I talked in an earlier review about looking for simple recipes for this abnormally hot summer weather – preferably recipes that did not require cooking.  Well, I believe I have found just the thing and the best part — it’s absolutely free!

A friend suggested I check out that Stone Soup Cookbook and what a terrific find!  The cookbook is available as a free download, which makes it even better.

I did some reading on The Stone Soup blog and it is definitely one I will be going back to.  Jules Clancy is a recipe writer focused on minimalist cooking: minimal time spent cooking, minimal number of ingredients, minimal amount of kitchen equipment.  As much as I love preparing an elaborate meal, sometimes — especially in the heat of summer — I want something simple and quick.

The first recipe that really struck me was the Bocadillo with Jamon.  This is basically bread and ham, very similar to the lunches we have at my company’s office in Amsterdam, and to the sandwiches I’ve had at Paris cafes.  Very good bread, very good ham, and you don’t need dressings or fixings.  And there are a dozen side salads in the book that would be a perfect accompaniment.  I love the looks of the Chickpea & Parmesan Salad (and I have all the ingredients in the fridge!) and the Shaved Cabbage Salad with Parmesan and Balsamic.  Simple and tasty.

Tonight, I plan to try the Veggie Laksa – a coconut milk soup with curry paste and Singapore noodles.   I know that the Pasta with Pork Sausage and Crushed Peas will be on the menu soon, too.  I love Asian food and the 2 Minute Noodles with Bok Choy and Oyster Sauce looks fabulous.  I also think the Ricotta and Basil Open Omelette looks like a great brunch dish.

These are lovely, simple dishes, with clear instructions and no fancy equipment required.  The photography is beautiful and that’s always a plus.  And the recipes are all free!  How can you beat that?  So check out the blog, download the cookbook, and let me know what you’ve cooked!

The other day, as I was browsing my cookbook shelf, looking for something that didn’t actually require cooking, it occurred to me that I have a lot of cookbooks that deserve a review.  I’m a big fan of cookbooks — I like serious, gourmet cookbooks, ethnic cookbooks, theme cookbooks — all kinds of cookbooks!

Rock & Roll Diner (Menus and Music) is an older book (1996), but diner food is always in style.  The cookbook came as a box set with diner music!  Mustang Sally, Blueberry Hill, and Where Did Our Love Go? all remind me of those little jukeboxes you find on diner tables.  The only problem: it’s a cassette tape.  I don’t even own a tape player anymore!

O’Connor provides a cute introductory section.  There are sections on the history of the diner, descriptions of formica and blue plate specials and a glossary of diner terms.  Some of them are familiar (Adam and Eve on a raft), but others were new to me (like biddy board and splash of red noise).  There are little biographies of the featured diners and a lot of regional features.

The recipes are a mix of classic diner food and some things I have never seen on a diner menu.  There are at least 6 meatloaf recipes, pot roast and pie! Key lime pie, peanut butter pie, pecan pie, buttermilk pie…and when I think of diners, I think of pie.

There are also some oddball things.  I mean, I’ve seen liver and onions on menus, but never Calves’ Liver with Cream and Blueberries (Empire Diner, New York, NY).  Although they sound very tasty, Pumpkin-Ginger Flan (The Diner, Yountville, CA) and Creme Brulee (The Corvette Diner, San Diego, CA) are not what I think of as diner food.  Maybe it’s a California thing.

I definitely plan to try the Lemon Bars (Bette’s Oceanview Diner, Berkeley, CA) and the Portuguese Kale Soup and French Meat Pie (4th Street Diner, Newport, RI) – a savory, rather than a sweet.  And one morning soon, Gingerbread Pancakes (Jigger’s Diner, East Greenwich, RI) will be on the breakfast table.  I only wish I had a tape player, so I could check out the diner music while I cook.

My copy of Rock & Roll Diner (Menus and Music) was purchased for $6.00 at the NOBS Antiquarian Book Fair.  An excellent investment!

This isn’t the first time I’ve reviewed a cookbook here, but Michael Symon’s Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen is kind of special. I grew up in Ohio and I was a frequent guest at Lola long before I ever saw its owner on TV Food Network. That face, that laugh…and that food! As often as we could afford it, we had a table or a seat at the bar and some of the very best food in town.

Lola Bistro is now Lolita and there’s a new Lola downtown. We don’t hear that laugh as often anymore when we come by for dinner, but we do hear it on Iron Chef America. And it’s still the best food in town. Even better, I’ve now got the recipes for some of my favorite dishes and Symon’s advice on how to be a better cook.

I’ve got a lot of cookbooks on the shelves, so when I buy a new one, I am always looking for something more than just recipes. I can download a million recipes from the internet, but what I need to make a good recipe great is technique. The great thing about Live to Cook is that it provides both – recipes that you’ll drool over and tips and techniques to make your guests drool over your food. It’s not a textbook, and the tips aren’t quite as in-depth as I’d like, but there is definitely information that a good home cook can use: why a microplane will change your life, the herb with the most impact (rosemary), and why you should never throw pig skin away.

There are some fabulous recipes in this book. Symon is known for his love of pork — the man has pork tattoos! — and I have been known to swoon over a dish of pork belly at Lola. I cannot wait to try the Braised Pork Belly with Soft Polenta and Seared Mushrooms, the Roasted Pork with Grilled Peaches and Chestnut Honey, and the Bacon-Wrapped Pan-Roasted Walleye. (The Pappardelle with Pig’s Head Ragu is just too much of an undertaking.) I fell in love with the lobster pierogies at Lola and I am looking forward to making the Beef Cheek Pierogies with wild Mushrooms and Horseradish.

You’ll also find chapters on side dishes, condiments, pickles and salads. The Ohio Creamed Corn with Bacon is high on my list to try, as well as the Spinach Salad with Fried Egg and Bacon and the Pickled Cherries. It’s a good mix of things that I am confident I can produce, things that will take some practice, and things that I will most likely just read about. (A whole pig’s head? Really? I don’t think so.) That’s what I want from any cookbook; I want to be able to walk right into the kitchen and turn out some great food, but I also want some challenges and new techniques to try.

Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen is a cookbook that I will actually read, not just a source for recipes. I was so excited about this book that I broke down and bought a copy — no free copy from the publisher this time. Since I don’t have the publisher’s permission to share some recipes, all I can do is encourage you to check this one out: it’s a fun read, full of tips and tricks and some really great food.