r/CookbookLovers

This was much further down the list of my to-buy list, but Goodwill had it for 1.99 so I HAD TO!!!

In April, I embarked on what I called “A Completely Random Cooking Challenge”, where I used a random number generator to assign me recipes to cook from my collection. The month started off strong with many winners, but then fizzled out with a whole bunch of duds. I spent May and June cooking some trusty favorites and feel ready for a random challenge again. Overall, it was a whole lot of fun and challenged me to get out of my comfort zone in the kitchen! I tried recipes I never would have and found some new family favorites. Also, posting my reports in this sub was highly motivating. I loved discussing shared hits and misses. Per tradition, I “rotated” the books on display on my dining room shelf on the first of the month. I have the rest of my collection in piles under my bed, so these are the books that fit our family’s mood this month and are a different selection than I used in April.

To recap the rules, I have assigned each cookbook on my shelf (pictured) a number from 1-40, then use a random number generator to spit out a number. I take the corresponding book off the shelf, count the number of recipes, and use the random number generator again to assign me a recipe to cook from the book. This month, in addition to the assigned recipe, I will select an additional “choice” recipe from the same book that I have never cooked before. For example, this could be a recipe I have always wanted to try, or one that uses up an ingredient about to go bad in my refrigerator.

Other rules are:

1. I must stay as true to the recipe as possible.
2. I can skip the recipe entirely if I have cooked it before, if it has a hyper-seasonal ingredient (for example, wild ramps or a whole pumpkin), or prominently features a meat my family does not eat (for example, duck confit).

Here is my first report!

Random numbers: 5, 57 corresponding to Pass the Plate “Cheesy Scalloped Tomatoes”

I was excited to get this book, because I had just two weeks ago tried my first recipe from it, and it was a massive hit for the whole family, an exceedingly rare phenomenon (coconut chicken bites)! I ignored the Cheesy Scalloped Tomatoes, which presents as a sort of layered bread, tomato, and cheese casserole, on my first pass through the book, however, because it contains gluten and cheese, which my husband does not eat. To be honest, I was having a hard time visualizing what this dish should taste like, but I was delighted that I already had all of the ingredients and could easily tack it on as a side dish to the meatballs we were already planning to have for dinner.

I did not have the correct size baking dish, so I opted for a slightly smaller one. I could immediately tell not all of the ingredients would fit, so I ended up using half of the tomatoes and cheese but otherwise followed the recipe as written. This was the right call; I am not convinced the recipe would work with the full amount of tomatoes, as it would get quite watery. Otherwise the recipe was simple. I only had to chop part of a loaf of stale bread, a shallot, and some garlic. The rest of the work is layering the ingredients in the baking vessel.

The finished product is best described as “pizza stuffing”. It was flavorful and comforting and paired beautifully with meatballs and an Italian salad. Unfortunately my kids were not thrilled with it, so I’ll be eating the leftovers solo for lunches this week. There are worse leftovers to have, but I do not think I would make this again unless I had a bigger crowd to feed.

Choice recipe from Pass the Plate: Gruyère-Stuffed Dates with Salted Sesame Honey

I had just flagged this recipe last week, and I served it for dessert with our meatball dinner. These are a very simple, one-bite sweet snack. A square of cheese is inserted into a halved date, then covered with a honey and sesame seed mixture and sprinkled with salt. I did not get salt flavor beyond the cheese, so next time I would use a flakier salt like Maldon rather than fleur de sel. Otherwise, I liked these. I felt fancy making and serving them.

Thanks to anyone who read this far! My next random number is 40 - Bravetart!!

I always love Molly’s dessert recipes. I thought there would be too many peaches while I was making the dish but my biscuits came out massive and I wished I had a more peaches for a better peach to biscuit ratio!

Bf took me to Superica last week, and I couldn’t stop dreaming about the steak, salsa, and chips! We found out there’s a cookbook, and he surprised me with it.

Recipes Cooked:
Standard Chile Paste
Mexican Rice 10/10
Refried Beans 9/10
Crudo (Salsa) 10/10
Roasted Tomato Salsa 9/10
Guacamole 10/10
Carne Asada 6.5/10

Overall, I found the recipes to be well-tested and easy to make. I didn’t need to make any adjustments, and it was nice using the same ingredients across multiple dishes. The only disappointment was the steak. The orange flavor was very overpowering. Next time, I’ll swap it for lime juice.

I can’t wait to make more recipes! I’m eyeing the horchata, chicken fajitas, and rice pudding with cherries and almonds.

Has anyone else made anything from this cookbook?

Saw both of these recipes posted here recently and made them both for dinner tonight. 10/10 recommend they were both absolutely delicious.

Both of these cookbooks were available to me on Libby and I’ll definitely be tagging them to try additional recipes!

Recipes are - Miso Garlic Milk Bread Buns & Hatsukos Meatloaf & Fluffy Potatoes

Making a few from Snaking Cakes. Any recommendations? I’m thinking I will frost my cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting recipe from Dessert Person.

First time making biscuits from scratch, let alone an entire cobbler! I’m really happy with the final product and it tasted delicious!

My first post here after lurking for months 🥰 I made this from the Dishoom cookbook and it turned out delicious. I did deviate a little from the recipe: pressure-cooked the dal instead of boiling it in a pot, using a little less heavy cream than advised, and topping it with fresh coriander because it felt like it would cut through the intense buttery flavour quite nicely. That said, since I haven’t tasted the original in their restaurants, I’m really pleased with how this turned out!

I was excited to get this from the library and try out some recipes, but I'm a little overwhelmed by all the options and the impossibly beautiful photos. Does anyone have any favorites/tips?

Hello everyone and happy Sunday! Let’s close off your weekend with a brand new scan

This is Catherine May Residents’ Book of Favorite Recipes from Bellingham, Washington. Right away you might notice that this book has all the whimsy of an older community cookbook. That’s because most of the contributors of this book are 70, 80, and even 90 years old, so this cookbook mimics a lot of culinary trends from decades past. Bonus, some recipes are specifically dated from the 1940’s and 50’s, so that’s really cool

You might also notice that this is a cookbook that spans over 500 PAGES. It did not need this many. For some reason they thought it’d be super fun to use up a bunch of paper and only put the recipes and page numbers on one side of the paper. For those of you who check out the pdf and might be thinking, “did he really scan 260 blank pages by hand?”, the answer is no. I scanned 1 empty page by hand and used some computer magic to copy it over and over again so that way the pdf resembles how the book actually looks

Since I’m technically writing this post on the 4th of July even though you’re seeing it today, July 5th, I was a little too busy to give a full deep-dive on the recipes and whatnot. One thing I did find cool is that there’s some recipes in here that are specifically dated from the 1940’s. Cookbooks from that decade are hard to find, so I appreciate seeing the recipes

Lots of good stuff in here, even beyond the pictures I took. Hopefully you enjoy, and I’ll see you in the next scan!

Can't wait to make dishes from here.

Made the strawberry shortcakes yesterday but of course we ate them so fast we forgot to take a picture of the finished product. So delicious and easy to make. Looking for other suggestions to try.

Hi! I have acquired these cookbooks and would like to know if anyone has vegetarian favorites from them? I always seem to forget to look through them when it’s meal prep time.

(I'm using u/ehherewegoagain's PITA (pain in the ass) and outcome (quality of finished dish) rating system.)

1. Sweet & Sour Tsukune from Ohana Style by Sheldon Simeon*

This was not the best, but I’m including it here because the cookbook is new and popular. The method for cooking the meatballs didn’t work, I had to switch pans half way through, and the sauce was cloyingly sweet. Kids ate the meatballs but didn’t like the rest. I liked it well enough the day I made it, but the leftovers made me realize that I really didn’t enjoy it. (PITA: 5, Outcome: 4).

2. Cauliflower-Scallion Frittata with Harissa and Feta from Milk Street Vegetables*

This was quick and easy and excellent for dinner as well as leftover for lunch. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 8)

3. Steamed Broccolini with Crispy Garlic Sauce from Zahav Home by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook*

I wasn’t a huge fan of the microwave steaming method, but the sauce was so, so good. I’d make it again using a stove-top steamer and I’d also make it with different vegetables (green beans, broccoli, etc.). (PITA: 4, Outcome: 9)

4. Red Pepper, Potato, and Peanut Sabzi form Indian-ish by Priya Krishna*

This is, essentially, a hash. We ate it as a main topped with yogurt, but it would also be great with a fried egg on top. The book also suggests scrambling some eggs and serving the eggs and sabzi inside warmed tortillas. (PITA: 2; Outcome: 8)

5. Roast Chicken with Cipollini Pearl Onions, White Beans, and Lemon from Cooking in Real Life by Lidey Heuck

This is meant to be an easy meal, so there’s no dry-brining or seasoning of the chicken. I think it would benefit from being seasoned/salted a few hours ahead of time at least, but it was pretty tasty as is. I’ve never used pearl onions and was afraid of how long it would take to peel them, but the recipe includes a useful tip (submerge for 1-2 minutes in hot water) for removing the skins. I liked the post-roast bean addition and will consider doing with other recipes in the future. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 9)

6. Arugula and Romaine Salad with Radish, Shaved Parm, Pistachios & Mint from Cooking in Real Life by Lidey Heuck

Lidey notes that this is her favorite salad and now I understand why. We’re not big radish eaters, but my husband and I both really enjoyed the combination of flavors and textures and I’ll definitely make it again. The salad was an excellent complement to the roast chicken. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 10)

7. Lemon-Dill Tuna Patties from The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook by Yumna Jawad

These are easy, flavorful, and kid-friendly. (PITA: 1, Outcome: 9)

8. Lemon-Feta Broccoli from The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook by Yumna Jawad

I served this dish with the tuna patties. While the kids were less interested in the broccoli than the tuna patties, they did eat it, which is a win in my book. (PITA: 2, Outcome 8)

Honorable mentions (recipes I forgot to photograph):

9. Courgette and Feta Fritters with Preserved Lemons, Dill, and Mint from Mediterra by Ben Tish*

I’ve made many a zucchini fritter, but these might be my new favorite. There’s a lot of chopping in the prep (hence the higher PITA score), but that’s ok because the fritters are so flavorful. They are great warm, but they were also great out of the fridge as a snack. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 10)

10. Sheet Pan Salmon Niçoise Salad from Home is Where the Eggs Are by Molly Yeh

If a Niçoise salad is on a menu, there’s a good chance I’ll order it. I really enjoyed this one, even if there was A LOT of coercion required to get my 6yo to eat it. I served all the components separately and let each person make their own combo. The eggs cook in the oven while the veggies roast and my only change for next time would be to rotate the eggs halfway through to ensure a more-even cook. As written, they are soft-boiled on one side and hardboiled on the other, which makes peeling difficult. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 8)

11. Marinated Halloumi Skewers from Flavor (US) / Flavour (UK) by Sabrina Ghayour.

These were indeed flavorful and were excellent served with my local hummus shop’s fluffy fresh pita bread. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 9)

*I borrowed these books from the San Francisco Public Library.