March Cookbook: Eating Out Loud by Eden Grinshpan
I picked up this cookbook on a whim during a quick poke around Barnes & Nobel. You know when you just walk in there and it’s like, “when inspiration strikes” vibes. Eating Out Loud caught my eye because of the minimalist cover. (Yes, I judge cookbooks by their cover. Sue me!!) I really liked the modern takes on Middle Eastern flavors. Despite being half-Lebanese myself, I’ve never really experimented with these flavors that I grew up with when spending the weekends at my grandparents’ house. This book seems like an easy gateway to getting there.
Week One
I love to cook, but some days I am just not. in. the. mood. For those days, I am thankful that rice and pasta exist. Or in this case, couscous! The brown butter couscous (pg. 226) isn’t the most unique recipe in this book but it is versatile. Plus, you can never go wrong with brown butter! I tossed it with some lemon olive oil, feta and spinach. This is such a good dish to have on-hand and makes great leftovers!
You know I wasn’t going to pick up a Middle Eastern cookbook and not make hummus the first week, right? A bunch of my girlfriends came into town over the weekend so naturally, it was the perfect opportunity to bring a vat of freshly-made classic hummus (pg. 40). I’ve made hummus several times and this recipe was pretty in line with others I have tried. Why mess with simple perfection? The addition of the “tahini sauce” (just tahini and water) did add a nice, smooth element.
And of course, I wasn’t going to leave them hanging on the dippins! The easy peasy pita bread (pg. 150) was pretty easy but I don’t know about “easy peasy.” It was time-consuming and ultimately tasted just as good as the kind I get at Phoenicia. But I did enjoy bragging about it on Instagram!
Week Two
It’s actually pretty fitting that on the one-year anniversary of COVID hitting the United States that I made banana bread. Remember when we were all like, “Oh fun, a mini vacay where I’ll stay home and bake bread for a couple of weeks.” Wow. Anyway, the date banana bread (pg. 85) was a nice spin on an easy classic. I loved the crunchy walnut-coconut crumble on top!
Look, no one is ever gonna be mad at a grilled cheese – ever! The grilled cheese pita (pg. 134) was another spin on a classic. It was easy to throw together and the pita crisped up so beautifully. Using gouda cheese and the addition of the sesame seeds and honey gave this a nice, adult touch. Not gonna lie, I made this twice this week.
We also had a winter storm here in Denver over the weekend, so in an effort to manifest summer in my apartment, I blasted the heater and made the watermelon salad with feta, pepitas and mint (pg. 121). I love watermelon with a hint of spice and the crunchy pepitas were a great addition! I’ll definitely need to try this over the summer when watermelon is in season and more flavorful.
Week Three
The pistachio cardamom coffee cake (pg. 95) should have been something I liked. I mean, it’s a cake you can eat for breakfast with a crunchy, pistachio streusel! Come on now! When I tasted the batter I was like, “hell yeah, this is gonna be good,” but for some reason, the finished product just wasn’t doing it for me. To be fair, I did forget to include a layer of streusel in the middle and the cake sank a bit, probably due to an error on my end. (I gotta be honest, I was only half-ass committed when I was making this.) So, it’s probably not the recipe’s fault. I ate one piece and gave the rest away.
It’s been a while since I made a batch of cookies, so the salted halvah chocolate chip cookies (pg. 295) sounded perfect. I didn’t have any halvah (and little did I know, it is very easy to make) so I followed the notes in the book to mix some tahini with honey and spread it on top of the dough. I’m not sure it really added anything to the cookie. Not bad, but not life-changing. I would like to make these again but with authentic halvah to see if it makes a difference. But at the end of the day, you really can’t go wrong with a salty chocolate chip cookie!
Week Four
I don’t make a lot of cakes. Mainly, because a. they’re usually a pain in the ass and b. I don’t like cake. Even when it’s a “good” cake, I’m probably still wishing it were a pie. But if I had to rank my top three favorite cakes, it would go as such; the chantilly cake from Whole Foods, Milk Bar’s birthday cake and olive oil cake. The Kardashian-Jenners may have made the olive oil cake trendy these days, but I’m proud to say that I was on this train way before Kylie. (She wants to be me sooo bad.)
A friend of mine just purchased her first house, so I figured this was a great opportunity to make a cake and pawn it off on someone else. The semolina olive oil honey cake (pg. 258) came together very easily (no stand mixer needed!) The real stars of the show, in my opinion, were the lemon-honey glaze and the yogurt whipped cream. They were simple additions, but added so much! I want to only make whipped cream this way from now on. I topped my slice with fresh raspberries and ate it while watching the snowfall outside my window. Romantic vibes!!
This week I splurged in order to make the chermoula sea bass (pg. 197). Sea bass is great but at $25/lb, it’s not really a delicacy I can afford too often. Especially when I usually eat my dinners in ripped leggings on the floor while watching reruns of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Luckily, this chermoula is BOMB.COM and will taste great with any kind of white fish! (Hello, frozen tilapia fillets. I knew I would have big plans for you eventually.)
This book is a great gateway into Middle Eastern cooking, without going too far outside of your comfort zone. Throughout the month I got to use a few ingredients that I don’t use very often, such as freekeh, dill, and semolina flour. Plus, I got a chance to use up the container of dates that I purchased months ago when I was in my “cashew milk latte” phase. However, I did find a good handful of these recipes to be underwhelming. Not bad, just underwhelming.
You should buy this cookbook if…
You like Mediterranean food but you’ve never tried cooking it.
You want to try one of these olive oil cakes that the Kardashians keep going on about.
You’re looking for a new way to dress up your vegetables.