Alison Roman [Backlog]
At the end of the day, it’s really all about the food.
April Cookbooks: Nothing Fancy and Dining In by Alison Roman
This month I’ll be cooking from not one but TWO cookbooks! I was debating on if I wanted to do these books separately, but a lot of the recipes are so similar that I figured it made more sense to cover more cookbook ground and combine them.
Alison Roman is the quintessential millennial-hipster chef. (Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to personal preference.) Both of her cookbooks have been raved about and several recipes in these books have gone viral. Some are even mononymous, like “The Stew” and “The Cookie.” So while she has rubbed me the wrong way in the past, at the end of the day, it’s really all about the food. And much like Roman, I too have an obsession with anchovies and squeeze lemon on just about everything. So I’m hoping to find a few new favorites this month.
Week One
I figured I would start the month off with one of Roman’s viral recipes, the tomato and anchovy bucatini (pg. 153, Dining In). I never liked tomato sauce as a kid and that stuck with me all through adulthood. As an (almost) 30-year-old woman, I still prefer buttered noodles to a red sauce. Embarrassing. But the whole point of this cookbook challenge is to step outside my comfort zone, so I figured tomato sauce is as good a place to start as any. And surprise, surprise, the dish that every six-year-old nationwide enjoys, I too enjoyed! I think watching my own tomatoes roast in olive oil for two hours really put me in the right mindset. I’m pretty sure I would eat a shoe if it were slow-roasted in olive oil.
A natural pairing for this pasta dish was, of course, the caramelized garlic anchovy toast (pg. 73, Nothing Fancy). It was great! Not that garlic + butter + bread could be anything other than great. I loved the addition of the anchovy fillets. It added some great - wait for it - umami flavor! (Are you really a true foodie if you don’t occasionally include “umami” in a sentence?)
One of my favorite things about traveling is that no matter how many years go by, you’ll always remember the food that you ate. For my dad, it was some prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe that he had in Italy decades ago. (I know this because he likes to tell us often.) So when I saw the melon with crispy ham and ricotta salata (pg. 114, Nothing Fancy), I thought I’d make some in his honor. Ultimately, yes, it is a sliced-up canteloupe with crunchy prosciutto thrown on top BUT it really is a delicious pairing. The sweet, juicy cantaloupe with the salty ham and cheese… *chefs kiss*
Next, we have another viral recipe – the lemon turmeric tea cake (pg. 309, Nothing Fancy)! Ah, I love a loaf cake. They’re small, simple and somewhat acceptable to eat for breakfast. I even made fresh whipped cream to top off each slice. This is a great snacking cake. What else is there to say about it?
Next up for dinner, I made the halibut with asparagus and brown-butter peas (pg. 237, Nothing Fancy)! I had bought some frozen haddock at Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago and since haddock and halibut are both light white fish, I figured it would make a good substitute. I also used the perfect asparagus (pg. 71, Dining In) recipe in this as well. I never thought I would say this about peas but…the peas were AH-MAZ-ING!!! I will be keeping this peas method in my back pocket, for sure. I also made some lemon aioli (pg. 37, Nothing Fancy) to dip the asparagus into. I used the leftover garlic-infused olive oil I had from when I roasted the tomatoes last week. Delish!
As I've mentioned before, I am not a chocolate gal…but life is defined by paradox and I contain multitudes. I don’t like chocolate desserts, and yet, on Wednesday night I wanted nothing more than a giant slice of fudgy, chocolate cake. I wasn’t about to make a whole cake at 7 pm but the tiny, salty chocolate cookies (pg. 306, Nothing Fancy) sounded just as good. I loved how low maintenance these cookies were – no fancy equipment, no chilling of the dough. The trouble I had with these was when it was time to remove them from the pan. They were so delicate! If you ever try to make these cookies, make sure they are completely cool before you remove them from the pan. The six cookies that I have pictured above are the only six that made it out whole. The rest are slopped in a bowl on the counter that I’ve been picking out of with my hands every time I step into the kitchen.
A friend of mine was throwing a birthday party for a coworker over the weekend and asked me if I would be willing to make a cake. Making a cake is very time-consuming, especially for a person I do not know. But it was an opportunity to make the crispy chocolate cake with hazelnuts (pg. 288, Nothing Fancy), so I agreed. Despite the pile of dirty dishes afterward, it really didn’t take up too much time. Crispy on the outside, fudgy on the inside! Topped with the Nutella-sour cream topping and a cherry, it was delish. The party ended up being a legit house party (not the quiet get-together I was expecting) so I think the cake was a little too fancy for the setting, but I got many compliments the next day about how good it was!
Week Two
definitely wanted to make the crushed blackberry cornmeal cake (pg. 276, Nothing Fancy) this week because I found the most delicious-looking blackberries! Now, I really wanted to like this cake. Trust me, I did! But ultimately, I was not a fan. The cornmeal texture was just not for me. I even tried drizzling manuka honey over it, but it was still a no for me.
For dinner, I made the creamy pasta with pecorino and pepper (pg. 176, Nothing Fancy), which is basically adult mac n’ cheese. Roman considers this to be an Americanized cacio e pepe and I would have to agree. Cacio e pepe seems easy (after all, it literally translates to “cheese and pepper”), but I’ve attempted a handful of times and I always end up with a bland, congealed mess. Luckily, that was not the case this time! Apparently, a dumbed-down American version was just what I needed. I couldn’t find the fregola pasta shape that she used in the book, so I subbed it for some orecchiette instead.
*Me trying to offset a week of eating bread and pasta with one single salad.*
But in all seriousness, the raw and roasted kale salad with creamy pecorino (pg. 67, Dining In) is absolute heaven. Lacinato kale is in my top three favorite vegetables (not curly kale though….NOT curly kale.) The creamy pecorino dressing and the toasted pistachios were such a delicious addition.
Week Three
It was a whirlwind weekend up in Washington last weekend, that’s for sure! When I got back I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation…but, I just couldn’t say no to salted chocolate chip shortbread cookies (pg. 261, Dining In). I’ve actually made these cookies once before and was lowkey unimpressed. For a cookie to be known as “The Cookie” around the Internet, I was expecting to be blown away. But all I got was a crumbly-ass cookie! This week was a great opportunity to try again. I could tell that I was already having better luck when I formed the log of dough and it didn’t crumble under my hand. A good 24-hour chilling probably helped! I enjoyed these cookies way more the second time around. (I’m still not convinced that they needed viral status though...)
I made the swordfish steaks with crispy capers (pg. 200, Dining In) with the little gem salad with garlicky lemon dressing (pg. 88, Nothing Fancy). I’ve made the swordfish steaks a couple of years ago, so I knew this one was going to be a hit. I wasn’t super familiar with little gems before making this salad, but I was surprised to learn that they’re basically mini romaine! It was delicious with the garlicky lemon dressing and of course, I love a toasty nut topping.
For dessert, I made the key lime pie (pg. 170, Dining In) and it may have been the best key lime pie I have ever made. Maybe ever had! The filling was very custardy and almost melted in my mouth. I didn’t share this with anyone.
Week Four
Well, it happened to me. I tested positive for COVID-19. Can you believe??? In between vaccine shots! I was so damn close…
most days this week I felt extremely tired, and at some points, even dizzy. I needed to exert as little energy as possible this week, so on Monday I treated myself to enough food from Perry’s Steakhouse to feed a family of four and sustained on that pretty much the entire week. It was glorious. Since I rarely eat meat (especially beef), I almost never order from steakhouses. Which is a shame because they always have the best sides!! Quarantine isn’t too bad when you load up on lobster mac n cheese, chive whipped potatoes, lobster bisque, fried asparagus with lump crab meat, and potatoes au gratin.
Towards the end of the week, I was feeling much better and managed to make the apple and endive salad (pg. 90, Dining In) and the cauliflower and onion gratin (pg. 151, Nothing Fancy). The salad reminded me of one that I had in Sonoma; fresh, bitter, sweet and crunchy! The cauliflower gratin though….now that was the real winner! I know people love to say cauliflower things “taste just like [insert delicious thing it does not taste like]!!!” – but this actually did taste like mac ‘n’ cheese! I will totally be making this for this year’s Friendsgiving.
By Saturday, it was just a matter of waiting around until my full 10-day quarantine was up. So to close out the month, I made the strawberry shortcake cobbler (pg. 292, Dining In). I usually save desserts like this as a weekend project because I think the baking part is going to take forever, but to my surprise, these shortcakes came together very quickly. Actually, from start to finish this whole dessert only took about 45 minutes! And of course, it was delicious. The shortcakes were light and tender, which was a perfect vehicle for the sugary strawberries.
Woo-wee! What a month, man. April has been my largest month to date with 25 recipes completed – 25!! There were a few flops in my opinion, but there were quite a few recipes worth repeating. Overall, I found a lot of these recipes to be a bit simplistic. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that. I’m sure any novice cook would be happy with any of these! But, like, if I put olive oil, salt and pepper on a piece of white fish and bake it…yeah, it’s gonna taste good. I’m not sure we needed that written down and published in a book.
You should buy these cookbooks if…
If you’re curious about these viral recipes dubbed #TheStew and #TheCookies.
If you’re looking for a more approachable cookbook. (Chefs, they’re just like us!)
If you accepted her Notes app apology.