Cooked by Michael Pollan

This month's Kitchen Reader book is Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan. Unfortunately I had some trouble getting a copy and only managed to start reading a few days ago. Little did I know that it is a massive manifesto on the main ways to cook food.

Pollan singles out four processes that humans use to cook food, naming them after the four ancient elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Fire is for grilling, the most primal of ways to cook food. Water is for boiling, steaming, and braising. Air is for the effects of the oven and yeast on bread. And earth is for fermentation, a chemical reaction that "cooks" food.

With the short time I had available, I decided to read the introduction and only one of the main four chapters. The one I am most interested in, by far, is about fermentation.

Chilled Cantaloupe Soup

Recently I've been inspired by reading magazines. For example, my local grocery store is called Cold Storage, and they publish a cheap quarterly magazine that is full of clever recipes. This chilled cantaloupe soup is from it.

But I like to read lots of magazines--almost any type are fine by me. I read sports ones about Formula One, running, or working out. I also like house and decorating magazines. I like essay magazines like Time, Monocle, and National Geographic. While in New Zealand on holiday in July I tried out a magazine called North & South ("the magazine for thinking New Zealand") which was very informative. And since arriving here in Singapore I picked up Time Out, of course.

Grain-Free Honey Cakes

This is the best textured grain-free baking I have done so far. These beautiful little cakes are fluffy and light even though they are made with coconut flour.

Coconut flour is much more dense than wheat flour and also soaks up a lot of liquid. Hence for bakers used to normal cupcake recipes, there is an relatively large quantity of wet ingredients in this recipe.

How to Make the Perfect Salad: Pear, Rocket, Fennel, and Blue Cheese Salad

What makes a perfect salad? I think it should hit all the tastebud areas on your tongue. Below is a tongue map (image from James Beard Foundation). To make a perfect salad, pick ingredients that include all these tastes. And then make sure every forkful includes them!

Mint and Lime - a Perfect Combination

I have decided that I need to use lime and mint together more. They are a perfect pair. Think about mojitos, for example. They are just lime, mint, rum, and soda water. And they are delicious!

Sweet Potato and Chicken Thai Green Curry

This week's recipe pick for Wednesdays with Donna Hay is from a book that I don't own, Off the Shelf. But I found a blogger who had written about it and so I adapted the recipe I found.