The fun of Mr. Wilkinson’s Vegetables starts at the title, continues through the whimsical, interesting layout, and on through the recipes. I found the book entertaining, engaging and sometimes confusing. I enjoyed the informative, information charming graphics surrounded by plenty of white space to highlight the artistic quality of the images.
I marked many recipes for testing, the “Carrot Cake” still waits completion due to a sudden summer heat wave and busy work schedule putting me off heating up the kitchen. A number of other recipes did make for fabulous summer tasting. The “Grated Carrot, Preserved Lemon, Raisin, & Ginger Pickle” recipe demonstrated flexibility in pairing. We tasted it alone and added it to some pork lettuce cups. The contrast supported the slow-roasted pork.
Another recipe will definitely be making an appearance at my next event. “Horseradish Wafers” is stunning. Somewhere between a frico, a cracker, and one of those shouldn’t-be-good-but-truly-is combinations. The type of recipe justifying the purchase of an entire cookbook for one bit of inspiration and useful result. This one has many applications and potentially limitless tweaks to customize your recipe.
A few couple odd items also stood out. Some of the oddities appear to express the author’s current creative phrase. I found a significant number of recipes used anchovies and/or coriander. A reflection of local and empire influences from the British Isles? Sure. At the same time, I tasted recipes that would do well with a reduced amount of coriander. Anchovies also make frequent appearances. As I’m not a fan of tinned fish, this ingredient stood out significantly.
The recipe for a “Salad of Radish, Figs, Walnuts, and Blue Cheese” created a tasty mélange of greens and vegetables. The dressing recipe accompanying the salad turned out to be the favorite thing discovered so far in the cookbook.
“English Cream Dressing” was a lovely contrast for the salad. We ate the salad with a St. Jorge Verdeho wine. They were complimentary components. The dressing recipe is another one I’ll keep on hand. I’m already planning on trying the dressing with a spinach salad with orange segments.
I marked many recipes for testing, the “Carrot Cake” still waits completion due to a sudden summer heat wave and busy work schedule putting me off heating up the kitchen. A number of other recipes did make for fabulous summer tasting. The “Grated Carrot, Preserved Lemon, Raisin, & Ginger Pickle” recipe demonstrated flexibility in pairing. We tasted it alone and added it to some pork lettuce cups. The contrast supported the slow-roasted pork.
Another recipe will definitely be making an appearance at my next event. “Horseradish Wafers” is stunning. Somewhere between a frico, a cracker, and one of those shouldn’t-be-good-but-truly-is combinations. The type of recipe justifying the purchase of an entire cookbook for one bit of inspiration and useful result. This one has many applications and potentially limitless tweaks to customize your recipe.
A few couple odd items also stood out. Some of the oddities appear to express the author’s current creative phrase. I found a significant number of recipes used anchovies and/or coriander. A reflection of local and empire influences from the British Isles? Sure. At the same time, I tasted recipes that would do well with a reduced amount of coriander. Anchovies also make frequent appearances. As I’m not a fan of tinned fish, this ingredient stood out significantly.
The recipe for a “Salad of Radish, Figs, Walnuts, and Blue Cheese” created a tasty mélange of greens and vegetables. The dressing recipe accompanying the salad turned out to be the favorite thing discovered so far in the cookbook.
“English Cream Dressing” was a lovely contrast for the salad. We ate the salad with a St. Jorge Verdeho wine. They were complimentary components. The dressing recipe is another one I’ll keep on hand. I’m already planning on trying the dressing with a spinach salad with orange segments.