Perfect Cold Borscht for Hot Weather

This is the time of year when cold soups come into their own, and yes, it's still hot here.  I was very happy with the way this version of Borscht turned out.  I've tried others, good too.  There are probably as many variations of this soup as there are nostalgic emigres around.

On a related, sort of, subject?  We must have been in a Russian mood, as I ordered a jar of Shilajit, which if you've never heard of, is a supplement, a mineral rich tar found in high mountain ranges, like the Himalayas, Altai and Caucasus.  You add a small amount - less than 1/8 teaspoon to some tea and voila, energy!  It just came in the mail from Siberia, so I'll let you know how it works.  My brother-in-law, who is sold on the stuff, told me about it.

So, here's a delicious soup to be made earlier in the day, chilled and, then when you don't want to heat up your kitchen, there you have it!

A Meal from Prune, The Cookbook

I've been enjoying Gabrielle Hamilton's cookbook, Prune, based on the recipes featured in her New York restaurant of that name, and which I checked out from our local library.  I didn't renew it though. Bought my very own copy, YES!  A fairly hefty tome.  And looking forward to trying many more of her recipes, methods and creative ideas.

We at Cook the Books Club had just read and reported on Gabrielle's previous book, a memoir, Blood, Bones and Butter, which led me to check out her cookbook. So glad I did.  Gabrielle's background, learning to cook with her French mother, working for various small restaurants, and catering companies, traveling and learning along the way, all informed her unique personal style and conception for Prune.

Blood, Bones & Butter Review With a Negroni!

We at Cook the Books Club are closing out this segment with our latest book selection, Blood, Bones & Butter, a memoir by Gabrielle Hamilton, and I'm just getting my post in under the wire.  I loved this book, found it a truly enjoyable read!  There's an old saying, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" and does it ever apply here. Gabrielle not only stands it, she actually revels in it, the overwhelming, awesome heat of a small restaurant kitchen with 10 burners going.  She says: "I am the only one I know who likes it.....I feel like we are two small-time boxers---me and the heat---meeting in the center of the ring to tap gloves..."

Though I hadn't thought about heat too much in terms of restaurant work,  I do know that my own little kitchen often heats up beyond my tolerance and I just have to get out.  Go sit in front of a fan on the deck until I'm cooled down enough.  Not possible for anyone on a restaurant job.

What a trip! Gabrielle carries us along with her, from the beginning of her interest and contact with food prep, watching her French mother,  through years of camp cooking and catering, to the opening of her own unique little restaurant in New York City.   Her stint with various catering companies would certainly put one off ordering from them, by the way.  "The Inadvertent Education" adventures are narrated in a writing style that kept my interest to the end.   She is a truly talented, evocative raconteur and cook, her MFA in fiction writing clearly shows. 

Cuban Cooking Inspired by Next Year in Havana

This was my first foray into Cuban cooking, and I believe into Cuban history or politics.  Next Year in Havana, by Chanel Cleeton, was an eyeopener, for me anyway.  I love reading about periods in history and about places I'm unfamiliar with, learning new things, especially when enfolded into an enjoyable, engrossing story.  Like this one.  Cleeton's novel is told from two perspectives, of those escaping the revolution and of the granddaughter, visiting Cuba for the first time, to scatter her grandmother's ashes.

From the Publisher:
"After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity--and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution...

Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest--until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...

Making Kim Chi and Reading Reichl

I've been a long time fan of Ruth Reichl, her memoirs particularly, and this latest, Save Me the Plums, is another engrossing read.  So many books, about one life!  Amazing.  This memoir chronicles the years of her Gourmet magazine experience, until just after its sad demise.

Reichl's major talent is an ability to convey an immediacy of taste, the perceptive description of personalities, surroundings and ambiance, in her writing, so that you are at one with the experience, along with her.  You can savor the duck, "rare, with the wild taste of lakes and forests," smell the salty caramel topping, and wonder at the magazine back of house shenanigans, intrigue and silliness.  Delicious fun and inspiring reading. With recipes!  I'm looking forward to making her German Apple Pancakes.   From the Publishers:

"When Condé Nast offered Ruth Reichl the top position at America’s oldest epicurean magazine, she declined. She was a writer, not a manager, and had no inclination to be anyone’s boss. Yet Reichl had been reading Gourmet since she was eight; it had inspired her career. How could she say no?

This is the story of a former Berkeley hippie entering the corporate world and worrying about losing her soul. It is the story of the moment restaurants became an important part of popular culture, a time when the rise of the farm-to-table movement changed, forever, the way we eat. Readers will meet legendary chefs like David Chang and Eric Ripert, idiosyncratic writers like David Foster Wallace, and a colorful group of editors and art directors who, under Reichl’s leadership, transformed stately Gourmet into a cutting-edge publication. This was the golden age of print media—the last spendthrift gasp before the Internet turned the magazine world upside down."

Kauai Inn Papaya Cake for The Victory Garden

Rhys Bowen has outdone herself again with The Victory Garden!  I just love her Royal Spyness and the Molly Murphy Series, as well
as her terrific stand alone novels, as is this one.  What a great writer!  Bowen has the ability to draw in and engage readers with her created world.

From the Publishers:
"From the bestselling author of The Tuscan Child comes a beautiful and heart-rending novel of a woman’s love and sacrifice during the First World War.

As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage.

When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden. The journals inspire Emily, and in the wake of devastating news, they are her saving grace. Emily’s lover has not only died a hero but has left her terrified—and with child. Since no one knows that Emily was never married, she adopts the charade of a war widow.

Pasta ala Norma for Auntie Poldi

I just finished the debut novel of a new series, Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, by Mario Giordano, and I did enjoy it, despite a few reservations.  Auntie is a definitely a character, albeit one prone to occasionally wavering somewhere on the edges of wonderland.

From the Library Journal review:
"There is a new amateur sleuth in town. Auntie Poldi, a 60-year-old Bavarian widow, decides to retire to Sicily and spend the rest of her days enjoying a good sea view and an abundance of Prosecco. Instead, she gets involved with investigating the death of Valentino, her handyman, and with an attractive police inspector. The characters are eccentric, bordering on over the top; the scenery is lovely; and the descriptions of food are fantastic. Poldi's nephew, an aspiring writer, lives in her attic bedroom and narrates the tale. There are some awkward pacing points in the book, which could be owing to difficulties in the translation; overall, it is a breezy mystery."

Auntie enjoys eating as well as drinking and flirting, so plenty of good food mentioned, both German and Italian, particularly Sicilian.  Poldi fixes a dish for her new Police Inspector friend, one I'd never heard of, though apparently a favorite in Sicily, Pasta ala Norma.  According to my sources, "a triumph of Mediterranean flavors, so called in honor of Vincenzo Bellini's opera "Norma". The story says that in the 19th century, Nino Martoglio, a Sicilian writer, poet and theater director, was so impressed when he first tasted this dish that he compared it to “Norma”, Bellini’s masterpiece.  And the name lasted ever since.

Melting Pot Meal for Buttermilk Graffiti

It's Cook the Books time here, and summing up our current selection, Buttermilk Graffiti, by Edward Lee. This CTB round is hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats. It's a sort of memoir, travelogue, food journey across America.  As the full title says: "A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine."  Lee is a very empathetic fellow, totally engrossed and patient with all the people he interviews along the way.  The title he chose didn't grab me, though it has meaning for him.  Also, I am not averse to trying new things, but Lee's cooking was a little out there for my taste, with some weird food combinations.  That said, his journey and the people he encountered along the way were certainly interesting.  I especially enjoyed Captain Wally's story in the Trawling for Shrimp chapter.  Characteristically, Lee says, "I find myself driving to a stranger's home for no other reason than to cook food.  It is humbling to witness the kindness of people."

More from the Publishers:
"American food is the story of mash-ups. Immigrants arrive, cultures collide, and out of the push-pull come exciting new dishes and flavors. But for Edward Lee, who, like Anthony Bourdain or Gabrielle Hamilton, is as much a writer as he is a chef, that first surprising bite is just the beginning. What about the people behind the food? What about the traditions, the innovations, the memories?

A Dill Straw for Your Bloody Mary

I'm recommending another good mystery series here, and though this one, Murder on the Ile Sordou, is fourth in the progression by M.L. Longworth, you might want to start with an earlier book, perhaps Murder in the Rue Dumas.  The first in her series, Death at the Chateau Bremont didn't get as good a review, though I did enjoy it enough to get the next one.

I especially loved her evocative descriptions of a stunningly beautiful island off the coast of Marseilles.  The whole ambiance made me want to book a trip and stay in the hotel described, sadly though I know it doesn't exist. But maybe one like it??

Some privileged guests, among them a French film star have come for the grand opening.  The plot proceeds to thicken, with Longworth's investigative duo, Judge Antoine Verlaque and his lady love, law professor Marine Bonnet along for the ride.  They are on what is supposed to be an idyllic, relaxing vacation.

All the characters are very well fleshed out, and original.  As well, the food and wine descriptions are just too tasty.  On this remote island in the Mediterranean Sea, Hoteliers, Maxime and Catherine Le Bon have spent their life savings beautifully restoring the hotel.  They have also secured an ambitious young chef, Emile, for their kitchen, one who goes foraging for local wild herbs and plants.  And the varied, inspired menus have us wanting to try his wonderful creations.  He served the guests a starter that would be great with my drink: A Goat Cheese Crème Brûlée with Caramelized Onions.  Oh yes!