The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "The North Face of the Heart" by Dolores Redondo, Served with a Deconstructed Shrimp Po' Boy with Remoulade Dressing

Friday's are great days to talk about books and so I am very happy to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for The North Face of the Heart by Dolores Redondo. Accompanying my book review is a recipe for a Deconstructed Shrimp Po' Boy with Remoulade Dressing, inspired by the book's New Orleans setting. 

Publisher's Blurb:

Amaia Salazar, a young detective from the north of Spain, has joined a group of trainees at the FBI Academy in Virginia. Haunted by her past and having already tracked down a predator on her own, Amaia is no typical rookie. And this is no ordinary student lecture at Quantico. FBI agent Aloisius Dupree is already well acquainted with Amaia’s skills, her intuition, and her ability to understand evil. He now needs her help in hunting an elusive serial killer dubbed “the Composer,” and in solving another case that’s been following him his whole life.

From New Jersey to Oklahoma to Texas, the Composer’s victims are entire families annihilated in the chaos of natural disasters, their bodies posed with chilling purpose amid the ruins. Dupree and Amaia follow his trail to New Orleans. The clock is ticking. It’s the eve of the worst hurricane in the city’s history. But a troubling call from Amaia’s aunt back home awakens in Amaia the ghosts from her childhood and sends her down a path as dark as that of the coming storm.

Hardcover: 496 Pages

Publisher: Amazon Crossing (June 1, 2021)

My Review:

True crime and thrillers and crime fiction are among my favorite genres. I love a good dark thriller and when you add a serial killer and FBI profilers, it hits all my sweet spots. Still, I was worried when The North Face of the Heart arrived because of the size of the book--at almost 500 pages is a big commitment for me with an insane work schedule and many other books for review, book clubs and buddy reads competing for my attention. Also translated books (this one from Spanish) can sometimes get bogged down in the translation. But this one got under my skin pretty quickly, and I found myself compelled to read it and find out what was going to happen next. 

Amaia Salazar is twenty-five and already an Assistant Inspector in Paloma, Spain who has gained some notoriety for solving a cold case when she is sent to the Quantico with a group of European police officers for training. Her profiling abilities and confidence get her noticed by the senior agent working on a case where a serial killer is targeting and murdering families during storms and natural disasters and has been getting away with it for almost two decades. Soon she is placed on the profiling team and headed for New Orleans and one of the biggest disasters in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina. The book alternates between 2005 and flashbacks to Amaia's childhood where she suffered some serious trauma that still impacts her as an adult. Although primarily told through Amaia's eyes, we get the POV of other characters, past and present. The pacing was good--you could feel the tension build along with the gale-force winds of Katrina and that made it hard to put the book down. Amaia is a great character and the most fully flushed out in the book--it was easy to root for her. This book is apparently a prequel of sorts to the author's bestselling Spanish Baztán trilogy. (I was happy to find that Netflix made this into a trio of films that I am going to start streaming this weekend). I liked the darkness of the story, the crushing and horrific reality of the people who suffered through Hurricane Katrina (difficult to read but so compelling) and the bits of Spanish and Creole folklore that is woven into it all. It's not a perfect book, the dialogue gets a bit clunky, possibly due to the translation, and some of the characters seem to fall into crime fiction tropes, but overall, I really enjoyed it, it was well-worth my time, and I plan to seek out the author's other books.  

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Author Notes: Dolores Redondo studied law and the culinary arts before writing The Baztán Trilogy, a successful crime series set in the Basque Pyrenees that has sold over 1.5 million copies in Spanish, has been translated into more than thirty-five languages, and was adapted into a popular film series. Twice nominated for the CWA International Dagger Award and a finalist for the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle, Redondo was the recipient of the 2016 Premio Planeta—one of Spain’s most distinguished literary awards—for her stand-alone thriller All This I Will Give to You, which has also been optioned for feature film and television development and will be translated into eighteen languages.

Connect with Delores on her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

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Food Inspiration:

Serial killers and hurricanes don't leave a lot of time for eating but there was food to be found in The north Face of the Heart. Mentions included: chocolate bars and bottled water, oysters Bienville and crawfish, beer, outstanding fig ice cream from a cafe, scrambled eggs and coffee,toast, sandwiches (lots of sandwiches), candy and granola bars, ham and shrimp, jambalaya, cookies and crackers.

I was going to go with a shrimp po' boy-style sandwich for my bookish dish for the sandwiches the characters ate as fuel while working the case and as a nod to New Orleans. Then I decided I was more in the mood for a salad--given the humid weather this week. So, I. decided to take some of the elements of a shrimp po' boy--the spicy shrimp, iceberg lettuce, tomato, and a homemade remoulade and deconstruct them into a salad. Then some leftover red beans and rice found their way into the bowl and a leftover roll got halved and dipped into the shrimps spices and toasted. It's pretty freeform and open to putting in more veggies and what you like and have on hand so I am just giving you the remoulade recipe and how I prepped the shrimp and bread and assembled the salad below. 

Deconstructed Shrimp Po' Boy with Remoulade Dressing

By Deb, Kahakain Kitchen

(Makes 2 Large Salad Bowls)

 

Remoulade Dressing

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes about 1 1/2 Cups)

 

3/4 cup mayonnaise of choice

3/4 cup sour cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp mustard (Creole mustard if possible or grainy mustard)

2 Tbsp capers + about 1 tsp juice

2 Tbsp green onions, finely chopped

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1/2 Tbsp dried tarragon

1 tsp Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning or Cajun/Creole seasoning mix of choice

1 Tbsp lemon juice, or more to thin out as needed

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

 

Place all ingredients into a pint jar and place lid on tightly. Shake jar until dressing is well-blended. And additional liquid as needed for thinning (lemon juice, water or milk) to desired consistency. I like it thick and creamy but still pour-able. Place jar in fridge for 1 to 2 hours before using.

 

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Spicy Creole Shrimp:

1lb (16-20 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 Tbsp butter, melted 

2 Tbsp Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning or Cajun/Creole seasoning mix of choice

Melt butter and pour into a large Ziploc bag. Add seasoning mix and shrimp, seal bag securely and shake/move shrimp around until completely coated with spices.

In a large skillet, pour in the shrimp and cook over medium heat for a few minutes on both sides until pink and cooked through. Gently lift out shrimp and set aside, keeping warm until ready to add to salad. If making bread/toast, don't clean the pan and see recipe below.

 

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To Make Creole Toast

Take bread or (split) roll of choice and place slices face-down in the pan, moving them around to ensure they are coated with the butter/spice mixture. If desired, flip bread over and continue moving slices to coat the other side.

Toast bread in pan over medium heat until crispy and golden brown. Flip and repeat on other side if desired. Set aside to serve with salad bowl.

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To Assemble Deconstructed Shrimp Po' Boy:

 

 I used:

 

1 small head iceberg lettuce, coarsely shredded

1  pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1/3 cup chopped green onions

leftover Cajun red beans and rice if desired

Spicy Creole Shrimp

Remoulade Dressing 

Creole Toast to serve

 

Divide ingredients between two large plates or bowls. (Note: I like two add a layer of the dressing on top of my lettuce, then drizzle more on top after I have placed the shrimp.) Enjoy!

Notes/Results:  This salad made me happy--so much good flavor and wonderful textures from the crisp iceberg lettuce to the sweet juicy shrimp and tomatoes and creamy dressing. I'd be happy to eat the remoulade off of a stick--the capers and tarragon, along with the cajun/creole spices make it zippy and devious. I will happily make it again. 

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event  being hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's a link to this week's post. 

And of course a delicious salad based on a sandwich has to get linked up here at Kahakai Kitchen for this week's Souper Sundays post, my weekly feature where anyone can share their soup, salad or sandwich recipes. Here's the link to this weeks post. 

Note: A review copy of The North Face of the Heart was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.   
 
You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here. 

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Until We Are Lost" by Leslie Archer, Served with a Recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar, Cumin & Capers

Happy Aloha Friday! I'm happy to be bringing another review this week as I am a stop on today's TLC Book Tour of Until We Are Lost by Leslie Archer. Along with my review, there's a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar, Cumin & Capers inspired by my reading.

Publisher's Blurb:

When Tara Peary’s twin sister Sophie goes missing, Tara dives into New York’s underbelly to find her. Sophie is the one person who’s ever truly understood her, and Tara knows her sister isn’t the only one who needs help.

Tara is also on the run emotionally from her complicated childhood. Her memories are threatening to overwhelm her emotions and derail the hunt for Sophie. A psychotherapist keeps her afloat, but when Tara begins dating her therapist’s young tech-millionaire neighbor, she risks losing the only lifelines she has left.

The more Tara uncovers about her sister’s disappearance and the dark side of the rich elite, the less certain of the truth she becomes. As Tara reaches the center of the mystery, spanning from her childhood home in Georgia to a Southern California beach, she has to decide whether the truth is a price she’s willing to pay.

Hardcover: 414 Pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (February 2, 2021)

My Review:  

This is one of those books that is difficult to review as I don't want to give away any of the twisty turning plot, so this review will be short and very vague. It wasn't what I expected and it's a bit bonkers in terms of the story. It also has a lot of dark subjects; sexual abuse and assault, family dysfunction, drugs, to name some of them. None of these subjects are glorified, and they are part of the story as the main character works through her past and PTSD with her therapist, but they can be triggers for some readers. At first I had a hard time connecting with the main character, Tara, who is fighting a lot of trauma and inner demons, but eventually I was rooting for her to find out the truth about her sister and hoping she could get to a good place. Not a light read but well written and it definitely kept me riveted and turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next, so it's a pick for me. This psychological thriller won't be for everyone but if you like a darker book with lots of unexpected turns, you should give Until We Are Lost a go.

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Author Notes:  Leslie Archer is the nom de plume of a New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels.

Connect with Leslie on her website. 

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Food Inspiration:

There was food in Until We Are Lost, mentions included cafe au lait, chocolate croissant, lunch at an Israeli restaurant with falafel sandwiches, beer, sushi, fried cod, yogurt, Chinese food, brown rice, pickles, buttered toast, a soup of slippery noodles and a dozen kinds of vegetables, champagne and tapas, brandy, Coke, espresso, coffee and Oreos, donuts, tacos, pastrami, corned beef, latkes, bagels and lox, coleslaw, sour pickles, chocolate egg cream, mezcal, tequila, caviar-filled puff pastry, smoked salmon on butter-slicked squares of black bread, minishrimp cocktails, steak, bourbon, Oolong tea, French toast and bacon, orange juice, raspberry jam, omelets with onions, mushroom and scallions, vodka martini, penne arrrabbiata, chocolate gelato, carciofi primavera salad, soda pop and funnel cakes, cold chicken, baked beans, and pastrami and rye.

I ultimately made the dish that sounded best to me and what I wanted to eat for my bookish recipe. Tara meets Figgy while lurking across the street from her therapist's house and when she first visits his plac, the air is "perfumed" by food, that she doesn't recognize with "exotic spices." "Cauliflower and pine nuts with cumin and za'atar," Figgy says. I love roasted cauliflower, and cumin, and za'atar, so that's what i wanted. I thought I had pine nuts in my freezer but I did not so I decided to add capers to the mix instead. 

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If you don't know za'atar, it's a Middle Eastern herb blend. Bon Appetit says, "Za'atar is so multifaceted and dynamic because it's a blend of so many different flavors, textures, and fragrances. Even though it varies greatly depending on where you are in the Middle East (specific recipes are sometimes closely-guarded secrets!), za'atar is generally a combination of dried oregano, thyme, and/or marjoram (woodsy and floral), with sumac (tangy and acidic) and toasted sesame seeds (nutty and rich). And, as if that weren't enough, za'atar sometimes contains salt, dried orange zest, dried dill, or the wild herb za'atar (also called hyssop, it grows throughout the Levant and is the mixture's namesake)."

Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar, Cumin & Capers

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Serves 2 as Main, 4 as a Side)

1 medium cauliflower (about 2-ish lbs) cut into florets

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp za'atar

2 tsp ground cumin

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 heaping Tbsp capers, drained (optional)

zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 of the lemon 

 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place the oil, za'atar, cumin, salt and pepper into a large bowl and whisk until well-combined. Add the cauliflower and toss well. 

Transfer cauliflower to a large baking sheet and place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cauliflower over and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender and browned on the edges. Stir the capers, lemon juice and lemon zest into the warm cauliflower mixture, serve, and enjoy!

Notes/Results:  I think I could eat this every day/night. I love thethe combination of the cumin and za'atar combined with the brightness of the lemon and briny capers. It's exotic comfort food. Pine nuts would have been nice but I would still put the capers in the mix. I ate two small bowls of this for dinner and practically licked them clean. I will happily make it again.

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's a link to this week's post.

Note: A review copy of "Until We Are Lost" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for my review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 
 
You can see the other stops for this TLC Book Tour and what other bloggers thought of the book here.

 

Stuffed Baguette with Cheese and Herbs for Cook the Books December/January Pick: "The Language of Flowers"

January 2020 comes to a close today and with it, this round of Cook the Books, our bi-monthly virtual foodie book club. Of course, I would be me if I wasn't running in at the last minute with my entry! This month we read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats and while maybe not necessarily a foodie novel, it is definitely food-filled and related, and a very good book that I enjoyed. Also, it provided the inspiration for the delicious appetizer you see below.

From the Publisher; 

"The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness."

I will say that it took me a while to get into the book and to grow care for Victoria. I certainly empathized with her and was horrified of the life she led in foster care and when she got out of it--but she is not an easy person to like. Also, I kept picking up happier books because there was A LOT of struggle to find the happy in this book, and I wasn't sure things were going to turn out. So, although it started out as feeling like the book was an accident I couldn't look away from, at some point in the middle it drew me in and I began to root for Victoria. The Language of Flowers is definitely about love (romantic, familial, and love of self), family, second-chances, and hope, and the writing is beautiful. I especially loved reading about Victoria creating her boxes of flower photos and their meanings, and her business creating the perfect flower arrangements for brides and others seeking just the right way to say something with flowers. So in the end, I really enjoyed the book and I am happy that Debra chose it. I had picked it up a few times in the library, but I might not have gotten around to reading it or stayed with it without Cook the Books and Debra.

So for food there was a good amount including chili, lots of fruit and produce from the farmers market, fish and chips, chocolate milkshake, pasta, ham, cherry tomatoes, apples, American cheese, peanut butter, donuts, wine grapes, peach-banana pancakes, sliced pear and a muffin full of warm chunks of banana and peanut butter chips, Thanksgiving dinner, chicken curry, white rice with soy sauce, sandwiches, soup, canned beef ravioli, chocolate souffle, rosemary new potatoes, blackberry cobbler and homemade ice cream, a whole baked fish with spices and some kind of root vegetables, beans, peas and potatoes with parsley, mushroom soup, eggs over easy, raisin bread, rib roast, cupcakes, vanilla yogurt, burritos, cinnamon rolls, milk, tofu casserole, trail mix, grilled cheese sandwiches, tea, cheesecake, butternut squash soup--extra hot, a whole roasted chicken on a silver platter with a long tray of roasted vegetables, and lentil soup.

For my bookish dish, I was going to make donuts--maple ones from biscuits like my mom used to make when I was growing up or the banana and peanut butter chip muffins, but then I saw a passage (see below) about the appetizer that Grant made Victoria of a stuffed baguette with cheese, capers, olives and herbs. I liked the sound of that and the chance to use the herbs, a least close to flowers, in it. Also, although that night did not end well, I liked how Grant taught himself to cook and how he fed the always ravenous Victoria. Food is love, after all.  

I followed what the book described other than adding some tiny pickled peppers and laying mine in a circle on the plate--like a flower. I used the herbs I had on hand or could get from the grocery--although I included their meanings in the recipe (from Victoria's Dictionary of Flowers in the book and also my own book of the symbolism of herbs for the ones not mentioned) and it is a very mixed message! ;-)

From the book:

"Grant had set out slices of a baguette stuffed with something--cream cheese, maybe, or something fancier--with bits of chopped herbs, olives, and capers. The appetizers were arranged in rows on a square ceramic plate. I started at one end and went down the rows, popping each circle into my mouth whole. I looked up before I ate the last one, and Grant was watching with a smile. "You want it?' I asked, pointing to the last slice. "No. You'll need the sustenance to wait for the next course; the rib roast still has forty-five minutes.' I ate the last one and groaned. 'I don't think I can wait that long.'"

Stuffed Baguette with Cheese and Herbs
By Deb, Inspired by The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
(Serves 3 or 4, or one hungry Victoria...)

1 small baguette about 10-inches long
about 6 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
about 12 oz goat cheese, softened to room temp
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup sweety drops or peppadews (tiny red peppers from the olive bar), diced
1/3 cup olives of choice, pitted and diced 2 Tbsp capers, drained, chop if desired
About 1 Tbsp each finely chopped:
-parsley (festivity)
-basil (hatred, yikes!)
-thyme leaves (activity)
-dill (luck or wealth)
About 1/2 Tbsp each
-sage (good health and long life)
-rosemary leaves (remembrance)
freshly ground black pepper and a little salt (only if needed) to taste

Slice off the ends of the baguette. Using a long thin knife, working from both ends, carefully  hollow the baguette out leaving about 1/2-inch thick of bread and crust all around the edges. 

In a medium bowl, mix the soften creamed cheese and got cheese together with a fork,  until smooth and lump-free. Stir in the garlic, peppers, olives, capers and herbs until thoroughly mixed together. Taste and stir in black pepper and salt if any is needed, to taste.
Using a spoon and working from both ends, fill the hollowed baguette with the cheese mixture, packing in the filling tight with the back of the spoon. Wrap the stuffed baguette well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to two days. 

Directly before serving, slice the baguette into 1/2-inch thick slices and serve. Wipe down your knife in between slices to keep it neat. Arrange on a serving plate (I did mine in a flower shape) ;-) and enjoy.

Notes/Results: Such a great little appetizer, I am sure I will be making variations of this often.  You could definitely change it out with your favorite ingredients in your favorite soft cheese and be perfectly happy noshing away. I ate a bunch for dinner and took the remainder to work with me with my vegan soup. I think they look pretty cool too. I will happily make them again.

The deadline for this round of Cook the Books is today, January 31st and Debra will be rounding up the entries on the CTB site soon after. If you missed this round and like food, books, and foodie books, join us for our February/March pick, Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran and hosted by Simona of briciole. 

I'm also sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "The Playground' by Jane Shemilt, Served with Simple Greek Salad with Shrimp

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away and this is my last TLC Book Tour review of 2019. I am excited to end the year with a domestic thriller from an author I enjoy, The Playground by Jane Shemilt. My review is paired with a Simple Greek Salad with Roasted Shrimp, inspired by the book.

Publisher's Blurb:

Big Little Lies meets Lord of The Flies in this electrifyingly twisty follow-up to Jane Shemilt’s breakout debut The Daughter.

Over the course of a long, hot summer in London, the lives of three very different married couples collide when their children join the same tutoring circle, resulting in illicit relationships, shocking violence, and unimaginable fallout.

There’s Eve, a bougie earth mother with a well-stocked trust fund; she has three little ones, a blue-collar husband and is obsessed with her Instagrammable recipes and lifestyle. And Melissa, a successful interior designer whose casually cruel banker husband is careful not to leave visible bruises; she curates her perfectly thin body so closely she misses everything their teenage daughter is hiding. Then there’s Grace, a young Zimbabwean immigrant, who lives in high-rise housing project with her two children and their English father Martin, an award-winning but chronically broke novelist; she does far more for her family than she should have to.

As the weeks go by, the couples become very close; there are barbecues, garden parties, a holiday at a country villa in Greece. Resentments flare. An affair begins. Unnoticed, the children run wild. The couples are busily watching each other, so distracted and self-absorbed that they forget to watch their children. No one sees the five children at their secret games or realize how much their family dynamics are changing until tragedy strikes.

The story twists and then twists again while the three families desperately search for answers. It’s only as they begin to unravel the truth of what happened over the summer that they realize evil has crept quietly into their world.
But has this knowledge come too late?

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (December 30, 2019)

My Review:

I was pulled to this tour both because of the author (I read and reviewed her novel The Daughter a few years ago) and the premise of "Big Little Lies meets Lord of the Flies" which I thought was interesting. I also do like a good domestic thriller and I think The Playground is a pretty solid one. I won't go into the story details for fear of spoilers but the basic premise is that three different families (with differing types and levels of dysfunction) come together when one of the mothers, Eve, begins giving Sunday lessons for the dyslexic children of the group and they and the siblings that tag along quickly bond and become friends and their parents soon follow. It turns out that all is not well. There is a tragedy and it becomes quickly apparent that these people are not great parents and have completely lost control of their children and things quick spiral downward for each family. It's a bit like watching a train wreck and most of the riders are not at all likable which makes it easy to judge them and their self-absorbed lives. Although there were twists and turns in the book, there were no big reveals and I could fairly well predict what would happen but I think the point of this thriller is in the anticipation and the voyeuristic glimpses into these crumbling lives--which definitely kept me turning the pages. 

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Author Notes: While working full time as a physician, Jane Shemilt received an M.A. in creative writing. She was shortlisted for the Janklow and Nesbit award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize for The Daughter, her first novel. She and her husband, a professor of neurosurgery, have five children and live in Bristol, England.
 
Follow Jane on Twitter and Instagram.




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Food Inspiration:

There was quite a lot of food mentioned in The Playground, much more than in Shemilt's first book. Mentions included: homemade bread, rolls and croissants, coffee, strawberry jam and butter, carrot sticks and small sandwiches, homemade pizzas, beef daube, beer, pizza and French fries, tea and lavender cakes, Malteasers, Manchego cheese, bananas, potatoes, salmon, broccoli and new potatoes, fruit cake, chocolate cake, cupcakes, sponge cake smothered in strawberries and cream, apples, filo with lemon cream, fresh dill and tiny shrimp, bouillabaisse, marinated salmon, baked crab patties, broad beans in oil, pureed raspberries, orange juice, champagne, steak, pies, salad, bread with olives,ginger beer, sausages, okra, sage, wild thyme and honey, wine, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, pots of yogurt, black olives, cheese-and-spinach pie, flat yellow peaches, lemon cake, ice cream, cherries, flaky fish and curled tentacles in tomato sauce, casserole, baked potatoes, fruit smoothies with tamarind, potatoes with butter and parsley, chicken in an herb-scented sauce, tomato soup and toast, jam sandwiches, crisps, chocolate biscuits, macarons, crumpets, chocolate cake, toast, sausages and beans, chocolate mini rolls, mashed potatoes, and lemonade.

For my book-inspired dish, I went with the trip to Greece the families in the book made which was basically the beginning of the end of the happier times. A Greek villa owned by Eve's family was the setting and so I thought a Greek salad would be a good pairing with the book. Since I needed some protein and had wild shrimp in the freezer, I decided to roast some to top my salad.

Although it shares some of the ingredients mentioned in the book for characters' time at Eve's house in Greece, the recipe for this salad and the shrimp came mainly from the ingredients I had available in my pantry saving me a midweek grocery run. You could of course add things like olives and mint and other veggies and leave off the shrimp or replace it with another protein. The beauty of salads is how adaptable they are. 

Simple Greek Salad with Roasted Shrimp
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Serves 2)

Shrimp:
12 extra jumbo (16-20 per lb) shrimp, peeled and deveined
olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
smoked paprika

Salad:
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved 
3 mini persian cucumbers sliced, or 1 English cucumber, halved & sliced
2 Tbsp red onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons chopped dill (fresh or freeze dried)
1 1/2 Tbsp capers, drained 
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
sea salt and black pepper to taste
3-4 oz feta cheese, in chunks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. cover a roasting pan with foil. Toss shrimp with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika and spread in a single layer on pan. Cook for about 7-8 minutes or until shrimp is opaque, pink and cooked through. Set aside.

Meanwhile place tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, minced garlic, dill, and capers in a bowl and gently mix together. Add Greek yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice and gently toss together with ingredients until everything is mixed and coated. Very gently mix in feta cheese chunks. Taste and season with salt, pepper and additional lemon juice as needed. 

To serve, mound salad on plates and top with the roasted shrimp. Enjoy.

Notes/Results: A fresh tasting salad in a creamy dressing, topped with the sweet and juicy shrimp and salty feta cubes made for a quick and tasty dinner--satisfying while still light. With the capers I didn't miss the olives--although they would have been a nice addition, as would more herbs like mint and parsley. Everytime I make and eat a Greek salad I always wonder why I don't make them more often. yum. ;-)

I am sharing this salad with Souper Sundays here at Kahakai Kitchen--a weekly opportunity to share soups, salads, and sandwiches from me and other bloggers who join in. Here's the link to this week's post. 

I'm also sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "The Playground was provided to me by the author and the publisher, Harper Collins, via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for my review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 
 
You can see the other stops for this TLC Book Tour and what other bloggers thought of the book here.

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "The Art of Escapism Cooking" by Mandy Lee, Served with Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise

Happy Aloha Friday! To celebrate the weekend I have a review of a gorgeous new cookbook, The Art of Escapism Cooking by Mandy Lee for TLC Book Tours. Paired with my review is the delectable Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise from the book.

Publisher's Blurb:

In this inventive and intensely personal cookbook, the blogger behind the award-winning ladyandpups.com reveals how she cooked her way out of an untenable living situation, with more than eighty delicious Asian-inspired dishes with influences from around the world.

For Mandy Lee, moving from New York to Beijing for her husband’s work wasn’t an exotic adventure—it was an ordeal. Growing increasingly exasperated with China’s stifling political climate, its infuriating bureaucracy, and its choking pollution, she began “an unapologetically angry food blog,” LadyandPups.com, to keep herself from going mad.

Mandy cooked because it channeled her focus, helping her cope with the difficult circumstances of her new life. She filled her kitchen with warming spices and sticky sauces while she shared recipes and observations about life, food, and cooking in her blog posts. Born in Taiwan and raised in Vancouver, she came of age food-wise in New York City and now lives in Hong Kong; her food reflects the many places she’s lived. This entertaining and unusual cookbook is the story of how “escapism cooking”—using the kitchen as a refuge and ultimately creating delicious and satisfying meals—helped her crawl out of her expat limbo.

Illustrated with her own gorgeous photography, The Art of Escapism Cooking provides that comforting feeling a good meal provides. Here are dozens of innovative and often Asian-influenced recipes, divided into categories by mood and occasion, such as:

For Getting Out of Bed
Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise
Crackling Pancake with Caramel-Clustered Blueberries and Balsamic Honey

For Slurping
Buffalo Fried Chicken Ramen
Crab Bisque Tsukemen

For a Crowd
Cumin Lamb Rib Burger
Italian Meatballs in Taiwanese Rouzao Sauce

For Snacking
Wontons with Shrimp and Chili Coconut Oil and Herbed Yogurt
Spicy Chickpea Poppers

For Sweets
Mochi with Peanut Brown Sugar and Ice Cream
Recycled Nuts and Caramel Apple Cake

Every dish is sublimely delicious and worth the time and attention required. Mandy also demystifies unfamiliar ingredients and where to find them, shares her favorite tools, and provides instructions for essential condiments for the pantry and fridge, such as Ramen Seasoning, Fried Chili Verde Sauce, Caramelized Onion Powder Paste, and her Ultimate Sichuan Chile Oil.

Hardcover: 400 pages  
Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks (October 15, 2019)

My Review:

I love cookbooks best when they tell me stories about the cook and about the recipes inside and The Art of Escapism Cooking does that well. From the chapter titles to the descriptions of each recipe, Mandy Lee's voice is strong and her words passionate and evocative. I was not familiar with her blog (Lady & Pups) but I spent some time on there while paging through her cookbook and have a feeling I will visit often. The book is gorgeous--the photography, by Lee herself, is stunning and had even the non-meat-eating side of me craving a burger, duck, and pork belly. It does have a definite meat focus to it but there are enough options that I found plenty to be inspired by. Lee was born in Taiwan, raised in Vancouver BC and "slow-aged" in New York City until she moved to Beijing with her husband. She now lives in Hong Kong and her cooking style reflects a mix of cultures from her background, as well as the places she has traveled. It's an eclectic and intriguing group of dishes (there are even homemade dog treats) and likely to drive people without well-stocked Asian markets or who don't order ingredients online a bit crazy. She does do an excellent job explaining her pantry of ingredients in the beginning of the book and gives some great make-your-own condiments (more detail on that below), but many of those condiments, sauces and seasonings also have ingredients that may not be readily available to some. I am lucky that in Hawaii most things are easily obtainable and I already stock a good portion of her pantry items in my own cupboards. 

For Lee, cooking is an escape--particularly when she was living in China and frustrated with her life there. I like to escape into cooking too, but one of the big differences between us is that I am often a lazy cook and like simple but delicious recipes full of flavor, while Lee's recipes for the most part are for cooks who like fully immersing themselves in the details of the recipes. The ingredient lists are often long and there are many steps. In some recipes, the steps seem to have steps. Even the section titled "Shit I Eat When I'm By Myself" has more complexity than I like on a weeknight after a long day at work or a weekend spent recovering from a long week. That, and the meat emphasis will end up making The Art of Escapism Cooking a book that I pull out to read and for inspiration rather than one I would rely on for regular meals. I will use it mainly for that condiments section, various components of the dishes, and for flavor inspiration (oh yeah, and for the Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise Sauce recipe that I would lick off a stick). ;-P There is nothing wrong with having a cookbook for special occasions and inspiration, and I am lucky to add this stunning volume to my cookbook collection.


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Author Notes: Mandy Lee founded her award-winning “angry food blog,” Lady and Pups, in 2012 out of sheer frustration after moving from New York City to Beijing. She and her blog have been featured in numerous publications and sites, including Saveur, FoodandWine.com, CNN.com, Yahoo, Food52, and WashingtonPost.com. She currently lives in Hong Kong with her husband and pups.

Check out her blog, Lady and Pups, and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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The recipes I most wanted to make were for the seasonings like the Ramen Seasoning in it's regular and vegan version, the Makrut Lime Leaf Oil (a perfect use for the lime leaves I buy when I see them at the market which are marked kaffir but the same thing. Apparently Makrut is the politically correct name--see this article.), Garlic Confit Sauce, Fried Chile Verde Sauce, Caramelized Onion Powdered Paste, Sweet Soy Sauce, and Fried Garlic Powder. Also the Semi-Instant Laksa Mix, Spicy Chickpea Poppers, Black Hummus, Mapo Tofummus, and Chongqing Melted Cheese all look do-able and delicious.

Between the weather and my schedule, I just didn't have the time or inclination to fuss over recipes, and so as I went through The Art of Escapism Cooking, I looked for something relatively easy to make. At first it was going to be a seasoning or a sauce but then I read the description for Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Sauce and it became stuck in my head with it hitting on so many of my food favorites like breakfast, miso, eggs with runny yolks, capers, pickled vegetables (in this case shallots), browned butter and toasted bread. It also had fewer steps than most of the other recipes. I also had all of the ingredients except the shallots and bread so it became my Sunday morning project.

I'm not going to print the recipe as the sublime Miso-Browned Butter Sauce is worth purchasing the book yourself, but here is a link to Mandy Lee's Burnt/Browned Butter Hollandaise on her Lady & Pups site. Add 2 1/2 Tbsp of medium/yellow miso paste and a pinch of sugar and a little more lemon juice and you have it. For the pickled shallots, Lee gives a pantry recipe for Pickled Chilies or says to use whatever jarred chile pickle juice you have on hand--like jalapeño juice which I just happened to have. Lee also suggests using an immersion blender for the sauce to limit the splatters of ingredients in a blender--a good suggestion but I used my Vitamix and had no issues.

Notes/Results: The Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise Sauce will become a regular in my kitchen as in addition to eggs, I can see it drizzled over veggies and topping a piece of cooked fish. I can also see myself eating it straight from the bender cup. ;-) It is  that perfect umami, especially with the capers and shallots on top. I put two eggs on my toast, drenched the whole thing in the sauce and had an amazing Sunday brunch that made cleaning the several pans more than worth it. I will happily make it again. 

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "The Art of Escapism Cooing" was provided to me by the author and the publisher Harper Collins, via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for my review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 
 
You can see the other stops for this TLC Book Tour and what other bloggers thought of the book here.