"The London Cookbook" by Aleksandra Crapanzano | Cookbook Review

The London Cookbook
by Aleksandra Crapanzano

Publishing Date: October 11, 2016
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Pages: 304
Links: Goodreads | Indigo | Book Depository | Amazon | Kobo

This cookbook promises you all the best of London's cuisine...but does it deliver?

If you've ever wanted to take a trip to London, you might know that it has a great culinary culture - a drastic change from the bland way we thought of England's food not too long ago.

The London Cookbook contains recipes from all over London, but it seems to be mostly posh recipes. I had a really hard time finding any recipes that I either had the ingredients for, or could afford the ingredients for.

In fact, in keeping with my rule of three when I review cookbooks, I managed to make the only three recipes that I found to be affordable in this entire book.

Because my phone is currently malfunctioning, I've lost the pictures I took of the food I made (with the exception of one from my Snapchat), but I'll do my best to briefly tell you about each dish anyhow.

The first things I made were the Chocolate Squares (p.218). These were pretty simple to make, and they're basically delicious brownies. They're really rich in flavour, and are great with a dollop of ice cream on top. They were a hit with my family and I'd definitely make them again!

Next up, I made the Summer Pasta with Crème Fraîche, Arugula, and Lemon (p.52). As the title suggests, this is a great dish for summer. It was fairly straightforward to make this, with the exception of the cème faîche. I couldn't find any at the store, so I attempted to make some at home, which didn't work out exactly as I'd hoped, though that part of the sauce did taste great. Not being a big arugula fan, this wasn't my favourite meal, but I think anyone who likes arugula would love this.

Finally, I made the Shrimp Aguachili Ceviche with Jalapeño and Citrus (p.11). I was so excited to make this because I don't generally make many fancy things and this one sounded like an interesting concept. You marinade raw shrimp in a brine of citrus juices, and the citrus is supposed to essentially cook the shrimp. I had a lot of problems cooking the shrimp. When I realized the shrimp was still mostly raw after the allotted sitting time, I left it for longer. Eventually, I gave up on the citrus process and boiled the shrimp. This dish is absolutely delicious - it's a great appetizer (it would be so refreshing during summer!) and I'd definitely make it again, minus the whole citrus-cooking process.

This book gives you a feeling for the upper-class, stylish vibe in London, but to the average people like me - good luck affording any of the recipes. This cookbook would be best suited to someone with deep pockets who's interested in great-sounding dishes!

*I received a NetGalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Hot Thai Kitchen" by Pailin Chongchitnant | Book Review

Hot Thai Kitchen by Pailin Chongchitnant

Publishing Date: March 8, 2016
Pages: 264
Publisher: Appetite by Random House
Links: Goodreads | Indigo | Book Depository | Kobo

Pailin Chongchitnant grew up in Thailand, watching all the beautiful, fragrant food being made in her kitchen. She became a Cordon Bleu-educated chef in San Francisco and, wanting to share her knowledge and teach people about Thai cuisine, she started her own cooking show on YouTube called Hot Thai Kitchen!

Pailin really seeks to educate in this cookbook. There is so much interesting, useful information in this book for those of us who are interested in learning about Thai food - there are nearly 100 pages before the "Recipes" section, with everything from how Thais eat, to iconic dishes from different regions of Thailand, to the structure of a Thai dish.

One section I found very interesting was "How to Make an Educated Substitution". In this, Pailin teaches us what we need to consider about the recipe before we decide what substitute to use. What you use depends on several factors, and it's great information to have so you can rest assured you're still making an authentically Thai dish.

Another great section is "Where to Buy Thai Ingredients". It's important to note that Thai cuisine involves a particular set of ingredients. I consider my kitchen to be very well-stocked, but I was missing tons of ingredients because Thai food involves a lot of ingredients I don't generally keep on hand. That said, I was still able to make delicious food from this book, using only what I had at home.

And now, on to the food!

My absolute favourite dish I made, and the one that was by far the biggest hit with my family, were the Crispy Spring Rolls. For some reason I had anticipated these being hard to make, but I actually found them pretty simple and kind of therapeutic to make! I didn't have spring roll wrappers, which the recipe asked for, so instead I used rice paper and I think it worked out really well. These spring rolls are so delicious and I'm already looking for an excuse to make more.

Clockwise from the top: Crispy Spring Rolls (p. 162); Street-
Style Fried Bananas (p. 225); Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with
Soy Sauce & Chinese Broccoli

Whenever I'm at a restaurant and I see that they have fried bananas, that's my go-to dessert. So when I saw this recipe for Street-Style Fried Bananas, it wasn't even a question, I knew I was going to make these. Again, I didn't have the Namwa bananas or sweet plantains that the recipe called for, so I used regular bananas and they worked great. This dish is a nice balance of sweet (from the sugar and coconut) and savoury (from the sesame seeds).

The last dish I made from the cookbook was Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Soy Sauce & Chinese Broccoli. Now, I made a lot of substitutions in this recipe (instant noodles instead of rice noodles, broccoli instead of Chinese broccoli), but I kept the sauce pretty close to what was called for. Even though the ingredients were quite different from the recipe, I really like how the dish turned out!

All in all, Hot Thai Kitchen is a very informative cookbook full of pretty photography and delicious recipes. It's great for anyone interested in learning about Thai cuisine and becoming acquainted with new ingredients!

*This book was sent to me by Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.

#DigitalDetox | Event Recap

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend an event called #DigitalDetox, hosted by Penguin Random House Canada. In case you missed it, during the month of January they encouraged everyone to get away from screens and electronics for an hour a day, in favour of doing something more productive - like reading!

Colouring some beautiful aquatic scenery from Lost Ocean

The office is so modern and airy, with huge sliding doors that form a wall that can be opened to create one big room for a gathering like this. The first thing I saw was a table full of colouring books and an area where we could actually colour in a long page! I was pretty drawn to that table (no pun intended), and spent some time colouring in a pretty fish.

Counter-clockwise from top: Olive and Rosemary Chickpea Flatbreads (p. 155), Millet-Sesame Croquettes with Tamari Dipping Sauce (p. 262), Salmon Balls with Crunchy White Sauce (p. 198); Mini Carrot Cakes (p. 175); Amelia Freer introducing her cookbook

There were some dishes to sample from Amelia Freer's new cookbook, Cook. Nourish. Glow. I particularly liked the Salmon Balls with Crunchy White Sauce!

Displays from Greenhouse Juice Co. (top left), Butter Me Body (top right), and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up featuring floorplaysocks

There were lots of samples and demonstrations, including hand scrubs by Butter Me Body (I love the smell of their Pomegranate & Mango Shea Scrub, despite mango scents usually giving me headaches) and clothes-folding demos to help optimize drawer space.

How do you motivate yourself when you're in a rut?

We were also able to submit questions for Cheryl Strayed's #IndigoBookClub Twitter chat.

At the end of the night, everyone got a bag full of goodies, including books, snacks, and socks - it was a lovely night and I'm so grateful to have been able to go!

"Salad Love" is diverse and delicious | Book Review

"Salad Love" by David Bez

"This is not a cookbook": the first words you'll read in David Bez's Salad Love: 260 Crunchy, Savory, and Filling Meals You Can Make Every Day. Bez goes on to explain that he's not a chef - he just loves salad and wanted to create lunches that were not only energizing and healthy, but also really darn tasty.

In the nine-to-five workday, there isn't always time to make food, so a lot of people end up grabbing something calorie-filled from the local coffee shop. The recipes in this book were all made and eaten in Bez's lunch hour.

The ingredients are generally very accessible - most are everyday items that are readily available in a grocery store. There are a few exceptions; for example, I'm not sure where to buy bresaola or borage flowers. Some of the recipes require a little more preparation and adventure, which can certainly be exciting!

The salad dressings are wonderfully simple - usually a mixture of oil and vinegar, which I love and think is so yummy while still allowing you to taste the rest of the ingredients.

My attempt at some "Salad Love", recipe p. 212

The photography itself is simple in the best way possible: it's just the salad in its bowl, which allows you to focus on the mouth-watering food you could be eating.

There are a variety of recipes in this book - vegetarian, vegan, raw, pescatarian, omnivore...and for each recipe, Bez suggests a variation, which is so useful because some days you really want to try a recipe but don't feel like having meat or fish or what have you.

The recipes are divided by seasons - this is great because you can eat according to which fruits and vegetables are in season!

In honour of the deep freeze we're having right now (-33 with the wind chill, yay!), I decided to make the Roasted Turkey, Mushrooms, Carrot & Walnuts salad from the Winter section. It was delicious. And filling.

Whether you're looking to eat healthier or you just really like salad, this book will make you want to devour the food on the page in front of you. Salad Love shows how diverse - and delicious - salads can really be!

*This book was sent to me by Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Photos by nikkitheknack