Pork Cutlets with Tarragon-Mustard Sauce

June 30, 2010 by Monica in Dinner, Family Cookbook, Main Courses, Meat, Quick Meal

When I was much younger, I use to belong to those monthly cooking clubs that would send you a pack of recipes every month divided by categories: Meats, Cakes, Vegetables and so on and on. They would send you a cheap plastic box holder with these colorful coded-code tabs and you end up collecting recipes cards, putting them in each of the slots until you end up with a lot of recipe cards.

After 20 plus years, I still have my plastic container, with about 500+ recipe cards. During those 20 years I must have use this on and off, I was not a good fan of the cards, they were laminated so you could not make any notes on them and once out of their plastic container I would easily lose them (I was not very organized back in those days). Plus, once I discover cookbooks, these were put in a dark corner, never to be used again.

Why I still have them, I have no clue – call it nostalgic, I just cannot bring myself to give them away.

Onion, Fennel, and Orange Upside-Down Shortcake

June 23, 2010 by Monica in Baking, Breakfast, Cookbooks, Main Courses, Savory, Tarts

A while ago during one of my monthly visits to the bookstore to browse the cookbooks that I was told not to buy, I came across Savory Baking. This 168 page book from one of America’s top pastry chefs, Mary Cech is filled with recipes that focus entirely on savory baking.

The book has a clean, crisp layout and while you do need to have some knowledge of “baking/Cooking” Cech takes the time to explain how to bake successfully and her writing is easy and friendly giving you the necessary push to try her recipes even if they seem a bit complicated.

What really made me buy this book was the unique way she pairs the usual baking recipes like eclairs, tarts even shortbread with the savory ingredients. Enticing a baker/cook like me to dive in and try them out. And let me tell you I have already done 3 of the 75 mouth-watering recipes and so far, all of them have been a major hit around these parts.

One of the ones that truly blew everyone away was the Onion, Fennel and Orange Upside-Down Shortcake. This shortcake topped with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers cooked in an amazing reduction of dry sherry and balsamic vinegar is a delight. And the shortcake infused with orange zest is a combination that may sound a bit odd at first – until you take the first bite and realized that being daring and bold in the kitchen is what cooking is all about.

Chicken Paprikash

June 03, 2010 by Monica in Chicken, Dinner, Main Courses, Quick Meal

I have tons of cookbooks. I love cookbooks and I’m also very prejudice about them. While I have many that are just words – no pictures, I love the ones that have pictures, because, news flash, there is no denying it, we eat with our eyes first.

In most cases, if it looks good, your instinct is to automatically think that it will taste good. (refer to picture above)

And we dive in.

So for those cookbook authors out there… make PICTURES your friend.

This unfairness towards cookbooks with pictures has gotten out of control over the years because when I say I have tons of cookbooks, I mean it, I must have over 150, if not more.

What can I say, cookbooks, like eating a whole jar of Nutella in one sitting, are my guilty pleasures.