the arugula files

Apron Anxiety, Plus Herb Crusted Chicken (For Hungry, Important People)

At the beach a few weeks ago I finished, Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs In and Out of the Kitchen.  If you read the author's blog, then you know this "tell-all memoir" (<air quotes) describes Alyssa Shelasky and Good Stuff Eatery's Spike Mendelsohn's rocky relationship, with food tales tossed in (including a few tasty sounding recipes).

Yes, it's a bit trashy, and that's exactly why I liked it.   

Ms. Shelasky is a good writer. She has a voice and a style all her own. I'm fond of her Carrie-like gift for asking pop candy questions ("When did tweeting become the new chain smoking?")  and for zippy lines ( "Zagat is my Zoloft").  Apron Anxiety's pages kept me busy for a few hours, as I relaxed in my beach chair at the water's edge.  

Lovely and Crispy Carrot Salad with Indian Lamb

I really liked this dish.  The flavors are bright and it's filling without being heavy.  It's the first recipe I've cooked from Jamie At Home, Cook Your Way to the Good Life.  I'm really enjoying this cookbook.  It's my style of cooking: simple, seasonal, flavorful, and I can actually hear the voice of Jamie Oliver as I read the cooking instructions.  "Keep frying until the meat is lovely and crispy."  It's like he's in my kitchen. 

Fake Books By Amy Sedaris (Way Better Than Fake Meat)

 
Amy Sedaris' kitchen is furnished by Prozac, and completely stocked for a new show: Top Nut Job.  Want to be like Amy?  Add googly eyes, Ritz crackers, pantyhose, and bouillon cubes to your shopping list.  I've been enjoying Amy's book, I like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, since it was published a few years ago.  The material is endless.  Have a rich uncle visiting?  Check out page 55 and find recipes for Silver Bullet Smoky Martinis and Pork Medallions.  Need to hang some plants?  Amy can show you how using taupe pantyhose.  It's probably unfair to call I like You a fake cookbook.  As Amy says herself, "I don't like joke cookbooks because I can't take them seriously."  What ever it is, I like You is marvelously bizarre; its pages are 25 percent useful (I've made those cheeseballs p.43), 75 percent absurd (gift ideas for lumber jacks p.74), and 100 percent entertaining (When you get to play nurse p.158).

Entertaining.  For me, this is what cooking is all about.  And I like Amy's philosophy: "Whether you live in a basement with the income of a ten-year old girl or on a saffron farm in the south of Spain, the spirit of hospitality is the same.  It's the giving of yourself, a present of you to them from me for us."  Exactly.

This is why I can't wait to pop open, "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People."  Tonight Amy is speaking at Sixth and I Street Synagogue.  The new book comes "free" with the event ticket.  Hope to see you there.

Win Tickets to Hear Mark Bittman Speak

Mark Bittman, the New York Times food columnist, will be visiting Sixth & I on October 5^th to speak about his new cookbook, The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living. 

I love Mark Bittman.  It started with How to Cook Everything, my first cookbook ever.  Before our introduction, I was buying store-made guacamole from the produce aisle. Oh dear. 

And, per his book, Food Matters, I even went vegan for a few meals.

I'll be there, hopefully in the front row, with a sign that says, THANK YOU MR. BITTMAN FOR SAVING ME FROM A LIFE OF ELLIO'S PIZZA AND CANNED GREEN BEANS.

Enter to win two free tickets, compliments of Sixth & I, by leaving a link to your favorite vegetarian (or vegan) recipe in the comments.  Comments close on Sunday, September 12 at 9:00 pm ET.  I will select a winner randomly.  Make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win. 

 

 

I'm in a Cookbook, For Realsies (55 Knives)!

 

Blogger extrodinaire, Nick from Macheesmo, has published an amazing e-cookbook called 55 knives, with recipes from, you guessed it: 55 bloggers.   55 bloggers, 55 recipes, and 55 stories to go along with the recipes.  And I'm one of the bloggers with a feature.  Exciting, isn't it?  55 knives puts the spotlight on some of my favorite DC bloggers, like Mango and Tomato, the Bitten Word, Not Derby Pie, and Modern Domestic, Plus there are many more bloggers from around the country that I would like to get to know a little better.  The Salty Cod, Sprouted Kitchen, Good Life {eats}, I'm looking at you!

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking by Molly Stevens (Plus: Braised Cabbage)

 
When most people think about braising, they think about meat. Tender, falling off the bone meat, like short ribs braised in a deep, dark porter or a leg of lamb braised in apricot brandy with cardamom and ginger. It's true, there are many delicious braised meat dinners, and you will find them all in All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking.  What is surprising  about All About Braising, is how many intriguing vegetable dishes the James Beard winning cookbook includes.  Flipping through the pages I marked several I would like to try, including escarole braised with cannellini beans, potato and leek braise, braised endive with fried eggs, or creamy braised brussels sprouts.  I decided to start with something simple: The World's Best Braised Green Cabbage.