r/CookbookChallenge

Recipe 46: Tuna Mayo Onigiri from Make it Japanese. I was really hopeful that I could get my rice loving toddler to eat some tuna with this one. He thought it looked cool but unfortunately refused to even try a bite.

Recipe 47: Tomato Soup from The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning. Garden season is in full swing. It's been a struggle staying on top of preserving the extra garden veggies but I did manage to get a batch of tomato soup done. Haven't tried it yet, but I am sure it will be a hit. We are a big grilled cheese and tomato soup house.

Great progress on the challenge lately!

Fresh corn pancakes from The New York Times Cookbook 1992 (Craig Claiborne). A little bit more work than regular pancakes. Really nice results. Really good fresh corn shines in this. Will have to remember this recipe next corn season. Had it with butter, maple syrup, and bacon. Scored the book at a library bag sale!

String beans and pork shreds from Mrs Chaing's Szechuan Cookbook. I don't remember where I got this book, maybe antiquing? It was published in 1976, so happy 50th birthday to this book! Recipe was easy and well-explained. I think I would use french cut green beans from frozen next time to be even easier. A bit salty but OK with plain rice. Since I often have pork chops in the freezer, this could pretty much be a pantry meal with green beans handy. Just wish the book had photos.

Sichuanewe spiced cucumber salad from Every Grain of Rice. This one suffered a little from the induction stove learning curve. The spiced got a bit burned and the smoke was pretty noxious. The salad tasted great and was very easy though. The smokiness wasn't a detriment, I don't think. Paid regular price for this book, glad to finally use it.

Japchae from Korean Home Cooking by Soon Young Chung. This turned out delicious but it was waay too complicated. I had to make three different sauces/marinades and dirtied half the things in my kitchen. Also, several techniques were not explained well - at one point it sends you to a different page which doesn't explain much better and transliterates the thing you do with the egg differently (gidan vs. gee-dan - neither of which will help you find a youtube video). I had looked at a different recipe and there were ingredients in the procedure that weren't on the ingredient list. This book will not get to stay on my shelf. At least I didn't pay much at the library book sale.

Banana loaf from Indiana State Fair Cookbook, First Edition (1989). Had some bananas and thought I'd work on the challenge. I did sub lemon zest for orange zest because it's what I had. A nice loaf, good texture, got a nice crust cooling on a rack. A little bit cinnamony, I think I might reduce that or use a different recipe to let the banana come through. I suppose that kind of innovation is what wows fair judges though. Got the book at a library book sale.

Thyme and Lime Chicken from The Caribbean Central and South American Cookbook by Jenni Fleetwood and Marina Filippelli. Hard to go wrong with chicken baked with a bunch of garlic and other seasonings. This recipe did fall short in not mentioning salt except "a little" in the scallions stuffed into the chicken thighs. It also really didn't brown as expected either. And now I have a bunch of extra butter/schmaltz in the pan because this was basically a confit. Tasted not bad at least. Not sure if I'll keep this book either. Also library sale.