Cookbook Project: A busy week!

I got to spend a lot of time in the kitchen this week which means that I got a good jump on my project, making three recipes from three different books!

#1. Brown Sugar Kitchen

I went to a potluck a few years ago and one of the dishes someone else brought was from this book. That was enough for me to buy a copy for myself.

When I first flipped through the book, this sticky bun recipe caught my eye but I never followed through and made it. I took advantage of a quiet day last weekend to change that!

Hands down, my favorite part of the recipe is the brown sugar and honey glaze you layer in the pan first and cover with a few handfuls of pecans.

Roll out your dough (which is so soft and delightful to work with), spread butter and cinnamon sugar over it, then roll it up and cut pieces to place in the pan on top of your glaze and pecans.

After baking, invert the pan and take a moment to enjoy how gorgeous the buns look covered in pecans and glaze!

We have been enjoying these buns every day since I made them. I think I want to incorporate some cardamom into the cinnamon sugar filling next time I give these a try.

#2. Flour Water Salt Yeast

I got this book when I first started getting into sourdough. There’s so much good information in it, but honestly, it’s a little overwhelming, especially for a beginner!

Now that I’ve gotten into my own routine with my sourdough starter and found a couple of recipes that I love, I have a hard time getting into recipes like in this book again. They are much more precise and regimented than the recipes I gravitate towards (which says more about my baking than anything else!) and I usually prefer making my go-to Tassajara bread which come together quickly and just needs to rise overnight.

That said, sometimes I crave the soft bread with thick crust that sourdough recipes like the ones in Flour Water Salt Yeast can produce! I had never tried this Pain De Campagne recipe, which combines sourdough starter with yeast, something I don’t have a lot of experience with.

The result: I am very out of practice when it comes to getting my loaves out of the cane bannetons they prove in and into the oven gracefully, but underneath those bumpy exteriors are two delicious and soft loaves of bread!

#3. Ottolenghi Simple

Among other things, this project has already made me realize what a massive Yotam Ottolenghi fan I am. This is one of three cookbooks I own by him! This one was an engagement gift from my brother and sister-in-law and a lot of the recipes in it are either already in our rotation or have inspired some of the dishes that we make often.

However, we hadn’t made this curried lentil soup yet and I’m not sure why! With tomatoes, coconut milk, and cilantro, it’s full of flavors that we cook with a lot. And it comes together quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I totally missed taking photos of the process!

I did manage to take one of the final result, at least.

The result: I love this soup. It’s warm, comforting, and perfectly spicy. I feel like I may say this a lot throughout this project (especially with two more Ottolenghi books to go!), but this might be my favorite thing I’ve made as a result of it!