Cookbook Review: My Favourite Recipes {Series}

It has been a while since I reviewed a cookbook.... so why not come back with a series?

I'm not sure who else has come across this series?  I picked up the "Chicken" one early on, and ordered the rest.  Mainly as I never know what to do with meat (being a vegetarian).  The first section is all the basics and dealing with whatever the theme is.  I now have about 7 of the books.

I have made a few things.  All of them seem to work out fine.  Nothing too flashy, just good honest food.

I decided to look at the Soups, Snacks and Salads book for a change... and to help with the ol' lunch preparation.

As I had leftover French Bread (Baguette) and a husband who declared that he didn't want 'snacks' in his lunchbox (thanks, by the way.... always good to have a heads-up AFTER doing the groceries!)... so I threw these together...

Waiting for the oven

Hot and tasty

Okay, so I deviated from the recipe a little... I can't make anything Pizza without Basil....  And I only had white mushrooms, not the brown.  Otherwise, I was pretty darn impressed.  I never have put corn on anything pizza before, but it worked well here. 

So, my opinion:

Information:  5/5 points

Recipes: 3/5 points
Originality: 3/5 points
Pictures: 4/5 points
Overall: 4/5 points

This brings us to 19 points, which isn't bad.  The pictures are accurate, and the information is excellent.  The recipes are nothing earth shattering, but they do have common, easy to locate, fairly economical ingredients.  I have been impressed, and glad I subscribed to the series.  As the first book was only a few dollars, and each subsequent one has been about $12, it is not bad for a good recipe book with accurate pictures.

Review #2: "School Day Lunches"

Ah, here was a book that held great possibilities....

However... after reading through the beginning part about making sure foods would stay safe to eat, and some good advice about keeping food cool, then the recipes began.  After reading many recipes with the phrase, "looks like cake, tastes like pizza" or "looks like soup, tastes like pizza".... or the dreaded "tex-mex flavour".  I am a keen Tex-Mex fan, but the recipes left out all of the spices that would normally flavour the dishes, leaving them bland.

Another of my concerns was that the recipes were so similar, with a lot of things wrapped in cheese or bread, and using a lot of pastry.  There was also plenty of ingredients that I thought were just unnecessarily included.

This was the ranch style avocado dip with wedges.  This was one of the few vegetarian recipes in the book (along with jelly that had zucchinis in it).  However, the avocado dip could easily have been made with just the avocado and lemon juice- the sour cream and ranch dressing were totally surplus.

So, my opinion:

Information:  2/5 points
Recipes: 1/5 points
Originality: 1/5 points
Pictures: 2/5 points
Overall: 2/5 points

8/25.  Maybe a little harsh, but the information was average, the were no recipes that were original and still appealing... the pictures were accurate, but not overly appetizing.  I just felt let down really, as the book had too many recipes that did not travel well, or were uninspiring at the least.

Review #1: "The Lunch Box"

Ah, I started with a really basic lunchbox recipe book..... and now it has a total of 8 post-it flags attached to it.  This is "The Lunch Box" by Glenda Gourley.  This was published here in New Zealand by the National Heart Foundation in 1991.

I bought this secondhand from trademe.co.nz ..... for like $3.... so I felt like it was never going to let me down.  Here are some of the things I made from the book today:

First I made "Banana Tree Stumps".... these are basically peanut butter and honey around a piece of banana, then rolled in chopped nuts.  They were totally tastey... but... there was not a lot of guidance about HOW to do this.  I discovered that those corn-handles worked well, and a light covering of the peanut buttery stuff was the least messy method.... and then sprinkling the nuts on top.  I think if I was going to put them in a bento, I would make them and freeze them overnight before taking to work.  Interestingly, banana slices out of the skin stay yellow in the freezer.

These were called "Three blind mice".... I did not put 3 on a half slice of toast, but made 1/4 slice pieces that would fit in my lunchbox.  The mushroom ones above looked right, while the pineapple slices looked like a piece of pineapple under a layer of cheese..... And in the picture in the book, well, the chives were fresh and not all toasted from the oven like mine are.  Otherwise the finished product matched the picture.

And then I made this......

But I will mention that you will see the other potato later this week........

So to allocate the scores:
Information:  4/5 points
Recipes: 3/5 points
Originality: 3/5 points
Pictures: 4/5 points
Overall: 4/5 points

This gives it 18/25 points, so not bad.  I think that a second edition would be nice, as a lot of the information could use overhaulling around breads and stuff.  The recipes are easy to do, though not all the instructions are there... there are plenty of good ideas for lunch, and even lists of ingredients that work well together for sandwiches.  No recipe has really expensive or rare ingredients, and nothing seems to take too long to prepare.  There are handy boxes of tips and guidelines included.  There is a section on the food pyramid, and whole pages on what to watch out for in store-bought snacks.

Basically, I was impressed.  The mice will be in my bento tomorrow..... :D

The Great Lunch-box Cookbook Review

Well......  Those of you who know me well, know my obsession with cookbooks..... sadly, the obsession does not extend towards being a good cook..... or even trying all the recipes.... but there is nothing better than curling up on the sofa (in winter) or in the hammock (in summer) and reading a good cookbook.  Nigella Lawson, I could read her recipes for hours.... failed at making a few.

Those people will also know of my insane knack of making fun activities more than a little OTT ("If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing").... I will be armed with post-its..... flaggies.... pens and pencils.... and my iphone for notes.

So here is my plan.  I am going to read the cookbooks I have that are designed for lunches..... then slowly add in some of the others as I feel the need..... and I will be looking specifically at the following things.  I want to look at the information given, the simplicity of the instructions, the pictures, and how well the recipes hold up over the workday.

There will be a ranking system with points.... :D

So, marks will be allocated as follows:
General information about foods/lunches etc:  5 points
Ease of understanding and cooking recipes: 5 points
Originality: 5 points
Pictures, appeal and accuracy: 5 points
Overall gut feeling: 5 points

Why have I broken the points down like this?  Well..... I want information.... because the more I read about food, the less likely I am to eat takeaways..... the longer between recipe book readings, the shorter the gap between drive throughs.  I want to be able to understand and cook the food.  My skills are low-average........ and I tend to get sidetracked easily.  I'm not concerned about the ingredients, because I am unlikely to make something that has overly expensive ingredients or out-of-season ones.... because that is just the way I roll.

Originality..... well.... I want new ideas so that I don't resort to a bar, or some fries, or something equally bad.  The pictures are what makes me want to cook something, and when it all turns out to look NOTHING like it, I get grrrrrrrrr about it.  And the overall gut feeling gives me a chance to vent about whether all the recipes are good, cost of the book, etc, and should balance out the older books in comparison to the shiny new ones. :D

Each review will be accompanied by a recipe from the book made and photographed.  (This is the bit that makes me do the cooking).

And at the end (whenever that is), I shall declare a winner.  For all that means.  :D