cravings and the cookbook club

My sweet little town of Maplewood is filled with the perfect combination of urban hip and small-town friendliness.  One of its best features is a community willing to come together over just about anything. The love of food is no exception.

I recently joined my fellow Maplewood and South Orange foodies for a meeting of the SOMa Cookbook Club.  This month’s selection was Cravings, recently published by supermodel and food blogger Chrissy Teigen.

photo by jenn kosar

I had been eyeing the book and happily dove in to purchase my own copy. I “read” cookbooks, and reading this one was almost as enjoyable as ogling the gorgeous photography and salivating over the recipes. Chrissy’s voice speaks to both the novice cook and the more experienced chef looking to expand (or shake up) their repertoire.

It’s not called Cravings for nothing.  Thanks to the Cookbook Club, I was able to sample tons of dishes in one sitting, and gather the perspectives of fellow home chefs of all backgrounds and experience levels. I’m a cookbook collector, and I highly recommend Cravings.  Here’s my view.

why should I listen to a skinny supermodel tell me how to cook?

Chrissy is pretty expressive in her love of food.  And she has earned some foodie street cred with her blog, sodelushious [currently on hiatus], as well as occasional features on The Cooking Channel.

Why did I listen?  She has a number of interesting recipes that make basics even better.  The potpie soup with crust crackers is one of the greatest soups I have ever eaten. The garlic-roasted bacon was an instant favorite in my house, as were the creamy parmesan skillet eggs. I’m intrigued by the controversial cheesy guacamole because I agree with her, it just makes sense.

photo by jenn kosar

For the novice chef, the sidebars feature random helpful things to know how to make — fried sliced garlic, a basic chili, roasted mushrooms, quickie butter steak sauce — as well as technique instruction like how to properly slice a mango or fold wontons.

is Cravings all indulgent food?

Chrissy is pretty forthright on her love of carbs, a tough road when you regularly appear semi-naked in public.  Her recipes strive to turn indulgent food to semi-healthy by focusing on reducing the carbs, such as a crab cakes benedict with minimal breadcrumbs and good-fat avocado replacing high-carb english muffins.  My personal favorite? The cauliflower mash with roasted garlic and ricotta – three of my favorite ingredients happily hanging out in a warm bowl.

But let’s not kid ourselves, those dishes aren’t exactly diet food.  There are a few truly healthy options, such as the spinach-loaded cauliflower, feta and orzo salad, a simple roasted tomato soup, and charred garlicky broccoli.

photo by judy tu

how did the recipes turn out?

The crowd-pleasing favorite probably won’t come as a surprise:  the french toast casserole with salted frosted flakes.  A very close second?  The chicken lettuce wraps.  The chef reported them as simple to make and they were indeed delicious.  A perfect weeknight meal.

photo by Judy Tu

The ones that didn’t quite dazzle?  Chrissy’s mac and cheese with cheesy garlic bread crumbs didn’t meet my high expectations.  Perhaps they were too high, but the way this cookbook was going I expected it to be mind-blowing.  Some are just too involved.  I personally spent the better part of a day working through the zucchini lasagna bolognese recipe.  It was suspect from the start – bolognese in 90 minutes? The zucchini noodles were tricky and that 90 minutes pretty much became my entire afternoon.  It tasted good — and was even better as leftovers — but I’m not sure the hard labor was worth the effort.

what else do I need to know?

There are officially no dessert recipes, but some of the breakfast items are really dessert in disguise.  My kids went crazy for the dessert-for-breakfast dutch baby pancake.

The recipes are heavily influenced by Chrissy’s Thai background, including “thai mom” chapter dedicated to her.  Not surprisingly, a lot of the foods pack a spicy kick — the chipotle honey chicken with mango-avocado salsa and the thai beef salad were highly flavorful. Overall, the Cravings cookbook is surprisingly global, with recipes for jok moo, a thai pork and rice porridge, chicken satay with peanut sauce, and many more.

photo by jenn kosar

is Cravings for me?

Overall Cravings appeals to a wide range of cooks.  Younger cooks will not only enjoy some of the college-party fare (as in the Frito pie bar), but may also benefit from mastering some of the basics with her thoughtful instruction.  It also works for those looking to add to their collection a cookbook that packs a lot of diversity, or who want to expand their cooking repertoire in a non-scary way.  There’s a great chapter  of “things that intimidate people but shouldn’t” with recipes like whole fish, risotto, gnocchi, and other dishes I have messed up in epic fashion.  Ask my friend Donna.

photo by Judy Tu

Thinking of starting or joining a cookbook club?  Check out this recent NYT article for some inspiration.  You can purchase your own copy of Cravings at amazon or your local bookstore.  Have you tried a recipe from Cravings?  Let us know how it turned out, and follow my pinterest board for what I’m reading next.