. After reading No Angel (see below) I couldn’t wait to start the 2nd book. A friend said to me that she liked #2 better than the first one, and I think I agree. It carries on the saga of this gentrified family in the publishing business in WWII era England. There are wartime injuries, even deaths as the family spreads out some (France and America), but it’s still about the London-based core family group that get themselves into trouble at several junctures. Loved this one. Do read them in order, though.
. No, not that Homer, but Homer, the blind cat. It’s a charming, funny, sweet, riveting book that any animal lover should read. We haven’t owned cats for decades, but I enjoy reading about them even if I don’t have one. Homer was a tiny kitten when found, with a dangerous eye infection. The vet who saved him had to remove his eyes, so the little kitten never knew sight. He’s adopted by a patient gal who is a writer already, and I can imagine that little Homer almost wrote the book himself. He’s very brave, willing to take risks – she almost loses him once. If you love animals, you’ve got to read this. I found it at Costco, but it’s also cheap at Amazon in paperback.
by Sarah McCoy. A really really interesting story. About WWII but told from the side of loyal German Hitler-loving citizens. The kind of local people who could be your neighbors, who were very nationalistic and truly believed Hitler was leading them to a better future. I’ve never read anything with a German perspective. The book isn’t political. In a way it’s a type of chick lit (which is why I didn’t suggest my DH read it) as it’s got a moderate amount of romance in it. The entire book is enveloped in the story of the family, who live in Garmisch (a place I’ve visited twice), who own a bakery. Mostly it’s about one of the bakery owner’s daughters. One daughter goes to a 
– by Erik Larson (hard copy) – wow, what a book. In all the literary fiction I’ve read about Nazi Germany, I’d never read that much about what it was like living in Berlin leading up to Hitler’s demonic rampages. This biography is about America’s ambassador to Germany from 1933-37, William Dodd. An academician, Dodd was probably unsuited to the job, yet he brought a kind of humility and clarity to the unrest. Accompanied by his wife and two adult children, they assimilated into the gay life of diplomacy. Dodd was not liked by his counterparts at home, yet he had the ear and appointment specifically because of Roosevelt, but only after 5 other career diplomats turned down the job. Dodd took his position very seriously, hoping that he’d make time to write a book he had worked on for much of his life (a detailed history of the American South). With no internet, no commercial jets and little but old fashioned typewriters or often written by hand, communiques sailed back and forth in diplomatic pouches. Dodd originally was lenient with Hitler, wanting to believe the hype Hitler broadcast. In time, though, he came to realize that Hitler had an insidious master plan. Dodd’s vivacious and beautiful daughter dated all manner of diplomats, Nazis and Russians, and very few Americans. She leaned left. Very far left, to the point of socialism. She had affairs – very inappropriate ones (says me), which undermined her father’s role (yet he seemed oblivious). This book is a real picture of the day to day life back then, well written, well researched and riveting. The Ambassador never did finish his book. But this book – well, everyone should read it. Erik Larson is the famous author of 
– by Willa Cather (on my Kindle) – what a joy to read. I’ve been a big fan of Cather’s writing most of my adult life, although I’ve not read all of her books. She had such a gift of words – such an ability to write a liquid picture – a conjurer of time and place that just doesn’t happen anymore in today’s writing world. The story revolves around a young girl (yes, it’s a coming of age novel) the daughter of a minister in the Midwest who has a musical gift. Her mentors help her to go to Chicago to study. Thea, the heroine here, is a very serious and studious young woman and not given to joy in life. She struggles with loneliness, yet seems to have no ability to reach out of her box to find friends or companionship. As with any young person who moves to a new place for work or study, there is that soulful pull from “home.” Does she give in? I’m not telling. A very good read.
– by Penny Vincenzi (hard copy from the library) – when two friends of mine recommended this book I knew I needed to read it. It’s not new (2004), but it is part of a trilogy by this English author. And I just refused to pay the very high Kindle price so that’s why I visited my local library and found it on the shelf. Vincenzi writes about the day-to-day lives of English gentry, and since I’m addicted to Downton Abbey these days, it sounded like a natural to read this book. It chronicles the lives of this particular family including marriages, births, affairs and chicanery, with their lovely home as the surround, the life style of the then-rich-and-famous, formal dinners. See? Downton Abbey. The difference is that there’s not much in this book about the servants, the below-stairs family. It takes place during the same pre-WWI era (1910′s). Prominent in the story is the book publishing business the family maintains (and with difficulty during the war years run by the two women left at home). Now I need to find the next in the series. If you enjoy family sagas, this one is a gem.
(Stacy Schiff); 
; and 
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I don’t suppose this looks all that appetizing, does it? I forgot the lemon zest and chives garnish, which really helps, but I’ll tell you, the recipe is very good. I attended a cooking class some years ago taught by Nicole Aloni. She’s a well-known caterer and cookbook author among the Hollywood set. She worked for many years as the catering director at the L.A. Music Center, then opened her own business. Her reason for writing cookbooks was a statistic: that 98% of people love the idea of giving a dinner party, but only 2 % of people enjoy doing it. So, she decided to write books about how to entertain.
Her first book, Secrets from a Caterer’s Kitchen ($12.89 on Amazon), is mostly about how to plan a dinner party. The logistics, the recipe decisions, the serving aspects, decorating ideas, and most importantly how to plan ahead so you aren’t cooking in the kitchen the entire day of the party. And there are lots of recipes in there too. Subsequently she published another cookbook, called Cooking for Company (also $12.89). It’s more along the food-only line, with over 200 pages of recipes for entertaining. All with the idea that you want to do as much advanced prep as possible.
So now, back to the cooking class. She prepared a meal that night that was relatively easy, but high on flavor, and definitely with the do-ahead factor. I like to entertain. Surely I’m not in the 2% of that statistic. And generally I enjoy the cooking too, although as I’ve gotten older I find that standing and prepping food for 7-8 hours the day of a party is getting harder. My feet hurt. My back hurts, etc. So I do try to make some things ahead. And I also try to buy store-bought something – usually the appetizer – rather than make it myself. So, this recipe is a good one for that.
This dish is an easy one to make, and I’d say this dish has Greek origins. The recipe didn’t say. You’ll notice a long list of ingredients. Don’t be put off by it – nothing in the list is a problem – except the preserved lemon. Most people don’t have that on the pantry or refrigerator shelf. I bought mine at Sur la Table, although other better grocery stores should carry it too. Or if you have a Middle Eastern market near you, they’ll surely have it at half the price. Preserved lemons are ones that have been packed in salt and left to sit for a couple of months.
Most Middle Eastern cooks make their own. I tried it once, but because I’d never had them before, I wasn’t sure if mine turned out correctly and have never bothered to make them since. If you’re interested, and you have a bountiful lemon tree, you might want to make them – they’re certainly easy to do – click here for a recipe. You never use much of the finished preserved lemon – they’re quite pungent and very tart. And salty. So it’s almost like a garnish, although this is put into the sauce itself. You wouldn’t want to use it as a garnish – for all those same reasons – too pungent, tart and salty.
You make a savory sauce – broth, balsamic vinegar, shallots, Dijon, tarragon, preserved lemon and kalamata olives. It has bitter overtones with the Dijon, balsamic, kalamata olives and the preserved lemon. That’s the part that can be done ahead. Be sure you use low sodium broths, though, because you reduce the broth to half and it will be very salty – way too salty – if you use regular sodium broths. Then you grill the chicken breasts that have been marinated in balsamic vinegar for a couple of hours, and once finished, you slice the chicken into strips. And serve it with some kind of carb – like linguine or rice – because you want something to soak up the sauce as well as what you spoon over the chicken. The recipe is also very low calorie and low fat, but as Nicole said that night – “it’s so good – you don’t need to tell anybody that.”
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Chicken with Artichokes & Olives
Recipe: Nicole Aloni, author and caterer
Servings: 8
Serving Ideas : You will want to serve this with some kind of starch that will absorb the wonderful sauce – like fettucine or rice. If serving this on a buffet, cut the chicken into chunks small enough so they don’t require a knife to cut and top each chicken piece with a bit of sauce and garnish with the chives, lemon zest and additional kalamata olives. Put more sauce on the side so guests can ladle more to suit their tastes.
NOTES: This dish doesn’t have striking prettiness since it’s kind of beige all over, so it’s important that you garnish with ample lemon zest and chives to give it some color. This is a very healthy dish – but you don’t have to tell anybody that.
1 1/2 cups beef stock — reduced sodium
3 cups chicken stock — reduced sodium
2 1/2 pounds chicken breast, no skin, no bone, R-T-C
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 pounds artichoke hearts — frozen, defrosted
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup shallots — minced
5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 1/2 ounces kalamata olives — pitted, minced
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons Preserved Lemons — chopped
GARNISH:
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoons chives — minced or parsley
1. In a large saucepan, combine the beef and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until reduced by half (about 2 cups) and set aside.
2. Trim the chicken breasts of any excess fat or skin. Pound the thicker ends of the breasts so they’re more evenly thinner. Set in a shallow bowl or plate and drizzle on about 2 T. of balsamic vinegar and rub into the breasts. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. In a medium sauté pan over medium heat cook the shallots in butter until translucent, about 4-7 minutes. Add the reduced stock, mustard and vinegar and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Make sure to whisk the ingredients well so the mustard is disbursed evenly. Add the artichoke hearts with the olives and tarragon and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Add the preserved lemon pieces, remove from heat. You can make this ahead to this point and refrigerate. Just rewarm the sauce when you’re ready to serve it.
4. Preheat the barbecue grill to medium high. Dust one side only of each chicken breast with freshly ground black pepper. Place chicken pepper side UP on the hot grill. Cook for about 8 minutes on the first side, turn and grill an additional 3-5 minutes. The flesh should slightly give when pressed.
5. Slice the chicken breasts diagonally into 2 or 3 pieces. Top each chicken breast with a generous ladle of sauce and garnish with lemon zest and chopped chives.
Per Serving: 313 Calories; 11g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 37g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 92mg Cholesterol; 1810mg Sodium.
Bob
said on August 24th, 2010:
Hi Carolyn,
I find myself once again thanking you for posting an absolutely delicious recipe. I served this tonight and got rave reviews.
I’d never heard of preserved lemons, and went looking all over and finally found them. What a dimension they add to the whole flavor!
I also took your advice from several weeks back and ordered from Penzey’s. I like the ease of having different stocks in my refrigerator instead of cluttering up the pantry.
Thanks again, and hope you’re enjoying your European trip!
Bob
Hi Bob – so glad you enjoyed that dish. I may have to make that chicken dish myself – I remember how good it was! . . . carolyn t