Test Kitchen Treasure

The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book by America's Test Kitchen

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Fully illustrated and tabbed, this cookbook hearkens back to the original Betty Crocker cookbook, only resplendent with color photos throughout and updated to include newfangled accessories like food processors and microwaves. This book covers all the homey basics, from biscuits to baklava, flatbread to phyllo, sourdough to souffle. Indeed, just as its Eisehower-administration ancestor, the Test Kitchen cookbook includes charts of measurements and substitutions, plus an equipment guide of gadgets in the cheap to moderately cheap price range.


View all my reviews.

Taste Test - Canned Tomatoes

Since much of my life revolves around the tomato, this particular taste test was long overdue. I needed to make a batch of soup for our annual"Soup Day" at work and since I needed to buy several cans of tomatoes it seemed the perfect time to taste a couple of brands at once. Because the recipe calls for the addition of tons of herbs and onions and garlic, I saw no need to buy high-end tomatoes, and purchased three varieties under $2 a 28 oz. can. All the varieties were of whole peeled tomatoes which proved to be free of skins. Whole tomatoes contain seeds.

The first tomatoes sampled were the DeLallo Imported Italian Whole Peeled Tomatoes in heavy juice with basil. I had tried to avoid the brands with basil because I didn't want to add another flavor to the soup, but I'd slipped up. This brand contained 20 mg of sodium per 1/2 cup, which is a good thing because cooks should be able to add salt during the cooking as needed. The ingredients list included whole peeled tomatoes, tomato juice, basil leaf and salt. The Delallo tomatoes had a good, rich taste and were free of skins.

The second brand I tried was Dei Fratellli Prima Qualita (!) Whole Tomatoes, which claimed to be "all natural." The Dei Fratelli tomatoes contained 190 mg sodium per 1/2 cup, and conained no basil. After the low-sodium tomatoes this brand seemed overly salty, but had a good, acidic taste. The ingredients list included tomatoes, tomato juice, sugar, sea salt, calcium chloride and citric acid. They were also in a heavy juice and were free of skins.

Last I tasted Redpack Whole Peeled Tomatoes in thick puree. The Redpack tomatoes also carried the 100% natural advertisement, and they contained tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, calcium chloride and citric acid. They also contained the higest amount of sodium (220 mg) per 1/2 cup, and no basil. They had an odd aftertaste, and would probably not purchase them again.

Overall my vote was for the DeLallo tomatoes, with the Dei Fratellis coming in a close second. While I had tried to "taste around" the basil in the DeLallo brand, I'm not sure whether it contributed to my selection or not, but I think it wasn't in sufficient quantity to throw off any recipes containing other herbs,onions or garlic.

Blest Tea

Rich Glasgow, 2008.

My brother Rich and his wife Alisha went on a camping trip to Yosemite recently, and despite Rich having to battle a bad sinus infection at a high altitude they had a great time. After they left Yosemite they went on to visit San Francisco where they bought the family gifts.

Now it must be said that over the years Rich and I have had mixed success in buying each other presents. We've been known to buy one another an album we wanted for ourselves and exchange them at Christmas, and I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it about the Tonga aftershave I gave him one year that resembled a big bottle of blue Gatorade (hey, I was young). Anyway, the Tonga has kept its place of honor among the bad family present all-stars with the "School Lunch Victim" t-shirt and the leather hat my dad once gave me that would have been better suited to say, Rick James. The last time Rich and Alisha went out west they were delighted to present me with a large raven puppet. While it was admittedly quite cool I was arsed to know what to do with it.

This year however my "prize" was a luminous, copper-plated aspen leaf and a big tin of Blest Tea's Jamine Green Tea. This tea is just gorgeous. The scent is delicate and earthy, and the jasmine is perfect - not sweet, just fresh and deep. The directions tell you to brew the tea for only 30 seconds and that the leaves can be used up to six times, which I have yet to test. Once brewed, my tea scented the kitchen and I put it in the fridge to cool. After lunch I had some iced tea and was please to find that while the flavor of some teas will muddy after a long step, this tea had maintained its crisp floral edge through brewing and chilling. Excellent stuff.

I then took the process one step further by making a simple syrup with a quick brew up in an enameled cast iron pot, followed by a double straining to remove the bits of tea leaf, and a slow boil to reduce liquid and compound the flavor. Do I need to say this syrup combines with dairy really well? Try this syrup over yogurt and fresh nectarines, or in a custard dish. I used one part tea to two parts sugar, but next time I may not use so much sugar, or may add a tiny bit of vinegar to give it a bit of a bite.

Thanks to Rich and Alisha! Blest Teas do not have a website, but you can reach them at 415.951.8516.

Old Standby Updated

The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
While revisiting some of the pioneering works in the area of vegetarian cookery, I was redirected to The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by a former professor and friend who caught my interest with his description of a cream of tomato soup in the above mentioned book. I can only give this book three stars just yet because I've only tried one recipe and so can't really comment on the quality of the others. I can say that while Katzen's tastes and my own aren't always in sync (and really, who ever likes all the recipes in any cookbook?), she goes to great pains to provide variations within the recipes for cooks to try.

I tried the second variation on the tomato soup recipe and was very pleased, although I did use my immersion blender to puree the soup and incorporate the cream cheese(!). Also, I think I may use dried rather than fresh rosemary, or use a sprig of rosemary which I will later remove, to keep from getting ahold of little bits of it as I eat the soup.

It is important to point out that this book was originally published in 1982 by Ten Speed Press, and features Katzen's own drawings and hand printed recipes on non-glossy paper. There are some color photographs, including on of the Enchanted Broccoli Forest with upright broccoli heads standing in veggie pride in a bed of herbed rice pilaf. I am particularly interested in the soups in this book, but wait until you get to the desserts. More later on this book.


View all my reviews.