Nora S. (biblegirl06) reviewed The Moosewood Cookbook: 40th Anniversary Edition on + 92 more book reviews
Im thankful for a review copy of this special hard cover 4oth Anniversary edition that has recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant, located in Itaca, New York. The ideas for these recipes (and later book) originated in the homes and imaginations of the many people who cooked and have cooked there over the years. Mollie was one of the founding members of the Moosewood restaurant and cooked there for four years. Customers asked for recipes and she started to write them down. She would adapt them for home use and created a binder for safe keeping in the 70s.
The recipes in this book are mainly vegetarian. The author says, The foods that were on the traditional American dinner plates in the 1950s- 60s they were redefined and self-defined by the people who cooked themThese are homemade and real meals, there are 25 new recipes that were added to the original book.
This book is like opening someones hand written treasure book filled with their favorite recipes. The book starts off with Soups; some hot and then a list of chilled. The one I did make and my family loved was the Cauliflower Cheese soup. Yummy. I now want to try the Mushroom Bisque, Potato-Fennel, Cream of Spinach and many others.
The next category was Salads. There are a list of several dressings to be made. They mention a warm salad and several Id like to try like the Fruit Salad, Four Waldorf Variations, Antipasti, Coleslaw and Tabouli. Next in line are the Sauces and Dips. There are several pasta sauces, purees, condiments, dips and spreads that all look good. The ones Id like to try are Asparagus Mushroom sauce, Eggplant scaloppini Masalas, Broccoli sauce and Ricotta Gnocchi; Orange-ginger sauce Cashew-ginger sauce and Chinese Duck Sauce.
Then they have a few Baked things and hot and cold sandwiches; then Entrees. I made the Spinach-Ricotta pie. My family loved it. I look forward to trying Cauliflower Marranca, Spinach-Rice Casserole Crepes, Zucchini-Feta Pancakes, Lentil-walnut burgers; Cauliflower-cheese pie with Grated Potato Cruse, Zucchini-crusted Pizza Veggie Chili, and Veggie Stew. All of them look yummy.
Last but not least they have Desserts. Some Id like to make Orange Cake; Lemon and Blueberry pound cake, Banana Bread, Carrot Cake, Apple Strudel, Rice Pudding, Baked Custard, No-fault Pumpkin Pie, Blueberry Pie, Fudge Brownies, and Ginger-Brandy Cheese Cake. Then there is the index for quick reference.
I liked that each recipe had the time it took to prepare and make this meal, and the actual baking and/or cooking time and then what the recipe serving size. There are no color pictures in this cookbook but they did have ink illustrations that looked like they were done by hand. They were cute and added to making this a special and unique cookbook experience. What took getting used to was the fact that not all these recipes were from the same person. This book is a compilation of special recipes by the many chefs that worked at Moosewood. So the instructions for each of the recipes are very different in style. This book is also printed as if someone wrote these recipes out in long hand; its not type set. Its neat and again adds to making this a distinct and memorable book. It just take a little getting used to visually as I cooked the using this book.
There were not too many ingredients in the recipes; the ones listed were easy to find and there was not a long list of instructions to follow. The meals I tried my family loved that means a lot because I have picky eaters. I highly recommend this book if you love veggies and aren't very creative about fixing and eating them. There is a wealth of recipes to choose from inside this special book which would make a great gift too!
Nora St Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com
The recipes in this book are mainly vegetarian. The author says, The foods that were on the traditional American dinner plates in the 1950s- 60s they were redefined and self-defined by the people who cooked themThese are homemade and real meals, there are 25 new recipes that were added to the original book.
This book is like opening someones hand written treasure book filled with their favorite recipes. The book starts off with Soups; some hot and then a list of chilled. The one I did make and my family loved was the Cauliflower Cheese soup. Yummy. I now want to try the Mushroom Bisque, Potato-Fennel, Cream of Spinach and many others.
The next category was Salads. There are a list of several dressings to be made. They mention a warm salad and several Id like to try like the Fruit Salad, Four Waldorf Variations, Antipasti, Coleslaw and Tabouli. Next in line are the Sauces and Dips. There are several pasta sauces, purees, condiments, dips and spreads that all look good. The ones Id like to try are Asparagus Mushroom sauce, Eggplant scaloppini Masalas, Broccoli sauce and Ricotta Gnocchi; Orange-ginger sauce Cashew-ginger sauce and Chinese Duck Sauce.
Then they have a few Baked things and hot and cold sandwiches; then Entrees. I made the Spinach-Ricotta pie. My family loved it. I look forward to trying Cauliflower Marranca, Spinach-Rice Casserole Crepes, Zucchini-Feta Pancakes, Lentil-walnut burgers; Cauliflower-cheese pie with Grated Potato Cruse, Zucchini-crusted Pizza Veggie Chili, and Veggie Stew. All of them look yummy.
Last but not least they have Desserts. Some Id like to make Orange Cake; Lemon and Blueberry pound cake, Banana Bread, Carrot Cake, Apple Strudel, Rice Pudding, Baked Custard, No-fault Pumpkin Pie, Blueberry Pie, Fudge Brownies, and Ginger-Brandy Cheese Cake. Then there is the index for quick reference.
I liked that each recipe had the time it took to prepare and make this meal, and the actual baking and/or cooking time and then what the recipe serving size. There are no color pictures in this cookbook but they did have ink illustrations that looked like they were done by hand. They were cute and added to making this a special and unique cookbook experience. What took getting used to was the fact that not all these recipes were from the same person. This book is a compilation of special recipes by the many chefs that worked at Moosewood. So the instructions for each of the recipes are very different in style. This book is also printed as if someone wrote these recipes out in long hand; its not type set. Its neat and again adds to making this a distinct and memorable book. It just take a little getting used to visually as I cooked the using this book.
There were not too many ingredients in the recipes; the ones listed were easy to find and there was not a long list of instructions to follow. The meals I tried my family loved that means a lot because I have picky eaters. I highly recommend this book if you love veggies and aren't very creative about fixing and eating them. There is a wealth of recipes to choose from inside this special book which would make a great gift too!
Nora St Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com
