Saturday, March 15, 2014

Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients

Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients
Publisher: Ulysses Press (December 3, 2013)

Most people can’t bear the thought of being without their condiments. The ability to doctor up the taste of relatively bland foods like chicken, tofu, pasta and rice, or disguise unwanted flavours (think of children and their vegetables) opens up a world of possibilities. With a simple change of sauce, a dish can travel from the United States to Russia, Germany, Thailand, France and Argentina without ever leaving the ground. However, most sauces and seasonings you find in the stores these days are laden with ingredients you’d rather not have – from long-maligned MSG to HFCS and a host of other acronyms and chemicals, it’s a wonder we haven’t all turned into the pickles we enjoy on our burger. In response to our super-processed life, a new trend has started towards homemade ingredients. Food writer Jessica Harlan is one of the promoters of this movement and dishes up 75 delicious, wholesome alternatives to the grocery store in Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients.

Homemade Condiments is definitely not a book dedicated to doctoring up storebought food, nor is it limited to simple fare. The 123 pages run the gamut from Ketchups (p. 9) to Salad Dressings (p. 77), Sweet Sauces and Spreads (p. 103) and even Ethnic and Specialty Ingredients (p. 89). In each chapter are a multitude of recipes – for example, eight different ketchups (from Fresh Tomato (p.10) to Southwestern Tomatillo (p. 19)) and six types of mustard (my favourite being the Grainy Porter (p. 37)) are all unique in their ingredients and methods and all suit different purposes. Readers may discover a new love where the idea never existed before, or be able to re-create an old standby remembered from the Mom & Pop shops, before mass processing took away many of the small producers. Like all responsible “canned food” cookbook authors, Harlan includes an Appendix with notes on Food Safety and Canning (p. 116), Resources (p. 122) and Conversion Charts (p. 123). She also provides a brief but highly useful Introduction with sections regarding Setting Up Your Pantry (p. 3) and A Well Equipped Kitchen (p. 5), something that should be required reading for all budding home sauce-makers.

One of the best things about this book is that Harlan is realistic in terms of ingredients. Even in my small-town grocery store, I was able to find all the components I needed to make Asian Quick Pickles (p. 52) and Hoisin Sauce (p. 97), and it only took a quick trip to the Asian grocery one town over to find mirin (rice wine) for the Teriyaki Sauce (p. 96) recipe. However, if I was unable to find mirin, or found the fresh produce used throughout Homemade Condiments lacking in terms of quality, quantity or economy (which often happens in the winter!), Harlan offers substitutes that may be easier to find or more cost effective while maintaining the best flavour possible – including the use of high-quality canned tomatoes or individually quick frozen fruit. Thanks to those options, there is no reason to put off trying a recipe in Homemade Condiments that piques your interest.

If you’ve been longing to find that “secret ingredient” to jazz up your weeknight meals, take a browse through Jessica Harlan’s book Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients. You’ll be sure to find at least one new fridge staple to call your own, and check off your shopping list permanently.

Available on Amazon

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Vegan Desserts in Jars

Vegan Desserts in Jars
Author: Kris Holechek Peters
Publisher: Ulysses Press (2013)

It’s hard to resist the allure of tucking into your own little dessert. Something about being able to eat all of something, not simply a slice or a scoop, draws us in and gives us a feeling of guilty pleasure and comfort. A treat made for you – just for you – to enjoy allows you to recreate the touches of home, where Mom would pack you a cookie for lunch, and indulges that little nugget of selfishness we all possess. Desserts in jars are not new, but most recipes contain eggs, dairy or other animal products, forcing vegans to substitute (which can lead to success or failure). Enter Vegan Desserts in Jars by Kris Holechek Peters, a vegan author and food blogger at nomnomnomblog.com, who brings perfectly portioned  treats that can fit into almost any lifestyle.

You certainly don’t have to be a vegan or vegetarian to love Vegan Desserts. If sweets are your thing, the pages will tempt you with crisps, cupcakes and puddings – all decadent and rich without being “stereotypical vegan” food. Even mixes for making your own goodies fill a small chapter, not to mention recipes for jams, toppings and fillings. I really appreciated the “Treats for Two” section (p. 83) – filled with weakness-instigating things like PB Banana Cake for Two (p. 87) – which eliminates the temptation (and fridge-clutter) of leftovers, but families will definitely find use for this book as well. Recipes are designed to create perfect individual portions of larger recipes, often serving 4-6, and most of them store well as well given the Mason jar’s handy lid.

Apple Crisp in a Jar
Apple Crisp Cups (p. 50)
Being the author of a vegan recipe book for the masses, Peters does have to include a short discussion on the nuances of vegan cooking and baking. The most challenging aspect of converting any recipe to vegan is by far replacing the eggs. However, in Vegan Desserts’ opening chapter readers will find a handy chart that can also be used for recipes outside those 124 pages. While this method of cooking may be “old hat” for long-practicing vegans and those with egg allergies, for those used to the standard 1-2-3-4 cake method this section is invaluable. The largest section of Vegan Desserts is “Cakelettes” (p. 20), which contains not only your Basic Chocolate Cake (p. 21) but goodies like Spotted Dick (p. 31) and Tiramisu (p. 37). The whimsically titled Elvis in a Jar (p. 38) will capture the heart of any peanut butter and banana fan, but I have to say that the Rustic Rhubarb Cakes (p. 36) with flash-frozen homegrown rhubarb made our late-Autumn dinners. “Pie and Friends” (p. 42) was definitely where I spent the majority of my time with this book though, since I fell in love with the newfound portability of Peters’ Apple Crisp Cups (p. 50). Those have since become a favourite “visiting” gift that not only takes care of a sudden glut of apples in Fall (speaking from a family of zealous apple pickers) but is also perfect year round. I must confess that I essentially ignored the “No-Bake Treats” chapter (p. 5), simply because neither I nor my family are huge fans of the raw food scene and really do lean towards pie or cake rather than ice cream or pudding.

Apple Crisp in a Jar
Apple Crisp Cups (p. 50)
Whether you or someone you love abstain from animal product due to religious, ethical, environmental or health reasons, there is no reason to abstain from delicious food and the occasional sweet treat. From pies and cakes to pudding and trifles, nothing is off limits in Kris Holechek Peters’ book Vegan Desserts in Jars. Who knows – dessert could just be the greatest culinary equalizer out there!

Available on Amazon