Zabar's Blog

Recipe for Scorched ricotta with herbs & honey

from Sharing Food with Friends by Kathy Kordalis
Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Celebrate a sweet new year with this herby cheese dish, drizzled with honey. There is even a recipe in this cookbook to make pizza topped with this ricotta! Next on my list: a no-pastry chicken pie, with thyme-sprigged potatoes; primavera risotto; and the cutest individual apple tarts.

Go to the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from: Casual Dining and Inspiring Recipes for Platters, Boards and Small Bites by photography by Mowie Kay (Ryland Peters & Small)

Click on the book cover to buy:

Go to the recipe.

Recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Here is a recipe for something delicious to start off a sweet year. This enormous book is a chocolate lover's dream. It contains step-by-step instructions, with illustrations and photographs, to guide you to make bonbons, tartlets, and an opera cake (Aunt Stacey’s favorite!) that is fancy dinner party-worthy. It also has very clear instructions on how to temper chocolate, which was the hardest thing I learned in culinary school. Today’s recipe is the simplest in the book—amazing chocolate chunk cookies.

Get the recipe.

Recipes excerpted with permission from The Ultimate Book of Chocolate by Melanie Dupuis, published by Hardie Grant Books.

Click on the book cover to buy:

Get the recipe.

Recipe for Smoked Salmon Niçoise Salad

from The Complete Salad Book by America’s Test Kitchen
Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

It’s so nice to have a big salad, with dressing on the side, in the fridge. Add some seared tuna, grilled chicken, or tofu, and you have a late summer evening’s meal. Next on my list: peach caprese; beet salad with spicy yogurt and watercress; farro with spring vegetables; and a steak salad with pear and pickled fennel. Then, on to the dressings—poppy seed and then creamy roasted garlic. First, try this salad, using smoked salmon instead of tuna.

Go to the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from The Complete Salad Book by America’s Test Kitchen

Click on the book cover to buy:

Go to the recipe.

Recipe for Lazy Tomato Peach Pasta

from Occasionally Eggs by Alexandra Daum

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This gorgeous book is bursting with inventive vegetarian dishes. The recipe for today whips up in a few minutes. Place the veggies and fruit in a bowl, cook and add the hot pasta, then the dressing. You will have a lovely pasta salad for a warm summer’s evening. Next on my list: minestrone soup, blueberry nut butter cookies, and a refreshing watermelon/raspberry/lemon drink.

Get the recipe.

Excerpted from Occasionally Eggs: Simple Vegetarian Recipes for Every Season by Alexandra Daum. Copyright © 2021 Alexandra Daum. Photography by Alexandra Daum. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

Click on the book cover to buy:

Get the recipe.

Recipe for Blueberry Waffles with Berry Compote

For breakfast, try banana buttermilk pancakes, croissant breakfast sandwiches, or this fun waffle recipe. For lunch, potato, Tex-Mex, or a classic macaroni salad. Dinner: apricot-glazed chicken, ribs, or cheesy pasta with pesto and grape tomatoes. For dessert, next on my list is a chocolate banana bread.

Get the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from Raised in the Kitchen: Making Memories from Scratch One Recipe at a Time by Carrian Cheney (Shadow Mountain)

Click on the book cover to buy:

Get the recipe.

Recipe for Teriyaki Stir-Fried Beef with Green Beans

from The Ultimate Meal Prep by America’s Test Kitchen

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This cookbook organizes meals for a week, with recipes and shopping lists. You can use the recipes in this book every night, or once a week, to become a world-class home cook with a signature potluck dish. Next on my list: orzo primavera with feta, cooked in a leek broth; and a salad made with carrot, orange, chickpeas, and a minty dressing, served with crispy chicken pieces.

Go to the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from The Ultimate Meal Prep by America’s Test Kitchen

Click on the book cover to buy:


Go to the recipe.

Recipe for Israeli Couscous with Pecans and Apricots

from Modern Freezer Meals by Ali Rosen

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This book is full of wonderful recipes that you can eat right away or freeze—perfect for making a big batch and defrosting single servings. I was enchanted with the recipe for pesto, using the bounty of basil and other herbs from your garden. Cook up the pesto, cool and scoop into ice cube trays. Dump the frozen cubes into a zip-top plastic bag, and freeze. Don’t forget to label the bag, and you can have garden-fresh sauce all winter long. Amazingly clever. 

Go to the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from Modern Freezer Meals by Ali Rosen (Skyhorse Publishing)

Click on the book cover to buy:

Go to the recipe.

Recipe for Peach and Tomato Salad

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This is the perfect salad for a hot, summer lunch. I love the addition of cut-up mozzarella. Add a crusty bread and then all you will need is a little handful of trail mix cookies and some sweet ice tea for dessert.

Go to the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from The Complete Plant Based Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

Click on the book cover to buy:

Go to the recipe.

Recipe for Grilled stone fruits with rosemary and rose syrup

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This fun book is filled with wonderful stories, recipes, and photographs from Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Greece. It will inspire you to grill tomatoes, corn, eggplant, and a whole fish or two. Of course, there are lamb kebabs and chops, served with spicy sauces or hummus. And these delicious, sweet fruits. Fire up the barbecue and start grilling!

Go to the recipe.

Recipe excerpted with permission from from Honey & Co Chasing Smoke by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich (Pavilion)

Click on the book cover to buy:

Go to the recipe.

Recipe for Pea Velouté

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This lovely soup is a snap to make. I fished the bay leaf out at the end, before blending it. You can spice it up with the addition of chilli flakes galore, or spice it down with none. I love the mint floating on top. On my list for the next week: for a breakfast, some cinnamon buns; for a lunch, gravadlax with a wonderful oniony cucumber salad sprinkled with chopped pickle; for a dinner, a chicken, leek and mushroom pot pie; and for a dessert: a lemon drizzle cake. 

Get the recipe.

Recipes excerpted with permission from The Shortcut Cook by Rosie Reynolds published by Hardie Grant Books, February 2021

Click on the book cover to buy:

Get the recipe.