RebeccasReads

Macaron Magic

If there ever was an interesting background for a cookbook author then this is it.  “A NASA research engineer by day, a pastry enthusiast by night, Jialin Tian developed a passion for making pastries while she was working on her doctoral dissertation on the reconstruction of irregularly sampled interferograms in imaging Fourier transform spectrometry.  Since then the art of pastry making has brought her endless enjoyment.”  (back cover)

What first drew me in was the cover of the book.  The photograph of the rainbow colored macarons stacked really caught my eye and I couldn’t wait to learn how to make them.  The beautiful, mouth-watering photographs weren’t just reserved for the cover of the book; the inside is filled with these pictures of delectable goodness as well!

Tian starts off the book by giving step-by-step recipes and photographs for the basic techniques.  The most difficulty I had here was in finding one of the ingredients and that was the dried egg white powder.  I eventually found a store in the area that carried it but it was at a premium price.  These macarons looked worth it though and the jar would also last awhile so I went for it.

I followed the directions exactly for the macaron shell and although I was a little nervous that they wouldn’t turn out I was pleasantly surprised when they did.  There are many factors which go into making a great macaron and you get so much more information out of Tian’s book than you would get from just looking up a recipe.

Another recipe I tried out of Tian’s book was the Chocolate Ganache.  Let me tell you the filling was absolutely delicious!  My favorite recipe though was the one for Mocha Caramel Macarons.  The mocha caramel buttercream filling consisting of sugar, water, espresso, salt and unsalted butter, was so tasty.  I can’t wait to test out more of the different varieties!

Making macarons is a very time consuming process, in fact some of the ingredients you need to get prepared the day before.  However, the results are definitely worth it and if you have the patience I recommend giving these little bits of goodness a try!

Macaron Magic
Jialin Tian, Ph.D.
Jayca Inc. (2011)
ISBN 9780983776406
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (09/11)

Joyful Cooking in the Pursuit of Good Health: Restore and Heal Through Nutritional Balancing

In the first chapter of “Joyful Cooking,” Joy Feldman tells the reader that something that we have heard often before: “For a healthy body as well as a clear mind, it is very important to start with high quality ingredients and whole foods.  Separating our physical health from the health of the environment, from which we eat our food, is not possible.  Because we garner our nutrients from the health of the earth, the health of the animals and plants we eat, our vitality and wellness is closely interrelated.  If the soil, plants and animals are not cared for and nourished properly, then the quality of what we consume will be diminished. Consequently, the status of our health will be diminished.”  (p.23)  So, essentially, in a nutshell Feldman’s book is about making proper choices in the foods that we allow to enter our bodies.  Educating ourselves is the key.

What follows are Feldman’s recommendations of foods that should have a key place in our diets and also foods that we should limit.  One piece of information that I found surprising was her recommendation to “limit nightshade vegetables” which she lists as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and potatoes.  Apparently they can cause “inflammatory side effects.”  I was not aware of this before.  Another food that she does not recommend is pork because “it may contain parasites, cysts or eggs” which can cause health problems.  I found this to be interesting and actually quite disgusting.

Included in the book are over 100 recipes.  Since Feldman had spoken so highly of carrots throughout the book, the first one that I tried was the recipe for “Cinnamon Carrots.”  It was quite simple consisting of only carrots, butter, and cinnamon.  My children absolutely loved them.  I had never thought to prepare carrots that way before.

The second recipe I tried was “Mama Joy’s Green Eggs- No Ham” which had spinach, milk, eggs, sea salt, turkey bacon, and butter.  I made this for breakfast one morning for myself as I had all of the ingredients on hand.  I found it to be quite a tasty start to my day.

The third recipe I tried was the “Decadent Baked Apple Surprise.”  I did add some raisins to this one and found it simple and delicious.

Although there are some recommendations in the book that I won’t be incorporating into my diet as they seem a little extreme to me, I will be trying to make some small changes.  I think that Feldman presents a lot of good information in an easy to read and understand format.  I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to change their nutritional habits for the better.

Joyful Cooking in the Pursuit of Good Health: Restore and Heal Through Nutritional Balancing
Joy Feldman
Joy Feldman (2011)
ISBN 9780614433073
Reviewed by am Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (09/11)

Smorgasbord of Indian Recipes: A Collection of Indian Dishes Most Popular In India and All Over The World

Achala Kshirsagar’s “Smorgasbord of Indian Recipes- A Collection of Indian Dishes Most Popular in India and All Over the World” is offers around 250 recipes.  The book opens with an introduction to cooking techniques such as how to make ghee and chakka, and also gives instruction on tempering, deep frying, and browning.  After the basic techniques are discussed, Kshirsagar goes on to discuss the important spices used in Indian cooking and tells us about masalas, which are blends of different spices.

Following these introductions, Kshirsagar shares many different delicious sounding Indian recipes in the categories of soups, appetizers and snacks, raitas, kachumbers and salads, chutneys, vegetables, dais, meats, chickens, fish, rice and pulavs, Indian flat breads, and sweets.

There were many recipes in the book that I wanted to try.  I did, however, find it difficult to find many of the ingredients in my local grocery store.  In the book, Kshirsagar recommends buying the ingredients in an Indian grocery store, but my area does not have one.  I think, however, that in larger metropolitan areas, the ingredients are probably much easier to come by.

With that being said I chose recipes to try where the ingredients were readily available to me.  With a surplus of tomatoes in our garden, the first recipe that I decided to try was the “Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Raita.”  I followed the instruction completely except I did add more salt and pepper as I found the amounts called for to be too little for our liking.  The recipe was a hit and I will be using it as a regular summer side in our home.  The yogurt combined with the fresh vegetables made for a nice cool, refreshing dish.

The second recipe that I tried was the “Potato Soup” recipe.  I found it quite simple to make and the ginger, green chili, and cilantro flavors blended well together.  This will be a great recipe for a cold, winter day.

Of course I also needed to try a curry and ended up choosing to try the “Salmon Curry” recipe.  Once again the recipe was quite simple to make and had a wonderful, authentic taste.  The combination of salmon, green peppers and coconut milk was interesting but worked well.

I recommend “Smorgasbord of Indian Recipes” to anyone who enjoys Indian food and would like to try making it at home.  The recipes are straight-forward and simple to follow.  I look forward to trying out many more recipes from Kshirsagar’s book.

Smorgasbord of Indian Recipes: A Collection of Indian Dishes Most Popular In India and All Over The World
Achala Kshirsagar
Outskirts Press (2011)
ISBN 9781432768096
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (09/11)

Comfortably Unaware - Global depletion and food responsibility... What you choose to eat

If there were ever a book that would convince one to adopt a vegan lifestyle, then “Comfortably Unaware” would definitely be it.  Dr. Richard Oppenlander’s book explores the connection between global depletion and our food choices.  His presentation of the research surrounding this topic is quite convincing and eye-opening.

In the Introduction, Oppenlander tells us that “Comfortably Unaware reveals facts and provides fresh perspectives by exploring how food choices affect our land, water, air, pollution, biodiversity, true sustainability, and our personal health.” (p.xiv)  He then goes on to explore each of these topics in detail.  The facts presented are truly shocking.

The resources used to provide small amounts of animal product are staggering.  For instance, he states that while it takes 10-20 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of vegetables, it takes over 5,000 gallons of water to produce that same weight of meat. (p.12)  That is an incredibly huge difference.

Not only land animals are included in this either, the book also addresses seafood.  “… For every one pound of shrimp sold and consumed, more than twenty pounds of other sea creatures are caught and killed in the process.  Innocent victims include fish that has no commercial value, juvenile fish, turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals, such as the dolphin.” (p.51)

If you find these facts to be quite disturbing then you definitely need to read Dr. Richard Oppenlander’s “Comfortably Unaware” as what I shared in this review is just the tip of the iceberg.    Oppenlander’s book is well-researched and organized.  His presentation is certainly not sugar coated and the book is a very hard hitting work.  I know that I for one will definitely be putting more thought into my food choices as a result of reading this book.  I am no longer comfortably unaware.

Comfortably Unaware - Global depletion and food responsibility... What you choose to eat
Dr. Richard A. Oppenlander
Langdon Street Press (2011)
ISBN 9781936183944
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (08/11)

Prevent a Second Heart Attack: 8 Foods, 8 Weeks to Reverse Heart Disease

This book is an accessible and informative resource for every American concerning their most crucial investment towards personal health and overall wellbeing – their diet. Even though the main focus of the book, clearly conveyed through its title, is to prevent cardiac complications like a heart attack, the information and advice within is useful for everyone aiming towards a healthy lifestyle. As a registered dietician, Dr. Brill uses a wealth of scientific evidence to present an easy-to-comprehend and easy-to-follow dietary advice, primarily based on Mediterranean diet, which includes plenty of vegetables, healthy fats from olive oil and nuts, and a glass of red wine, just to name a few. Dr. Brill provides a plethora of information on HDL and LDL, “good” and “bad” cholesterol, discusses the importance of seafood and “good” carbohydrates like oatmeal and whole grains. Another interesting addition to the table is dark chocolate, which consumed in moderation has a number benefits. As a strong believer of healthy nutrition being a key to health, I praise this book for the amount of weight it places on food consumption. Most Americans eat junk, which lacks most of the key beneficial nutrients. Such poor nutrition is the key to the explosion of obesity, cardiac disease, and diabetes, which are causes of many more problems. The importance of nutrition began to be publicly addressed not too long ago and is slowly picking up more strength (just look at Michelle Obama’s campaign and school cafeteria healthier food programs). This book is an excellent source of down-to-earth information with clear steps to follow. Of course, as everything else, this book should not be taken as the ultimate resource, but as an additional tool in the healthy lifestyle toolbox.

Another useful feature is inclusion of 50 recipes for healthy and tasty dishes, recommended by the author. Some of which I found quite nice and easy to make (I have not tried cooking them, but they do not look too intensive, looking forward to the first attempt).

Judging from the positive feedback by other dieticians and medical personnel, not being one myself, I trust that evidence-based information is not too biased and is trustworthy. "Prevent a Second Heart Attack: 8 Foods, 8 Weeks to Reverse Heart Disease" is definitely a worthy read, hopefully influencing the way the reader will eat and take at least some responsibility for his/her own health. Exercise and eat healthily, do not be lazy and just blame genetics, but take the matter into your own hands!

Prevent a Second Heart Attack: 8 Foods, 8 Weeks to Reverse Heart Disease
Janet Bond Brill and Annabelle S. Volgman
Three Rivers Press (2011)
ISBN 9780307465252
Reviewed by Andrey Bilko for RebeccasReads (7/11)