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Just back from vino/gastro holiday in Italy - so many gorgeous dishes both there and in France on our drive down and back - so some inspirations to try out, although poached oysters with pigs' trotters (France) sounded just to far out to try - anyway, I'm allergic to shellfish and mw wife to pork so that one never got sampled!

Meanwhile, in an attempt to study more closely the American cooking tradition, clearly so different from ours - A*a*o* has delivered the Joy of Cooking, Essential NYT Cook Book, and Craig Claiborne's Revised  NYT Cook Book to plough through.

It does seem to me - or is it just me? - that here we separate cuisines - we have English cookery books, French cookery books, Italian cookery books, but very rarely a book including all three, as these seem to. I can now begin to see how Ina Garten fits in.

Summer having come at last, it's salads and barbecues for the moment.

RayS

Which edition of the Joy of Cooking did you order, Ray?

(Envying your vino-gastro tour...)

US cooking was a great deal more regional before the unifying/homogenizing forces of national media and marketing (which really picked up speed in the 1920s with radio), the automobile (1920s likewise a big turning point), the 1941-45 war, and then television and the interstate highway system.  The relentless growth of industrial farming and food processing is the dreary backdrop to counter-trends (vegetarian, organic, and whole-food cooking,"ethnic" food and ingredients, and local sourcing).

Apart from and alongside the gradual integration of immigrant cuisines in different areas of the country, U.S.ians were introduced on a really national scale to authentic cookery of other cultures starting with Julia Child, continuing through the 1970s and into the 1980s with Marcella Hazan (Italian), Paula Wolfert (Moroccan), Madhur Jaffrey and Julie Sahni (Indian), and a collection of Chinese cooks (Virginia Lee, with Craig Claiborne; Irene Kuo; Gloria Bley; and Wonona Chang).

Ina Garten had important forerunners in the 1980s and early 1990s: Lee Bailey, the Silver Palate duo of Sheila Lukens and Julie Rosso, and of course the empress of 'lifestyle', Martha Stewart, who did a lot to encourage and promote Garten early on.

My Salade Nicoise lived up to expectations and was wonderful to have around for a couple of mid-week dinners in these sticky, hot temperatures. 

I prepared the beans, eggs and potatoes the day before, together with the dressing.  All I had to do was wash some lettuce from the garden, slice the tomatoes, dress and plate the salad - I even remembered to get Nicoise olives; dinner was cool, beautiful and delicious.  I used an Italian brand tuna canned in olive oil, very convenient and tasty, however, I think my preference still leans to fresh tuna grilled rare, sliced thinly.

Ellabee - loved your summary on US cooking and feel it holds true for Canadian food trends, too.

Ray, what a terrific holiday!

Hi ellabee

I bought the 75th anniversary edition - in terms of no of recipes per dollar must be an alltime winner. Really is the most comprehensive all-purpose cookbook I have come ever across - still reading through it little by little. Also like very much Amanda Hesser's NY Times volume - particularly the historic time-lines. I just can't think of any comparable volume in England that spreads its net so wide - Delia's basic cookery course is far narrower in scope; Italy's Silver Spoon or France's Je sais cuisiner don't step outside their national cuisines either. Perhaps the Australian Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander comes the nearest - again a country with a fusion of traditions.

Ray S

Hi debkellie,

Doubt whether the old Citroen would make it to Oz! Don't like flying nowadays - too much hassle at airport check-ins, cramped seating etc - different in the old days when the company was paying and airlines routinely offered spouse fares at 50% off. I had a long lecture from one of Stephanie's assistants on the growth of the real cheese business there. Sounds as though it is really humming out there today.

RayS

Last week's recipe was from Diva Cooking:  Unashamedly Glamorous Party Food (not yet indexed) Seared Thai Chicken w/Tomato Chili Jam.  This book is packed with great party food/pot luck food ideas and recipes -I've enjoyed many successes from it.  This chicken recipe is very versatile and may be served as an appetizer, main course or for a tasty lunch.

My guests devoured it and the leftovers I was hoping for are just a memory.  However, it's an easy dish and I'll be making it again soon.

I was wondering if there's a book we all share, from which we could all select a recipe and have a "cook-in"!!

This week's efforts for me have been directed to "Christmas in July"  (makes much more sense in Oz!).. did a great Cajun style-Turkey by Emeril Laggasse, which I strongly recommend! http://www.foodnetwork.c...urkey-recipe/index.html; with some lovely sides from two books one indexing, one existing: cauliflower, fennel and leek in provolone sauce; and Roast pumpkin wedges from The Vegetarian Kitchen

Tomorrow it's Shirley's Boston Cream Pie.. her cakes always are a hit!

That's a good idea, debkellie - I'm in!

Made a Blueberry Crumb Cake last night which I took to the office today and it practically caused a stampede; I think it was all gone by 9:30.  It was a recipe from years ago in Food & Wine Magazine and it's not even in their archives any longer, so I'm afraid I can't link it.

I've just joined up and added my cookbooks. A year or so ago I bought yet another cookbook (Food Safari) and resolved to make one dish from each chapter each week (if you don't know it, its based on the Australian SBS series of the same name, and each chapter was a different country or region).  A great experience, made some unfamiliar dishes, some great, some unrepeatable!  I'd love to do a 'cook-in' from a book we all own, if only we could identify it!

Last night I made Marinated & Grilled Green Curry Pork Tenderloin which has nudged aside my former favourite pork tenderloin dish from the top of my "best" list.  This recipe rocked!  There are a couple of stages to this recipe, but it's neither complicated nor difficult. 

The pork is marinated overnight and then grilled either on a grill pan (which I used) or on the BBQ.  Putting together the curry sauce is easy and the crowning touch is a garnish of pumpkin seeds toasted with cumin and those are addictive and may also be prepared ahead of time.

The pork sounds delish, Foodelf!

Unfortunately, it would appear that Foodelf & I don't share any "books in common". Margaret, the way to find outabout "common books" is to click on the user name, which brings up their library shelves... and there's an option to list only  "books in common".. ie: those on the other person's shelf, AND on your own shelf. You & I share around half a dozen or so... So, it would seem if we are to do a "global" cook off, then it'd have to be from "online recipes", such as Foodelf's pork tenderloin last night!!

I didn't know about the common books feature - so of course I had to try it out!!  We've got three books in common- probably my most used cookbook (Jamie's Ministry of Food), probably my husband's most used cookbook (Jamie's 30 Minute Meals) and strangely enough a book that I was just looking at before I went to bed last night (Cakes and Slices Cookbook)!

I'm just beginning to harvest the golden plums from the tree in my front garden and decided to try them in clafoutis.  I have plenty of recipes, but thought I'd try Dorie Greenspan's Cherry Clafoutis from Around My French Table.  I simply subtituted the plums and followed the recipe, using vanilla bean paste instead of extract.

It was delicious - the plums were extremely juicy so the dessert was swimming in the vanilla-scented juices.

I'm officially a Clafoutis Floozy!  I think I may owe it to Dorie to try the whole cherry version before the cherries disappear.

This was a very easy dessert and really took little effort to put it together.  A lovely finish to dinner on a sunny summer evening.

Yippee! I am back after a month away and am getting back in the saddle with the Marinated & Grilled Green Curry Pork Tenderloin  posted by Foodelf. I am serving it with the Lemongrass-Scented Coconut Rice from Cradle of Flavor and grilled asparagus. Everything is prepped for grilling tonight, I can hardly wait!I know, the Paniolo Rack of Lamb was up next on my list but we have a visitor this week who is not keen on lamb. Maybe next week....

I'm happy to report that the Marinated & Grilled Green Curry Pork Tenderloin  was a big hit and voted company worthy, thanks again Foodelf  for posting!  The Lemongrass-Scented Coconut Rice was very nice but didn't knock my socks off. However, I did not have the daun salam leaves which were listed as optional in the recipe. Next time I would like to try it with the leaves as they are supposed to provide a woodsy flavor which could take it to a different level. 

I'm still trying to decide what to make this week. Maybe something with fresh corn! 

Miquete: maybe try perfecting those corn fritters :-)

And, in case you had a spare 30 minutes a great pod cast on "My life in Cookbooks".. in which they " blend[ed] cultural features, interviews, quotations, soundscapes, music, humour, and philosophical reflection with an essayistic personal voice. Although it acknowledges our fascination with phenomena like MasterChef and Jamie’s 30–Minute Meals (the fastest–selling non-fiction book of all time, apparently), it charts an altogether more idiosyncratic and unexpected course. It interrogates the stories behind our cookbooks to explore the associations and the emotions they arouse in us".. for pod cast see hyperlink above! It was a really intresting exploration of books & cooking in life!

Miquette, I'm so glad you like the pork tenderloin, I've had it a second time since I originally made it and enjoyed it just as much.

Last week's pick was Ricotta & Parmesan Wontons from the Sweet Paul magazine site.  These were a huge hit with my guests.  I used Gruyere instead of Parmesan and I sauteed instead of deep-frying - they were delicious.  Very simple to make and fun, too.  They too, made a return appearance at my house on the weekend.

I'm thinking of a corn chowder this week and also a mushroom pasta dish.

I seem to be cooking more from blogs and sites than from my books recently.

The star this week was Nigella Lawson's Linguine w/Lemon Garlic & Thyme Mushrooms at Food52.  I came very close to changing my mind about preparing this dish as I thought it was really just too simple and I'm not really crazy about raw mushrooms.  However, I'm very glad I forged ahead because it was shockingly delicious and shockingly easy.

The dressing "cooks" the mushrooms and the only effort is to slice them as thinly as possible, boil the pasta and then toss.  Don't dream of skipping the fresh herbs, but I skipped the cheese as I'm a little over-exposed to parmesan on every pasta dish.

I'm making it again this evening.

Well, at long last I got around to doing something with corn, as I managed to snag the last two ears of white corn from the market yesterday. I took debkelle's suggestion and decided to take another stab at the corn fritters. This time, I tried thecorn and coconut fritters from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors. The corn is cut from the cob and pulsed in a food processor, then combined with coconut cream, flour, cornstarch and egg to make a batter. They are then deep fried and served with a spicy sauce made with sriracha, sugar and water.

I was extremely happy with the taste and texture of the fritters! The corn and coconut flavors are well-balanced and they were light and crispy. The sauce was quite spicy and could easily overwhelm the fritter if not used sparingly. But I found them equally tasty with and without the sauce. I will definitely be making these again!