Paper Palate

I recently received a review copy of the book Make It Your Own: Recipes and Inspiration for the Creative Cook by Jamie Miller. The book claims to be for anyone who loves to be creative in the kitchen and encourages playing around with recipes to make them your own. To help with your inspiration, the book is divided into two sections. The first contains base recipes for marinades, sauces, rubs and the like that can be used to enhance a variety of dishes. The second section provides recipes for hors d’oeuvres, fish, poultry, pork, beef, lamb and side dishes. After each recipe in the second section, there are suggestions on how to adapt the recipe using a ‘Classic Combo’ or a ‘Daring Pairing.’ The Classic Combos are flavours that are traditionally paired together, whereas the Daring Pairings venture into the land of fusion flavours and new tastes.

Although this sounds like it has the makings of a wonderful cookbook, it fell a little bit short. The recipes are very good and perhaps that’s all that should matter considering that it’s a cookbook, but since we’ve become spoiled with glossy, picture-filled cookbooks, recipes alone don’t seem to cut it anymore. For those of you that need pictures in your cookbooks, this one is not for you as there are none. A lack of pictures is not a big deal for me, but the overall layout of the cookbook was not my favourite. I found that nothing really stood out. While photos are not necessary, I would have liked to have seen a different font, (maybe I’m being silly but I don’t care for Times New Roman) or colour (it’s all black and white), or possibly some illustrations to break things up a little. Overall though, don’t let my pickiness about the visual aspects of the book put you off, the recipes are delicious and that’s the important part. 

There are some excellent flavour combinations. I especially like that each recipe comes with a few variations, providing plenty of inspiration for me to use ideas from the book to create new recipes. I’ve tried both the original recipes from the book and the suggested alterations, including: Cranberry, Pecan & Blue Cheese Pinwheels, Garlic Lover’s Steamed Mussels, Mojo Grilled Seabass and Twice Baked Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Lemon Honey Butter. My Dad even picked up the book and made one of the shrimp dishes while I was away. All of the recipes have been very well received and the mussels have already been made twice, which is why I’ve chosen to share them. Miller’s advice to serve these mussels with plenty of crusty bread should definitely be adhered to.

Garlic Lover’s Steamed Mussels

Steamed mussels make an easy and impressive starter for a dinner party. You can tailor the flavours to fit perfectly with any dinner theme. Once you try a couple of my variations, I’m sure you’ll come up with ideas of your own! Be sure to serve plenty of warm crusty bread alongside, to sop up the flavourful juices.

2 T unsalted butter
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium leek, chopped, white and light green parts only
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup diced celery
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1¼ cups dry white wine
3 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 T roasted garlic
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley

In a large pot melt the butter in oil over medium heat. Add the leek, garlic and celery. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and cook until they open, about 7 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat. Remove the mussels to a large serving with a slotted spoon, discarding any that did not open. Whisk the roasted garlic into the wine mixture remaining in the pot and pour over the mussels. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serves 6.