Sunday, December 21, 2008

Cornbread Gospels or Reversing Diabetes Cookbook

Cornbread Gospels

Author: Crescent Dragonwagon

“Cornbread? I LOVE cornbread!” For six years, that’s the response Crescent Dragonwagon got when people asked her what she was writing about. Over time, she came to understand: Not only is hot, just baked cornbread delicious, it evokes—powerfully—the heart, soul, and taste of home.


There is an abundance of satisfying cornbreads, as Crescent discovered when she followed the cornbread trail from the Appalachians to the Rockies to the Green Mountains. Traveling to family reunions, potlucks, tortilleras, stone-grinding mills, and the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, she heard the stories, tasted the breads, learned the secrets. Join her in this overflowing cornucopia: over 200 irresistible recipes for cornbreads, muffins, fritters, pancakes, and go-withs. Cornbreads from below the Mason-Dixon line (Skillet-Sizzled Buttermilk Cornbread, Truman Capote’s Family’s Alabama Cornbread) meet those from above (Durgin-Park Boston Cornbread, Vermont Maple-Sweetened Cornbread). Southwestern offerings—Chou-Chou’s Dallas Hot Stuff Cornbread, delectable homemade tamales, and tortillas from scratch—meet internationals like India’s Makki Ki Roti. A Thanksgiving with Crescent’s Sweet-Savory Cornbread Dressing is rapturous. Desserts like Very Lemony Gorgeous Cornmeal Pound Cake make any meal exceptional.


Along with this, Crescent gives us the greens, the beans, the salads, stews, and soups that accompany cornbread to perfection. And she tells us the stories, too. Enthusiastic and heartfelt, this thoughtful, exuberant love song to America’s favorite breadstuff andall that goes with it will embrace readers and cooks everywhere.

Pauline Baughman - Library Journal

Cornbread lovers rejoice! Dragonwagon (Passionate Vegetarian) explores the surprisingly vast world of all things cornmeal in her latest cookbook. Her passion for this humble foodstuff spans nearly 400 pages and over 200 recipes for not only cornbread but also muffins, tortillas, crackers, rolls, spoon breads, fritters, and more. Cornbread is particularly loved in America, and there are many regional differences that are conveniently delineated in a chart; southern cornbread, for example, consists primarily of cornmeal, whereas northern cornbread is generally half cornmeal and sweetened with sugar. The author also explores the global appeal of cornmeal, including recipes for Mexican-style corn spoon bread, tortillas, Latin American arepas, Greek cornbread, and Indian griddle cakes. Other chapters include recipes for yeasted cornbreads, pancakes, and side dishes and a section on how to use leftover cornbread. Numerous sidebars contain fascinating tidbits of history, sample menus, and cooking tips; a glossary and index are included. Although this title focuses solely on one the ingredient, the recipes are tempting and diverse, and the writing engaging. Recommended.



Interesting textbook: La Bonne Soupe Cookbook or Chinese Cuisine

Reversing Diabetes Cookbook: More than 200 Delicious, Healthy Recipes

Author: Julian M Whitaker

If you have type 2 diabetes and think hearty, tasty, diverse dishes have no place in a healthy diet plan, think again. Now Dr. Julian Whitaker, who has helped educate hundreds of thousands of diabetics to control their condition naturally and effectively, offers more than two hundred tantalizing, kitchen-tested recipes to help reduce, or possibly even eliminate, dependence on insulin and oral drugs. From zesty appetizers to decadent desserts, the Reversing Diabetes Cookbook is packed with enough flavorful options to please any palate and keep your disease in check.



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