Cookbook Review: The Spice Kitchen

The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices is a wonderful cookbook if you are interested in learning more about cooking with spices.

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The writers Sara Engram and Katie Luber delight in revealing the pleasures of using spices.

They believe in eating locally but seasoning globally and use a wide variety of spices to bring wonderful taste treats to our palates.

This is not just a cookbook.

You will also find a history of spices and a handy guide to all of the herbs and spices found in the recipes.

Sara and Katie also provide lots of tips about using herbs and spices and show you how to make your own spice blends like Curry Spice Blends, Chili Powder and Thousand Island Spread.

With a dash of this and a pinch of that The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices transforms meal preparation into a fun adventure in the kitchen.

Some of the delicious recipes offered in this cookbook include:

• Oat-Nut Cluster Granola Cups
• Gingerbread Waffles
• Spicy Southwestern Quiche
• Rosemary Crusted Steak Salad with Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Soup
• Cardamom Candied Walnuts
• Macaroni and Cheese (you don't even need to cook the macaroni!)
• Grilled Pork Chops with Cumin Lime Butter
• Coconut Curry Shrimp
• Sweet Heat Brownies
• Lemon Thyme Cornmeal Pound Cake with Balsamic Basil Berries and Zesty Whipped Cream

Here are what a few purchasers of this cookbook have to say:

Joe Macbu states:

The Spice Kitchen is a good introduction to the use of spice for those who have been timid of doing so. An apt description from the back cover is that this book is "a fresh new way to make everyday foods more delicious...."

Hence, most of the recipes consist of an already-familiar dish that has been jazzed up with the addition of one or few spices. I find this to be a good approach for those who are inexperienced in using spices. The chance of success is high, compared to something like a complex Indian curry. It also allows the novice to clearly taste the effect of the spice.

Some dishes that illustrate this approach include:
Curried Deviled Eggs with cumin, coriander and turmeric.
Popcorn spiced with Creole seasoning.
Caramel corn with cloves.
Cheeseburgers with ancho chile and lemon zest.
Potato salad with fennel seed and dill weed.

While there are a few recipes that include a more complex blend of spices (Jamaica Jerk Chicken, Tandoori Chicken Skewers with Curry Butter sauce), most recipes are fairly simple. For this reason, cooks already experienced with the use of spices will probably find this book a bit lacking.

The ultimate goal of this book was to provide ways to spice up simple daily home cooking, and it meets that goal. The book is also visually appealing and well-written. Combined with a rack of spices, it would make a good gift for less experienced cooks.

And from Cherrybomb comes this review:

This book is really a treat. It's a pleasure to look at - love the graphics, the colors, the whole package. The content is just as good; a thorough history of spices, in-depth information on the stars of the show and lots of cook-friendly recipes. We just finished eating the spiced pancakes and they are delicious (next time, I'll add more milk for a lighter pancake but the flavor is great).

There are recipes covering breakfast, salads/soups/sandwiches, appetizers/snacks, entrees, side dishes, and desserts/sweets. What I like about these recipes is that they are indeed "everyday cooking" - nothing so exotic that you can't find it at the local market. Deviled eggs, southwestern chicken chili (with instruction on making your own chili powder), mac and cheese, tarragon chicken potpie - all familiar dishes but with the added flavor twist of spice.

I can't wait to try the pear cardamom bread (so glad this spice appears in several dishes) and the parmesan herb scones. I love the little "fun facts" that the authors include in the sidebar. I'm a fan of culinary trivia and these tidbits add to the flavor of this book.

There isn't a thing I would have changed in The Spice Kitchen. Five stars.

If you like exploring the world of food through spices, you may want to add these books to your collection as well: