Did you ever belong to a book club? You know. Where you read a book and then get together to drink wine and discuss the book.
I have done a few book clubs in my life, but never a cookbook club. One where you cook from a book. There are real life cooking clubs where people meet and eat from a chosen book, or a chosen cuisine. Food52 talks about how to do that.
For me, though, I am talking about virtual clubs. On line clubs. Facebook, actually. I stumbled upon the Food52 club page and became a member recently. Why? Because I miss the on line challenges to make me cook outside my normal rotation of recipes and ingredients.
An on line challenge that keeps me interested in expanding my capabilities. So, I found myself downloading a brand new eBook last week.
Deep Run Roots. The massive (600 page) cookbook from Public TV chef star Vivian Howard. Southern food. Simple to complex. Traditional to fusion. I am really enjoying the challenge. To cook outside my comfort zone. Like trying this pork in curried watermelon.
I haven’t tried this one yet. I will in watermelon season.
Now, I just began. With lamb and beet tzatziki.
To make it local, I used lamb from Evermore Farms in Westminster (I used ground lamb and made meatballs instead of kebabs). Chiogga beets from my CSA, which meant my tzatziki wasn’t neon pink.
What is fun about this on line cookbook club. Seeing what everyone else is making from the cookbook this month, and getting ideas for cooking.
Me, I want to try her shrimp and grits, using the grits from my CSA.
Heirloom grits. Cornmeal. Heavily featured in her book. Today, I stopped at Boarman’s to get shrimp. Such a good deal on big, Gulf Shrimp.
This week, shrimp. Next week, oysters. Can’t wait to try all these new ideas.
AnnieRie Unplugged 