Ally’s Kitchen: A Passport for Adventurous Palates {Cookbook}
Wander the world without leaving your kitchen! Popular blogger, chef, and TV darling Ally Phillips shares her favorite recipes from around the globe in this truly unique cookbook. Full of cultural background, delicious recipes, and Ally Phillips’s signature ‘food branching’ ideas, this cookbook is guaranteed to turn your ordinary meals into memorable masterpieces.
Cooks&Books&Recipes Editors {Dee}:
It’s here!! Available online today! Finally! No, this isn’t a cookbook that I wrote or was a part of in any way. So, you may ask, why am I so excited? Because that’s what happens when you know “boholicious” Ally — even if only virtually. Her enthusiasm for everything and everyone around her simply spreads.
And in the case of her cookbook, there are SO many reasons to join Ally on her magical carpet ride around the globe: the scrumptious photos, her travel stories (you’ll be easily transported to wherever she visited), and of course, the recipes!
Before I get to the recipes, however, here’s my latest confession: I’m not overly adventurous food-wise. That may sound strange coming from someone who loves food, recipes, restaurants, and cooking. But unlike all the ready-to-try-anything foodies out there, I am a bit simpler (pickier?) in what I eat and what I cook. So I was a little worried about what I’d want to try from Ally’s global cuisine: Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean Islands…
I should have known not to worry. Ally’s goal is to give us ideas — and then let us loose in the kitchen. Her idea of “Food Branching” is brilliant. She encourages her readers to create a mood, style the food, push our culinary boundaries, and spend time at the table savoring each bite, all while engaging with others. I can do that!
Once I understood that I could start with Ally’s recipes and then “boho” however I wanted, I found all sorts of dishes I can’t wait to prepare and taste (though some of my versions may not have all of the exotic ingredients noted): Avocado Radicchio Wasabi Salsa; French-Inspired Beef Roast; Istrian Krumpir Potatoes; Moroccan Spicy Meatballs & Red Wine Fruit Sauce; Makai Paka (I love corn!); Fig Ginger Orange Marmalade Pound Cake; Bluchetta with Balsamic; Syrniki with Blueberries.
If there’s one suggestion I’d make for future editions of this cookbook, it would be to expand the index. For example, there are no listings by main ingredient or by type of recipe (i.e., salads, desserts, main dishes, seafood). On the other hand, while flipping through the book trying to find a specific salad, I did find other recipes that I’d missed earlier, so maybe the skimpy index isn’t all bad…
Getting back to the recipes, don’t forget to take a look at Ally’s recipe — and my testing results — for Baked Croatian Cottage Cheese Štruklji. How’s that for exotic-sounding?!
Plus, for additional recipes and more details, you’ll definitely want to visit the tour page for Ally’s cookbook here: http://blog.cedarfort.com/blog-tour-allys-kitchen/. Thirty days of thirty-plus bloggers giving you the best scoop on Ally’s Kitchen.
The Cookbook Basics:
Hardcover (8 x 11 inches)
240 pages, color photos (full-page, for every recipe), 120 recipes
About the author:
Dr. Alice D’Antoni Phillips (“Ally”) grew up in “the hollers” in West Virginia dreaming of faraway places. Now she visits exotic locales, both personally and virtually, on her well-traveled magic carpet. Whether she’s on stage, on location, or in the kitchen, Ally captures the essence of each experience–new new foods, spices, and lifestyle tips–to bring them into her home and yours. Ally delights in dreaming up recipes on her yoga mat and transforming everyday objects into treasures. For more info, recipes, and cooking videos, visit her website, Ally’s Kitchen.
Originally published at www.cooksandbooksandrecipes.com on May 12, 2015.
