Review: The Summertime Anytime Cookbook and Mushroom and Leek Soup

Summer may not officially begin until the solstice on June 20, but what we consider the summer season in the United States kicks off on Memorial Day weekend. So naturally, now is a great time to talk about a new summer-themed cookbook. Written by Dana Slatkin, chef at Shutters on the Beach, a restaurant in Santa Monica, California, The Summertime Anytime Cookbook has some simple, fresh ways to do California cuisine even if ocean breezes don't necessarily blow your way.

The book is full of color photos of many recipes, plus a few beach shots that will make you sigh on a chilly night. The organization is novel, grouping recipes into chapters that evoke a certain mood or occasion: Sunny Days, Cloudy Days, Balmy Nights, Stormy Nights and Misty Mornings. At first I thought the concept was a little silly, but I quickly began to enjoy thinking about the dishes with this mindset. It's a neat trick that provides a context in which you'll view the recipes. Flipping past chicken breasts with smoky lentils; butter bean salad with oven-dried tomatoes, black olives and pesto; and apple-jack (as in Monterey jack cheese) pie with ginger custard sauce in the Stormy Nights chapter, I envisioned myself in a warm kitchen as the wind whips outside and rain lashes the windows making Slatkin's radicchio soup with smoked mozzarella cheese.

The majority of the recipes are simple and easy to pull off even if you don't have access to fabulous California produce. If ingredient substitutions are not suggested, the casual, easy-going feel of the book should encourage you to swap broccoli for broccolini or frozen corn for fresh. I like the advice Slatkin gives in the headnotes to the recipe for wild mushroom and leek soup:

This soup is pure mushroom indulgence. Once pureed, it is so creamy that you could easily omit the cream and never miss it.

Oh, you don't say. If you recall my love for pureed veggie soups, you can understand why I chose this recipe (provided below) to try out. I was skeptical about the level of "pure mushroom indulgence" I was going to experience, but I can honestly say that the soup was simply, deliciously mushroom-y, as promised. With no cream, it was still thick and rich, if not a very lovely color. Swirl some sour cream on top and it's perfectly presentable. Very easy and definitely something I will make again.


I also tried a "Cloudy Days" recipe for lemon-ginger string beans, which was a new-to-me, yet low-maintenance, version of a vegetable I don't usually get excited about. Scattered throughout the book are cute bits of Martha Stewart-ish lifestyle advice on "beach table chic" or "six uses for a bucket of sand." These bonus tidbits might be an added draw to some people, but the collection of 130 recipes plus photos doesn't need much enchancement. I'm looking forward to reliving the California vibe of my formative years (I grew up just south of Santa Monica) by making Tomatillo, Chile and Bean Chowder; Truffle-Scented Salmon with Mustard Vinaigrette; and Strawberry-Rhubard Cobbler (desserts aren't neglected here, including fruit-focused treats, as well as things like Peanut-Butterscotch Crunch Bars).


If summertime can be an escape from work, routine and responsibility, this book plays off that mystique to create a culinary escape. Through the accessible recipes, you can transport yourself to a Southern California beach, basking in the sun and reveling in the moist, salty air. This is a book you'll be happy to curl up on the couch dreaming of vacation with, or turn to for new salad ideas, simple fish dishes or inspiration for your haul of summer produce.

Wild Mushroom and Leek Soup
Adapted from The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin

If you want to use heavy cream, add one cup along with the sherry. Pacific Foods makes a very good mushroom broth available at Whole Foods market and many other stores. For vegetable broth, lately I've been loving the rich, dark version made by Kitchen Basics, available in supermarkets. Any kinds of mushrooms would be good; I used a mix of portobella, white and shiitake.

1 tbs. unsalted butter
1 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. mushrooms, chopped
3 to 4 large leeks, white and light green parts, chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper
6 cups mushroom broth or low-sodium vegetable broth
2 tbs. dry sherry or lemon juice
sour cream for serving
chopped fresh chives for serving

In a large pot, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their juices, then raise the heat to medium high and cook until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are soft and beginning to brown.

Reduce heat to medium, add the leeks and cook until soft. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Add the broth, bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Add the sherry and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes so vegetables get very soft and flavors develop. If you think too much liquid is evaporating, cover the pot for a portion of this time.

Puree soup in batches in a blender (I used an immersion blender, but I think a traditional blender may give a smoother texture--it's up to you). Return soup to the pot and heat thoroughly without boiling to avoid splatters. Ladle into bowls and garnish with sour cream and chives.

The Summertime Anytime Cookbook was sent to me for review by the publisher, Clarkson Potter.

The Cornbread Gospels Review and Almond-Herb Biscuits

I’ve never been a big fan of the single-subject cookbook. That is probably because I’ve never encountered one that totally charmed me like The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon, author of Passionate Vegetarian. What makes great single-subject cookbooks is a passion – or more accurately, an obsession – with your subject. If you can transfer that passion to your readers, you’re well on your way to a successful cookbook.

Dragonwagon makes such a case for cornbread and the people who make it, I wondered why I was never aware of its “specialness” before. Cornbread tells the story of America beginning with Native Americans who viewed corn as the foundation of life. It also tells the story of how people lived in different regions of the country, especially the Northeast and the South.

Dragonwagon spins the histories of cornbread with an engaging tone and unravels the associations and references to cornbread in folklore, music and literature. She also does an excellent job of setting things straight, like the differences – sometimes absolute, often with shades of gray – between northern and southern cornbread. In the south, cornbread was and often still is a “daily bread,” simple and healthful enough to eat regularly. And traditional southern cornbread isn’t sweet, while in the northeast, cornbread was a specialty baked good or a “sometime food,” as they’d say on Sesame Street.

The book is organized in a way that I’ve never had trouble finding the types of recipes I’m looking for. The first three chapters are on basic cornbreads by region: Southern, Northern and Southwestern. Next is an intriguing chapter on Global Cornbreads covering arepas, roti and other variations from Africa, Greece and more. Then there are several chapters on the other types of cornmeal-based foods: Babycakes includes muffins (I can't wait to try DK's Banana-Ginger Corn Muffins and High Desert Blue Corn Muffins with Sage and Toasted Pine Nuts), biscuits and other little things; Yeasted Cornbreads includes recipes for Herb-Scented Whole Wheat Cornbread and Glazed Maple Cornmeal Rolls; Soulful Spoonbreads is all about puddings and soufflé-type dishes; Both Sides Now is mostly pancakes and other griddled goodies like George Washington’s Favorite Corn Cakes, “Last Rows of Summer” Waffles and Newport County-Style Thin and Lacy Jonnycakes; finally, Crisped Cornbreads covers fried things like Hush Puppies and Fritters.

Every recipe has an introduction that not only describes very adequately what type – indulgent, healthy, heavy, light – of cornbread you're going to get, but reveals the source or history of the recipe, often in very personal terms. A good chunk of the recipes in the book were handed to or dictated to the author from friends and acquaintances who were only to happy to share “their cornbread.” The Southern chapter, for instance, has many recipes named after their source. Many of these recipes are similar save for a small but often critical variation; cornbread is such simple food that a small change like adding a tablespoon of sugar makes a difference.

Simplicity also requires good technique. Truman Capote’s Family’s Cornbread suffered from my lapse in common sense. It took no time to assemble the recipe, and while I was waiting for my oven to heat, my eggs must have separated from the other wet ingredients; not giving them a good whisk before combining with the wet ingredients resulted in a funky layer of egg in my cornbread. Having learned my lesson, Ronni’s Appalachian Cornbread, very similar to Truman's and basic – no flour, no sugar, 1 egg – was perfect right out of the oven, the ideal daily bread.

From the Global chapter, I tried Pan de Elote or Real Mexican Pan Cornbread, a very light, savory bread that formed a custardy layer on the bottom of the pie pan—delicious.

Dragonwagon’s recipes are easy to follow and don't skimp on useful details. She takes the pressure off by letting you know what substitutions work and which ones are not okay. She’s adamant about using stone ground cornmeal for its truer flavor and natural quality as opposed to “enriched” (read: heavily processed) versions that you’ll find in any supermarket. I am able to find a lot of “southern” ingredients in Florida, but my grocery store only had processed cornmeal - sad. Luckily, a natural food store like Whole Foods has plenty of natural options.

The last recipe I tried was sort of “fancy:” Savory Almond Herb Biscuits. I absolutely loved these – simple drop biscuits full of flavor from toasted almonds, sautéed onion and garlic and fresh herbs. There are so many recipes I’ve bookmarked, and I haven’t even gotten to the extensive section of Great Cornbread Go-Withs, full of vegetable dishes, beans and soups that make a happy pairing with cornbread; not the mention the Sweet Somethings with recipes that will please fans of bread pudding. One final note: if you’re set on buying this cookbook, make sure you have a cast iron skillet to prepare all those fabulous southern cornbreads as they were meant to be.

Savory Almond Herb Biscuits
Adapted from The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon
You can use all AP flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour. Lacking buttermilk, I used Dragonwagon’s suggestion for a substitution: thin some all-natural plain yogurt with water until it’s the consistency of thick buttermilk. It worked perfectly.

Makes 12

1/2 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted in a heavy skillet (toasting is essential) and coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, divided use
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk or thinned plain yogurt
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
1 generous tablespoon assorted fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary or sage (I used mostly rosemary)

Preaheat oven to 450 degrees. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Heat a heavy skillet (same one you toasted the almonds in) to medium. Add a scant tablespoon of the butter, then add the onion, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 2 minutes more and set aside.

Combine the cornmeal, flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut the remaining butter into the flour mixture or quickly blend with your hands until the mixture is all shaggy bits and fine crumbs.

Scrape all the onion and garlic into the flour mixture. Add the buttermilk and stir just to combine, stopping when there are still a few dry clumps. Stir in the almonds and herbs, seeing that all the dry bits are moistened.

Drop the batter by scant 1/4-cupfuls onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden on the bottom. Serve right away with butter.

I received this book as a review copy.