More Estate Sale & Thrifty Bargains ~ Cookwise and Tuscany the Beautiful

Tuscany the Beautiful Cookbook, published in 1996.  Another over-sized cookbook filled with recipes as well as photos of the food, people and scenery of Tuscany. Many of the dishes stress simplicity and a love of food based on three ingredients ~ wine, olive oil and bread. The introduction explores the Tuscan region, from the seacoast to the hills, the plains and mountains to scattered villages and cities. There is a timeline journey of Tuscan cuisine and before each chapter a short blurb of the local food, produce and meats of each area. Some of the larger cities profiled include Florence, Sienna, Lucca, Arezzo, Grosseto and Livorno.

A few Appetizers include deep fried polenta, elderflower flat bread, anchovies fried in dough, fried sage leaves and wild boar sausages, while First Courses offer chestnut & rice soup, spelt soup, noodles with hare sauce, egg & vegetable soup, spaghetti with sea urchin sauce, salt cod & leek soup, gnocchi and risotto with Chianti.

The Middle Courses chapter dishes out an artichoke omelet, snails with sausages & tomato sauce, stuffed eggs, fried country bread, polenta with panchetta & rosemary, potato croquettes, and anchovies in vinegar, while Main Courses contributes pot roasted pigeons, goose stuffed sausage, roast chicken with fennel, braised rabbit, Florentine steaks, osso buco, fried meatballs, tripe, squid & beans mussel soup, lamb with artichokes, wild boar stew and drunken pork (made with wine).

Vegetables consist of pureed chickpeas, artichoke fritter, Swiss chard & pine nuts, stuffed zucchini flowers, chickpeas with salt cod, celery with meat sauce and Swiss chard with lemon dressing.

We close out the recipes with Desserts ~ coffee on a fork (custard), cinnamon rice pudding, drunken chestnuts, honey cake, almond cookies, doughnuts, anise seed cookies, chestnut flour cake, fritters and candied figs.


Cookwise, published in 199. The Secrets of Cooking Revealed! Over 230 recipes explaining the hows and whys of successful cooking are scattered over a massive 526 pages. This compendium of cooking is excellent for the beginner through the most experienced cook with many helpful illustrations and numerous tips, hints, techniques and useful information for every aspect of cooking and baking. There are also "At a Glance" notations throughout the book with more techniques and problem solving advice.

The Wonders of Risen Bread gets the ball rolling with information on gluten, bread making techniques (kneading, shaping, slashing, rounding & baking) and a chart listing the protein content of various types of flour, along with with a few recipes ~ brioche, crusty French bread, buttery flaky rolls, semolina bread  ~ and then even more advice on starters (sourdough, etc.), and more recipes for rolls, waffles, Portuguese sweet bread, honey walnut sticky buns and hot cross buns.

The role of fats is explored in How Rich It Is, beginning with pie crusts (including techniques) and recipes ranging from a classic fruit tart, bourbon pecan pie, cookies (chocolate chips or crisp corn wafers), cakes (raspberry & cream or coconut with a sour cream frosting) and apple bran muffins with orange zest before moving onto frying. A few of the frying techniques discussed are deep fat and stir or pan frying, along with several dishes ~ Szechwan chicken salad, fish fillets with pecans, a low-fat shrimp bisque, horseradish meringue crusted fillets and lemon ginger ice cream.

Eggs Unscrambled covers how to cook eggs employing a variety of methods (poaching, baking, frying, etc.), how to rest for freshness, ways to use as a thickener and usage in baking. A sampling of the recipes include: deviled eggs with caviar, a omelet souffle with dark cherries & marscapone, white chocolate floating islands, creme Anglaise or creme Patissiere, lemon curd, flan, cheesecake, custard, flan, souffles, meringue and pate a choux (light pastry dough).

The processes in Sauce Sense touch on purees (basics and used as a thickener), stocks (chicken, brown veal, fish, & clear/consomme), emulsion sauces (mayo, Hollandaise, etc.), and starch bound sauces, of which there are two types ~ grain (cornstarch, flour or rice) or root (arrowroot, potato or tapioca). Some of the recipes presented are a fresh tomato basil sauce with roasted almonds & garlic, seafood with Rockefeller sauce (spinach based), lemon cream with veal, Bechamel sauce, poppy-seed dressing, fish fillets under a dill souffle, Buerre Blanc or Buerre Rouge (made with red wine), broccoli & cauliflower in an artichoke cup with Hollandaise and pan seared steak with Bernaise.

Treasures of Earth celebrates fruits and vegetables with a plethora of  useful information ~  a storage time and temperature chart, tips to longer freshness and cooking methods: blanching, poaching, steaming, braising, stewing, drying and grilling. Some of the dishes include a spinach & orange salad with pine nuts, fresh fruit with ginger, corn on the cob with honey, applesauce, roasted asparagus with lemon chilie oil, old-fashioned grated sweet potato pudding, carrots with raspberry Chambord sauce, poached pears with walnut blue cheese rounds, oven dried cherry tomatoes and an Indian veggie stir fry.

Seafood and meats are the topics examined in Fine Fare from the Land, Seas and Air with the names for cuts of meat, USDA beef grades, methods of tenderizing/cooking and marinades filling the chapter. Recipes trot out the best ever marinated shrimp, juicy roast chicken, brined turkey, whole roasted tenderloin, roast duck with Grand Marnier sauce, Cajun Italian oysters and fish fillets with macadamia butter.

We end with Sweet Thoughts and Chocolate Dreams (Desserts) which contributes ~ creme brulee in flaky pastry, orange slices with cinnamon candied peel, macadamia-almond brittle, fudge, pralines, roasted walnuts with brown sugar caramel, ice cream (ginger, creamy lemon chip, cappuccino), plus truffles, mousse and a pretty chocolate walnut ruffle cake.