I love the Smitten Kitchen blog, and this book is the site's perfect companion - gorgeous photos, food that makes you hungry just to read about, and a winningly friendly style of writing. I love that there are a handful of recipes from the blog but the majority were created by Deb just for this book. I have already cooked and enjoyed a few of the recipes and am planning to cook many more!
Sadly, Deb has been a bit let down by her UK publisher. There's a typo in the very first recipe (that I am certain she would be appalled to see!), some of the adaptations are annoying - for example the "Marshmallow cake" recipe is clearly a S'mores cake. The whole recipe only makes sense if you explain that there is an American treat called a S'more that's a US campfire tradition involving a marshmallow, chocolate and graham cracker/UK digestive biscuit. But rather than just add a note on those lines, the publishers have substituted some of the words and ingredients, but not explained why these things go together. There are other examples too like the "Wotsits" reference to cheese crackers that another review mentioned.
It's also sad to see that on some pages (normally where a UK adjustment has been made I think) the last sentence of a page will be repeated at the top of the next page, or the ingredients list runs into the next item without a space, or similar small errors. They're not dealbreakers, they don't stop this cookbook being wonderful and much-loved, but Deb is so meticulous in her presentation of her blog, it's sad the UK publisher couldn't get the book properly proofed and properly adapted.
In spite of these small annoyances, this is still a wonderful cookbook with some incredible recipes (fig, olive oil and sea salt challah bread, raspberry chocolate rugelach, mini meatloaves with tomato glaze, butternut and onion galette). There's a good balance of recipes that are savoury or sweet, meat-based or vegetarian, baking or cooking.
If you're not familiar with the Smitten Kitchen blog, the author has a very chatty and informal style. She is not a chef, nor does she pretend to be perfect. The book has notes that explain how she was distracted by her young son, desperate to cut down on the washing up involved, or not disappoint her mother. This book will inspire you to cook. Deb's notes will give you confidence that what you're cooking will be tasty and the photos will leave you bookmarking more and more pages for future meals and snacks!
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start againPage 1 of 1
From the brand
From the Publisher
Huevos Rancheros
Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Feta
Marshmallow Layer Cake
About the author
Top reviews from other countries
-
- peppermintaReviewed in the United States on 26 November 2012
Excellent cookbook with superior results!
I've been following smitten kitchen for a few years now and have made over 40+ of deb's recipes from her site with great success. I pre-ordered this cookbook and have been having so much fun cooking my way through it.Excellent cookbook with superior results!pepperminta
Reviewed in the United States on 26 November 2012
So far I've made the following:
-gingersnap pumpkin tart (twice)
-deep dish apple pie
-ratatouille sub (three times)
-blueberry cornmeal cake
I made the pumpkin cheesecake tart for thanksgiving and I thought it was delicious. The apple pie was seriously the best apple pie I've ever had - and I used a combination of golden delicious and granny smith. It was perfect. I added an extra 1/3 cup of sugar b/c i used granny smith as my "other" apple...and I felt the sweetness was perfect this way.
Ratatouille is my favorite pixar movie and I was delighted to see it in the book. It was so much fun to make and so delicious. I made it once myself and the other time w/ my 11 year old niece. We had a blast making it and even more fun eating it on sourdough subs w/ melted provolone (didn't have baguettes or goat cheese on hand but it was delicious anyhow!).
The blueberry cake tasted like the ideal blueberry muffin (in a square) and the texture, sweetness and delicious streusel topping were absolute perfection.
Some of the reviewers complained that her intros to each recipe are too lengthy. Honestly, my favorite part of going through my cookbooks (other than cooking and eating) is reading each story behind the recipe. It helps me understand how she came up with it and why, so it's not just a hodgepodge of randomly selected recipes in her book....but there's a reason.
She made a deep dish apple pie b/c one wasn't cutting it and two didn't look cool on the table, so she came up w/ a monstrous pie to satisfy everyone's cravings. The pumpkin tart has a gingersnap/graham crust (toddler-pleasing) + cheesecake swirled in (husband-pleasing) plus a thin pumpkin layer (deb-pleasing) for an all-in-one thanksgiving/fall dessert.
I love her stories, her meticulous attention to detail, her obsessiveness with perfection and the fact that she will make a recipe 50x until she gets it just right.
What that means for me as a home cook/baker, work-at-home-mom and extremely time-pressed mom of 2 little boys who spends every spare minute in the kitchen (with another baby on the way) is that as long as I follow her recipe (exactly for baking, and roughly for cooking) that I will be guaranteed excellent results. I've never made something and sat there going "huh?" No. Her recipes work. She won't publish something online or in her book that will leaves you frustrated or feeling pissed that you spent $50 on ingredients that are now in the garbage.
She gives wonderful tips on using parchment, saves you time washing dishes by suggesting reusing certain bowls, and she tries to keep things easy for the sake of simplicity.
Her approach to cooking and baking is a fun, hilarious and delicious adventure, and I can't believe anyone who has actually read this book or COOKED through this book would give it less than 5 stars.
Love this book. Love her web site. I will forever be a loyal fan and can't wait to keep cooking through it! I've posted two pics of my pie and tart. Kind of grainy b/c i took it in low light w/ my (ancient) iphone but you'll see that they turned out as promised.
Images in this review
-
