HOLLY NADLER
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When we left off last Friday in this first-ever cookbook cliff-hanger, the Linda Jean’s-sponsored favorite recipes, assembled by Robin Ayers, LJ wait staff and patrons, we’d just finished up with appetizers and soups and salads, and anything could have happened in this intervening week — earthquake, flood, all the bankers of Wall Street taking off in a Titanic-sized balloon (hooray!) — before we got to vegetables and side dishes. So here we go:
In the helpful hints section, my favorites include this: “A few drops of lemon juice added to simmering rice will keep the grains separated,” and “If your pasta sauce seems a little dry, add a few tablespoons of the pasta’s cooking water.” This section is on the slim side, but everything sounds tasty, and in fact, writing this at 11:30 on a Wednesday morning, I’m hungry enough to go back to LJ’s for one of their humongous breakfasts. Back to the subject at hand, the Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole by Dottie Maciel looks especially good, with cinnamon, ginger, allspice and maple syrup rounding out the flavors. Also Tara Edge Schoenfeld provides a Tomato and Feta Pasta Salad with a topping of sun-dried tomatoes, capers and a full cup of shredded Parmesan. Honestly, reporting on this cookbook is pure torture when all I have to eat in my own fridge is last night’s salad and a plastic container of cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving.
Helpful hints on main dishes includes such tidbits as: “Adding tomatoes to roasts naturally tenderizes the meat as tomatoes contain an acid that works well to break down meats.” Did you know that? I didn’t know that! The main dishes section is the heart of the cookbook, of course, and you’ll find everything from Baked Coconut Chicken (Ann Tuccelli) to Baked Scallops (Cheryl Noyes) to three Joe dishes: Taco Joes, Sloppy Joes, and Bolognese Joe by Jane Dietterich, Jackie Smith, and Joe McCarthy respectively.
Bread and rolls come next, then desserts, then cookies and candy, then this and that which includes chocolate sauce and, not part of the same recipe, Teriyaki Portabella Burger which I would proceed to prepare right now provided I had portabella mushrooms, teriyaki sauce, canola oil, pineapple slices and a whole wheat bun in my possession. I do happen to have on hand a single ingredient on the list, an onion, but short of cutting it up and caramelizing it, it’s hard to turn it into anything approaching a meal.
As I recommended last week, buy this book, Favorite Recipes (Morris Press, $12) for a delightful stocking stuffer. Lovely country-style illustrations of flowers and food grace the cover and section dividers, grace notes supplied by Morris Books without, alas, any credit extended to the artist. Favorite Recipes is available at Linda Jean’s, and we can only hope Ms. Ayres has already arranged for a second printing because this baby is flying off the counter. Proceeds from the sale of the cookbook are donated to the Island Food Pantry and the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard.
Anna-Marie D’Addarie at the Oak Bluffs Library wants to make sure everyone knows about the continuing project of the jigsaw puzzle. It’s located on a table amid the magazine and mystery novels section. This recent puzzle is a doozy — 2,000 pieces. It’s a scenic picture of fields, flowers and sky but the last remaining section is uniformly green, and it’s driving the most dedicated puzzle enthusiasts mad. If it’s not finished soon, the library may have to call in a team of spatial experts from M.I.T. Go to the library on your lunch hour to take a turn.
The next puzzle will be a merciful 1,000 pieces.
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