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Letter to the editor

Books that cook

From berries to cookie dough

By ELLEN FOLKMAN
Published July 14, 2004

When someone mentions berries, fruit cups and desserts usually first come to mind, but The Berry Bible offers recipes for every meal of the day, plus beverages. This is one cookbook berry lovers must have.

The Berry Bible begins with an extensive A-to-Z encyclopedia. Some berries, like hardy kiwi, jostaberry and juneberry aren't widely available and others, including elderberry, chokecherry and buffalo berry aren't grown commercially. Of course, the more common varieties, such as strawberry, raspberry and lowbush cranberry, are also included. This mini berry encyclopedia offers helpful information about buying, cleaning, storing and freezing the tiny fruits.

Many recipes, including strawberry-rhubarb soup, homemade berry liqueur, sauted chicken breast with blueberry port, and old fashioned blackberry pie, call for either fresh or frozen berries. Very few, for example chocolate-espresso hazelnut cake with raspberry glaze, pork tenderloin salad with warm strawberry dressing and morning glory muffins with blackberries, use fresh berries only.

Although the home cook may not be familiar with some of the berry varieties the cookbook mentions, that's no reason to shy away from the recipes. The most common berries - raspberries, cranberries, strawberries, blueberries and currents - are the most widely used. The chapter on preserving will inspire those who want the taste of fresh berries all year.

Does the thought of making cookies bring to mind visions of a messy kitchen? All of those measuring cups, bowls and spills to clean up? Well, Cookie Dough Delights will change your outlook. Every recipe in this cookbook from Camilla V. Saulsbury begins with refrigerated cookie dough.

You can make bar cookies, such as almond toffee, pumpkin pie and cranberry crumble, or filled cookies, among them apricot milk-chocolate thumbprints or chocolate candy treasure cookies, or even fancy shaped cookies that include mocha white chocolate chunk biscotti and chocolate peppermint cookie hearts.

Not every recipe is for cookies. Tarts, crumbles, cupcakes and crisps, all from refrigerated dough, are part of the fun.

For home cooks who crave a more creative outlet, Saulsbury includes a chapter on icings, frosting and other adornments. This instruction is especially useful when children decorate their own cutout cookies, with supervision of course (unless you want more cleanup).

Cookie Dough Delights is ideal to turn to when you need quick cookies to take to a bake sale or the office. As long as you have the cookie dough on hand, the rest of the ingredients, including vanilla, unsweetened cocoa, sugar, peanut butter, spices and nuts, are probably already in your pantry. Baking has never been easier.

Eating and cooking outdoors is a year-round possibility in Florida. Even a threatening thunderstorm and accompanying lightning scares us indoors for only a bit.

The Big Book of Backyard Cooking provides 250 recipes to inspire alfresco cooks. Do-ahead classics and original ideas make it easy to hold a backyard party.

You don't have to be a grill master to enjoy this cookbook. There are recipes for the grill, such as lamb chops with orange and mint couscous and tuna steaks topped with warm shiitake mushrooms. But there are lots of recipes that can be prepared in the kitchen and taken poolside or onto the patio or deck. Sesame fried chicken with honey glaze, chicken clubs a la Provencale, Cape Cod fried scallop rolls, and mesclun salad with fennel, oranges and figs are just a few.

The Big Book of Backyard Cooking is a well-rounded, entertaining cookbook. Various parties could be planned by mixing recipes for drinks such as backyard sangria, lime spritzers and coconut banana smoothies and side dishes such as grilled corn on the cob with seasoned butter and gratin of eggplant and tomatoes with chocolate toffee brownie cake, plum tart and caramel almond squares.

The recipes in this cookbook are suitable for any skill level. On the easy side, there are condiments such as basil mayonnaise made with prepared mayo and salads that include coleslaw with Spanish olives, as well as some simple main dishes. The more difficult and time-consuming dishes include pork and prune brochettes, chicken satay and shrimp with Creole dipping sauce.

- Ellen Folkman's cookbook review column appears monthly in the Taste section.

1 18-ounce roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough

3/4 cup chopped dried pineapple

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 teaspoons rum flavor (or vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Break up cookie dough into large bowl; let stand 10-15 minutes to soften. Add dried pineapple, coconut and extract; mix well with your fingers, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or a wooden spoon.

Drop dough by kitchen teaspoons, 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until just set and golden at edges. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

Makes 28 cookies.

Nutritional information per serving: calories 105, fat 5g (2g saturated), carbohydrates 15g, protein 1g, fiber less than 1g, sodium 88mg.

Source: "Cookie Dough Delights" by Camilla V. Saulsbury (Cumberland House, $16.95).

8 thin slices whole-wheat country or crusty sourdough bread

1 recipe chutney mayonnaise (see below)

10 to 12 ounces thinly sliced smoked turkey

8 ounces thinly sliced medium-sharp white Cheddar cheese

1 large Granny Smith apple, halved and cored but not peeled

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

4 small romaine or red leaf lettuce leaves

Toothpicks or wooden skewers

Spread 1 side of each bread slice generously with 1 tablespoon or more of chutney mayonnaise. Top a slice with 1/4 of the sliced turkey, then with 1/4 of the sliced cheese. Slice each apple half thinly and toss slices with lemon juice in a small bowl. Arrange 4 to 5 slices over the cheese layer, then top with a lettuce leaf and another slice of bread. Repeat to make 3 more sandwiches.

Halve sandwiches on the diagonal and skewer halves with toothpick to secure.

Serves 4.

Nutritional information per serving without chutney: calories 519, fat 23g (11g saturated), protein 37g, carbohydrates 41g, fiber 5g, sodium 1,440mg.

- Source: "The Big Book of Backyard Cooking" by Betty Rosbottom (Chronicle Books, $19.95).

1/2 cup regular or reduced fat (not nonfat) mayonnaise

2 1/2 tablespoons mango chutney (chop any large pieces of mango coarsely)

3/4 teaspoon curry powder

Stir together all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (Can be prepared 1 day in advance).

Makes 2/3 cup, about 10 1 tablespoon servings.

Nutritional information per 1 tablespoon: calories 47, fat 4g (less than 1g saturated), protein less than 1g, carbohydrates 3g, fiber less than 1g, sodium 97g.

- Source: "The Big Book of Backyard Cooking" by Betty Rosbottom (Chronicle Books, $19.95).

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

2 cups coarsely grated carrot

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 tart apple, peeled, cored and grated

3 large eggs

1 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup frozen blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin.

Measure the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the carrots, coconut and apple. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and vanilla and pour into the flour mixture, mixing well. Gently stir in the berries. Fill the muffin cups to the top and bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes and then turn out onto a rack.

Variation: Substitute 3/4 cup applesauce and use only 1/2 cup canola oil for a lower-fat muffin. Add the applesauce when you add the oil.

Makes 15 muffins.

- Source: "The Berry Bible: With 175 Recipes Using Cultivated and Wild, Fresh and Frozen Berries" by Janie Hibler (William Morrow, $29.95).

[Last modified July 13, 2004, 11:57:25]