The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Wisdom from an Obsessive Home Cook by Deb Perelman

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Wisdom from an Obsessive Home Cook Reviews

• 
  Riya

  I am giving this cookbook 5 stars not only because it was an excellent cookbook with easy directions and colorfully detailed pictures, but because it made me want to attempt to bake again! I will admit right now that although I do enjoy cooking, a baker I am not, and it is only once a year that I will attempt to bake even a dozen cookies. This book, however, changed all of that.
  
  I first requested this book (I must mention that I received this wonderful cookbook through a goodreads giveaways contest) after spending months salivating over Mrs. Perelman's recipes featured in her blog. I was interested not only because her food looked good and tasty, but also because I noticed quite a few Russian influences in her cooking (I believe her husband is Russian). This caught my attention and once I received her book and started out testing her recipes, I became an instant fan of hers.
  
  One thing that I love about this cookbook is the sheer number of beautiful photographs of food; I love being able to see what the recipe looks like before I decide to make it myself. Almost every recipe in this book has a picture of it - just looking at them make extremely hungry.
  
  As I mentioned before, I despise baking, but after looking at all those scrumptious pictures, I decided to try a couple of recipes - with very good results! The Cranberry Crumb Bars were very easy to make and were a huge hit at my house, perfect for a holidays dessert. Another recipe that was absolutely fabulous was the Gooey Cinnamon Squares; they were a bit time-consuming, but the results were fantastic, my husband at ALL of them in one day. Because of this, I am now more confident in my baking skills and will soon tackle the Golden Sheet Cake with Berry Buttercream recipe.
  
• 
  Caroline

  This is currently becoming one of my favorite cookbooks that I own. Everything I have tried (which is a lot) from this cookbook has been fantastic and solid and quite delicious. Her little "stories" before each recipe are entertaining and a joy to read. The pictures are perfect, and each recipe is written well, tested, and easy to follow. A great, great book.
• 
  Allison

  I want to cook like 90% of the things in here. Since some of the recipes are also on her blog I can tell you that the salted brown butter rice crispy treats are to die for and the mushroom bourguignon is good, probably even delicious if you love mushrooms (I do not). For recipes that are totally new, I tried making the swiss chard and white bean pot pies (sans pancetta) last night and they were fabulous. And I am dying to make the apple cider caramels.
• 
  Ivonne Rovira

  Deb Perelman has written the kind of cookbook not written by a foodie or a professional chef, but the kind of cookbook that you buy from the local United Methodist Women organization. That’s no criticism; my favorite cookbook of all time is the 1990 edition. These are recipes created by real cooks for real families, usually without hard-to-get ingredients or fancy kitchen tools. I use these recipes frequently and remember my friends who submitted the recipes — some, sadly, deceased — and relive our friendship with each recipe.
  
  Whether oven-baked Cinnamon Toast French Toast, Broccoli Slaw, Slow-Cooker Black Bean Ragout, Maya’s Sweet and Sour Holiday Brisket and Roasted Fingerling and Carrot Coins, or Chocolate Silk Pie, these are all recipes that you’ll be comfortable making and find delicious. Years from now, I’ll remember Deb with fondness. (Don’t worry. She’s much younger and likely to outlive us all.) Recommended.
  
• 
  Virginia Campbell

  Award-winning food blogger Deb Perelman shares her fun & fabulous food and photos in "The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook". Using her natural cooking intuition, ceaseless curiosity, and expansive imagination, the author has created a wonderfully inviting culinary world in the space of her tiny kitchen. Sharing food preparation tips, and stories and photos for each recipe, Deb Perelman adds her own flair to user-friendly ingredients. While I found much to enjoy in each chapter of the book, the "Breakfast" chapter stood out for me above all the rest. I enjoy big weekend breakfast/brunches, and sometimes "breakfast for supper" just really hits the spot. Recipes like "Peach and Sour Cream Pancakes", "Maple Bacon Biscuits", "New York Breakfast Casserole", and "Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns" are too good to limit to a morning meal. Other favorites include: "Iceberg Stack with Blue Cheese and Radishes"; "Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette"; "Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish, and Dill"; "Tomato-Glazed Meatloaves with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes"; "Buttered Popcorn Cookies"; and "Deepest Dish Apple Pie". As you turn the pages of this tasty tome, you can't help but join in Deb Perelman's love of life and joy of cooking great food--and that is a very good thing indeed.
  
  Review Copy Gratis Knopf Books
  
  
• 
  Eh?Eh!

  
  http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/10/ho...
  my favorites, things that made my eyes widen when I tasted them
  
  buttered popcorn cookies*
  cheddar swirl breakfast buns**
  wild rice gratin with kale, carmelized onions, and baby swiss***
  balsamic and beer-braised short ribs with parsnip puree****
  harvest roast chicken with grapes, olives, and rosemary
  Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
  Tomato Scallion shortcakes w whipped goat cheese
  Broccoli slaw
  Red Wine Velvet Cake
  Zucchini ribbons with almond pesto
  
  
  *I switched the cookie sheets on the oven racks halfway through.
  
  **"In the test run, the buns ended up smelling reeeeeally onion-y, like an onion bagel. I'm going to try squeezing the juice out of the onions and see if that makes it milder.
  ----------------------
  1) Use more cheese, at least 8oz but it could tolerate even more.
  2) Squeeze the onion of its water, a little like latke prep, unless you like that very strong onion bagel aroma/flavor but it does overwhelm the cheese.
  3) It really does take 2 rounds of 2 hour risings to get that loft. So much time.
  4) I tried different rollout thicknesses. The initial run had a rolled out rectangle of about 16x24 and the 2nd run had the specified 12x16. The recipe was right on this one. Having the soft thickness of bun was a very good situation. Too thin and it was still tasty but not as good of a bite&chew experience."
  
  ***"If I made this again, I'd mix in a different cheese along with the Swiss which seems to be much less oily than I'd expected. I'd cut the breadcrumb amount by half or mix in some cheddar before sprinkling it."
  
  ****"1) If you think you'll save time by browning on high heat, prepare by disengaging your smoke detector and having your place smell like burned beef fat for a couple days. If you have the time, sear them a little more slowly on med-high heat.
  2) The braising liquid reduction was very, very strong. I wasn't a fan.
  3) Oh god, that parsnip puree was glorious. Do yourself a favor and make it by itself."
• 
  Kristin

  I have been following the smitten kitchen blog for years and have made several of Deb Perelman's recipes, a few of which have become staples in our house—mushroom bourguignon, roast chicken with dijon sauce, lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza—and I can't wait to dig in to even more here in her cookbook. It is about two-thirds savory, one-third sweets, and all of it looks absolutely delicious. Perelman has a warmth and familiarity in her communication, and a way of making you feel welcome in her world, as though you are another close friend. The full-color photos are gorgeous, and the layout of sections is cohesive. Her recipes are clear and surprisingly unfussy (considering she defines herself as being obsessive!). Well, Perelman has gone through all the fussy testing for her readers, so they may make these recipes with less hassle. However, most of the recipes are not for total beginners, and many take some time. Every one I have made so far have been totally worth it, though!
• 
  Melanie

  I don't think I had ever read a cookbook cover-to-cover before this one, but Deb Perelman's book is as addictive as her blog. I want to make EVERYTHING but so far have only made the 'sweet peas and shells alfredo,' which were easy and delicious. This is really everything a good cookbook should be: clear, realistic, AND aspirational. I also appreciate that Deb keeps her stories light and her humor self-deprecating - it's a cookbook not a memoir, after all. Another thing - the book is even prettier without the dust jacket, which I LOVE because who wants to deal with a dust jacket in a kitchen anyway?
• 
  Heather

  I won this cookbook as a Goodreads giveaway and I was so excited! I follow Deb's blog, The Smitten Kitchen and to have all of her best recipes at my fingertips is just amazing. I cannot wait to make all of her scrumptious creations, especially the hazelnut crepe cake! Definitely not a book for people looking for quick, easy recipes, but if you want to get a little creative in the kitchen and have the time, this one is for you!
• 
  Natalie

  I love this cookbook and read it like a novel in one evening. I love the little blurbs at the beginning of each recipe and the photography is gorgeous.
• 
  Cynthia Paschen

  Completely drool-worthy. Good clear instructions. Wonderful large color photos. Off to make beer braised short ribs right this second. Don't try and stop me.
• 
  Chrissie

  I've owned this cookbook for a while now, but was holding off on writing a review for a variety of reasons. One being of course that I didn't dive head first into each and every recipe à la
  Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. (I still haven't tried every recipe — rarely do I ever get to every single one; I am not on a mission.) The other being that I felt unsure about it as a book.
  
  I cook to eat. I cook when my husband does not. I cook when we don't eat take out. I vacillate between wanting to cook complicated recipes, easy recipes, and hating food altogether. So, needless to say, I'm not in this for the love of cooking or baking or blogging about any of such food-related information. I am actually good at cooking and I enjoy baking when it's random and spontaneous, but I seriously detest the ever-loving grind of cooking. I do. It's too much to say that I hate cooking ... but it leans that way.
  
  All that being said, I have a few tried and true, go to recipe bloggers and Deb Perelman is one of them. Seriously, try her
  lasagna bolognese, her self-proclaimed "culinary Mount Everest," and you'll be in heaven. It's difficult in that it is exhausting/time-consuming ... but it's decadent and heavenly.
  
  Perelman has, in this book, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, created an incredible variety and basis to get to know her and her way of approaching food and her love of cooking. She is incredibly relatable, which you get through the prefaces for many recipes and even in the recipe information itself. All-in-all, this is a polished and choice selection from her blog and repertoire that I completely recommend.
  
  Now, I am a very visual person. If I could, I would like the recipes books I buy to have a picture for every single recipe to show me how the finished product looks. That's often how I choose my meals ... I need the picture. (I do realize that is not feasible, or I'd either get a really small selection of recipes or a really hefty book.) And while this book is heavy and has a ton of pictures — especially the wonderful step-by-step or of the laid out ingredients for many recipes — this is a rather moody, muted book in terms of the lighting and finished presentation. I'm not necessarily saying it's bad, but it is a very personal thing for me. I would rather the pictures be brighter and crisper. Even the text itself is a charcoal gray for the recipes and a soft, medium gray for the stories and such. The picture pages are not glossy, which I do appreciate, but that adds even more moodiness to their tone. It's just all very Renaissance Still Life, rather than 21st century cookbook, and that can make it hard on me when choosing a recipe.
  
  But other than that, I really love these recipes, the variety offered, and the way Perelman speaks in this book (and on her blog).
• 
  Meredith

  What a gorgeous book from one of my favorite bloggers (who also happens to be one of my favorite sources for awesome recipes)! I was thrilled when I heard that she would be putting out a cookbook, and this truly lived up to my expectations. There are photos and notes and chatty introductions accompanying each recipe. Yep, there are a few strange recipes...I don't really understand the popcorn cookies...but there are so many promising ones that I don't really care.
• 
  Erin

  So many great recipes in this book! And bizarrely, the ones that caught my eye were all savories, and mostly salads, at that. The chocolate brioche pretzels look amazing, though.
  
  Wonderfully put together with a great blend of pictures and recipes and a little blurb of text for each recipe. If you like the blog, you'll love the book. If you haven't read the blog, I think you'll love the book anyway; it's one of the best I've seen in a while.
• 
  Jill

  I had been anxiously awaiting this, and Deb Perelman did not disappoint. I read (devoured?) the recipes cover to cover, and could hardly keep myself from pulling out every pot and pan in the kitchen to try them all immediately. As expected, gorgeous photographs and clear, encouraging directions.
• 
  Jasmine

  Recipes sometimes complicated, sometimes simple, all delicious.
• 
  Beth

  The "Smitten Kitchen" blog was mentioned in passing in an article I read somewhere online. I checked it out half out of curiosity, half out of an aquisitive desire for a larger stock of relatively simple recipes. I was impressed enough with what I saw to buy this, the author's first cookbook.
  
  I subscribe to a popular meal kit delivery service, and one thing that is striking about Perelman's recipes is their base similarity to that service's. I think Smitten Kitchen's assume a higher level of base skill (maybe that's just because there are some baking recipes in this book, heh), and Smitten Kitchen's also often require a food processor, and the service's never do. But other than those little details, the gist is the same: making flavorful, fresh food with a limited number of tools, ingredients, and available space.
  
  The cookbook seems to be stretching for the unusual at times, with odd standouts such as cookies with popcorn here and there. I can appreciate the real effort at having recipes besides pork chops* or lasagna or whatever.
  
  *actually I believe that she is Jewish, since there's a notable lack of pork in her recipes. There are also a handful of recipes I associate with Jewish delis/cooking like latkes and woven bread.
  
  There's an entire chapter of vegetarian recipes. Of the short blog post-like essays before each recipe--about which more in a sec--one that struck me as cool was the one before "ratatouille sandwiches" which talked about Perelman's desire to give vegetarian guests a hearty, filling meal. I appreciate that ethos (rubs big belly) and it put me in mind of the vegetarian banh mi sandwiches my friend made one time, which were also flavorful and substantial. I'm looking forward to trying some of the veggie recipes in the book.
  
  On the essays: since I haven't/don't follow the blog regularly, the "upper middle class stay at home mommy"-ness of them wore on me after a while--call me a grouch, but I'm not all that interested in a total stranger's child's food preferences. I started to skip them, or skim them to get to the part where she talks about the actual food and the thought process behind the recipe. Frequent mentions of trips to the local bodega make me wonder if she's part of a gentrifying wave, since she is evidently white. That's mildly troubling to me, although maybe Manhattan simply has more corner groceries than we have in our part of the country.
  
  Another minor criticism is mainly of the format. At times, photos of the finished dish are a page flip away from the recipe itself, and often you have to flip a page to get the whole recipe. It would be much preferable to me to have the recipe and photo on one page spread, and ditch the essays. But the essays are a popular, friendly-faced feature of the website and they completely have a place in a book marketed to appeal to Smitten Kitchen's fans, so it's an inconsequential gripe.
  
  Overall, this is a nicely-produced book and there are more than one or two recipes I'd like to try, so I'm calling this a winner.
• 
  Meggie

  As many other devotees, I’ve enjoyed Deb’s cooking, writing, photos and recipes for many years. How exciting to hold her recipes in a book! It is full of great tips and ideas, many accessible and fun recipes and inspiration. We’ve already enjoyed the eggplant calzones and yummy oven fries. As with her blog, I love how her cooking is unfussy, uses fewer bowls and complicated steps and quality ingredients.
• 
  Goodreader

  I started going to smittenkitchen.com about two years ago because I needed a cake recipe. I found the chocolate peanut butter cake recipe (the softest, deepest chocolate cake combined with a sweet, cream cheese peanut butter frosting and topped with a semi-sweet (or dark chocolate) ganache) and I was hesitant to attempt this cake because it looked difficult. However, Perelman makes even the most difficult things wildly simple. She never leaves out important details nor does she neglect to tell you how to make the process simpler (for example, she tells the reader to freeze the cakes before attempting to assemble them because the crumb will be too soft otherwise).
  
  This book is just as beautiful as Perelman's website is. Her recipes are certainly one of the reasons I wanted this book, but I also wanted it because of her lovely photography and her storytelling ability. For me, and I think for most cooks, food is a story within itself and Perelman's book (and website) is a pleasure to read because she provides small snippets of how food has been a major part of her life. This cookbook is more than just a simple cookbook. Yes, there are the recipes and yes, there are gorgeous photos, but this book isn't all business, and I like that (of course, for some people, this could actually be annoying). Food, like good books, should be shared and celebrated with friends, and it is refreshing to see Perelman combine these two things so flawlessly.
  
  The recipes are really fantastic. Anybody can cook following one of Perelman's recipes. I'm not a chef. I don't even know how to properly slice a tomato without either completely destroying the poor fruit or completely destroying my own fingers. But following Perelman's recipes makes me feel like an expert in the kitchen. I would highly recommend this book to chefs and laypersons alike. Even if you don't cook, this book is still a pleasure to thumb through if not for the stories than for the beautiful photography. The book itself is also of a good size and weight so that, if needed, you can hold it open in one hand. Aside from the recipes (the contents has each section as: breakfast, salads, sandwiches/tarts/pizzas, vegetarian main dishes, seafood/poultry/meat main dishes, sweets, and party snacks and drinks), she also includes a section on measurements and a section called, "Build Your Own Smitten Kitchen." This section is indispensable for the beginner (and maybe even the expert) chef because it offers a list of the things one will certainly need in the kitchen. It isn't just a list -- Perelman offers an explanation as to why each thing is indispensable. Perelman also understands cost and so she never insists that you have to buy the very best, very top-of-the-line item in order to make good food.
  
  One of the other beauties of this book is that you can go to smittenkitchen.com and check out her recipes, her stories, and her photos before you decide whether or not you want to purchase this book. Perelman also has a section on her site in which she instructs folks on how to maximize space if they're working in a tiny kitchen (which is what she works in). The last thing I will say about this book is that Perelman is NOT a chef. She's a wife and a mother who happens to know a lot about cooking. In her writing, she comes off as honest and sweet and, on her website, you'll find a list of "recipes" that turned out to be disasters for her (because everyone messes up in the kitchen). She doesn't talk down to her readers nor does she pretend to know more than she actually does. Perelman is a great writer, a great cook, and so adorably kind that it's rather difficult to not be smitten with her, her book, or her kitchen.
• 
  Sarah

  Deb Perelman is the creator of The Smitten Kitchen, a fabulous blog on food and her cooking shenanigans in New York City. This blog (and now book are fabulous if you like pictures of different steps during food prep. Like The Pioneer Woman, Perelman is also a photographer. The pictures in this book are fantastic and the recipes are delicious. I made the Cheddar Swirl Buns (like a savory cinnamon roll), the Apricot Breakfast Crisp (I made mine with peaches and it turned out fine), and I plan on making the Almond Date Breakfast Bars. Next week we’ll be delving into the Wild Rice Gratin with Kale and the Mushroom Bourguignon. My only beef with this book is that the ingredients and the directions are not always on the same page. I found myself turning back and forth through the making of many of the dishes. This is a minor annoyance, but overall the book was very good and the recipes were simple enough to follow. No weird ingredients and the things that I made already turned out fantastic.
• 
  Alison

  What a lovely cookbook, full of delicious recipes that for the most part, aren't too daunting. There are headnotes and color photos for every recipe, and the book is divided into several sections - including two for mains, meat and veggie - and she has some great info at the start of the book and in the appendix. At a glance you might think that these recipes would call for high-end ingredients, but that's not necessarily the case, and this comes across. The author has the same "real life" type approach that we probably all have - sometimes my veggies come from the farmer's market, other times they come from the grocery store or the bodega, either way you can make them delicious. You can also tell how much she has tested and perfected these recipes, which I think is an important step that I think tends to get left out in a lot of cookbooks these days.
• 
  Sarah

  My interest in Deb Perelman was initially piqued when she came in to do a book talk/signing at the bookstore where I work. Whilst shelving, I was able to overhear much of her journey to self-taught cook and was intrigued. Upon later perusing her cookbooks my interest continued to spike. The gorgeous photographs and accompanying recipes are highly appealing. This is food that begs to be eaten. The hefty tome includes food for all times of day and all occasions, from everyday eats to celebratory meals. Definitely a cookbook worth adding to the collection rather than simply taking a screen shot of a select few recipes. There's far too many for that!
• 
  Exapno Mapcase

  This is a Goodreads First Reads review.
  
  This is a great collection of recipes brought together with a warm sense of humor. The recipes are well laid out and the ingredients list shows the measurements in both imperial and metric, something that is not often done. Her goal is just to have fun cooking, so there is no running around looking for rare ingredients. It just makes you want to get together with friends and family.
• 
  Christina Holt

  I'm in love with this cookbook! Deb's recipes aren't so advanced to be intimidating to a new cook, like me, but are complex enough so that I'm learning something new with each one. There's a really great array of main dishes (vegetarian and not), appetizers, sweets, breakfasts, sandwiches, pizza, and just so much more! The book itself is beautiful with a clean layout and lots of pictures. Every recipe I've tried has surprised me by how wonderful it tastes. Five stars, indeed!
• 
  Scottsdale Public Library

  From a food blogger on Face Book (which I follow). When she announced that she was releasing a SECOND cookbook recently I had to look for the first one. Her Salted Peanut Butter Cookies are amazing! Seriously: the best I've ever made or eaten, and I've eaten more than a few. I have yet to have a recipe from Smitten Kitchen that didn't perform to expectations. User friendly ingredients, creative, approachable, and delicious.
  ~Alexis S.
• 
  Deidre

  I love this cookbook. A good variety of classics, variations on classics, and interesting new ideas. Ranges in level of difficulty - this is not geared for people who never cook, but they could figure it out if they needed to - and for those of us who cook often, it's not oversimplified so much that we're bored. I can't wait to try out so many of these recipes!
• 
  Kerry

  I can only give this 4 stars because I haven't actually had a chance to try any of the recipes and it's time to return the book to the library! I may actually have to put this one on my wish list because this is the type of book that makes me want to try everything. The recipes are clear and seem relatively simple to follow and of course the fabulous photos that make one drule.
• 
  Zomick's Bakery

  I am a baker at Zomick's bakery and must give this cookbook 5 star. That is not because I found recipes I could prepare, but gave me an interesting idea for some old traditional challah recipes I could restructure. If you are into cooking get this one and you'll have plenty of interesting recipes to try. -
  Zomick's bakery
• 
  Natashya KitchenPuppies

  Beautiful book from one of the world's most popular food bloggers. Stunning photography and 100 innovative yet comforting dishes. See my full review here -
  http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies....