Stuffed: Luscious Filled Treats from Savory to Sweet - Hardcover

Fennimore, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1943366446 ISBN 13: 9781943366446

Publisher: St. Lynn's Press, 2019

Synopsis

When we talk about a favorite food, chances are it’s a dish that stuffs one food inside of another. Think ravioli, pierogi, dumplings, enchiladas, samosas, crepes, blintzes – and many more. They have come into our culinary traditions from all over the world and made themselves at home.

What is it about little balls of dough stuffed with all kinds of fillings that we love so much? Author and stuffed-food aficionado Chris Fennimore thinks he knows. It’s about the contrast of textures – the flaky and creamy in a single bite, or the rich with the mild. And the flavor pairings that transcend each individual element to create a unique magic.

Stuffed is a richly illustrated celebration of the amazing diversity and appeal of this simple universal concept, from humble to elegant. Inside, you’ll find recipes for traditional stuffed doughs, but also stuffed vegetables, bread, pastries, seafood, meats, and sweets. Everything from arepas to zeppoli. The recipes and accompanying stories pay homage to generations of home cooks – many that speak of childhoods spent in the warmth of family kitchens where food meant love.

About this title

From the Author:

From the Preface of Stuffed:
Italians have their ravioli, Chinese their dumplings, and Poles their pierogi. All around the world and for generations people have enjoyed the experience of little balls of dough stuffed with a variety of fillings. It might be cheese or meat or potatoes, sauced with tomatoes, soy sauce or melted butter, but people love them.

And these are not the only “stuffed” foods that cross borders and culinary traditions. Think about empanadas, Cornish pasties and calzone. So it got me wondering why there is such a seemingly universal love of one food stuffed inside another. And I think there are a few good reasons.

First of all, when a filling is cooked inside some form of shell, the flavorings and spices are intensified and melded together in a unique way. It extracts the juices from meat and vegetables without drying them out. It brings the ooze to cheese and marries it to other filling elements.

And then here is the contrast of textures that juxtaposes flaky with creamy in one bite, or smooth with crunchy, or the rich with the mild.

Finally, the combinations create flavor pairings that transcend each individual element. I have been fascinated with stuffed foods for years and collect them from every tradition I can find.

For the most part these are ethnic foods, and it is curious to see the parallels in technique as well as ingredients. But it also means that these are predominantly comfort foods with long and well loved traditions. Many of the preparations are labor intensive since they involve the assembly of individual portions, if not individual bites. But the end results are delicious and deeply satisfying.

For the past 25 years I have been the producer and host of a series of cooking programs on public television. Unlike other cooking formats, these shows and the resulting cookbooks invited our viewers to send us their family treasures. We asked some of them to appear on the show and share their kitchen wisdom and family stories. From time to time in this book you will see recipes from some of those home cooks – recipes forged on the appetites of real people and made in home kitchens just like yours. No special ingredients or fancy equipment required. The show is called QED Cooks in Pittsburgh and America’s Home Cooking when episodes air around the country. The rest of the recipes I’ve accumulated over the years from family and friends and made my own. Feel free to add and subtract where you like to make them just as much your own.

About the Author:

For the past 25 years, Emmy and James Beard Award winner Chris Fennimore has been the producer and host of a series of cooking programs on public television (QED Cooks in Pittsburgh and America’s Home Cooking when episodes broadcast around the U.S.). These beloved shows invite viewers to send in their family treasures and share their kitchen wisdom. For his new book, Stuffed, Chris includes some of the best “stuffed” recipes from those home cooks, and the rest of the recipes are his, collected over the years from family and friends that he has adapted and made his own. These recipes are predominantly ethnic comfort foods with long and well-loved traditions. His previous cookbook was Simple Pleasures (St. Lynn's Press, 2017).

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Lynn's Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1943366446
• ISBN 13: 9781943366446
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192