More for your repertoire: Cookbook recipes we loved last year (Part II)

Sopa de Lima from Jenn Louis’ ‘The Chicken Soup Manifesto’

By Leslie Brenner

Editor’s note: This is Part II of “21 Recipes from cookbooks we loved last year.”

In Part I of this story, we ran through recipes from Najmieh Batmanglij, Fuchsia Dunlop, Yotam Ottolenghi, Marcus Samuelsson, Andrea Nguyen, Enrique Olvera & Co. and Roxana Jullapat. Here are nine more recipes we loved from the cookbooks we covered last year.

Jenn Louis’ Sopa de Lima

If ever there was a cookbook meant for a years-long pandemic, it’s Jenn Louis’ The Chicken Soup Manifesto. Published in October 2020 (which means she started working on it long before anyone ever heard of COVID-19), it celebrates the world’s favorite feel-good elixir at it’s expressed in 64 countries.

I wrote about the book the month after it was published, but it took awhile before we cooked up Louis’ Sopa de Lima, which turned out to be one of my favorites from the book. At once bright, bright, optimistic and soothing, it evokes the sunny attitude of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

‘Wine Style’ Marinated Mushrooms

In August we reviewed Wine Style, the first solo book by one of our favorite cookbook authors, Kate Leahy. (I’m jumping around time-wise in the year, because I wanted to save the rest of the sweets for the end of the story.) These miraculously easy and delicious marinated mushrooms make a fabulous pre-dinner, wine-friendly nibble or side dish, which is why I’ve made them at least half a dozen times.

Italian Sausages with Roasted Cauliflower and Greens

Like everyone else in the universe, I’m always looking for easy, appealing weeknight dinners. This one, starring Italian sausages, baby spinach and cauliflower, is great for wintertime.

‘Wine Style’ Roasted Edamame

Keep a bag of edamame in the shell in your freezer at all times, and you whip up this irresistible bar snack in a jiffy. It’s fantastic with sake, beer or orange wine.

Dorie Greenspan’s Gouda Gougères

The recipe for gougères — French cheese puffs — in Dorie Greenspan’s latest book, Baking with Dorie, may be my favorite ever. Aged gouda and cumin seeds make them special, and their texture is perfect. We reviewed the book in October.

Apricot and Pistachio Olive-Oil Cake

Ready? Here come the sweets! This was the first thing I made from Baking with Dorie, and it bowled me over. Apricot and pistachio is a fabulous combo.

Showstopper Rolled Pavlova with Peaches and Blackberries

Yotam Ottolenghi struck again in July, when I fell in love with the rolled Pavlova filled with whipped cream, blackberries and peaches in Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi. He wrote the 2017 book with Helen Goh. You’ll need to wait for summer peaches to make the exact thing, or you could try one with blackberries and blueberries. Or maybe even sliced bananas or mangoes and blueberries. Or dried apricots and prunes poached in red wine with a little sugar.

‘The Perfect Scoop’ Tangerine Sorbet

When we reviewed David Lebovitz’s 2018 book The Perfect Scoop last year (yep, three years after it was published), it was July — prime ice-cream season. But don’t think frozen desserts are only for summer: This tangerine sorbet spectacularly captures the flavor of great tangerines (also known as mandarins) at the height of their season — in other words, now! It’s insanely wonderful.

Gianduja Gelato with Stracciatella

Last, but absolutely not least, if I could make only one ice cream for the rest of my life, it might well be this one. It’s such a classic — gianduja is Italy’s famous marriage of hazelnut and chocolate. The gelato, also from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, is swirled at the last minute with melted chocolate, which turns magically into streaks of rich chocolate chips. Amazing!