Toluu

101 Cookbooks

When you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and start cooking. This site chronicles a cookbook collection, one recipe at a time.

Mushroom CasseroleNovember 30

I had one favorite thing to eat when I was a kid. One dish I was loyal to above all else. I would request it when I was recovering from the flu, pneumonia, or strep throat. I would request it weeknights, weekends, and holidays. It was a simple dish, and one of four (maybe five) recipes my mom had in her entire culinary arsenal - we can get to some of the others in a future post. Above all, I favored her rice and mushroom casserole. As I remember it she combined rice, mushrooms (or creamy mushroom soup) and cheese in a casserole dish and baked it until it was creamy, melty, and golden at the edges. Easy enough. I made a healthier, from-scratch remix of this the other night using brown rice, sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and onions -all made creamy with a blend of cottage cheese and a bit of sour cream.

You can certainly use whatever cooked grains you like. I suspect this would be delicious with barley, wheat berries, quinoa, whole grain rices - or even a mix of grains. My mom used to hide all sorts of things in this casserole - I don't go the pork chop or chicken breast route any more (precooke

Site UpdatesNovember 28

My guess is that many of you have experienced plenty of cooking and eating over the past few days. Another recipe is probably the last thing you need from me. So, instead of a recipe today, I'll call out a couple site updates you may (or may not have) noticed over the past couple of weeks.

- Print with photo: Many of you requested the ability to print recipes with the lead photo - in addition to the plain-old print w/o photo capability. Done. Now at the base of each recipe there is a print with photo link. It will take you to a page that looks like this, or this, or this.

- FAQ: This is looong overdue. But I've finally added a FAQ (frequently asked question) link to the main navigation.

- Build a Natural Foods Pantry: I added an ever-evolving reference section Building a Natural Foods Pantry. It focuses on how to gradually move toward more of a natural cooking palette by outlining which ingredients I like, and more impor

Thanksgiving RecipesNovember 25

I hope plenty of good food, family and friends are in the cards this year for those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving. I'm driving to my parents where I'll meet up with my sister, her husband, and a baby with the cutest cheeks I've ever seen. Hopefully a few friends will stop by as well. I picked a dozen of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to highlight today - it seems to be the only thing you are searching for right now. Also, in case you missed it, I made a list of vegan Thanksgiving recipes and a slightly different list of vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.

1. Roasted Pumpkin Salad, 2. Caramelized Tofu, 3. Vegetarian Gumbo, 4. Maple Grilled Tempeh

Nikki's Sweet PotatoesNovember 23

Before we get into the double-baked, coconut and macadamia nut-crusted sweet potato recipe my friend Nikki shared with me, I wanted to mention that I've posted my favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes as well as my favorite vegan Thanksgiving recipes last week. This recipe is going on both lists, but I can't take credit for it. Nikki sent it to me - the same Nikki who took my site by storm when I posted her Healthy Cookie recipe over the summer. The same Nikki I've been friends with since she showed up in my sixth grade class, fresh from L.A., wearing a Swatch watch and white Reebok hi-tops. Both things I'd never seen before. And now, even though we're on opposite sides of the country, I love exchanging emails about recent cooking ideas and adventures with her - it's one of my favorite reasons to check my emails. Nikki described these sweet potatoes to me as a sweet potato mash, but with a twist - they get creaminess from a generous splash of coconut milk, crunch from toasted coconut and macadamias, and a kick from freshly grated ginger.

Spice-kissed Pumpkin PieNovember 23

I just updated this recipe to include a quick pat-in-pan crust option. This pumpkin pie recipe was inspired by Kathy FitzHenry. Her name might not ring a bell with many of you, but few people have had a bigger impact on my cooking in the past year than Kathy. Kathy FitzHenry and her partner Bill Mc Gaughey toil away in the back of the Presidio's Officers' Club creating wonderful small-batch spice blends under the name The Occasional Gourmet (also known as Juliet Mae Spices). Kathy's dry harrisa stopped me in my tracks at the Fancy Food Show last year, and her rose petal cinnamon is my favorite secret baking ingredient. Kathy invited me to visit her at work where she showed me how she makes her vibrant, fragrant pumpkin pie spice blend. I then went on to use it in my favorite pumpkin pie made from a rich, roasted pumpkin and coconut milk base, and baked in a hazelnut-lined crust.

So, let's start at the beginning. Using good quality, freshly ground spices can transform culinary creations. The blend I made with Kathy certainly took my pumpkin pie to delicious new heights. Having command of the language of spices can give you endless ways to make your culinary creations "your own" - and that is something I'm always thinking about - how t