Cookbook Review: "You Can Trust A Skinny Cook" by Allison Fishman

"If you don't enjoy making it and it doesn't taste terrific, then who cares if it's lower in calories?"  

(from "You Can Trust a Skinny Cook")

I've always meant to review cookbooks....but, well, I just never got around to it. Mostly because my cookbook budget has been slashed to nearly, well, nothing. Aren't budgets fun?

I owe a HUGE thank you to the Anchorage Library for their fabulous cookbook selection, both new and old. Those two and a half rows of cookbooks four shelves high is a thing of infinite beauty (I have to remember to share it with you sometime) and oh-so-inspiring (if not overwhelming!).

On the "new acquisitions" shelf, I stumbled across Allison Fishman's "You Can Trust A Skinny Cook" and was caught immediately by the title. Can I really trust a skinny cook? Shouldn't she at least have the slightest hint of a muffin top or double chin to set my mind at ease? (I'm kidding, of course. Chefs always seem too busy and too manic to eat much.)

Lacking formal culinary education, I take a much more intuitive approach to cookbooks. First, are they bright and sunny? I mean, do the give off the "come on over and have seat" appeal that you need to really take the time and go through 272 pages, one page at a time?

This one did. The photos were bright and inviting, though I was sorry that not every recipe had one to accompany it. Truth be told, I really wanted to see the "enticing golden topping" on the "Simplest Salmon" on page 205.  (A basic marinade of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard? I'm intrigued!)

Fishman gives the basic background on herself and her eating and cooking principles in the first pages, describing how she actually lost weight while in culinary school. She grazed all day long and ate real, honest-to-goodness food and didn't gorge on gigantic meals three times a day. She offers up 10 simple and effective commandments for "your best body" that include getting enough sleep, drinking water, and enjoying what you eat.

The cookbook is broken down into sections:

• Good Morning: Breakfast & Brunch
• Salad Days: Crisp Salads & Homemade Dressings
• Slurp!: Soups & Stews
• Something to Munch: Snacks & Dips
• Twirl Your Fork: Pasta & Noodles
• Veg Out: Veggie Sides
• Can-Do Carbs: Starchy Sides
• Much Depends on Dinner: Meats & Mains
• Save Room for Dessert

I'm admittedly not much of a salad eater these days (I know, I know, I'm working on it) so I didn't spend much time in that section. I gave Fishman's "Sunrise Muffins" a whirl and loved, loved, loved them (recipe and results below). Some standouts that I happened to mark with a post-it note for later use included:

• roasted tomato soup
• chicken satay with spicy peanut sauce
• Parmesan twists
• spaghetti squash with brown butter sauce
• rigatoni with sausage and broccoli rabe
• skirt steak with chimichurri sauce

One of the first things I noticed about the book was that Fishman did not shy away from international cuisine and exotic tastes...but she took the time and made the effort to make them approachable and do-able for the average American home cook. I'm not sure I'd have the courage to attempt tradiational Thai Beef on my own, but in "You Can Trust A Skinny Cook," the most exotic ingredient I'd have to hunt down is the basic Asian fish sauce I can find on the shelf of my neighborhood Fred Meyers or Safeway. Score!

Before every recipe is a paragraph or two--thoughts about the recipe's origins or even a side note about the key ingredients. I think, besides the interesting and approachable recipes, I loved Fishman's "voice" and presence in her cookbook. Often, cookbook writers craft their recipes from the 10, 000 foot view...their voices sound a bit stuffy and affected, like someone you'd rather avoid than toast a crouton with.

Not the case with Fishman. I really enjoyed the anecdotes about her friends, her time in culinary school, or her other creative endeavors and how they related to the recipe at hand. She seems like the kind of friend you'd love to have in your kitchen as you cook, which says something--my kitchen is painfully small and I'm aggressively territorial about it!!

If you have access to it, get "You Can Trust A Skinny Cook" and not just if you're looking to lose weight. To be honest, I lost the "weight loss" bent in the book and really enjoyed the recipes as quality food, not diet food (which, I guess, was the point the chef was trying to make).

And now, a Hungry Little Blackbird version of Sunrise Muffins (which originally used cranberries, but I love chocolate chips and cherries, so I used them!) Chocolate and orange has always been an odd, fantastic combination in my opinion and they really sing together in these muffins.

Sunrise Muffins a la "You Can Trust A Skinny Cook" a la HLB

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 orange, cut into eights
1/2 cup orange juice
1 large eg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chocolate chips, semi sweet

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375. I used cupcake paper liners, but you can also spray nonstick cooking spray in your muffin tins.
2. Put orange wedges, juice, egg, and oil into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. In bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour the orange mixture in and stir into a batter. Add cherries and chocolate chips.
4. Pour into muffin liners (3/4 full) and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Voila!

Many thanks to Chef Allison Fishman for a fantastic book!