Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way

That’s a good enough reason for me to buy a recipe book! The chicken quinoa paella Is non traditional but completely delicious and I can’t wait to try all the other recipes!

Finally, a whole-grain cookbook written by a real foodie! The jacket photo illustrates "Brown Rice Salad and Flank Steak With Asian Flavors," so right away you know your're going to get recipes an omnivore can love. Sure, Sass tells you all you need to know about the nutritional aspects of each grain (although "according to Mike Orlando, president of Sunnyland Mills ... the boiling process [of bulgur wheat] allows the nutrients from the outer layers of the wheat kernels to migrate to the inner core" (98) kinda sidesteps the loss from heat and oxidation--Sass's degree is in medieval lit, not chemistry), but her focus is on taste and especially texture. She emphasizes the textural contrast in "Any-Grain Scrambled Eggs With Salami" (172) and many other recipes. Sure, she has some minor procedural lapses--the grains should be added to the aforementioned recipe only after the eggs have set, but this cookbook is the best and maybe the only comprehensive whole grain guide out there. Sass offers the basic preparation method for all grains, demystifying categories like "kamut" and "farro," and over a hundred specific recipes from soup/salad through main courses through dessert. Not one that I've tried is a dud and she offers alternate grains for just about every recipe. She even offers intelligent wine choices--again, referring the aforementioned recipe,"try a medium bodied, fruity chardonnay without oak" was a good starting point. There are typos (for example, in "Anise pignoli cookies" (278) the text reads "form balls 1/2 inch in diameter." That's a mighty tiny cookie, so I tried 1 1/2 inches and it worked great. But such lapses are few. And these cookies taste great (though I live in the Great Basin and prefer the pine nuts from the local hillsides--much fresher and thus tastier than the Italian and Chinese varieties Sass considers). I also tried a friend's batch of "Whole-wheat almond biscotti"(288) and they were superb. Bakery biscotti look good but seldom have more than a faint anise/mothball flavor. Sass's version is the most almond-y cookie yet, and cutting Sass's sugar measure by 1/3--this was the only change my friend said she made--yielded biscotti that went very well with Moscato d'Asti (yeah, Sass eschews wine recommendations for dessert items though she lives in NYC and probably knows people who enjoy this combo at brunch). I revised my earlier review to include some criticism because I didn't want it to come across as the ranting of a gushmeister. But I'm not damning with faint praise, either--Sass's cookbook is engaging. There's none of the greener-than-thou smugness that informs so many other whole-grain cookbooks. She includes a list of suppliers for some of the harder-to-find varieties (like hull-less "NuBarley"), but she isn't an organic purist and tells you out front if your local super is likely to have the grain in question. Content, format, layout--this is a model of what a cookbook should be.

my hopes have been raised and then frustrated by 'natural' as well as 'complete' cookbooks that often don't give me the information i really want: what ARE and what do i DO with those mysterious grains and grits and flours at the health food store? (...like sorghum!) At last a book that clearly lays out basic information and nomenclature, explains all the nuances, and provides tempting interesting recipes besides. This is a must-have primer.

I love her cookbooks and own most of them. I was just surprised at the amount of meat based recipees in the cookbook. It is great for ideas to cook whole grains and incorporating into a standard diet. If you were looking for vegetarian or vegan it is not for you. Her books always make cooking sound easy and fun and I enjoy them. I have tried many of her ideas and recipees and have liked the finished product. I especially like her practical suggestions for beginners.

Lorna Sass's latest book, "Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way" is a real winner! I was privileged to test a few of Ms. Sass's recipes and was impressed with their robust flavors, aromas, and textures. Some folks are turned off by the idea that a recipe is "healthy," thinking that it means bland flavors and straw-like textures (haven't we all encountered *those* recipes?). Not so here! These recipes will find a home in any good cook's recipe collection. As in all of her previous books, Ms. Sass has a unique, almost minimalist approach to seasoning. She pares down the lengthy ingredient lists of many ethnic recipes and uses just a few of a cuisine's defining herbs and spices to create deep, complex, and extremely satisfying flavors. Her taste buds are right on target. Some examples of her on-the-mark flavoring techniques are found in Thai Curried Chicken Soup with Brown Jasmine Rice, which has become a staple at our house, as have her Oat and Turkey Soup with Tex-Mex Flavors and her Ethiopian Chicken Stew with Teff Polenta. Her Roasted Brown Rice Pilaf with Leeks incorporates an interesting method for making a very flavorful and versatile pilaf -- using only 4 ingredients. That's hard to beat! Ms. Sass's delicious desserts are too numerous to mention. One our favorites is Brown Basmati Rice Pudding Custard. It is so fragrant and delicious that it satisfies diners who love custards and flans, and also those who love rice pudding at the same time. Her Biscotti were lighter than many I've had and beautifully crunchy without being teeth-shattering. This is a book that will rise to the top of my "Favorites" in my cookbook list.