I love to cook. If I could make a living by cooking, I’d do it. But two snags : I am not that great a cook (but I do alright), and the repertoire of things I know how to make isn’t that expansive. When I step into the kitchen to make something, I either just envision the final dish and add stuff as I go, or I meticulously follow a recipe to make the final product. I want to share a few of my sources for tried and true recipes:
I love this website because it compiles Heidi Swanson’s own recipes with those of so many other cookbooks (hence the name). I am willing to go to the mat for this: Heidi is a food genius! I don’t know how she churns out recipe after delicious recipe without an ounce of meat, fish, or poultry. (And I am by no means a vegetarian!) Her compilation of recipes focus on ‘natural, whole foods and ingredients’. I have yet to try something from her website that doesn’t turn out scrumdiddlyumptious. Her featured desserts make you do a double take with some of the ingredients she uses, but they always come out fabulous! And her website is not just about food, but also her travels and her photography. Awesome + Awesome + Awesome = Crazy Awesome!
Part of the popular Williams-Sonoma Savoring series, you will fall in love with this book even before you make a single recipe. The book is worthy based on its lush and vibrant photographs and mouth-watering descriptions alone. Julia Sahini writes about food the only way it should be done: with unrestrained passion and reminiscence of fond childhood memories. The recipes are easy to understand and easy to follow. The book is peppered with personal experiences and fun facts. Every recipe I’ve followed has turned out picture perfect and delicious. And for those who are curry shy, fear not: the spices give a mélange of flavors, yet are never overpowering.
This book of Pakistani recipes includes classics such as mattar pulao (rice and peas), shalgam gosht (meat with turnips), and yakhni (meat broth). All the yummy offerings are the ultimate comfort food for this Pakistani girl: pulao with raita followed by zarda are the equivalent of pot roast, mashed potatoes and apple pie. The recipes are well thought out and easy to make. But what I love most: it’s a labor of love, the wife wrote the recipes, and the husband took the pictures in their house on their dining table, complete with white plastic doilies and silk flowers in the backdrop.
This quirky man’s recipes are fun and flavorful. His classic American dishes always hit the mark, and don’t be daunted by his rapid-fire pace and gizmos and gadgets, the recipes are quite easy. Plus, I like the fact that he proves that cooking doesn’t have to be all Martha Stewart-y (no disrespect, I like Martha) and still be really tasty.
Happy eating!
Lil Z-Bear 