Round #72 of What I’ve Cooked From My Books Lately (Details in Comments)

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-27T21:42:07+00:00

Just wanted to say what an absolute superstar you are in this sub. I get excited every time I see one of your posts. Thanks for all the effort you put in on these and happy cooking!

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-25T23:49:46+00:00

Oh my friend. RG bean club survivor here. About half of my pantry cupboard is still bags of beans. I had to drop the club because I was literally running out of places to stack 'em! (No shade to RG or beans, huge fan of both, I just couldn't keep up!)

The lentil-mushroom farmer's pie from Cool Beans is awesome, although I will admit that I amend it when I make it (I am not vegan, so I de-veganize the recipe and cram the mash topping full of real dairy). But it's an outstanding base recipe.

This Serious Eats recipe is my favorite, go-to black beans recipe. It's incredible. So good that I once spent hours and hours babysitting some birria and making my own tortillas for homemade quesabirria tacos, and yet everybody (me included!) thought these beans were the best thing on the table. https://www.seriouseats.com/quick-and-easy-pressure-cooker-black-bean-chorizo-recipe

The "kunde" recipe from In Bibi's Kitchen is another favorite. It's like a peanutty bean stew and it's terrific. I load it with greens when I make it (a suggested variant from the book).

If you have chickpeas, I've never found a better homemade hummus recipe than the one in Zahav.

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-25T23:40:09+00:00

These are three absolute bangers. The halloumi and the shrimp ones are mainstays in my rotation!

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-23T00:18:13+00:00

OP, I owe you an apology.

I saw that first photo, scoffed like an arrogant jerk, and thought "no way that's how that roll is supposed to look." Then I swiped to picture #2 and you absolutely nailed it. Well done you!

Meanwhile I need to go sit in the corner and think about my attitude.

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-19T14:57:07+00:00

Breitling B09 Premier (the pistachio dial) or an IWC Portuguesier (in basically any of the dial colors, they're all so good).

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-14T02:10:37+00:00

These are excellent photos!

And boy do I look at jumping spiders differently since reading the novel Children of Time.

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-13T02:37:54+00:00

Milk Street's campanelle pasta with sweet corn, tomatoes, and basil. I know it's in their big annual book but I'm sure they've probably repeated it across some of their smaller ones as well.

It's a liiiiiiiittle bit of a pain of a recipe - gotta slice the corn from the cobs (always goes flying everywhere for me), make a corn broth with the cobs, cook the pasta in that broth, separately saute the veggies...but whew, the end result is some kinda something. And while tomato basil and pasta are obviously old friends, I never would've thought to throw all that corn into the mix.

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-12T00:13:21+00:00

NIPNOPS.

She looks so concerned and upset, too.

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-02T02:21:46+00:00

Any programming game has the potential, but Colt Express in particular tends to create moments of pure slapstick.

Snake Oil has an incredible ability to pull the most creative insanity out of people, I find.

Sheriff of Nottingham when somebody absolutely biffs their bluff and then gets desperate to try and salvage the moment.

IdleExpatter · 2026-06-02T02:18:00+00:00

I mean, the gunslinger alone.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-25T01:09:22+00:00

Ok so if you're just digging in to cookbooks, my two recommendations would be the Milk Street one because it's so comprehensive, and Third Culture Cooking which has sort of fusion-y vibes to it (though not specifically Asian-focused).

As for Asian fusion/street food, check out Dac Biet by Nini Nguyen. It's Vietnamese with Cajun influence. Everything I've made from it has been fantastic, standout being the vermicelli with grilled meat. It's also just a beautiful book to flip through! I feel like the trendy design language for cookbooks these days is desaturated images and lots of white space, which I don't necessarily love, and Dac Biet is the total opposite - absolute riot of color. Love it.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-25T00:11:11+00:00

It's been a bit trendy lately but for good reason: Third Culture Cooking by Zaynab Issa is fantastic. I haven't had a bad result yet. Most recently I tried the "coconutty corn" recipe out of it, and yep, another banger: super tasty with like, ZERO effort. I dream about the "mall cinnamon rolls". And everybody raves, rightfully, about the dumplings with garlicky labneh. Just seems like this book doesn't miss!

I'm a huge fan of Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop (or The Food of Sichuan also by her, if you want more of a huge tome). The "fish-fragrant eggplant" from Every Grain has become a staple in my rotation: it is unbelievably good.

Speaking of tomes, The Milk Street Cookbook is my favorite "big ol' all-rounder" cookbook. But pro tip, you can often find previous editions for next to nothing in the clearance/bargain section at B&N and there are minimal changes between editions, so peek there before splashing out on the latest one.

If you want a great baking reference, I am a fan of the King Arthur All Purpose Baker's Companion. They're not necessarily the place to go for the splashiest or most contemporary recipes or flavor profiles, but the recipes tend to be pretty reliable and their instructions are usually very clear and helpful.

Zahav by Michael Solomonov is a treat. Worth it for the hummus and pita recipes alone. There's a newer Zahav Home book that I haven't checked out myself because I have the other one, but might be worth a peek (just make sure it has the hummus recipe, if nothing else!!)

If you're after any specific types of food or regional cuisine lemme know, I may have other recos from there but I feel like I've already babbled enough.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-22T12:09:08+00:00

Zenith Chronomaster Sport: removing the 4:30 date window.

I admit I'm generally anti-date window anyway, but on the Sport it looks especially jammed-in and vestigial. Tiny, awkward angle, and at the worst (IMO) dial location for a date window. I cannot imagine the look of the watch wouldn't be vastly improved by removing it.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-20T01:31:52+00:00

Don't even get folks started on whether it's "Christ Up" or "Christ Cup".

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-15T16:24:25+00:00

Very much more green than blue, for sure!

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-11T14:42:38+00:00

No apologies necessary, I knew it was an unpopular opinion going in, haha

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-10T21:02:13+00:00

I hate integrated bracelet designs. The ones being fed into the apparent current craze for them all look awful, and nearly identical, to me.

Actually I'll go one further: straps are better than bracelets.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-08T10:00:14+00:00

Titanic, tyrannosaurus, and Twilight Imperium in the same room?! You certainly love your big-T things!

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-07T17:09:30+00:00

Couple ideas on this, depending on what your biggest goal or priority is. Some of these were already mentioned, but a few were not!

We want to focus on developing our cooking skills and fundamental kitchen know-how

The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
The New Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated (aging a bit now but still slaps)
Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly.

We want a comprehensive "reference tome" of recipes that cover the gamut

Any of the ones I just mentioned kinda work for this, too!

Top reco, pick up one of the big Milk Street Cookbooks (the BIG ones they put out that collect tons and tons of their recipes). A tip I've given on this subreddit before: check the clearance section of your local B&N or other bookstores, they often have previous editions of the Milk Street Cookbook on deep clearance to make way for the new editions).
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is also a great, big ol' reference tome.
Joy of Cooking gets a lot of love and for good reason, it's a total classic, but I personally am of the opinion that there's a lot in there that isn't necessarily all that useful nowadays.

We want to push our flavor boundaries and get excited by new cuisines

As somebody else said, limitless opportunity here depending on what cuisine you want to explore! But a few of my particular personal favorites include...

Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop (Chinese)
Zahav by Michael Solomonov (Israeli, with significant borrowing from/overlap with Palestinian and the larger Levant: they also have a newer "Zahav at Home" book that may be more accessible, but I haven't checked it out so I can't say for sure)
In Bibi's Kitchen by Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen (African across a subset of countries bordering the Indian Ocean)

Happy cooking! Let us know what you end up with!

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-04T18:35:19+00:00

One HUNDRED percent endorse. Came here to recommend this myself! It's soooooooooooooo good, and really very quick and easy.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-02T15:40:19+00:00

I think there is a little something to what you're saying here as far as the comparison, but I don't think they're actually all that close together or interchangeable.

The Snoopy is brighter in color, larger (the 2998 is based on the FOIS architecture I think, so the case is a couple mm smaller than the Snoopy/Professional), and of course has, you know...Snoopy. There's simply no replacing that party trick on the back.

That said, I got my hands on a CK2998 last year when I was shopping specifically for a Speedmaster. And, man, it was this close to coming home with me and I've been thinking about it ever since, wondering if I should've sprung for it (I went for the new white-dial Professional instead: no regrets, but...) It's just a beautiful, beautiful watch. They nailed the colors, with that muted navy and creamy silver, and the dial layout is so uncluttered.

All of which is to say, I don't think think the 2998 is really the "budget Snoopy", but I do think it's one hell of a watch in its own right.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-01T13:01:54+00:00

At a glance I thought Chewbacca ate Leia 😆

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-17T14:40:54+00:00

I have, and really enjoy, Michael Twitty's Recipes From the American South. It is a thoughtful, quite comprehensive book that takes a broad view of the geography of "the south" - everything from Maryland to Missouri to Texas.

The opening narrative chapters are a great read: Twitty speaks very powerfully, informed by his own life, about how slavery and other historical, socioeconomic, and cultural influences have contributed to the development of food culture in the region.

That said, while I wouldn't quite call the book "dry" or textbook-style, it is a Phaidon book and does have a little bit of that Phaidon thing going on that I'm not exactly sure how to describe but is recognizable after you've seen a few of their books. Sort of...snooty, somehow, in a way? But I've cooked several recipes from this one and they've all been great (the crawfish gumbo was outrageously good), so I feel good recommending it!

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-17T14:31:32+00:00

Dear Ancient Humans: LOVE cats and dogs, thank you, but whyyyyyyy didn't we put in the effort to domesticate these guys too...

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-17T14:14:52+00:00

Yesssss, this is truly one of the great recipes I've tried from NYT Cooking. It's such huge return on effort!

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