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.