In Lieu Baking - Post #1

Hello, everyone!

I'm so sorry I've been MIA for the last few weeks. Big thanks to Jenn for being amazing and keeping the posts going for you guys! I promise I haven't forgotten or lost steam. To shorten the story, I injured my shoulder which has made it hard to do anything at all. However, this will be my third session of physiotherapy on it and I found an amazing girl who has helped me get 60% of my full range of motion back. The plan is to retrain me on how to properly use my shoulder then strengthen it so that hopefully I can be back in the kitchen doing what I love again and sharing it with you guys!

Basically, what I'm saying is that I miss you all and remember to take good care of yourselves. It's much easier to maintain a good thing than to have to work from the bottom up again.

Anyway, I've named this post In Lieu of Baking - Post #1 because Jenn and I have both had things get in the way of our baking and posting but our agreement is that this project is supposed to be fun first and foremost. Stress is no fun. So if one of us doesn't have time to do the baking and plays catch up, we can do an In Lieu of Baking post just so we can keep up with you guys and still talk about what we love - food!

This week, I'm going to share one of my favourite cookbooks with you:

The Modern Café

By Francisco J. Migoya of The Culinary Institute of America

I won't share too many photos of the interior just because I'm not fully aware of the rules for posting photos of photography from inside a book or for posting someone else's recipe even though I'm clearly giving credit. Best to stay on the safe side so here's the cover, the table of contents and just a photo to show you how the ingredients and ingredient amounts are laid out. Also, you can see from the pink sticky notes on the top of my copy how many things there are that I dream of making. I haven't fully unpacked or organized my books yet but this book sticks out like the gem it is, even on my messy, disorganized bookshelf!

There are pros and cons to every book. Here's my quick run down:

Pros:

It's beautiful. The photos alone in this book are beautiful to me.
It's not only beautiful. It's also functional. Although many of the recipes are geared towards professionals, definitely not first timers, there is also a lot of good information to just know without it being as in-depth as a culinary textbook.
The ingredient amounts are given in both grams/kilograms and pounds/ounces.
It's big and heavy which might seem like a con to some people but to me, I like a hefty book. I like the weight of books. I also like knowing it's hard for me to misplace.
There's a good variety of recipes - breads, viennoiseries (laminated doughs), cakes, baked goods, desserts and even a few dishes and savoury recipes. Again, not for the first timer unless you're really ambitious then totally go for it!

Cons:

It's a pretty intense book. This isn't a con for me but I can see how it may turn away some people either by instilling fear or simply because it's not as homey and anecdotal as most cookbooks.
Already mentioned this book is geared towards professionals. This means that the portions are fairly large and you'll have to scale them down yourself. Not a huge con, just an added step so it's something to note.
Book for professionals/commercial use can sometimes mean the ingredients that are used in certain recipes can be difficult for home bakers to find. Even if we can find them, they usually come in giant buckets that will likely never get used entirely. If you can go through an entire 5kg bucket of trimoline, awesome! If you can find someone to share it with, even better! But, wasted food is no bueno in my books. Same goes for wasted ingredients. No bueno.
I strongly believe that food doesn't need to be fancy to be good. We live in a world where we're so privileged to have learned how to use one simple ingredient in so many applications. Take potatoes, for example. Mashe, purée, dauphinoise, soup, the list goes on! However, we also live in a world where that privilege and discovering something new and edgy can make people pompous and a little too over-the-top for my taste. Putting foie gras or fresh truffles in your mashed potatoes doesn't make you any better than someone who prefers to just use butter. But, I digress. My point for this book is that there are some recipes that I don't see many home cooks rushing to make. Avocado Soup with Smoked American Sturgeon and American Sturgeon Caviar seems a little too over-the-top for a Thursday night in or even for a Saturday gathering but that's just me. I don't feel the need to be that extra when it comes to soup but I can certainly appreciate the thought, work and process that's necessary to make it and would only make it to challenge myself or expand my way of thinking a bit. Who knows, maybe Avocado Soup and with a specific fish and caviar will blow my mind but, again, I digress. Sorry, that got ranty.

All in all, if you enjoy useful information on ingredients and processes and beautiful photos with some personal touches from the author and feel like treating yourself (it has a slightly heftier price tag), I'd recommend this book. A lot of the times, I've looked at books that were way out of my league in terms of skill. But, after getting past the initial "what have I done", I've found that those books have opened my mind to possibilities of new pairings, flavour profiles and techniques that I wouldn't have know otherwise.

Have a great week, everyone! I'm hoping to be back in the kitchen sooner than later but this is all I have to offer you right now <3

-Kristen