New Cookbooks

This is a great fall for cookbooks - SO many new ones are out, and many of them are really good. Here are three - I promise many more reviews to come. (Including Nigella Express and Jamie At Home - both on their way to me from the bookstore! Yeay!)



Njuta ("Enjoy!")
Håkan Lönnberg
Ica Bokförlag

Håkan Lönnberg is one of the more successful business owners within Ica, Sweden's largest chain of grocery stores. This is his first book, and it has all of his favorite recipes. All of them are easy to cook, and most are suitable for parties as well as for weekday cooking. And all of them has fairly easy-to-find ingredients. The photographer is Bruno Ehrs, who makes the food look really good - and I notice that they've been using the same pottery as I do, from Mateus - the brightly colored plates and bowls that I so often use. No surprise there really, they look pretty in pictures. (Which is partly why I have so many, of course!) The book is well structured, and I like that the author also gives suggestion for menus, and for suitable wine. I'm particularly keen to try his chocolate pancakes with vanilla ice cream, or maybe the reindeer tenderloin with parmesan soufflé!



Persiska Bufféer (Persian Feasts)
Maria Masoomi
Ica Bokförlag

Another book from Ica, and another book with the same photographer, Bruno Ehrs! His photos are really different in this book as compared to the one above though - this has many pictures of large spreads, and fewer large photos of the individual dishes. It's also shot outdoors, for the most part, rather than in a studio.

Maria Masoomi has worked with food for many years, and she's catered for tons of people. She know what works for a buffet - and what doesn't. What I really like about her book is not only that the recipes sound delicious, but also that she has a section about middle eastern (persian mostly) food habits that I found fascinating. Something I'm definitely going to try is Sekanjebin, a salad dressing with sugar, water, mint and vinegar that's supposedly also great with fruit. And another lovely-looking dish is broad bean triangles - sort of a tortilla. Yum!



Brownies
Linda Collister
Damm Förlag

And finally, a book that you can find in English. And I suggest you do, quickly! Linda Collister has written several books about sweets, but this is the first one to find its way onto my bookshelf. Brownies - I mean, really? Who can resist that? This essentially has three chapters: brownies, blondies, brownie desserts and then some sauces. And everything; EVERYTHING! - sounds brilliant. Really. I have no idea where to start. The choko rum brownies? The blondies with white chocolate and raspberries? Brownie cheesecake? Extra nutty brownies? (Probably those!) I better invite lots of friends over - quickly!