Becky Sue Epstein says that after dealing with not always having  the proper ingredients on hand, or knowing what it was when given a recipe, she started keeping her own lists.  This list grew into a collection, then a project.  Let’s be thankful for Becky Sue’s lists, because I don’t have to be that organized now.  Usually I hit up a bunch of different cookbooks in order to find the right combination of conversions and substitutions.  Here they are in one book.

I’m not sure that the household cleaning formulas belong in a substitution book, but it’s here also.  There are  recipes for ketchup and garam marsala and garlic butter and some marinades.  You get the more common name for herbs – so that  your recipes won’t confuse you, and you get all of the common substitutions.  I never thought about substituting spinach with lemon juice for sorrel, but I think that would work fine.  If you need a pound of apples, Becky Sue lets you know that it is two apples or 2 1/2 to 3 cups of sliced apples.

My opinion – this is a good go to easy reference book. Substituting Ingredients would make a great gift for the first time cook – or someone like my husband who likes to think up weird substitutions that I’m not always thrilled with( especially since there is a section on remedies for common kitchen disasters).

If you’d like to win one, Robyn’s World is giving away a couple of copies. Good Luck! Contest ends June 24th.

Disclosure – I was give a copy of Substituting Ingredients for this review.  The review reflects my true opinion.

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Pan-Seared Salmon with Chipotle Honey-Lime Glaze

This recipe comes from Chef Jeremy Ryan, formerly of Kentucky, who has returned to his native Mississippi and works at the MGM Mirage at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi.  He suggests using bourbon in a glaze for pan-seared salmon.

Ingredients:

• Salt and pepper
• 4 salmon fillets
• 3 tbs butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup Kentucky bourbon
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp lime juice
• Candied lime zest

Salt and pepper the salmon.  Melt the butter in a skillet.  Place the salmon in the skillet skin-side-up and sear for 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove it from the skillet and set aside.

To make the glaze: Add the honey, bourbon, chili powder, and lime juice to the skillet and whisk these ingredients together; heat them on low heat.  Let the glaze thicken slightly; return the salmon to the pan and cook the mixture for 3 to 5 minutes or until the salmon is pink inside.

Drizzle the glaze over the salmon and garnish with the candied lime zest.

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You know it’s good when a recipe book based on alcohol starts out with a chapter on drinks.  Some of the recipes come with explanations, like the Grog recipe.  Yes, there really is a grog recipe, and sailors really drank grog, to help keep away scurvy.  Classic bourbon drinks such as the Mint Julep, and twists on whiskey drinks such as the Kentucky Whiskey(Bourbon) Toddy and the Old Fashioned are right there for you. The rest of the book is divided up by seasons. I was disappointed in the way it was presented, because if you are going to do it by seasons, then it should be representative of all the major areas.  Breakfast is only in Winter – what we skip it the rest of the year?

There are plenty of meat and fish recipes, plus you can do the whole Thanksgiving Dinner in the theme of Bourbon.  I made the Pan Seared Salmon with Chipotle Honey-Lime Bourbon Glaze; it was divine.  Soups and sides are also plentiful.  In the appendix there are recipes covering a Dinner for Four at Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House in New Orleans (by Chef Darin Nesbit) – If you want a while mean done up in Bourbon, this meal is for you, starting with appetizers and running all the way through dessert.

The photos are not so plentiful.  There are a few in the center of the book, that are representative of the recipes, however, I like more photos.  I do like the blurbs that go with the recipes.  Many of them have to do with the history of Bourbon and Kentucky – sometimes Tennessee.  As a recipe book overall, I liked it a lot and I recommend it for the Bourbon drinker/chef in your life.

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CanolaInfo.Org is a great website owned by the Canola Council of Canada. There is plenty of information about Canola, from what the plant is, to how it’s processed, how it’s used and recipes using Canola Oil.  Canola Oil has the least amount of saturated fat of all the vegetable oils, which makes it a great culinary ingredient.

CanolaInfo.Org joined together with the American Diabetes Association to come up with The Heart Smart Diabetes Kitchen Recipe Book.  These recipes all use canola oil, but they’re all very healthy, and delicious sounding. All of the proceeds from the sale of this book go to the ADA.  Even better, bloggers are getting in on the canola cooking bandwagon.

The cookbook, which was developed by CanolaInfo and the American Diabetes Association (ADA), is filled with healthy, delicious and easy recipes. Seven bloggers from the CanolaInfo team will be preparing all 151 recipes and sharing their experiences with you! Each blogger has a different life perspective to offer — some with culinary expertise, some married with children and others young career-focused urbanites still learning their way around the kitchen. While culinary levels in this group vary, they all want to share one message: Healthy cooking is for everyone!

When we had our Roast Chicken the other night, I used a recipe in the cookbook – Cumin’d Lentils and Carrots.  I had lentils in the closet, but I never made them, and this was a delicious first time effort.  The recipes all contain canola in some form or anther: Canola Oil, Canola Cooking spray or Canola Mayo – all of which I had in my house.  The recipes start with breakfast and then proceeds through soups, lunches, dinners, stews, and even desserts.  Many contain grains or legumes, plenty of veggies and easy to find ingredients.  There are photos, but not enough in my opinion.  However, if you go to the CanolaInfo.Org website, you can find more recipes and they have images.

Diabetes is a health issue many families are dealing with now, but this book isn’t for people who have diabetes.  It’s for anyone wanting to eat a healthy meal without saturated fats, hfcs and all those other things usually hidden in our meals. The ones I’d like to try are: Black-eyed Peas with Jalapenos and Tomatoes, Quinoa and Browned Onion Salad with Apples, Mini Corn Cakes with Chipotle Aioli, just for starters.

I do recommend the book The Heart Smart Diabetes Kitchen and the website CanolaInfo.org, including the blog with all of the fantastic recipes from the book they’re trying out.  The recipes in the blog give you a much better idea of what’s in the book than I can.

There are substitutes for whole eggs, and sugar free sweeteners, and fat free ingredients to help keep your calorie and fat intake down.  While this may be a drawback for some, it’s not for me and I know my mother would love it.  My grade is A.  The profit from this goes to the American Diabetes Association.

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It isn’t a quick and easy book.  Some of these sauces start out based on a broth, or another sauce that takes hours to cook down or thicken.  Also, it can take ingredients that aren’t on your pantry shelf or in the fridge, so it may take some planning to come up with a sauce, as well as the perfect dish.  Thank goodness throughout the book there are pairings and suggestions for the sauces. Then in the back of the book is matching sauces to foods(a food/sauce index) . If you want lamb – try these sauces, for example.  Then of course you have the regular ingredient index too.

This is a comprehensive sauce book (to me).  It covers equipment, the basic elements, stocks, white sauces, vinaigrettes, coulis, berry sauces, chutneys, dessert sauces, chocolate sauces, and more.  I recommend this for someone who wants more depth to their sauces than the average cook might experience.  Though, it’s not a fast and easy recipe book, it will help to improve the quality of your sauce.  My grade A. The directions are very clear and thorough, easy to follow, though you may need more equipment or have to bulk up your pantry or fridge to complete the sauces.

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Recipes in the book are provided by friends of the Keels that are in the entertainment industry.  Quite a few are part of Judy Keel’s own family recipes, then there are recipes provided by the stars we know, and those who are new to us, but not to the industry.  Recipes have been provided by James Arness, Stephanie Powers, John Hart and many of the Dallas (television show) Clan.  Most have a little passage telling us where the recipe came from or what inspired it.  Peppered through out are appropriate quotes from some famous people like Erma Bombeck (“I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage”), Meryl Streep and Homer Simpson (“Give me liberty or OOOOO a jelly donut”.  Let me tell you that Howard Keel, was one of my favorite actors and my favorite musical of all time is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in which he starred. Judy Keel went to Ringling School of Art, but instead of becoming a commercial artist, she found happiness with Howard Keel.  Howard and Judy Keel were known for their participation in Charities and Charity Events so it’s very appropriate for her to produce this book.  Linda Radke is the head of the book publishing company – Five Star Publications.  She is also the author of The Economical Guide to Self-Publishing and was named Book Marketer of the Year by Book Publicists of Southern California. 

The recipes are pretty easy family recipes that anyone can make.  I tried out “My Grande Emma’s Lemon Cake Pudding” that was very tasty.  Some of the recipes are basic like “Great Guac Guacamole” by Beau Bridges (I love a great guacamole recipe), “Herb Chicken” by John Hart, and “Garlic Bread” by Fern Fitzgerald but there are others that I’ve never seen before like “Crunchy Pie” by Betty White, “You Don’t Have To Be Jewish Casserole” by Joyce Foy and “Jerky Chicken” by Judy Keel. 

Judy Keel is looking for more recipe donations for the next book, so if you know anyone or if you’re famous (not me) and have something to contribute drop her a line through Five Star Publications.  My suggestion is to better identify some of the contributors because I didn’t know who they all were.  I really love the quotes though, so don’t lose them.  I recommend this book and my grade is a B.  There is a 24 percent discount if you order the book through their online site.

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Tal Ronnen lists his larder, and throughout the book lets you in on all his favorite ingredients to work with, whether it be a grain, vegetable, herbs or greens.  Plus you learn about the fake foods like Gardein chicken – it’s not real chicken.  We actually bought a package of it when we were shopping, we’re going to try it out.

My favorite thing that I learned is about making cream out of nuts.  Plus you can take it a step further and make cheese, or whipped cream.  If you’re allergic to dairy, it’s amazing that you can still make a cool cheese cake without any cream cheese.  I made some cashew cream, just to see how it worked.  The cream wasn’t bursting with flavor, but it had a decent thickness and texture.

I like that Tal Ronnen uses some of the same ingredients in more than one place.  If you buy something in the store you want to use it in more than one recipe.  The cashew cream is used quite a few places.  I think I can get enough ideas for how to make substitutions in regular meals so that they are vegan.  That said, I’m not a vegan, and not likely to become one, but maybe I’ll lean a little further towards healthy vegan meals sometimes. 

One of the best interviews is with Don McKinley, the Quinoa Smuggler.  They discuss all about how quinoa was brought into the US from the Andes and how it’s grown here.  Most interesting is the fact that we can grow quinoa, but we can’t get seed because our days in the US aren’t  long enough, since we’re further away from the equator. So they import it from Bolivia. Throughout the book there are interesting conversations, so it’s not just a cookbook.

My grade for the book is an A+.  It’s very well written and the recipes are very clear with wonderful photos.

Cashew Cream

2 cups raw cashews rinsed very well ( Whole foods has tons of different raw nuts)

Put cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover them.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate over night.

Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water.  Place in blender with enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.  Blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. (If you’re not using a professional high speed blender such as Vita-Mix, which creates an ultra smooth cream, strain the cashew cream through a fine mesh sieve.) To make thick cashew creams which some of the recipes in this book call for, simply reduce the amount of water for the blender, so that the water just covers the cashews.

Here’s a YouTube with Tal Ronnen making a scaloppini using Gardein.

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• My Picks. - My two top picks for books are The Seasons On Henry’s Farm, and New England Soup Factory Cookbook.

The first book is not really a cookbook. It’s more about your food, and the constant planning, planting and picking that goes on in a farm, specifically Henry’s Farm.  The book The Seasons On Henry’s Farm – A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm by Terra Brockman was a fascinating peak inside the lives of Henry Brockman, brother to Terra Brockman and the entire Brockman family (including Terra) as they work Henry’s farm for a whole year.  The book starts out talking about the soil and whether they will get the garlic in, and ends the next fall talking once again about whether they’ll be able to get the garlic in the ground in a small space of time when the ground dries out enough to plant, but hasn’t frozen yet. In between, we learn about preparing the vegetables that are going to the market, planning the farm market stands, gathering vegetables for the csa and the downtime  of taking a nap in the truck on the way to the market for an extra hour of sleep. The winter time is still very filled with work, building the hoop houses for planting the seeds early in the year in order to have a head start on the other gardens.  Then into the Spring and the Olympic summer gardening where they’re racing against time and daylight to get everything done during their heaviest producing part of the growing season.

Throughout the book Terra has sprinkled some family recipes to go with the produce they grow.  I love how she defines the vegetables and fruit that are a little too ripe, or have a bad spot as forus.  They save it for themselves, clean it up and use whatever they can.  This part always reminded me of my grandmother’s toy and card store – the toys with the broken boxes, or having a missing piece (nothing important) or a ripped lid, became forus also. Terra Brockman has a way of describing what she sees, smells and feels as she works the farm, that makes you fall in love and yet feel all the aches at the end of the day from all the hard work.  It’s not a book that romanticizes the garden, but it makes you know how they feel about the land they work.  The Brockmans don’t use the chemicals for pesticides, or fertilizers, they encourage you to bring your own bags for your groceries, and try to find ways to work things out for the long run betterment, not the quick fix. 

The farm is family run, and family is such and important part of this book.  Terra tells about her father and his physical health issues that plague him, about the death of her grandmother, and her relationships with her siblings.  It’s important to see how important even the kids are to the farm and how much of an impact it has when they go back to school at the end of the summer, but also how even the smallest can do small things to help out – big things too.

My words for describing this book are so inadequate for how I feel about it.  I want to own this book, and keep it forever, but also share every word, it’s that good.  Terra Brockman is such a gifted writer.  My Grade – A and two dozen pluses wouldn’t be enough.  This book is a treasure.

New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation’s Best Purveyor of Fine Soup by Marjorie Drucker and Clara Silversteinis a great book too.  Soup is a staple in my home and it’s one of my favorite meals to prepare. This book is very well laid out, starting with the basics of broth making.  It has all the favorites when it comes to soup, like chicken, tomato, chowders, all the soups you would expect.  Then of course there is the pumpkin soups, the bisques, the vegetarian soups – soups different enough to feel like you’re really trying something new. The last part of the book deals with sides, and sandwiches, because soup needs a little something on the side.  The photos are fantastic and drool worthy, the pages glossy and the book nicely laid out.  Here’s something –  I made the Pumpkin and White Bean soup.  My idea of what this soup would taste like was no where close to the actual results.  This soup raised our expectations to a to a higher level, seriously. These people are the experts at developing the flavor of soup. My grade A+

• Baking - I have two baking books on my list. Baking Books should be an essential in every person’s library.

The Baking Answer Book – Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face, Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask by Lauren Chattman . I liked this book, though I only got to see a pre-published copy that was a little rough looking.  However, the important part of the book had to do with every baking problem you can think of.  It is laid out in a question and answer form, but also it is divided into sections. The sections are ingredients, equipment, science for bakers, know your oven, and then into all the different type of baking products – quick breads, cookies, cakes, pies, etc, and ending with metrics and high altitude baking. Each section addresses the basics of that section and gives a recipe.  Sprinkled throughout are drawings.

Baking to me is more science than the other forms of cooking and more precise in the order, quantity, and quality of ingredients, as well in which ingredients to use. Sometimes you can follow directions – and still somehow end up with a different product than intended.  This book will help you see where you went wrong and how to correct any issues.  That’s the real value in this book, figuring out how to make it come out perfectly the next time.  My grade B +.

The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book: Great Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Treats for the Whole Family by Kelly Rudnicki  The title pretty much covers it.  These are baking recipes that don’t use dairy, egg or nuts.  It basically takes the recipes you love and substitutes for those ingredients you need to avoid. I actually like that it shows us how to redo blueberry bread, or pizza, or cookies.  Kids are wary of strange looking meals and foods.  If a kid has an allergy, sometimes they feel alienated from others.  If you provide baked goods that look like what they have in their own homes, they won’t think twice about eating it. I’m serious, I’ve made plenty of meals the kids just rolled their eyes at.  Soft cover book, with beautiful glossy pics.  My grade A.

• Elegance and Entertaining – these books are for making meals that you would serve when you want to create something with a wow factor or maybe you just like to look at food creations with a wow factor.  The sales of each of these books will benefit a charity of their choice.

Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations: Entertaining at Home with New York’s Savviest Hostesses Compiled by Florence Fabricant and the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.   The recipes in this are organized by holidays.  First you get a menu, lovely table setting pictures, and then each recipe in the menu along with a little paragraph about the special remembrance when this menu item was made and some personal serving suggestions. While the book exudes Elegance and Entertaining, the recipes look reasonable and not too difficult to prepare, using ingredients from your local grocery store.  This is a nice size hard cover book, with lovely pictures and very clear directions.  There are pictures, but I wish there were more. It focuses more on the table settings than the food.  Sprinkled throughout are entertaining tips, and ideas.  The sales of this book benefits Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Society.  My grade A-.

The Bryant Family Vineyard Recipes From Great Chefs and Friends by Barbara Bryant and Betsy Fentress – This is more of a coffee table size book than a regular cookbook. I love that every recipe is paired with a wine, so you know exactly what to serve.  All of the recipes were provided by acclaimed chefs and friends, inspired by the Cabernet Sauvignon that the Bryant Family Vineyard is known for.

First produced in 1992, the Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys the reputation of a "cult favorite" among wine connoisseurs and has a waiting list of over 6,000. As Park B. Smith of Veritas Restaurant noted in the foreword: "All of the chefs who have contributed to this book are artisans of their vocation. Their culinary delights are best appreciated, however, when teamed with the art of a winemaker. Food and wine are natural complements to one another." The Bryant Family Vineyard Cookbook helps readers achieve the ideal marriage of food and wine with helpful information on pairing each dish with a complementary wine.

The recipes are well laid out and anyone can prepare them.  Great vineyard and wine pictures throughout.  Lovely recipes, good for entertaining.  I didn’t count, but I think there is a high percentage that involve mushrooms.  So if you like mushrooms, this is definitely the book for you, they aren’t in the desserts though. No pictures of the actual food to judge by, which is a negative for me, but the book is really a quality book. Some of the proceeds will be donated to the Bowery Mission. Great Gift for the wine, fine food and mushroom connoisseur.  My grade B +.

Elegant Entertaining Seasonal Recipes From the American Ambassador’s Residence in Paris. - This is definitely a coffee table book.  It combines the history of the American Embassy with the idea of entertaining in France with French Chefs.  Plenty of the Residence pictures, plenty of food and entertaining pictures.  The book is organized by holidays and it describes all of the different traditions with a French twist to the menu.  These recipes are  elegantly prepared, and displayed using out of the ordinary ingredients.  Nice book for someone who likes history and traditions along with French/American cooking.  My grade A-

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Partida Tequila  is made from blue agave that it gets from one place,  it’s very own Partida Estate in the heart of Mexico’s historic Tequila region. Partida Estate is a family plantation who have been growing blue agave for several generation. The heart of the agave plant – la pina is baked slowly and gently for 20 hours, then distilled twice – not steam blasted. These agaves are used to create four tequilas: Blanco (not aged), Reposado (aged 6 months), Anejo (aged 18 months) and Extra Anejo Elegante (aged 36 months).

Partida also has an Blue Agave Nectar they produce that is 100 percent made from blue agave plants and is organic.  Blue Agave Nectar is a sweetener made from the blue agave plant, similar to honey, only lighter tasting and it has a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners.  My son uses agave nectar with his peanut butter instead of honey because it gives a little more sweetness similar to honey – and it doesn’t crystallize like honey (but maybe that’s just ours). 

So here I had this great tequila –  that I used to make Margaritas – plus I had this book to review called Spice & Ice by Kara Newman, what a great pairing.  I’m not big on heat in everything but this book is really a neat recipe book for making spicy cocktails.  Some of the ingredients are different from what you might have sitting around, but there are quite a few that use Reposado or Anejo Tequila, so I thought it was a perfect fit. 

  As the author of the High Spirits column for Chile Pepper magazine, Kara Newman is the perfect coach for crafting beverages that bite.  She offers spicy spins on classic cocktails, including Wasabi-tinis, Jumpin’ Juleps, Blackberry-Poblano Margaritas and Spiced Tangerine Caipirinhas.  Serve Hot Flashes at your next party with the girls.  Get seriously hot under the collar with a sweet/piquant Peppadew Cocktail, a Sangria Scorcher, or The Bloody Scary.  Next time you’ve got a crew of jaded cocktail enthusiasts to satiate, steam up the punch bowl with Spicy Pisco Punch.       

Funny true story.  I made the Dragonfire Cocktail twice.  The first time I wasn’t sure about the heat so when I put the pepper in the tequila, the first drink was made after it soaked for 2 hours.  My husband and I drank it, no problem a little heat it was fun.  Then I let the pepper sit in the rest of the batch of jalapeno infused tequila (I used a different pepper, I didn’t have a jalapeno available) for days.  I made up the Dragonfire Cocktail again took a itty bitty sip and boy that sucker was hot.  So I brought it to my dear husband  and asked him to take a small sip.  He took a sip, but not an itty bitty one like he should have – and gasped and coughed and drank water. I asked what he thought and he said unbearable.  Letting it sit for days might not be the way to go for us. 

I am keeping the Partida Tequila for us, we like margaritas and other drinks with Tequila plus Partida Tequila is amazingly good.  Spice & Ice is going to be a gift for my niece.  She made her mother a cayenne pepper chocolate cake for her birthday, and then made one for the family for Thanksgiving.  I think she’d get such a kick out of this book that I’m going to stick it in her Christmas gift bag. She’ll forgive the re-gifting because she’ll love the book. This book was very well put together, with lots of fun cocktails.  My grade A, but you have to like heat.

Dragonfire

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces jalapeno infused (vodka or) tequila (see below)
• 1 ounce triple sec
• 1 ounce orange juice
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 1 lime wedge for garnish(optional)

Mix together the tequila, triple sec, and orange and lime juices in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake, strain into a tall glass, and garnish with the lime wedge.

Jalapeno Infused Tequila

2 cups Tequila ( Preferably Reposado Tequila)

1 to 2 hot peppers, washed and cut lengthwise

Combine the ingredients in a small container with a lid.  Steep for as little as 2 hours and as long as two days, until desired heat is achieved.  Strain with a fine mesh sieve, cover tightly.

If you don’t like spice, here’s a Partida Margarita Recipe for you.

Partida Margarita with 100% Organic Agave Nectar

• 1 1/2 ounces Partida Tequila
• 1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 ounce Partida Agave Nectar (to taste)
• 3/4 ounce pure water

Shake all ingredients with ice in standard bar shaker. Taste, Add additional lime juice if you prefer more tartness; add more agave nectar for more sweetness;  serve in glass on rocks.  No garnish, no salt.

Disclaimer: Both Spice & Ice and Partida Tequila were given to me to review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  No payment received, no warranty implied.

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Diane covers every category from appetizers all the way through dessert. There are no less than 5 whole turkey recipes , plus a turkey breast, a ham and for vegetarians, we have pumpkin lasagna.  She describes all the steps involved in producing the perfect turkey, including several brining and gravy recipes, plus spatchcock, but no deep frying.   Then when dinner is over, there is a whole section with leftover turkey recipes. 

This book has the recipes that takes Thanksgiving up a notch. It raises your regular appetizers, turkey, salads, side dishes and desserts to a higher level.  A reasonably reached higher level of exquisiteness. In other words, she uses regular ingredients, and cooking methods to create a dish that’s a little bit more, without going out of your comfort zone.  While it took a good amount of time to make the pumpkin lasagna, nothing in the directions was above my ability.  The most time consuming was cutting up the pumpkin. 

There were plenty of pictures to judge your results by. The hard cover book with glossy photos makes it a visual treat.  I liked just paging through the book and trying not to drool too much.  My contribution to the big family gathering was terrific.  It turned out so well, that I’m making it again for a smaller family dinner on Thanksgiving day, that way my daughter will get to try it.

My recommendation A+++.   By the way you’ll love The Christmas Table -Recipes and Crafts to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition too!

The New Thanksgiving Table was given to me for a review.  The review’s my honest opinion.  That’s all.

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