of a Chinese restaurant, the embodiment of xian (the pure natural flavor of a thing) and SO Beijing. The steeped chicken almost made me cry. That is the single most emotionally charged dish in the novel… and also far and away the dish most readers have told me they longed to taste. Maybe it is because of what Deb said, that they wanted to be fed by Sam.

All of you put so much heart into your creations. But ultimately, I had to choose, so…

My runner-up choice was Heather of Girlichef’s Salmon Wrapped in Banana Leaf. It may be odd for me to pick this since ‘fusion’ is traditionally a very un-Chinese concept (historically, in China, all art forms strove for mastery and perfection rather than originality)…but what a great idea! I think it would be wonderful with lotus leaf too… I am definitely going to try this at home. It was thoughtful and highly original in its application of the wrap-and-steam process to another, very non-Chinese ingredient—salmon. Indeed, one of the challenges of making the pork ribs steamed in lotus leaf is that the package forms a sealed container, trapping in not just flavors but any fat contained in the ribs. One wants to prep the ribs to be fairly lean so that there is not too much fat in the finished dish. This must be done by trimming, since parboiling (a good trick before grilling) does not really work in this case. But converting the concept to salmon reverses the equation and turns the challenge into an advantage – salmon, with its healthy fats and tendency to dry out, can only benefit from the extra moisture and ‘containment’ of the package. Good dipping sauce too. Excellent idea!

The great 18^th century food critic Yuan Mei wrote that the greatest and most sophisticated dishes were the simplest and most rustic ones… that sublime execution of what is basic constitutes the highest refinement of all. He admired a great dish of tofu more than a platter of imported bird’s nest, though the latter was as costly as pearls. To him, too much of the hautecuisine of his era was about showing off rather than creating great food. He called this ‘eating with your eyes’. You can see this in high-end Eurocentric cuisine today, too – a lot of showing off (witness our era’s increasingly precious, architectural presentations – and often plated for one, too; how un-Chinese!) But his convictions struck me for another reason, too: a great story is also simple, even as it is devilishly difficult to write. It may sound counter-intuitive, but to write a complex story is easier. Simplicity is the final thing… it may be the hardest thing. I hope in my lifetime someday to get there.

So…my choice for the winner is Claudia from Honey From Rock’s Sichuan Tofu with Vegetables. She took plain, simple ingredients and with them achieved a fairly complicated textural dish. She kept trying until she nailed it. And she created a dish that expresses one of the time-honored artistic ploys of Chinese cuisine: it presents as if it is a humble, everyday plate of food but in fact is texturally manipulated to produce a surprise. This jolt of surprise is the beginning of going beyond the senses we usually associate with cooking and eating, to engage the mind with interest and amusement. As I write this I am spending a few days in a house on a cliff above the blue Pacific… Claudia’s recipe makes me want to run up north to the next town, buy some crabs, pick them, and use the shells to make a reduction sauce to try with her spongy tofu technique. Not 30 though, as Sam used… maybe 3… Congratulations, Claudia. You did a terrific job.

All of you did. Your entries were a perfect procession of interesting, mouth-watering recipes and photos. While we’re on the subject, I must single out Deb’s congee even though her entry could not be considered... talk about your homey family meal! To me this recipe/photo more than any other captured the feeling of guanxi and friendship and family so central to the novel. Maybe that’s because there is no meal more intimate than breakfast (which is why breakfast is the book’s last scene.) But I also commend Deb’s entry for making congee seem not just appealing but downright irresistible. Next time I go for dim sun I’m going to pass up all those exotic dumplings and have a bowl.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading my novel and even better, for letting it spark your own creative ideas. I am honored… and so glad you all enjoyed it. I cannot promise another book about food, at least not anytime soon; right now I am writing one about music, a historical novel about African-American musicians in the Chinese jazz age (1930s). I hope you will like it, too.  

Thank you!

Nicole

 --------

Congratulations to Claudia of Honey From Rock! As the winner for this round with her Sichuan Tofu with Vegetables, Claudia receives a Cook the Books Winner’s Badge for her blog and will be added to the Cook the Books blogroll.

Thanks to everyone for participating in this round and a special huge thank you to Nicole Mones for devoting so much thought and time to being a part of Cook the Books. 

I will be back in a couple of days to announce our next three book selections so that you can start locating them, and then will be passing the CTB torch on to the host, of our current selection, Peter Mayle's French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew, Johanna of Food Junkie Not Junk Food.  

Happy Labor Day!