| A heavenly host of holiday delights is only a cookbook away |
REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT
In the beginning there is a crust, and crust creation is often a devilish endeavor. Rose admits that it took her a long time "to turn out a perfect flavorful, flaky, and tender pie crust on a regular basis." Now, she shares this hard-won skill, plus her ideas for crusts of all kinds (and all with both food processor and hand method options), then shows you how to bake beautiful pies, tarts, tortes, turnovers, tatins, quiches, galettes, and crostatas -- filled, topped, and embellished with fruit, custard, ice cream, meringue, chocolate, and nuts. And the biblical beat goes on with puff pastry, savory main course sensations, biscuits, scones, Danish, brioche and croissants, fillo and strudel, curds, creams, sauces, and glazes. Whether the recipes are complex or simple -- "Molten Chocolate Souffle Tartlets" and "Salmon Wellington" rub their epicurean shoulders with "Perfect Peach Pie" and "Butter Biscuits" -- the instructions are intelligently presented and thorough. Measurements are given by volume and weight, and each recipe is followed by necessary tips for avoiding ever-present pastry pitfalls -- or why bad things happen to good cooks. With this baker's bonanza and source book extraordinaire, you'll be all set for the imminent onslaught of holiday happenings.
By Rose Levy Beranbaum Scribner, $35 ISBN 0684813483
The fine food folks at Better Homes and Gardens have focused their attention on home baking that comes from the heart and the heartland. The Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book has over 600 recipes packed into a handy, snap-open ring binder, with lots of instructional color photos and the Better Homes' know-how that has made their cookbooks and their magazines so popular for so many years. The recipes run the gamut of goodies that come out of the oven, redolent, rich, and ready to add a special dimension to breakfast, dinner, tea time, snack time, and party time. There are cakes and cookies, brownies and bars, yeast breads and quick breads, pies and pastries, plus a special section on "Baking with the Kids" that encourages children to enjoy the process, not just the finished product. With Thanksgiving and Christmas so near, the chapter devoted to "Holiday Classics" may be exactly what the dessert doctor ordered -- imagine the oohs and ahs you'll get when the meal is crowned by a "Pear and Mincemeat Tart," glowing "Rum Babas," or a "Royal Christmas Cake" frosted with swirls of snowy-white icing. Whether you're a kid new on the baking block or an old hand at handling dough, you'll find treasures here to share with friends and family.
Meredith, $25.95 ISBN 0696207990
James Villas was too busy licking the icing bowl to sit at his mother's feet, but he sure learned to appreciate her fine southern ways in the kitchen. In My Mother's Southern Desserts: More Than 180 Treasured Family Recipes for Holiday and Everyday Celebrations, written with his mother, Martha Pearl Villas, he pays tribute to a legendary aspect of our southern culinary heritage. Martha Pearl has been making a staggering array of sweet masterpieces for over 60 years and, as most southern ladies of her generation, she takes great pride in her dessert preparations for Thanksgiving and for other major holidays and events ("Mecklenburg County Persimmon Pudding," Christmas, "Hootie's Eggnog Walnut Pie," birthdays). But Martha Pearl is among the rare and devoted few who still observe Father's Day, Kentucky Derby Day, Election Day, graduations, funerals, and more with a special treat. In chatty, helpful sidebars, James explains the origins and significance of each tempting recipe: The "Boozy Mud Pie" Martha serves for Valentine's Day comes from her Georgia forebears, "Confederate Peach Cobbler," a superb example of a southern staple, is gratefully gobbled up at Labor Day picnics, and "The One and Only Authentic Southern Strawberry Shortcake," served warm, the biscuits broken apart, is a "sacred" part of every July 4th party. The affection that James feels for his mother and that his mother puts into all her divine desserts makes this book as satisfying as the confections you can produce from it.
More Than 180 Treasured Family Recipes for Holiday and Everyday Celebrations By James Villas with Martha Pearl Villas William Morrow, $25 ISBN 0688156959
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Can there be a sequel to the Bible? Yes indeed, and I do not blaspheme. Rose Levy Beranbaum, who gave us the glorious, best-selling Cake Bible, has blessed us with The Pie and Pastry Bible, her new, fabulously inclusive compendium of indispensable recipes (over 200) and advice on techniques, ingredients, and equipment.
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Don't turn that oven off . . .
Sweet masterpieces from the South