My Cookbook Inspiration-5/3/09

In June of 2008, Gourmet magazine added a regular column called "Cooking Club" where each month, a cookbook is reviewed and a sample recipe is given. This month's cookbook is "Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes" by Tessa Kiros. The cookbook-cum-memoir intertwines the story of the author's life and travels with recipes. I'm sure this book is a bit more academic than my favorite cookbook of the world but I wanted to share the cookbook that inspired me to begin cooking. When I was about nine years old, my mom gave me a cookbook "Meals of Many Lands", compiled by Miriam Loo, and written specifically for kids. The recipes weren't particularly authentic but they were easy for kids to make and used common ingredients, exposing me to the wonderful flavors of other countries. I still have this delightful little cookbook and I will someday make the menus in it with Eyrleigh. I hope she has as much fun making them as I did and they lead to a lifetime of joy in the kitchen.

The recipe I made from "Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes" is actually very similar to a recipe for Swedish meatballs in "Meals from Many Lands", just a little more complicated. The Finnish Meatballs with Allspice, Sour Cream, and Lingonberries on page 28 are meatballs covered with a sour cream based sauce, much like the better known Swedish meatballs. Allspice is the noticeable difference. I've always found that eating meatballs by themselves feels a bit, well, meaty. I ate over an hour ago and my stomach is still heavy. The meatballs were good but the sauce never got thick or creamy. It stayed pretty runny after 20 minutes of cooking on low heat and it was still separated into fat and cream.

Thankfully, the recipe for Lingonberry Jam on page 127 allowed for the substitution of the more common cranberry. I don't think lingonberries are native to Georgia and I didn't find them anywhere. Cranberries worked well and they made a wonderful tart jam that cut the fattiness of the meatballs. Eyrleigh was much more entranced with the cranberries than the meatballs.
The meatball recipe suggested the accompaniment of boiled potatoes but I decided to complicate things. I made another one of the dumpling recipes, the Panfried Potato, Onion, and Cheese Dumpling recipe on page 134. These dumplings were essentially pierogies. They were panfried so some were prettier than others, the pretty ones made the picture, but they all tasted good. I actually used the Cranberry Jam as a sauce for the dumplings and it was a great addition. The Muenster cheese was a great compliment to the potato and onion flavors common of pierogies.

Today was a first for this project. I made breakfast, lunch, AND dinner today from the May issue of Gourmet magazine. For breakfast, I made the Savory Parmesan Pain Perdu with Poached Eggs and Greens on page 79. Another first, I'd never poached eggs. I was really

nervous that the white would just dissipate into the water and I'd have a boiled yolk. Some white did but most stayed attached and as you can see from the picture, it worked. It was a bit strange to basically eat a side salad for breakfast but this dish was very good. The pain perdu was custardy and heavily flavored with the Parmesan. Richard was a bit skeptical but we both enjoyed this dish very much.

For lunch, I made the Artichoke and Eggplant Panini on page 76. The artichoke mayonnaise was excellent and would work on many different type of sandwiches. This was a good vegetarian sandwich and a great use of eggplant, a vegetable I really like but don't find in recipes often.

Savory Parmesan Pain Perdu with Poached Eggs and Greens-B

Artichoke and Eggplant Panini-B+

Finnish Meatballs with Allspice, Sour Cream, and Lingonberries-C

Lingonberry or Cranberry Jam-B