Carla Lalli Music is the food editor at large at Bon Appétit and is known for her easy-going, stress-free cooking style, as shown in her many YouTube videos. Her first book, Where Cooking Begins, actually won the 2020 James Beard Foundation Book Award! I’ve enjoyed watching Carla’s videos for the last several years, so I'm excited to add her two books to my Bon Appetit collection.
One of my favorite things about Where Cooking Begins is how Carla breaks down the ingredients by what you'll need to buy at the store versus what you most likely already have in your pantry. She offers substitution suggestions for almost everything, making it super easy for when you don't want to run to the store for, I don’t know, "pea tendrils." The approach of this book, which is to shop for what you'll eat and use up everything you bought, is genius. As someone who suffers from full-fridge-with-nothing-to-eat syndrome, I could learn a thing or two.
Carla's new cookbook, That Sounds So Good, comes out later this month and you already know I have it pre-ordered. In the meantime, I will be cooking from Where Cooking Begins and will follow up with That Sounds So Good later in the month.
October Cookbook #1: Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes to Make You a Great Cook by Carla Lalli Music
Starting easy this week, I made the omelet with whipped ricotta (pg. 121) for lunch. I realized halfway through that this is my first attempt at making an omelet – ever! Pretty successfully, I might add. This one is simple but definitely a keeper.
The mozzarella with charred and raw sugar snap peas (pg. 86) was a simple appetizer that really made a satisfying lunch! Plus, I got to use my latest obsession, Chile Crunch, aka the perfect condiment. I think the key to this is having the freshest mozzarella you can find and making sure it’s room temperature so that you get that extra creamy inside.
Sea bass is not an inexpensive fish, but if you’re looking to #treatyoself, the crispy-skinned sea bass with salt-and-butter radishes (pg. 184) is worth it. Luckily, the fish fillets will be your only splurge because this recipe is clean and simple with minimal ingredients. It may look fancy, but it only took me a total of 15 minutes to prepare.
Lazy Friday night pasta has become a thing around here, so the spaghetti aglio e olio (pg. 143) was a welcomed dish. Aglio e olio means “garlic and olive oil” in Italian, making this pasta recipe my love language. In Carla’s version, she adds enough parsley that you could convince yourself that you’re also getting your daily serving of greens.
Meringues are one of my favorite sweet treats, so the praline meringues (pg. 256) had to be the first dessert I tried. The first step was to make the praline almonds, which my first thought was “oh, hell no” when I read the instructions. Like I said last week, candy-making is not my jam. BUT I already committed to making these, so I just went for it. They weren’t tricky per-say, but it’s always important to keep your eye on the pot whenever you’re heating sugar. Things can go downhill quickly. The pralines turned out beautiful and gave the meringues a great toasty flavor!
Thanks for reading, sweeties! 🍎
Mmm... I'm gonna love this month's cookbook. ALL of these look delicious!!!