Open Kitchen

November 4, 2019
Spungen, founding food editor for Martha Stewart Living, serves up clever ideas for casual entertaining in this inspiring collection of guest-worthy recipes for food that doesn’t “seem like it’s trying too hard.” Starters include baked ricotta that puffs like a soufflé, and breadsticks that incorporate dukkah, a popular Egyptian spice and nut mix (though Spungen insists that she’s “not one to slavishly follow a trend”). Main dishes are designed to make a sensory impression: a whole chicken is soaked overnight in kefir, then roasted with shallots and basted with harissa, and a lamb shoulder is coated in tangy pomegranate molasses. There’s an Italian flavor to many options, including an eggplant parmigiana that incorporates roasted vegetables and chunks of bread, and pan pizza topped with broccoli rabe and sausage in an otherwise vegetarian “Centerpiece” chapter. Spungen’s famous kale salad from 2011 (still one of the most popular recipes on Epicurious) appears here without the original’s shaved brussels sprouts. The ginger chocolate cookies she contributed to a Martha Stewart Living cookie book that earned a spot on the cover, and almond tuiles with popped quinoa (“a very ‘now’ update”) are doable desserts, as are a flexible fruit crisp and a rustic apple galette with halvah. Spungen meets her crowd-pleasing goal with style, though a cookbook with so many of-the-moment ingredients risks feeling dated quickly.

Starred review from January 1, 2020
Spungen (What's a Hostess to Do?, 2013), a recipe developer and the founding food editor of Martha Stewart Living, shares a studied nonchalance in cooking and serving with this cookbook of family-style meals that can be prepared with agility at a moment's notice, or planned-for in stages with more ample time. Simple hostessing are her two watchwords. She recommends a pantry laden with foodstuffs like black garlic, harissa, sumac, and tahini, and organizes her 100-plus recipes into ordinary categories such as poultry, salads, and vegetables, with a heavy emphasis on plant-based cuisine. What's not so ordinary are the combinations and innovations bound to intrigue even novice home cooks. A ricotta pie that acts as a savory or sweet centerpiece. Practicalities like polenta baked in the oven. Four good cookies?multi-nut shortbread, triple-ginger chocolate chunk, cornmeal thumbprints with preserves, and black-and-white swirl cookies?that will star in any dessert buffet. And a grandma pie (read: Long Island pizza) sure to attract eaters of all ages. Including potential party menus, this new-fangled Joy of Cooking will find many fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2020

Food photographer and recipe developer Cristofano (nutritionicity.com) debuts with a resource devoted to meals that are healthy, yet also crave-worthy. In particular, she creates dishes that are plant-based, gluten-free, and free of refined sugar. For Cristofano, this also fit her need for staples that address health issues, including arthritis and migraines. She introduces the book with guiding principles to eating vegan and gluten-free as well as including nutritional charts for fruits and vegetables. In addition to featuring classics from her blog, she also created new dishes in order to offer more appealing vegan dishes. Dishes such as vegan mac and cheese, classic sloppy joes, double chocolate chip pancakes, and pure pi�a colada bars will draw in fans of her blog and interest new ones. Straightforward directions will help guide home cooks along the way, along with a helpful pantry list and equipment list. VERDICT Not only fans of Cristofano's blog, but also home cooks looking to explore gluten-free and vegan cooking will find plenty to enjoy.--Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland

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