The New Crank's Recipe Book by Nadine Abensur

Crank's is apparently one of the UK's top vegetarian restaurants. They've produced a number of books, but I was lucky enough to receive this one after a family member's foray to London. I've never eaten at a Crank's, nor have I ever perused any of their other books. This one was kind of hit or miss for me. For starters, it's a very tightly glued paperback...one of those ones where if you open it too wide, the spine starts to crack and the pages fall out. I hate that! Especially in a cookbook when you know, you kind of have to prop the thing open a lot. However, it does include a few nice color pictures in the middle, which is a huge plus. 

I found some of the recipes a little unaccessible. I'm not sure if it's because something was lost in translastion...it can be a bit like reading a Jamie Oliver book...heavy on the British vernacular, but minus his heavy slang. If you can get past that, i.e. translate it, then you'll find the recipes easier to manage. I believe my favorites of those I made, were Red Onion Soup with Toasted Cheese Floats, and Couscous with Roasted Vegetables. If you're a vegetarian and looking for a close proximity to the traditional French Onion Soup, the Red Onion Soup is a wonderful stand-in. It has a very full flavor and you'll never miss the beef broth. The couscous was delicious mainly due to the roasted, caramelized vegetables. Between the chopping and separate preparation of couscous there are a number of steps to this recipe, but none of it is difficult and the end result is very appetizing and healthy. 

I did have one pretty big bomb...Spinach Risotto Pie. Thought it sounded great...I love spinach, pie, and risotto, but basically it was just...dried out risotto smacked into a pie plate and then baked. Big waste of rice. 

Although some of these recipes are a bit complicated, and I don't yet feel I can trust them implicitly (meaning try cooking them before you try cooking them for guests), I think I'll keep this book around to explore a bit more. 

Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis

Does Giada ever make anything that doesn't sound/taste/look delicious? I didn't think so. This is her debut book and one I've had on my shelf for quite a while now. Heck, I've had it for so long, I was able to bring it with me when she did a signing when her third book came out. In fact, here we are. I am not the one in the yellow sweater. 

Anyway, I love Giada's food. Everyday Italian is a great starter book if you're interested in Italian food with a California flair. Most of the ingredients are very easy to find if you're on the west coast, and all the recipes tend to incorporate fresh, light flavors. Practically everything she does incorporates something I love (and sometimes, all of it): garlic, lemon, fresh basil, pasta. I mean really, how can you go wrong with that? 

Out of Everyday Italian, one of the highlights I made was Creamy Polenta with Gorgonzola Cheese. This makes for a fantastic comfort food and is a good one to try if you're leery but curious about either polenta making or blue cheese. Gorgonzola is very mild and a good starter blue, and her technique for making polenta will almost assure you will not have yellow paste stuck to your pan, as is wont to happen with some recipes. 

She also includes some great deserts, which if you haven't been able to tell by now, are sadly not something I frequently cook. But I'd be willing to be we'd all enjoy Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Cream and Rice Pudding with Vanilla, Orange, and Rum.  Who wouldn't?