Several handsome new cookbooks offer suggestions for daily cooking and entertaining. And one of them tells how to keep it all “green.”
For those who like recipes served up with good stories, a new cookbook from Australia includes both, illustrated in full color. “One Egg Is a Fortune: Memoires and Recipes to Share” by Pnina Jacobson and Judy Kempler features 50 Jewish figures from around the world who have shared recipes and anecdotes. Even if you don’t prepare Art Spiegelman’s Kapusniak, a sweet-and-sour sauerkraut soup with flanken (and let us know if you do), you’ll enjoy the Pulitzer Prize-winner’s graphic tale of inviting a friend home for some of his mother’s cooking. Proceeds from the book are to be given to Jewish elder-care organizations in Australia and, from sales in the United States, to agencies here.
“Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking: Ordinary Ingredients, Extraordinary Meals” by Leah Schapira (Shaar Press/Artscroll) is a well-designed full-color cookbook featuring creative recipes with an uncomplicated approach. The recipes are diverse, with classic Jewish dishes as well as more stylish foods. She updates traditional foods too, for instance, adding caramelized onions to a traditional pareve kishka. And she incorporates tastes and spices from other traditions, in dishes like Jalapeno and Broccoli Soup, Mediterranean Tomato Salad with Za’atar and Creamy Thai Chicken Thais. Schapira, co-founder of CookKosher.com, also includes practical suggestions for pairing foods, proper equipment, and seasonal shopping.
“Temptations: Modern Kosher Recipes for Every Occasion” by Judy Hochsztein, Channa Potash, Daphna Roth and Deena Seelenfreund (Congregation Keter Torah) is a synagogue cookbook that’s impressive for its variety of recipes and attractive format with full-color illustrations. In addition to contributions by synagogue members, which include Brisket with Onions and Orange Wine Sauce, Divine Apple Tart, and Aunt Gussie’s Vintage Cookie Dough, recipes from professional chefs like “Chef Steven Capodicasa’s Horseradish Pan Fried Salmon” are included. Main course selections feature wine pairings, with specific recommendations from a variety of regions.
Those putting together community events would do well to read “Simple Actions for Jews to Help Green the Planet: Jews, Judaism and the Environment” by Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins (Growth Associates). It has sections on reducing waste, recycling, sustainable and Jewish eating, and making lifecycle celebrations green.
S.B.
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