Bernard Clayton (1916–2011)

This 700-page tome on the wonders of bread has sat in my to-read pile for years now--what better time to take a look than during quarantine? I skimmed through and jotted down pages and recipes of interest. This book has an incredible variety of bread on offer, from sandwich loaves to rustic boules to rolls to quick breads of all kinds to vegetable-stuffed to how to build your own backyard bread oven.

One of the great surprises was that most of the recipes include three versions: by hand, by Kitchen-Aid mixer, or by food processor. And hey, here I have a new big food processor... and lo and behold, I currently have a batch of brioche dough rising in my fridge. That will be the first of many recipes I try from this book.… (lisätietoja)

This is an interesting book to browse through for ideas but not a practical cookbook for everyday use. Many of the recipes call for special ingredients that many average families will not have on their shelf. If purchased, the ingredients are likely to sit on your shelf for years. Routine use of the Internet may suggest suitable substitutions in some instances, but the search will become a regular activity.

The table of Contents is almost unreadable, further limiting the practical usefulness of this book. Soups are organized by style or primary ingredient: beef, chicken, chili, chowders, and so on. In each section the name of a soup is followed by the page number, another name, and another page number, until all of the soups in that chapter are listed. In the section devoted to vegetable soups, for example, the list runs on for almost an entire page. Clearly an alternate approach would have made more sense.

The format of the recipes is nontraditional. The list of ingredients is presented first but divided into sections. The primary ingredients appear first, followed in some instances by the ingredients to be include in the Sachet d’epice, and then, again in some instances, by additional ingredients. The Sachet d’epice is a bundle of herbs and spices in a metal tea ball or tied in a cloth or cheesecloth bag and used to flavor the soup. It is to be removed when the cooking is completed.

The directions follow, listed in the order the activities are to be completed, but not in the traditional numbered manner. The wide margins and extra spacing between steps result in some recipes sprawling across three pages.

Like most cookbooks, “The Complete Book of Soups and Stews” is best regarded as a reference to be consulted as needed. I found a few recipes I want to research further, but I imaging I will be able to find comparable recipes on line without the esoteric ingredients and other rigamarole recommended herein.… (lisätietoja)