{"id":14471,"date":"2012-12-06T02:02:56","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T09:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/?p=14471"},"modified":"2019-09-01T20:20:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T00:20:30","slug":"dinner-with-food52-a-cookbook-review-and-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/dinner-with-food52-a-cookbook-review-and-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Dinner with Food52: A Cookbook Review and Giveaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

Food52 sent me their newest cookbook for review, and have graciously  provided a copy for this giveaway contest to La Domestique readers. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Full contest rules can be found at the end of the review.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I pick up the Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2, Seasonal Recipes from Our Kitchens to Yours<\/a>, and run my fingers over the smooth, slate-gray cover. The cover photo is a gathering of ingredients that tells the story of a recipe in the making: sliced squash, sprig of sage, sprinkling of salt. Will it be soup tonight? I open the book to find out.<\/p>\n

The introduction takes me back to the beginning of Food52, a website founded by Amanda Hesser and Merril Stubbs. Their original project crowdsourcing a cookbook online is now an active community of home cooks (about 100,00) sharing recipes, advice, and inspiration on Food52.com<\/a>. I turn the page  and see The Year in Recipes<\/em> begins with my favorite season, fall. Flipping through the pages, I find a somewhat random collection of recipes (noted as winners of weekly contests at Food52.com), anchored by the seasonal theme. Week 1 is the contest winner for Your Best Red Peppers, Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Corn and Cilantro<\/strong>, followed by Your Best Chicken Wings, Korean Fried Chicken Wings<\/strong>, and a Wildcard Winner, the Wicked Witch Martini<\/strong>. Each page turn reveals something unexpected, and I feel this is a cookbook I\u2019ll reach for throughout the year to shake up my cooking routine. Every time I see the words \u201cYour Best\u201d before a recipe, it reinforces the highly tested, curated standard to which Amanda and Merrill measure these recipes by home cooks. Flipping through the pages, several fall recipes catch my eye. I realize they each have one thing in common: a clever combination of flavors that I would not have thought of before. In Week 4, Your Best Brown Bag Lunch<\/strong>, there\u2019s Pan Bagnat: Le French Tuna Salad Sandwich<\/strong>, tempting me with a vibrant and punchy mix of tuna, basil leaves, olives, red bell pepper, red onion, artichoke hearts, and haricots verts (French green beans) atop crusty baguette. The Roasted Cauliflower with Gremolata Bread Crumbs<\/strong> (winner of Your Best Cauliflower<\/strong>) brings to mind an Italian antipasto – so simple and smart – coated in crisp breadcrumbs, lemon zest, garlic, and parsley. Another thing I notice about this cookbook collaboration by home cooks across the world is diversity<\/em> \u2013 from the Moorish Paella<\/strong> to Afghan Dumplings with Lamb Kofta and Yogurt Sauce<\/strong> to Okonomiyaki<\/strong> (Kyoto-style pancakes), the Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2 is anything but vanilla.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pleased to see each recipe is accompanied by at least one photograph, but nothing looks too perfect. I appreciate the simple beauty in a photo of Aunt Mariah\u2019s Lemon Sponge Cup<\/strong>– no whipped cream or fancy dishware to dress it up- just a bit of pudding in a cup. The Food52 aesthetic is simple, unadorned, and approachable, but still inspiring. The design and photography is similar to a naturally beautiful woman who doesn\u2019t need to wear makeup. In each word and photo I can identify with real home cooks in real home kitchens, and I feel connected to these people.<\/p>\n

Information about the cook, why the recipe is so loved by Food52 staff, and comments from the community website strengthen my connection to the Food52 community behind the book. It\u2019s fun to get a little story about cooks like drbabs<\/em>, who is \u201can optometrist and food lover living in Huntington New York,\u201d or OB Cookie<\/em>, \u201can OB\/GYN resident and baby-catcher extraordinaire.\u201d I find community comments helpful, like frissberg\u2019s<\/em> account of how she prepared the Roasted Fennel and White Bean Dip<\/strong> the night before and reheated it in the oven with excellent results. The Why We Love It<\/em> comments by Amanda and Merrill are great for pointing out the genius technique that make each recipe a winner. For the Sweet-and-Spicy Calamari<\/strong>, Amanda and Merrill write, \u201cWe liked SouffleBombay\u2019s<\/em> technique of soaking the calamari rings in club soda before dredging them in the seasoned flour\u2014it seemed to firm up the rings (in a pleasant way) before frying. The crisp coating is thin and delicate, swaddling the calamari like a silk scarf rather than a wooly muffler.\u201d The Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2 is more than a collection of recipes by home cooks, it\u2019s a manual packed with clever techniques, inventive flavor pairings, and the wisdom of an entire community. As I close my copy with its earmarked recipes, I\u2019m anxious to get in the kitchen and start cooking alongside all the quirky, clever, and inspiring home cooks of Food52.<\/p>\n

Dinner with Food52<\/h4>\n

Chicken That Fancies Itself Spanish, with Lemons, Onions, and Olives<\/em><\/p>\n

Aunt Mariah’s Lemon Sponge Cups<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooking from The Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2<\/a>, was a real pleasure. I couldn’t resist the winner of Your Best Recipe with Citrus and Olives: Chicken That Fancies Itself Spanish, with Lemons, Onions, and Olives<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>,<\/span> by MeghanVK<\/em>, “a television programmer living in Brooklyn, New York.” I was drawn to the combination of smoky paprika, briny olives, savory onions, and herbal fennel with a hint of cinnamon spice. Adding whole lemon pieces to the tomato and white wine sauce turned out to be a real genius technique. The chicken coated in a mixture of pecorino cheese, flour, and paprika turned out so crisp and mouth-watering. This clever yet easy-to-throw-together dish has secured a slot in our regular dinner rotation.A good crusty bread seemed like the perfect accompaniment to this chicken stew with such a chunky, bold sauce. Also, I think I need to get MeghanVK<\/em> to help me come up with good recipe names here at La Domestique!<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

I love a lemon dessert, and  Aunt Mariah’s Lemon Sponge Cups<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>, the Wildcard Winner for Week 22<\/strong>, seemed like a refreshing way to end such a hearty, flavorful meal. Baking at an altitude of 5,280 feet here in Colorado can be tricky, but these airy lemon cakes puffed up perfectly. The only adjustment I made was to bake them hot and fast, monitoring frequently to make sure the tops didn’t burn. Every word in the book is true – the cakes were delicate and airy with a “lush lemony custard that pools in the bottom, waiting for your spoon.” Chapeau!<\/p>\n

\"Aunt<\/a><\/p>\n

The Giveaway!<\/h4>\n

Here at La Domestique we’re giving away one copy of The Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2: Seasonal Recipes From Our Kitchens To Yours<\/a>. To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span> by 11PM PST on Wednesday, December 12, 2012. The winner were be chosen randomly, and this contest is open to readers outside the United States. Please make sure to leave an email when commenting so I know how to reach you.   <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food52 sent me their newest cookbook for review, and have graciously  provided a copy for this giveaway contest to La Domestique readers. Full contest rules can be found at the end of the review. I pick up the Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2, Seasonal Recipes from Our Kitchens to Yours, and run my fingers over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[183,93,211],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14471"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14471"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19897,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14471\/revisions\/19897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}