Cookbook Review

Well, time to get back in the ol' saddle here and keep working my way through the Fall Baking cookbook. Just between you and me, I am getting a little bit tired of it as the seasons shift from winter to spring. I never really thought about much it before, but fall dishes have a lot of similar features that, when served one season a year, are delicious. When spread throughout the year they tend towards monotony.

Persian roast Chicken with Walnut-Pomegranate Sauce

Ingredients:
Cumin
Fresh lemon juice
Lemon Peel
Turmeric
Saffron
Cinnamon
Salt
Chicken
Olive oil

Sauce:
Onion
Pomegranate juice
Sugar
Cumin
Saffron
Walnuts
Salt

I've always been curious to try saffron, that exotic spice more precious than gold, but I've never had the chance. This time, I was determined to be adventurous, buy some saffron, and satisfy my curiosity. Until I saw the price, that is! Saffron is still a bit beyond this girl's price range, so this recipe wasn't quite as Persian as it might have been.

For the chicken I made gluten pieces according to my usual recipe, then used them according to the recipe directions. I was asked to make a paste of the spices, then rub the chicken before frying. It looked pretty tasty, but then, everything is better fried. After frying they were supposed to roast for a while, but I skimped on that step---we were hungry, and after all, it's a veggie meat, not some (beg pardon) bacteria-laden carcass.

The sauce was interesting. Frying onions and covering them with pomegranate juice seemed a little counter-intuitive, but it came together nicely. I cooked the sauce a little too long and boiled away some of the volume, but over all it went well.

Review:
This recipe was tasty enough, though vastly more exotic than I am used to(even without the saffron). I love anything with homemade gluten, so I was guaranteed to like it, but it got an, "It's edible" from my dad and a "You MUST make this again" from my mom. The tangy sweet sauce went well with the spicy flavors of the chicken and the recipe itself wasn't very difficult or complicated. Basically, rub, fry, pour sauce.


Sweet Potato Honey Pie

Ingredients:
Pie crust
Canned sweet potatoes
Eggs
Honey
Butter
Cinnamon
Salt
Ginger
Cloves
Milk

I prepared this recipe with very few substitutions. I used soy milk instead of regular, but that was about it.

Review:
My mom may have liked the chicken best, but I loved this recipe. I'd never had sweet potato pie before and was pleased with how tasty it was. I like the fact that its entire sweetener comes from the potatoes themselves and from honey, and I also like that it uses only 2 eggs. It was simple to make, and I would definitely do this recipe again.