Are you a cookbook person? I am. Actually, more specifically, I am a book person. I love books. I love bookstores. I love books on shelves. I love book covers. And cookbooks, especially those with beautiful photography, are really one of my biggest weaknesses. But I have to tell you that my cookbooks have been extremely under used, and I’m quite embarrassed by it. Because as much as I love books, finding one specific thing out of many, many books is too hard. It’s just so much easier to grab my laptop, fire up google or even better, food blog search, and find a recipe that is exactly what I’ve been looking for. So the books, sit there, on the shelf, untouched. It is too sad.

I guess it must have been a couple of years ago, I had a crazy thought to build a website to help me start actually using my cookbooks. The point of the site would be to let people create a simple catalog of the cookbooks that they own to help them search through the recipes in those books. Anyone using the site could enter the recipes from one of their cookbooks and then be able to search it from then on out. The scale of the web would mean with enough users, each person would really only need to spend time entering one or two of their own cookbooks, and before long, there would be a very good sized catalog. Or, if all of that failed, at least I’d have a site that I could enter my books and search them.

So, in fits and starts, I eventually built it. It’s called GobbledyBook, and it’s free for anyone to use. I’ve kept kind of quiet about it because, to date, just about the only person who has used it has been me and it’s always a little nerve wracking to have other people start playing with your baby.

I’ve used it quite a bit already. In fact, I’ve entered over 4,500 recipes in more than 40 of my cookbooks. And even though that is only a small part of my cookbook library (yes, I am one of those freaks), it’s already come in handy to help me find the right recipe and actually cook from my cookbooks! Woo Hoo!

The basic scenario is pretty simple. Say, I want to make some bread pudding. I know I have a lot of bread pudding recipes in my cookbooks, but which ones? I’m sure that Donna Hay has a recipe, but I own 6 of her books. With GobbledyBook, I can simply type bread pudding into the search box, and it shows me 26 recipes out of my cookbooks and what page the recipe is on (Donna Hay has a Marmalade Bread and Butter pudding in Modern Classic Vol. 2, page 146, by the way). You can also see a full list of ingredients for the recipe as well as comments. (To actually cook the recipe, you have to go to the cookbook… I’m not trying to steal from cookbooks, just make them easier to use).

Or, maybe I need to bring something gluten free to a pot luck? I can browse all gluten free recipes, and then narrow down the selection by what ingredients I have or the type of food I like to cook, like Italian. I can limit the search to just cookbooks I own, or any cookbook that has been indexed. Then, I just go grab the book off of the shelf (or order it from Powell’s or Amazon!) and get cooking.

It’s also been wonderful for helping me figure out what to do with the ingredients in my market basket each week. Once I get tired of my old standards, I just plug in a couple of ingredients and see what other dishes I can make. Like, for example, this Swiss Chard Frittata that I made for lunch today.

Actually, this is a combination of two recipes… a basic baked frittata and a swiss chard tart recipe from Sunday Suppers at Luques. I didn’t quite have all the right ingredients for the tart, but I did have (most of) the makings for the pine nut relish that tops it. So, keeping with the basic seasonings of the tart, I skipped the crust, bumped up the egg and turned it into a lovely (and gluten free) lunch treat (recipe below!)

Anyway, back to Gobbleybook. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one with the problem of using their cookbooks, or the idea to solve it. Late last year, another site launched called Eat Your Books. With a slightly bigger staff (than my 1, so anything is bigger!) and interns helping out with the data entry, their catalog is significantly bigger already. Good for them! I’m sure if I hadn’t spent the last couple of years building my own site, I would totally sign up.

There are some differences between GobbledyBook and Eat Your Books though. First and foremost, GobbledyBook will let you catalog your own books, so you don’t have to wait for someone else to add your book. You can just do it yourself (and you’ll most likely find a few great recipes to bookmark along the way… I know I have).

GobbledyBook is also free to use. There are no sign up fees or subscriptions fees, and it is my intention to keep it that way. You sign in with your Facebook account, and you are good to go.

GobbledyBook also lets you enter the data the way you want to and the way the recipe is written. If the recipe calls for spring onions, you enter spring onions. Behind the scenes, we’ll match up ingredients that are the same (so if you search for scallion, you’ll see recipes for green onions as well. Search for soup and you’ll see recipes that are bisques). I’ve had numerous searches on Eat Your Books fail because I didn’t use quite the right search term.

So, if you find yourself wanting to make your cookbook library a little easier to use, I hope you’ll give GobbledyBook a try and enter a cookbook or two. To entice you a bit more, I’m giving away a $50 gift certificate to your choice of Powell’s or Amazon to the first person to catalog 500 recipes!

PS: GobbledyBook is a labor of love. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any “real” software development, so you may, at times, find a glitch or two. If you do, I hope that you let me knows so I can keep making the site better!

The past few weeks, I’ve been battling the gravity of my couch. It’s amazing how quickly things can go from a million miles an hour to a full, dead stop. Most days, I don’t even see the lower level of my house until after dinner. But a little illness and a little mom/teen daughter drama, and suddenly, my couch became attached to my butt.

The good news is that the last of the antibiotics are now gone, and mother and daughter drama passes. But, the gravity of the couch and getting back to my normal activity level, that has taken a bit more effort.

I got kind of used to watching three episodes of Bones everyday, curled up with my laptop, polishing up my manuscript (due Sunday!), catching up on everyone’s blogs, and trying to keep up with Twitter (impossible, even when couch bound). A few recent jobs have helped me gain breakaway speed, including a great trip to Vancouver to shoot at 5 different bars (more on that when the article hits the shelves).

This week, I made it back into the kitchen and started to feel that old rhythm kicking in again. First, a few remaining doughnut tests (Red Velvet Cake, Brandy Eggnog, and playing around with Chia flour for a gluten free variation). And then, yesterday, roasted parsnips.

The first time I remember having a parsnip was at some fancy-schmancy restaurant that served probably the best monkfish I’ve ever had. (This was long ago, in the days before fish-lists or much awareness of what was happening in our waters.) Tucked underneath the fish was this beautifully creamed, what I thought was, potato. In fact it was creamed parsnip, and I nearly spit it across the table. I was not in anyway prepared for that earthy sweetness, and thought it was the most horrible thing I had ever had. Perhaps it was just the misplaced expectation or perhaps it wasn’t well prepared (I seem to recall, it was kind of grainy). But I swore off parsnips then and there.

What a huge mistake. Somewhere along the way, a parsnip sneaked its way onto my plate at a friend’s house and it was a revelation. This wasn’t some mealy, sickly sweet babyfood. It was caramel and banana and potato wrapped into one; crisp on the outside, melty on the inside goodness. Now, I can never seem to get enough of them. Yesterday, I roasted up 6 or 7 good sized roots sprinkled with a little vanilla bean salt and a splatter of olive oil, and gobbled them all down for lunch. Today, I’m tempted to do the same.

(PS: Thanks to Stephanie over at Wasabimon for the spotlight! )

Vanilla Roasted Parsnips

I roasted my parsnips whole, which gives a greater ratio of soft to crisp. If you prefer your parsnips caramelized on all sides, you can half or quarter them before roasting.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Line a baking sheet with foil, and place whole, peeled parsnips on top. Splash with a good olive oil, and sprinkle with vanilla salt and a bit of cracked pepper. Cover with more foil, and roast for about 20 minutes. Turn the parsnips over (they should be golden on the bottom by this point). Recover and roast another 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and cut off the tops and tails. Slice in half (or quarters if they are particularly large) lengthwise. Drizzle on a bit more olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

I have a confession about Gourmet magazine. You could, perhaps, blame me, at least a little bit, for it’s financial ruin. See, last time my subscription was about to run out, I got notified that I could receive the “special renewal price” just for Conde Nast’s valued customers. That renewal price was actually higher than the new sign up price. So, I canceled my subscription, and started a new one instead, thereby saving myself a whole $3. I think I even tweeted about how I couldn’t understand why they didn’t give long time subscribers a better deal. Man, do I feel guilty now.

I won’t say that I’ve always loved Gourmet. In fact, I’m kind of new to appreciating what it has (had) to offer. Four years ago, I actually was not a fan of most of the photography (although I still subscribed). I remember one day, I picked up an issue, and suddenly loved almost every shot in it. As it turns out, that was the issue that featured Australia, and the images were all taken by some of my favorite photographers from down under. But all that changed the day I sat in on a talk given by some of the stylists and photographers at the 1st International Conference on Food Styling and Photography in Boston. These people were delightful and fascinating and I wanted to hear and see more from them. I became an avid Gourmet reader, and every year since, I found that the photography just got better and better (or at least, more and more to my liking). In fact, I almost was getting more excited about my Gourmet arrival than my Donna Hay. My inspiration board is filled with images torn from it’s pages. And photography in the A to Z issue simply killed me. That $3 I saved? I’d give it back tenfold to keep my subscription around now.

Last April, I turned 40, and good friends of mine got me a copy of Gourmet from my birth month. It’s full of very late 60s recipes. And oh, the photography. I want to scream at the photographers, what were you thinking?

[Gourmet from April 1969 with a recipe for Eggs with Peppers and Onions, with my take on the dish today]

But then, I start to wonder if I’ll look back on my recent photos in 40 years and want to scream at myself. Probably. Sometimes, I even want to scream at myself about photos I took 4 months ago. But the recent photos in Gourmet? Maybe I’ll prove myself wrong in the coming decades, but I think they’ll last. At least, those that don’t have a fork shot straight on with some random food bits (or non food bits) stuck in them.

But photography trends aside, the thing about Gourmet is that the stories are great and the recipes are inspiring. I’ve read a lot of poo-pooing about the magazine being too highbrow.. and perhaps, I’m out of touch… but I find every issue has just as many quick and simple dishes as complex and painstaking ones. The magazine has a diversity that many of the newer magazines lack. It’s true that most people won’t eat in the restaurants reviewed in its pages or even cook more than 1% of the recipes at home. But that isn’t about complexity or affluence… how many people actually get off the couch to make the dishes that they see on Food Network? And, I don’t see anyone claiming that it is too high brow for the average home cook. But, regardless, who cares? A magazine’s job is to entice and teach its readers to try, or at least dream about trying, something new. And that’s something Gourmet has always done exceedingly well.

Gourmet, I’ll miss you. And, well, sorry about that $3.

I live in a world where I don’t think much about the prices of food. Much of the food that we have around the house is left-over from some photo shoot I’ve done and in that world, all I’m worried about is whether it is the right product and whether it looks great. Another large percentage comes to me weekly in the form of a CSA delivery and it’s hard to know exactly how much the zucchinis were versus the apples. The rest are other things that I tend to think of as necessities and I buy them based on things like sustainability rather than price. It takes a pretty shocking price tag on something for me to really take notice (over $20 for Mac and Cheese at Stumbling Goat?!? Hello!)

I’m lucky to live in this world of so much wonderful food. Not everyone is, and I that’s why I decided to participate in the Hunger Challenge this week. Between thinking about what food I will make, reading the comments here and watching the discussion on other participating blogs, I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time thinking about the cost of food.

It has reminded me of when I was growing up and my family did think a lot about how much money we had to go around for the month. And it’s funny to me how much has changed in the way we think about splurges then and now. It’s entirely possible that this is just me, but when I was a kid, craving the latest in junk food as most kids do, I always believed that we couldn’t afford it. The junk food and fast food was the expensive stuff. Now, I’m wondering if it was just a ruse… a very good one… played on me by my mother. As a child, it’s easier to accept “we can’t afford it” than it is “no, that’s bad for you.” So, we never had pop or chips or frozen pizza around the house (we did, however, have Kraft dinner… the one junk food staple that seems has always been cheap. We’d mix it with tuna and mushroom soup or eat it on its own, usually with ketchup). A big dinner out for me was going to Pizza Hut. That was a huge splurge, only warranted by straight A’s on my report card.

But we did eat well at home. Food was mostly made from scratch and we used fresh herbs (usually grown in big pots on the patio) and olive oil. When our house allowed it, we raised rabbits for their meat, and Rabbit Cacciatore was one of my favorite dishes. My father and step-mother even pulled together all of their recipes for the kids as we went off to college… they called it the HOG cookbook… for “Hard times, Old times, Good times.” It’s a collection of recipes that are good but frugal. My dad (who is a bit of a geek like me), recently pulled the whole thing together into a website which you can check out if you are so inclined.

Maybe food costs just really are different now than when I was growing up. Today, it seems that people tend to think it’s a splurge to buy spices or fresh produce or good cooking oil. And it is hard to argue with that. Making food from scratch takes time and investment. It’s a choice that someone has to intentionally take because it’s harder than just grabbing the frozen dinner or the can of soup. To get the bigger payoff, you have to go without some thing in the short term. There are ways around some of the big upfront costs of stocking a pantry… Madison Market has an incredible bulk food section where you can buy small quantities of things like olive oil, flour and spices at reasonable prices and it is always possible to find deals on produce, especially when it is produced locally and in abundance.

But, to take advantage of that, first you have to know about it, second you have to take the time to get to the store fairly regularly and third you have to have the time to plan and cook. None of the recipes I’ve made this week are particularly challenging, costly or even time consuming in and of themselves. But it would be much harder to eat the way that I have this week if I were working full time or had a whole family of kids around to feed. I might be able to stick to the budget for the week or a month or even longer and feel like I’m eating well. But, I have more time, more equipment, more resources that support me than most people out there, even those not on a limited budget.

Now, I’ve rambled on quite a while here about a few of the questions and thoughts that have been going through my head this week… and I think that stirring up those thoughts, and asking ourselves what we can do to help, is really the point of this challenge. Please keep up the great comments! They’ve given me a lot to think about!

Now, onto the food accounting…

Tuesday, I was semi-planning to make a risotto to have along with a nice little tilapia fillet that I found at Metropolitan Market. But, I got hungry in the afternoon, and made a big bowl of popcorn (my favorite junk food) which filled me up a bit longer than I thought it would. So dinner started late, and I decided to make it a bit simpler. I pan fried the tilapia with just a bit of salt, pepper in a tiny bit of organic olive oil (picked up in the bulk section at Madison Market… $1.56 for more than enough for the week which will replace oil I used earlier to hopefully be more in the spirit of the challenge) along with a quick medley of red pepper, onion and zucchini on a bowl of rice ($3.67 for the meal). It was simple, quick and delicious.

Yesterday, I was light on food day during the day… I had a photoshoot to do on location in the middle of the day, which lead me to skimp some on breakfast (espresso, toast) and lunch (an apple). The photoshoot was for Edible Seattle (always a great time), but I had to say no to the homemade chicken karaage that was being made! Sad! (but… the recipe will be a great budget recipe when it comes out in a few months… keep your eyes out for it!). For dinner, I made a recipe from a cookbook I recently picked up, “Beaneaters and Bread Soup” (Lori de Mori; Jason Lowe). This is a fantastic cookbook. It’s packed with beautiful stories about Italian artisan’s, and even more beautiful photos. I just want to live in this book.

I knew there would be a great, frugal recipe in there that would be perfect for this week. There are many, but I decided on a white bean with tomato sauce recipe… the original recipe includes Italian sausage, but I used a couple of slices of bacon instead (I love that you can buy bacon by the piece… I never make it through a whole package).

Again, the recipe is super simple. I used a can of Northern White beans because I hadn’t planned far enough in advance to use dried ones. Toss in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary, cover, and bake for about 20 minutes. While that is heating, toss the bacon (chopped in narrow strips) into a hot pan and cook for about 3 minutes. Add a bit (1/4 cup for the 2 slices of bacon I used) of canned tomatoes (ideally San Marzano’s… my normal San Marzano’s run about $6.99 for a 32 oz can… but I found some for only $2.99 which were still very good) and a splash of olive oil. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and chile flakes if desired. Once the beans are hot, gently stir in the tomato sauce.

On the side, I made some steamed asparagus with a bechamel sauce on toast. This sauce is absolutely luxurious without being at all pricey. It’s simply milk, butter and flour (with a bit of seasoning). Warm the milk (about a 1/2 cup) and set aside. In another pan, make a roux of butter and flour (equal portions of each… a little less than 1 tablespoon for the amount of milk I used). Cook on low for a few minutes stirring constantly. You don’t want it to brown like you would a roux for a gumbo. Then, add in the warmed milk and stir until smooth (you can stir in more milk, a little at a time, if you want it to be thinner). It should be like velvet. Add salt and pepper to taste (a little nutmeg is a nice addition too).

This amount was far more sauce than I needed for my 6 pieces of asparagus ($1.99 per pound right now!). In fact, I really made far too much food for this dinner entirely… and Cam got to eat the left over 1/2 of beans when he got home from his trip late last night. Not bad for $2.80.
Adding everything up, plus this morning’s breakfast of Oatmeal ala Philip (except with nutmeg in place of the cinnamon and a half pear instead of the raisins), I’m currently at $20.53 for the week, just a few cents below my budget. Tonight’s dinner is posole, which looks like it might push my budget some, but I’m making it for 2 of us and I’m expecting there will still be left-overs that I can polish of for Friday’s lunch.

Coincidentally, as I was leaving Madison Market yesterday getting bulk stuff to replace the stuff I had been using from my pantry, I picked up a copy of Real Change. The story on the front cover? “A bigger slice of the pie: Activiest Joel Bert on food snobbery, class bias and the persistence of hunger in America” If you get a chance, help someone out by picking up one of these papers, and take a read of that article which I found particularly relevant this week… and has given me even more to think about.

I have to confess, I’ve been on a bit of a binge lately. There was the taco truck extravaganza. But, I’ve also been bingeing on cookbooks. I can’t quite explain it, but suddenly, I find that I’ve acquired a ridiculous number in the past few weeks. Of course, I came home with a few from Italy, but since then, I’ve also picked up a [cough] few more:

“The River Cottage Meat Book”
(Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)

“The Flavor Bible”
(Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg)

“A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes”
(David Tanis)

“delicious days”
(Nicole Stich)

“The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor”
(Jerry Traunfeld)

“Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing”
(Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polcyn)

“Modern Classics Book 1″
(Donna Hay)

“Modern Classics Book 2″
(Donna Hay)

“Bills Food”
(Bill Granger)

The last three came from a trip down to Portland which of course means a trip to Powells books and I got at ridiculously good prices. I guess I have a bit of work cut out for me over the next few weeks.

The good news is that I have been finding a renewed excitement about getting into the kitchen. This week, I baked and baked. I’m trying out a local flour by Stone Buhr that a friend of mine sent my way. Yesterday, I made a batch of orange madelines, a variation on the lemon madeline recipe in Bills Food, which were amazing, and I love the fact that the wheat as local as you can get.

I haven’t even cracked some of the cookbooks yet, but I have managed to dig in and make two recipes from A Platter of Figs. It’s an amazing book. It is beautifully shot by Christopher Hersheimer (so of course, I couldn’t resist it), and the recipes seem to have that hard to describe quality that as you read through them, you just can’t help but want to drop everything, run to the store, and get cooking. The slow beef recipe is quintessential cold weather comfort food and I know it will be on our dinner table quite a few times this winter. The other recipe that I couldn’t resist are the little New Mexican cookies, Bizchochitos. These cookies are made with lard and are little flakey discs of yumminess. Take his warning seriously… they are very addictive. Let the bingeing begin.