Nonfiction | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

A NEW NAPA CUISINE by Christopher Kostow

September 13, 2015

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There are cookbooks that have great recipes that I can’t wait to try, and there are cookbooks that have the most gorgeous pictures. This is one of the latter. This is a beautiful coffee table book, from the cover, which is a sort of burlap-like fibrous material, to the stunning photos of the Napa Valley, the local artisans, the farms, and of course the food.

If you are not familiar, Chef Christopher Kostow is the critically acclaimed chef of The Restaurant at Meadowood. Located in the Napa Valley in St. Helena, California, Kostow is the third youngest chef to ever receive three Michelin stars (according to his author biography on Amazon.com.)

I don’t see any dinners at Meadowood in my future – Forbes reports the price fixe is $225 per person for a 10 course tasting menu, wine pairings an additional $225, or $500 for an 18-20 course Chef’s Tasting Menu, wine pairings who knows how much. But I can afford the cookbook, and it truly is a gift.

I don’t give up easily and I was bound and determined to find something to try. Most of the recipes contained ingredients that are not easily sourced here in southern Florida. Most were so complex that I would need a weekend to even attempt something. Then I had an idea.

There is a recipe for a spectacular Chocolate Cherry Tart that involves three recipes, for the Cherry Vinegar, Chocolate Shortbread, and Chocolate Tart Shells. The shortbread is ground to a fine crumb for this tart, but I had the thought that I could make that part of the recipe. So I made the Chocolate Shortbread and I kept the cookies whole. They were delicious.

But that is not why you should buy this cookbook. But if you collect cookbooks, like reading cookbooks, or just want a coffee table book with drool-worthy pictures, buy it. (Click on the picture of the cover at the top of this page and I’ll even earn a couple of cents.)

The book is divided into four sections; The Growers, The Artisans, The Wilds, and Materia Prima. Each section features recipes that highlight that aspect of the Restaurant at Meadowood, as well as lovely essays explaining each section, Chef Kostow’s philosophy and his passions and they way he expresses them through his food.

The growers, as you may suspect, are the local farmers and a fascinating look at modern family farming today. The Artisans include a local potter who makes the dishes for the restaurant; some recipes inspire the potter, and the potter inspires some recipes – a symbiotic relationship, if you will. The Wilds are all about foraging, something Chef Kostow originally resisted as too trendy or precious, but has added a new dimension to the restaurant. Materia Prima is the food grown locally, or as Chef Kostow puts it, “What can we do that no one else can do…owing to our place in the world that others cannot because they are not here.”

The photographs by Peden+Munk are worth the price of admission alone. Every recipe is photographed in simple yet spectacular fashion and printed on heavy, beautiful paper. It is truly a cookbook to be savored and treasured. Plus I just loved reading this book.

9/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A NEW NAPA CUISINE by Christopher Kostow. Ten Speed Press; First Edition edition (October 14, 2014). ISBN 978-1607745945. 304p.

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TRULY MADLY PIZZA by Suzanne Lenzer

August 30, 2015

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My long time, regular readers know that we are pizza aficionados at my house. My husband built a wood burning pizza oven in my backyard. We go on vacation and plan out which pizza places we are going to visit.

It’s not just us, either. Pizza has gone beyond your local mom and pop stop and way beyond the chains. I am proud to say that it has been years since I’ve eaten any pizza from a chain restaurant, I just can’t do it. I’d rather go hungry. In a nutshell, we are serious pizza lovers.

And we are not alone. According to Sam Sifton, food editor of the New York Times, “Those who track the business say pizza is a $40 billion industry in the United States, in no small part because 97 percent of us eat the stuff, most of us regularly, to the tune of 2.1 slices a sitting.”

So why make it yourself? Well, would you believe it is quicker than ordering delivery? Cheaper and healthier? And way more delicious? Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you.

Lenzer has come up with an easy, fool proof pizza dough recipe that is so simple, you can make pizza for dinner any night you want, even after a long day of work, in less time than some other chef’s famous thirty minute meals.

The secret is to make the crust on the weekend, or whenever you have a little time – and I mean little, it takes 30 minutes from start to finish, including pulling the ingredients out of your pantry, throwing them in the food processor, letting the dough rest while you clean up the food processor and put away the ingredients. Then you wrap the dough in plastic, and throw it in the freezer. The day you want to make pizza for dinner, take the dough out of the freezer and put it in the fridge in the morning while your coffee is brewing. This is sheer genius! And best of all, it makes a delicious, crispy yet still chewy around the edges pizza.

The rest of the cookbook is full of drool worthy photographs from photographer Christopher Testani, who obviously loves his job. There are tons of pizza recipes with really interesting combinations, like Shredded Chicken with Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomatoes; Prosciutto, Roasted Asparagus and Fresh Peas with Parmesan; Caramelized Onion and Pancetta with Parmesan; Curried Cauliflower with Tomatoes & Cilantro; Ramps with Poached Eggs and Pecorino. The combinations are incredibly creative and seemingly endless.

Keep a variety of cheeses on hand ready to go. Use fresh tomatoes instead of sauce. But the trick here is this: for a family friendly, quick pizza dinner, use your leftovers! Leftover cooked veggies, the last few slices of salami or ham, that handful of spinach you never got to, all make for wonderful toppings for pizza.

Kudos to Lenzer for basically recreating the wheel here. By making pizza so simple, so fast and so easy, there are no excuses for not making it yourself. Go forth and make pizza!

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TRULY MADLY PIZZA by Suzanne Lenzer. Rodale Books (April 7, 2015). ISBN 978-1623362188. 240p.

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THE ILLUSION OF VICTORY by Thomas Fleming

August 19, 2015

Thomas Fleming, an author of both historical fiction and well researched historical tomes published this book in 2004 making it in all probability one begun in the 1990s. It is a revised look at the 1917- 1920 period in U.S. history; the period of our involvement in the First World War, the war to end all wars. He presents a portrait of Woodrow Wilson the U.S. president during that period and rakes him over the coals in no uncertain terms. Wilson won the presidential election of 1916 based on a campaign slogan of “He kept us out of war.”

A side bar to this election was the campaign of former president Teddy Roosevelt at first looking to run on the Republican ticket. At some point Roosevelt got disillusioned with the GOP and decided to run as an independent. The Republican vote than became divided between the GOP candidate and TR which threw the election to Wilson.

Seven months after his reelection Wilson went before Congress asking for a declaration of war against Germany. What happened is well documented by Fleming. Wilson was courted by both sides of the combatants both promising that as a reward for entering the war with them the US would be rewarded by having a hand in the realignment of territory sure to come with victory. It is made clear that there was really no strong reason for the Americans to enter the conflict. The US was in no danger of being attacked directly by either side. Groups in America allied with both sides pressured the government; i.e. Wilson to enter the war allied with the countries they favored. Both England and Germany set up propaganda machines to concentrate on America to get them to enter the war on their side. No real reason to go to war.

One of the factors influencing Wilson was the place of an unofficial advisor: Edward M House who gave himself the title of Colonel House in spite of the fact that he had never been in the military. He had an almost hypnotic hold on Wilson who seemed to make no move without him. House had published a book called Philip Dru: Administrator, which had to do with a fictitious war between the East and West of the United States. Dru was put into power and promoted a program somewhat similar to Machiavelli’s The Prince in controlling the people. Fleming implies that House kept the character Dru in mind in his advice to Wilson.

When the US went to war on the side of England and France it was with the promise that in all likelihood American troops would not have to be sent to France to fight. Obviously not so. A more direct picture of the U.S unreadiness to fight a war was that not one single American made plane or tank entered combat.

A final note on this segment was apparently a stroke or other incapacitating physical attack that sidelined Wilson for seventeen months and allowed his second wife Edith and his personal physician to actually act as president using illegal authority. Fleming alleges that this alone allowed the victorious combatants in Europe to enact a peace treaty that placed all blame for the war on Germany and set reparations on her that crippled that country totally and led to the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Second World War.

Why the reading of Fleming’s book at this time will probably become apparent to the reader who should come to the realization that truly history repeats itself. Going over the contents and just changing names of the participants will bring out a picture of what could and probably is happening again. The style of writing is in no way dry and does allow the reader to enjoy only the book itself without fitting in the pieces into today’s world. Very timely again after 10 plus years since publication.

8/15 Paul Lane

THE ILLUSION OF VICTORY by Thomas Fleming. Basic Books (May 26, 2004). ISBN: 978-0465024698. 576p.

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YES PLEASE by Amy Poehler

July 30, 2015

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Narrated mostly by Amy Poehler (with help from Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Kathleen Turner, Mike Schur, Patrick Stewart et al)

Amy Poehler is funny and nice, and apparently a lot of really funny people like hanging out with her. This is one of the best audiobook memoirs because of all the readers – they really add something to the reading experience.

I was not a “Parks & Recreation” fan. We watched the first season, thought “eh” and stopped watching. Apparently (according to friends and family members who LOVE it) it got a lot better after that initial season. So after listening to this book and my friends and family, it is in my Netflix queue.

Amy talks about her life, her friends and her work. She talks about growing up outside Boston, motherhood, SNL, Parks & Rec and more. She also talks about her family, but sadly, she is divorcing (already divorced?) so that was in the back of my mind as she spoke lovingly about her husband.

I couldn’t help compare it to Bossypants (best of the comedic memoirs) and the Mindy Kaling book and frankly, it didn’t quite measure up. Nonetheless, it was definitely an enjoyable read, probably more so as an audiobook.

7/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

YES PLEASE by Amy Poehler. HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (October 28, 2014). ISBN 978-0062350886. Listening Length: 7 hours and 31 minutes

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IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME? by Mindy Kaling

July 27, 2015

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Narrated by Mindy Kaling

There is something that is just so likeable about Mindy Kaling, and after listening to this book, that feeling has just been reinforced. She is, or at least appears to be, nice. Not an airhead for sure. Not a Hollywood egomaniac either – or if she is, she hides it well. And I don’t mean that she isn’t self confident because she is, and she definitely is self aware and smart, qualities that I greatly admire. And she’s funny as hell. This book is laugh out loud funny and also really smart, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mindy put together a collection of essays from her childhood, when she first started out writing for television, lots of inside info from The Office, and lots more. I loved the stories about her first writing job in Queens, her People magazine photo shoot, her family, Hollywood gift bags and well, pretty much all of it.

This is a fun read, especially to listen to as she reads it herself. Her next book, Why Not Me?, comes out Sept. 15. I am looking forward to it!

7/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME? by Mindy Kaling. Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (November 1, 2011). ISBN 978-0307939807. Listening Length: 4 hours and 37 minutes

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THE PERFECT EGG by Teri Lyn Fisher & Jenny Park

June 27, 2015

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A Fresh Take on Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night

Eggs, eggs, eggs, and more eggs. Obviously you must like eggs for this cookbook to be in any way appealing. It’s a good thing, then, that we do really like eggs in my household.

Bloggers Terry Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park caught my eye quite some time ago with their fabulous Spoon Fork Bacon blog. Their quirky dishes and fabulous photography are enough to tempt any foodie’s palate and their instructions are easy to follow and explanatory enough for even a less confident home cook. All of this carries over into their latest cookbook.

They begin with basics – egg grading and packaging, and techniques for cooking eggs (frying, poaching, boiling, etc). In other words everything you need to move on to the actual recipes.

While the book does include plenty of standards – deviled eggs, egg salad, and omelets – the authors also focus on ethnic egg dishes appropriate for meals throughout the day. Adventurous eaters can try their hand at Khai Yat Sai – a Thai omelet with a savory pork filling spiked with fish sauce (excellent with Sriracha) -, a Japanese egg custard called Chawanmushi, and Korean bibimbap.

The Perfect Egg is my favorite new cookbook hands down and one I definitely recommend.

6/15 Becky LeJeune

THE PERFECT EGG by Teri Lyn Fisher & Jenny Park. Ten Speed Press (March 3, 2015). ISBN 978-1607746256. 176p.

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THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA COOKBOOK ed., Kate White

June 24, 2015

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Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For

Ever wonder what some of your favorite mystery writers (and characters) cook and eat? Well now you can find out. The Mystery Writers of America have put together a cookbook showcasing family recipes and dishes inspired by their books.

The selection includes breakfasts, drinks, entrees, and everything in between. Recipes range from fun entries such as Detective Palace’s Three-Egg Omelet (from Ben H. Winters’s The Last Policeman) and Kinsey Millhone’s Famous Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich (courtesy of Sue Grafton) to Lee Child’s somewhat tongue in cheek Coffee, Pot of One and Diane Mott Davidson’s updated Fa-La-La Fruitcake Cookies. Fans of Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series can try Madame Benoîts’ Tourtière, which will make the perfect accompaniment to her upcoming eleventh installment, The Nature of the Beast, and I can personally attest to the fact that Laura Lippman’s Aunt Effie’s Salmon Ball and Susan M. Boyer’s Mamma’s Pimento Cheese both make great snacks for reading their respective series.

These are not gourmet dishes, for the most part, and they do run the gamut from simple to somewhat involved but The Mystery Writer’s of America Cookbook does make for a great addition to any food loving mystery fan’s collection.

6/15 Becky LeJeune

THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA COOKBOOK ed., Kate White. Quirk Books (March 24, 2015). ISBN 978-1594747571. 176p.

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FOOD52 GENIUS RECIPES by Kristen Miglore

May 31, 2015

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100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Food52 is one of the great foodie blogs out there. The pictures are gorgeous, they offer columns with lots of really useful info, tons of recipes, a hotline where you can post any kind of cooking/kitchen question, and lots more. That said, they recently added a store where they sell lots of beautiful, pricey kitchen items and frankly, l wish they would dial that back a bit. But I digress. I subscribe to their weekly updates so when I heard they were putting out a cookbook, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

This cookbook is a collection of recipes from many chefs, all tops in their fields like Julia Child, Dorie Greenspan, Marcella Hazan, Dan Barber, James Beard, & Tom Colicchio, plus the creators of truly unique and fantastic recipes that have become classics, like Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread, Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Fresh Blueberry Pie or Barbara Kafka’s Simplest Roast Chicken.

The book is divided into Breakfast; Snacks & Drinks; Soups & Salads; Meaty Mains; Meatless Mains; Vegetables; and Desserts. So truly there is something for everyone. In addition to all the amazing celebrity chefs you know, there are recipes from terrific food writers like Mark Bittman and Molly Wizenberg, and from restaurants – the delectable grilled pizza from Al Forno (Providence, Rhode Island,) Crispy-Skinned Fish from Le Bernardin (New York,) Romaine Hearts with Caesar Salad Dressing from Frankies Spuntino (Brooklyn,) and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette from Momofuku (New York.)

Fried Eggs with Wine Vinegar

I’ve made Lahey’s bread and it is truly delicious and better yet, super easy and accessible, not intimidating in the least. I made the “Fried Eggs with Wine Vinegar” from Roger Vergé, and my husband pronounced it “okay,” and it wasn’t especially pretty either so I probably won’t be making that again. We loved the “Broccoli Cooked Forever” from Roy Finamore, which surprised us – we usually prefer a quickly roasted, still slightly crunchy broccoli, but this was a nice change and really delicious, flavored with anchovies, garlic, chiles and lots of olive oil.

Having all these amazing recipes in one book means that this is a book I will keep on my kitchen counter and draw from again and again. I have a fairly large cookbook collection (I’m not counting or I’d never be able to buy another cookbook!) and frankly, I find I mostly use two or three recipes from each book. Genius Recipes is the exception to the rule for me; I know I will use most of these recipes time and time again.

5/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FOOD52 GENIUS RECIPES by Kristen Miglore. Ten Speed Press (April 7, 2015). ISBN 978-1607747970. 272p.

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THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo

April 21, 2015

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The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Happy happy joy joy. That’s what I got out of this book.

I live a dual life. At work I am a librarian with a tendency towards OCD. Every paper is filed. My work email inbox is always empty, every email filed in its proper folder. My desk is immaculate.

At home, my personal email inbox contains thousands of emails. I am drowning in paper. There is stuff everywhere. And therein lies the problem.

Stuff. Too much stuff. I know it and have cleaned up parts of my life. My husband renovated our closet and it is a California Closet dream. A place for everything and everything in its place. Something new comes in and something old goes out. It’s a beautiful thing.

Books are a completely different thing. A few months ago I attended a seminar on book collecting. Turns out I’m not a book collector, I’m a book accumulator. Even with the advent of downloadable egalleys for review, I still receive a minimum of 20-25 books a week at my front door. Of those, I have requested maybe 1-2. The rest are unsolicited and for the most part, not likely to be read.

Over time the books have taken over my house. I believe that every room needs a bookshelf, but it was completely out of control so a couple of years ago, I invested in a new wall of shelving, 12 feet of it. I sorted all my books, kept an 8 foot run of nonfiction, an 8 foot run of cookbooks, but the only fiction I kept were books I truly loved, that made me happy, and signed books. In desperation I started a “Pre Pub Book Club” at my library which gets about 30 galleys a month read and discussed.

Can Tidying Up Result in Life-Changing Magic?

So when I heard about this book and the “KonMari” method, I figured I would give it a looksee. The library version, thank you very much. A book I could take home, read, study even, then return. Which I did.

There is also a specific folding process for clothes which works fairly well for some things, not so well for other things. Here’s a video with a demonstration – yeah, my bras don’t look like that. And I like hanging clothes more than folding and I’m sticking with that.

So it turns out I did some things right. Like only keeping the books that make me happy. But the KonMari process means you sort by category, not by room as most organizational methods suggest. And that means taking every (fill in the blank,) dumping it in a pile in the middle of the floor, then picking up each item individually and seeing if it fills you with joy. If not, out it goes.

Frankly, I don’t have the patience. Back to the clutter.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo. Ten Speed Press (October 14, 2014). ISBN: 978-1607747307. 224p.

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1,000 FOODS TO EAT BEFORE YOU DIE by Mimi Sheraton

April 10, 2015

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A Food Lover’s Life List

So let me get the food metaphors out of the way by saying this book is yummy – do not read on an empty stomach!

I remember when Mimi Sheraton was the restaurant critic for the New York Times, back in the 1970’s (yes, I am that old!) She is a James Beard award winning journalist and has written about food for more magazines that I can name. Oh, and she’s also written several cookbooks. So what I’m saying is Mimi Sheraton is uniquely qualified to write this book. And it was a joy reading it.

So what’s in this book? Lots. Laura Kiniry of Smithsonian Magazine said it succinctly; “1,000 must-try dishes, restaurants, markets, cultural feasts, and even some relatively universal foods (such as bananas, olive oil, and whipped cream) that transcend regional categorization.” Sit down with this book, a pen and paper (or tablet or computer) and start making your own food bucket list.

Sure, it won’t be easy to get to some of these things. I think all the Chinese dishes are meant to be eaten in the various provinces of China, German food in Germany, and so forth but with many dishes, there are recommended restaurants in major cities like New York as well.

The book is organized more or less geographically, so if you’re an expert on French and Italian, skip over to the chapters on Belgian & Dutch or Scandinavian food or even Jewish food, for example. Lots of recipes are included if you want to try making some magic yourself. And if the recipe isn’t provided, there are usually notes on particular recipes that work. For instance, Candied Citrus Peel, not the dreck you find stuffed in fruitcakes but handmade candied citrus is explained, but then the notes suggest recipes from Chocolates and Confections by Peter Greweling, The Joy of Cooking (2006), The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (13th edition,) and Mimi’s own My Mother’s Kitchen.

The foods range from the simple – Sour Cream, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Oreos! to the sublime – the “great cheeses of Spain”, caviar, truffles. The research is meticulous. I’ve been eating Gefilte Fish my whole life and never knew its history, or even how it’s made. Even though a recipe isn’t provided, the basic steps are, as well as where to buy it – Barney Greengrass in NY, Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen in Houston, and where to “dine-in” or mail order it, and finally referrals to recipes in The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook, and so forth.

This book is to be savored and is a real treat. (Sorry, thought I got the food metaphors out of the way earlier, guess not!) Buy it for your favorite foodie and they will thank you.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

1,000 FOODS TO EAT BEFORE YOU DIE by Mimi Sheraton. Pinnacle (March 31, 2015). ISBN: 978-0786034239. 352p.

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