Cookbook Gift Ideas from Local Female Portland Authors

Recently I highlighted some great food gift ideas created by women makers here in Portland. Today I wanted to highlight some awesome local female cookbook authors who recently have released cookbooks.

Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match

This cookbook Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match by Ivy Manning boasts 70 recipes that pairs together soups and breads. The book offers a lot of recipes, with inspirations from all over the world to really open new flavors in soup and bread combinations for your table. For instance, consider South Indian Sambar, or Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Soup, or Persian Yogurt, Lentil, and Bulgar Soup with Browned Herb Butter.

 

These are in addition to her takes on classics like Smoky San Marzano Tomato Soup, Creamy Cannellini Bean Soup with Gremolata, or Beef Barley Stew with lots of Veggies. Unique combinations for soup include Roasted Asparagus Soup with Cashew Cream,  or Pork and Hominy Stew with Roasted Anaheim Chiles, or Mussels Stew with Bacon, Cider, and Cream and more.

More then that, Ivy also just provides a lot of useful tips from all her 15 years of teaching experience, be it little tricks in prep, during cooking, for substitutions, or pairing suggestions. For instance, she put together Smoked Salmon and Celery Root Chowder with Pilot Biscuits, or try South Indian Sambar with Steamed Indian Idli.

All the breads included in her book are quick-baking ones that can be made at the same time as the soups. The recipes are very clear and easy to follow. The only ding I can think of is I wish there were more photos since I feast with the eyes first and it would help inspire me towards a recipe. Plus, just look how photogenic these soups are and tell you what they are about from the image.

Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match by Ivy Manning – at a recent Feastly class featuring Ivy’s cookbook, we were greeted with her tasty and easy Blender Gazpacho. What a great way to greet guests at an event!

With winter here and the cooler weather, these soups and breads are a great investment to keep you cozy for the season and would be a great gift for yourself or others. Cool idea: gift it to a few of your friends, and then each pick different recipes and make a soup party where you all get together to share!

Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking

The restaurant Kachka has been one of my favorite in Portland for a while as I’ve shared before, and there are not many Russian cookbooks so when I heard that Bonnie Morales would be coming out with Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking, I was so super excited. It’s been incredible how the food of the Cold War countries that was once an embarrassment in the youth of many Soviet immigrants is now being celebrated and shared. I’m glad the traditions are being continued and recipes continue to live.

The cookbook goes beyond what I hoped, including a section on how to shop at a Russian market (I love how she admits we can gaze at all the chocolates but not to buy any!) and gives instructions on how to infuse your own vodka (including their famous horseradish vodka) and more cocktail combinations such as beet gin, caraway rye whiskey, Bloody Masha (version of Bloody Mary including fun ingredients like caraway, coriander, dill and more), Black/White Russian, and more. Sure, there are lots of recipes (and some of them are a bit involved), but she makes sure to also wrap those recipes with lots of anecdotes and history to give context about the culture as well.

For anyone who doesn’t have the ability to go dine at Kachka like I do, gift this to a few of your friends and put together a cookbook club to make these recipes happen, working on them together or bringing them together to make your own Russian feast.

Portland Cooks

The food scene in Portland had been captured by author Danielle Centoni in her book Portland Cooks. She has gathered interviews and recipes from 40 places in Portland, varying from stars like Gregory Gourdet of Departure, Tyler Malek of Salt and Straw and Earl Nissom of Langbaan, up and comers like Maya Lovelace of Mae or to classics from restaurants that are tried and true like Andina, Besaw’s, Mother’s Bistro, Park Kitchen, and The Country Cat and more. You’ll find Broder’s famous Aebelskivers, and Ataula’s Salt Cod Croquettes.

It really is an impressive list, and great for a foodie friend or friend who loves to cook. If you have a friend who used to live in Portland and misses particular restaurants, this could also be a good gift to give them a taste of home.

Other books for your consideration:

• Learn how to save everything from top to bottom with Marshall’s Haute Sauce owner Sarah Marshall’s Preservation Pantry: Modern Canning From Root to Top & Stem to Core
• Karen Locke’s High Proof PDX for the cocktail loving friends in your life to get a tour of Portland’s distillery scene along with cocktail suggestions and how to create a perfect home bar
• For your baker friends, check out Cheryl Wakerhauser of Pix Patisserie dessert book Modern French Pastry
• For your cheese loving friend, get a cheese kit plus the book by One Hour Cheese by Claudia Lucero, founder of Urban Cheesecraft. The book has cheese recipes (Ricotta, Mozzarella, Chèvre, Paneer, even Burrata) whittled down to one hour that you can do at home and photographed step by step.

What other cookbooks may I have missed that you would recommend me checking it?