Start grating: this is a book no cheese lover can be without.
|
| KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE™.
|
|
December 2006
|
|
The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook & Guide
By Paula Lambert
Paula Lambert, founder of the multi-award-winning Mozzarella Company in Dallas, published The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook & Guide in 2001, but we just discovered it last month when we were reviewing her wonderful cheeses as a Top Pick Of The Week. Anyone who both loves cheese and loves to cook should hasten to buy a copy.
This is first and foremost a beautiful cheese cookbook, with 150 recipes that incorporate cheese. You can start your day with Ricotta Pancakes with Banana-Pecan Syrup and then make the Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Pesto and Mascarpone Torta. The recipes make us want to entertain more frequently so we can eat them all, as soon as possible. Each photo is so enticing, one only regrets that every recipe isn’t photographed.
Some recipes require a commitment to preparation. Others, like the Portobello-Goat Cheese Napoleons and the Lace Cookies With Orange-Mascarpone Filling and Raspberries, are certain to become favorites of hosts and hostesses who like to bring something very impressive to the table that didn’t take all that much time and talent to prepare.
There are classics, like Rack of Lamb with Goat Cheese Crust, and Roasted Pork Loin with Dried Fruit Stuffing and Roquefort Sauce. And there are more creative concepts: Grilled Swordfish Steaks Stuffed With Pepper Jack, Ancho Chicken Broth with Goat Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms and Pepper and Brie Biscuits. There’s a recipe for one of our favorite desserts, Stilton Soufflé with Pears Poached in Port. And we can’t wait to make the Walnut-Crusted Stilton Cheesecake with Caramelized Apple Topping. In fact, there isn’t a recipe in the book we don’t want to make—or at least want to eat, immediately.
But, equally importantly, this is a book that teaches you about cheese. In addition to a chapter on buying, storing, cooking and serving cheese. Paula’s eight recommended cheese plates take the time and guesswork out of planning exactly what perfect combination of cheeses to buy. And if you’re so inspired, you can make your own cheese at home with the recipes for crème fraîche, cream cheese, cottage cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, queso blanco and aged tomme
Paula’s second book, Cheese, Glorious Cheese: More Than 75 Tempting Recipes for Cheese Lovers Everywhere, is due in February 2007. We can’t wait!
*Prices and product availability are verified at publication but are subject to change.
|
