GUIDE ,q-2010

New Recipes For Success

Take a peek into the pages of a perfect gift for those who love
or are just learning to cook.

Gail Zimmerman I Gift Guide Editor

JOY BAUER: SLIM AND SCRUMPTIOUS
(William Morrow; $24.99)
"I'm particularly interested in how eat-
ing together and eating right affects
overall family dynamics:' writes Today
show nutritionist Joy Bauer, who grew up
in a tight-knit
Jewish family
that enjoyed all
the traditional
Jewish foods.
Joy BAUER
Spending quality
time gathered
around a table,
net
while enjoying
healthy food and
conversation,
can tighten your
family bond, encourage ongoing commu-
nication, improve physical health and keep
everyone's weight in check, she says.
In her latest book, Bauer provides 75
recipes spanning every meal but all dem-
onstrating that classic, rich food can still
be made to taste great with just a fraction
of the calories and fat.
Sounding pretty scrumptious are
Double Chocolate Pancakes with
Strawberry Sauce ("I'm crafty enough to
incorporate both whole wheat flour and
flaxseed"), Cream of Broccoli Soup ("fewer
calories and a lot more beneficial fiber in
my rendition — a single bowlful provides
50 percent of a adult's calcium needs for
the day"), Parm and Pepper Egg White
Salad ("with only 160 calories per serving,
this protein-packed lunch will keep you
feeling energized for hours"), Hoison-
Glazed Salmon ("the perfect vehicle to get
`I-don't-eat-fish' kids to finally eat fish")
and Silky Pumpkin Pie Custards ("I highly
recommend this for Thanksgiving — the
custard tastes exactly like pumpkin pie
without the crust").

up eating a lot
Mark Bittman
more plants:
THE FOTD
Beans. Whole
Grains. Fruits.
Vegetables.
"These are
precisely the
ingredients that
LAM
will improve
both your health
and the health of the planet. All you have
to do is change the proportion of some
foods you eat in favor of others:'
That's the diet the weekly New York
Times columnist ("The Minimalist") and
Jewish author of How to Cook Everything
cookbooks has followed in the three years
between the publication of his book Food
Matters and this follow-up collection of
recipes.
"Sane eating is flexible he writes. "You
can structure the day strictly to eat 'vegan
before six; as I do, or you might substan-
tially reduce the amount of meat, fish,
poultry and dairy you eat at every meal
— down to an ounce or two per sitting.
Others have great success eating a vegetar-
ian or vegan diet on weekdays and splurg-
ing on the weekend. You can come up with
whatever plan works for you."
Among his 500 recipes to try: Crisp
Vegetable or Fruit Chips ("Chips you make
from scratch are phenomenal, gorgeous in
their imperfection, and way more flavor-
ful than anything from a bag"), Skewered
Panzanella ("bread salad in kebab form"),
Tomato Bulghur Soup ("There's no faster,
surer way to enrich soup than by stirring
in a handful of grains"), Sesame-Glazed
Brussel Sprouts with Chicken (add a bit of
seared chicken and you've got a satisfying
main dish") and Walnut Biscotti ("Even
without eggs and butter, these biscotti
aren't too dry").

MARK BITTMAN: THE FOOD
MATTERS COOKBOOK (Simon and
Schuster; $35)
"When you reduce the amount of ani-
mal products and processed food you
eat:' writes Mark Bittman, "you wind

BRUCE AND ERIC BROMBERG:
BROMBERG BROS. BLUE RIBBON
COOKBOOK (Clarkson Potter; $35)
Le Cordon Bleu-trained chefs and found-
ers of New York's nine popular Blue
Ribbon restaurants, the Brombergs share

SCRUMPTIOUS

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November 18 • 2010

MATTERS

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their secrets to their most-loved dishes,
translating their focus on the comfort
and simplicity of well-cooked fresh foods
and ingredients into recipes designed and
tested to work in anyone's home kitchen.
Try their Parisian-inspired Crunchy
Potato Cakes as an alternative to latkes
this Chanukah, served with Martha's
Excellent Matzoh Ball Soup (passed down
from their grandmother) and Really Good
Brisket ("one thing we particularly loved
about our mom's brisket is the pureed
vegetable sauce
served on top of
the meat").
For dessert,
their Thin and
Crisp Chocolate
Chip Cookies are
to die for ("Since
our inspiration
for cookies stems
from our mom
serving them up
after school with a cold glass of milk, we
land firmly in camp crispy").

ROSS DOBSON: THE WHOLESOME
KITCHEN: DELICIOUS RECIPES WITH
BEANS, LENTILS, GRAINS AND OTHER
NATURAL FOOD (Ryland Peters &
Small; $24.95)
A star of the food scene from Down
Under, food writer/stylist Ross Dobson
has long cham-
pioned farmers
markets; here
he focuses on
creating healthy
dishes from
whole foods,
using nutritious
beans, lentils,
peas and grains
(sometimes in
combination)
as the basis of his dishes. Although some
dishes include meat and fish, a vegetarian
option is included whenever possible for
those who are vegetarians.
"Beans, lentils, peas and grains have

been the most important staple food in
just about every corner of the globe since
man first grew and harvested crops:' he
writes. "From simple dips and soups to
exotic curries and richly flavored casse-
roles, many of these dishes have ancient
roots. There aren't many foods prepared
today that have been eaten for thousands
of years."
To add excitement to the modern cook's
repertoire, Dobson culls his recipes from
different styles of cooking around the
world and employs new varieties of these
staples.
Recipes to try: Carrot and Lentil Dip,
Falafel with Minted Yogurt, Creamed
Curried Parsnip and Butter Bean Soup,
Buttered Kasha with Corn, Chickpea and
Fresh Spinach Curry and Quinoa Choc
Chip Cookies ("a guilt-free treat, packed
with nutritious ingredients").

SUSIE FISHBEIN: KOSHER BY
DESIGN: TEENS AND 20-SOMETHINGS
(Mesorah Publications; $29.99)
The seventh in the Kosher By Design
series (Fishbein has produced six best-
sellers in less than 10 years), this cook-
book's recipes are light-years beyond
traditional chicken soup, gefilte fish and
kasha varnishkes (Hot Pretzel Challah,
anyone?).
Her latest volume is designed for young
people in minimally equipped kitchens,
both those whose idea of home cook-
ing is a store-bought entree warmed in
the microwave ("I want to widen their
choices") and another group that is really
into cooking, "more aware of ingredients,
portions, nutrition and actually reads
packaging labels." It's also aimed at par-
ents doing the
cooking for their
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families, whose
VAIP
kids will "love
the diverse cui-
sine."
Internationally
inspired
recipes include
Mexican Pizza