Cooking‌ ‌through our‌ ‌cookbook‌ ‌shelves‌ ‌in‌ ‌2020.‌ ‌

A couple of years ago, as one way to handle the fallout of the election, I took it upon myself to make at least one thing from all of the cookbooks on our main cookbook shelf before acquiring any new books. This was a really useful exercise to encourage me to use what we have at our disposal, but since then we’ve upgraded those shelves and I’ve reorganized the collection after acquiring several more books in addition to the new shelving so a revisit of this project was in order. Anticipating how bad the 2020 election cycle will play out was another inducement to take this on once again, if only to have a proper outlet to distract me from that circus. (As I’m writing this I’m listening to the Judiciary Committee make their arguments on voting for the articles of impeachment, and to hear some of these GOP-ers go on is painful enough as it is.)

There have definitely been some changes made to the bookcase beyond the aesthetics; I’ve added over thirty cookbooks to the collection (the benefit of having wider shelves this time around) in those three years, upping my total from 105 books to 138. I’ll admit that this is a little intimidating, but I feel confident that I can do it.

To keep things fair, I can’t use the same recipes that I used the first time around as that feels like cheating but also defeats the purpose of making the most of these books. Cocktails count, but component/pantry ingredients don’t. If I blogged about it outside of the 2017 challenge I can use it, but if I specifically wrote about it as a part of the process I cannot. 

I think this will be fun–I’ve set up another spreadsheet to track my progress and I can compare it against my original effort, and while I’m sure I’ll attack the new books I’ve received in the last few months with gusto, I’m excited to turn to ones that I haven’t used nearly as much and see what I can make with them. More to come on this as the year evolves, of course, but below please find the full lineup that will take up my time in 2020:

UPDATE – 8/17/20: As of 8/14/20, this is COMPLETE with 138 books out of 138 used! Time to celebrate with an Ina GIF that epitomizes 2020 only too well:

 

  • The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook – Mezcaliente, chicken liver mousse
  • Franny’s Simple Seasonal Italian – meatballs
  • The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant Cookbook – 
  • Momofuku – red-eye mayo
  • Momofuku Milk Bar – bagel bombs
  • Ivan Ramen – Roasted garlic mazemen mentioned here
  • The Gaijin Cookbook – Miso soup, Okinawa-style soba with pork belly and katsuobushi
  • Num Pang – hoisin meatballs, holy pickled carrots
  • Le Bernardin – Asian tuna tartare (first blogged about here)
  • Avec Eric – California Bee Sting
  • Les Halles Cookbook – coq au vin
  • Appetites: A Cookbook – Macau-style pork chop
  • Think Like a Chef – roasted tomatoes, roasted tomato risotto
  • Craft of Cooking – grilled quail 
  • ‘Wichcraft – onion frittata
  • Antojitos – shrimp in a firey salsa, Cesar salad
  • The Balthazar Cookbook –  sauce bordelaise, ouefs en maruette
  • Boqueria: A Cookbook from Barcelona to New York – Sangría de vino rosado (blogged about here)
  • The Basque Book – poached eggs with mushrooms and ham broth, roasted red peppers with anchovies, chorizo toasts with quail eggs
  • Made in Spain – Basque tuna tapa with onion confit; migas with mushrooms
  • Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America – creamy eggs with shallots and scallions 
  • Vegetables Unleashed – tomato tartare, roasted broccoli
  • Rustic Italian Food – bigoli alla matriciana (note: used a separate pasta recipe as the original called for bucatini)
  • Mastering Pasta – Meyer lemon fettuccine with shrimp
  • Mastering Pizza – Neapolitan pizza dough at 70% hydration
  • Zahav – potato latke with creme fraiche and smoked salmon
  • Israeli Soul – Jerusalem mixed grill, chicken thigh shawarma
  • The Barcelona Cookbook – cauliflower-fennel cazuela

  • Vietnamese Home Cooking – Sichuan pickled cucumbers, pork steamed buns (instead of chicken)
  • Autumn in Piemonte – eggs in salsa verde
  • Jerusalem – red pepper and baked egg galettes
  • Ottolenghi – cauliflower fritters
  • Hawksmoor at Home – The Bloodhound
  • Polpo – tuna carpaccio with pink peppercorns
  • Moro: The Cookbook – quail eggs in cumin
  • Made in Sicily – warm shrimp salad
  • Made in Italy – bresaola with goat cheese dressing
  • The Complete Nose to Tail – cucumber salad with mustard and dill
  • Mastering the Art of French Cooking – ouefs à la Bourguignonne
  • The Essential Cuisines of Mexico – avocado soup
  • American Sfoglino -tagliatelle with prosciutto and butter
  • Mallmann on Fire – pork chops with thyme oil and roasted grapes
  • Seven Fires – pork chops with prosciutto and sage, grapefruit salad
  • Catalan Food – pintxos morunos with cucumber salad and pepper sauce
  • Basque Country – simple Basque Salad, chorizo in cider, toasts with tomato, goat cheese, and serrano ham, piquillo peppers
  • A Kitchen in France –  roasted sausages and fennel
  • French Country Cooking – black pig pork chops
  • The Gourmet Cookbook – poached eggs with smoked salmon and lemon-herb sour cream sauce
  • Bon Appetit: Fast and Fresh – scrambled egg and chorizo tacos

  • Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef – spaghetti Cetarese
  • Mugaritz – warm mozzarella and prune water (evoking the work of Richard Serra)
  • Mexico Inside and Out – caramelized onion and Arbol chile salsa
  • Tu Casa Mi Casa – chilaquiles
  • A Day at El Bulli – pineapple/fennel
  • The Family Meal – noodles with shiitake and ginger
  • 1080 Recipes – quail in white wine sauce
  • The Book of Tapas – navy bean salad
  • I Know How To Cook – buckwheat crepes
  • The Silver Spoon – stuffed mushrooms
  • Naples and the Amalfi Coast – pollo all’ischitana
  • Tuscany – testaroli con pesto
  • Puglia – lagne e ceci
  • Sicily – gamberi con la conza
  • The Mezze Cookbook – Jerusalem artichoke and orange soup, Turkish scrambled eggs
  • Cuba: The Cookbook – breaded fish with fine herbs and salsa criolla
  • Japan – The Cookbook – yakitori, soy sauce-pickled cucumbers

  • Culinaria Spain – orange salad
  • The Essential Oyster – Chubacabra’s delight 
  • In Search of Perfection – tomato compote
  • A Feast of Ice & Fire – iced minty green drink
  • The Wiseguy Cookbook – lemon basil chicken
  • Dinner in an Instant – lentils with smoky sausage
  • The Hygge Life – Scandinavian pancakes with berries and whipped cream
  • Teoria i Practica del Vermut – the Bronx cocktail
  • El secret del Gintònic a Casa – gintonic Bombay Sapphire ultimate
  • The Cherry Bombe Cookbook – mirza ghasemi
  • Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes – seaweed salad
  • All About Eggs – gin fizz

  • Mixing New Orleans Cocktails – Brennan’s mimosa
  • Arnaud’s Restaurant Cookbook – Arnaud’s mimosa
  • Galatoire’s Cookbook – smoked salmon canapes, shrimp au vin
  • Emeril’s TV Dinners – snow pea salad with horseradish dressing
  • The Dooky Chase Cookbook – breakfast shrimp
  • Franklin Steak – charred jalapeno and anchovy butter, garlicky mushrooms
  • Forever Summer – za’atar chicken thighs
  • Nigellissima – Pork chops with fennel and allspice
  • Bringing it Home – spicy pickled pineapple, beet-cured salmon
  • Sous Vide – egg salad, long-cooked salsa, bread-and-butter pickles
  • Mixtape Potluck – eggs in purgatory
  • Home – deviled ham and eggs, shrimp-stuffed mushrooms
  • Smoke & Pickles – quick carraway pickles
  • Girl in the Kitchen – chilled sweet onion soup
  • Chinese Heritage Cooking – egg crepes, Labor Day wings
  • I’m Just Here for the Food – chicken with shallots and garlic
  • EveryDayCook – Beale Street burgers
  • The Little Paris Kitchen – steak tartare with a Japanese twist
  • Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook – sticky chicken with Malaysian salad
  • Everyday Easy – baked jerk chicken thighs
  • Prune – Italian greyhound
  • A Girl and Her Pig – roasted peanuts with rosemary and garlic
  • Aperitivos Originales – montaditos with hummus and pico de gallo
  • Los Mejores Pintxos de Donostia – anchovy and cured egg yolk toasts, cream of cauliflower soup
  • La Pasta Per Als Catalans – garagnelli aramotaniques
  • Cuina Facil dels Grans Xefs – foamy eggs with cheese and fresh herbs
  • Cocina Catalana – roasted chicken with allioli
  • Medieval Recipes from Catalonia – tender chickpea stew
  • Catalan Cuisine – grilled mushrooms
  • Sicily – Ragusan meatballs
  • Treasures of Sicilian Cuisine – roasted breaded meat
  • Canal House Cooking vol 4 – crab in avocado
  • Canal House Cooking vol 5 – sausages with apples and onion
  • Canal House Cooking vol 6 -meatless meatballs in broth
  • Canal House Cooking vol 7 – gin e limone
  • Antipasta – salad with quail eggs and tomatoes
  • Pasta – garagnelli with white ragu
  • Nueva Salsa – sun-dried tomato rainbow salsa

  • Fine Cooking Annual Vol 1 – lemony Moroccan-Style chicken with yogurt sauce
  • Cooking Fresh – hoisin lettuce cups
  • Cooking Appetizers – pork shiu mai
  • Rome – garagnelli with pancetta and onion
  • Barcelona – roasted chicken with garlic
  • Tapas – lime-drizzled shrimp
  • Cocinar en Casa – tortilla de patatas en 7 minutos
  • Rustica – tomato-cumin soup
  • Everyday Italian – orecchiette with toasted breadcrumbs and prosciutto
  • Giada’s Family Dinners – rosé with fresh sage and lmeon
  • The Food You Want to Eat – roasted chicken legs with herbs and lemon
  • Small Plates – Moroccan-spiced lamb meatballs with cucumber-mint sauce
  • Toro Bravo – noodles with piementon dulce
  • Spanish Country Kitchen – chicken with garlic
  • Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food – sausages with tomatoes and beans
  • Food Made Fast Weeknight – sausages with white beans
  • The New McCall Cookbook – shrimp toasts
  • Viva la Vida – mango martini, Argentinian beef skewers, chimichurri
  • The Foods and Wines of Spain – shrimp in sherry sauce
  • Tacos – bacon and egg tostada
  • The New Italian Cooking – pasta with sweet pepper sauce
  • A Work in Progress –  a salad of blackberries and beetroot