(Clockwise from top left) Recipes from new cookbooks Game: The Chef’s Field to Table Cookbook (quail and venison); minestrone from Fresh Flavors from The Slow Cooker; Pesto & Mushroom-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes from 5-Ingredient Vegan.
Fall is here in full force. If you love to cook you might be whipping up muffins on a crisp fall day or simmering a stew for cozy evenings with friends in front of the fire. If you need ideas for fall menus and through the holidays, there are several new cookbooks out that are perfect for fall menu planning. We love them and think you will too.
Game: The Chef’s Field to Table Cookbook
From the editors of Covey Rise, a distinctive magazine devoted to the upland sporting lifestyle, comes this comprehensive volume of recipes, stories, techniques, and tips from acclaimed chefs from around the globe.
Throughout the years, Covey Rise has compiled a large inventory of recipes, photographs, and stories that have appeared in the magazine’s pages. Working with exceptional chefs, photographers, and writers from all over the world, Covey Rise is ready to showcase these in a new and exciting way.
With more than 130 game recipes suitable for the home chef, Game: The Chef’s Field to Table Cookbook (© Game: The Chef’s Field to Table Cookbook by Covey Rise, Welcome Books, an imprint of Rizzoli New York 2018) is the perfect guide for harvest-to-table meals. From elk to rabbit, grouse to quail, and salmon to trout, the chefs featured in Covey Rise teach us how to prepare a myriad of small plates, big and small game, game birds and fowl, desserts, drinks, and more. Packed with remarkable stories and striking images, Game immerses us in the fields and kitchens of acclaimed chefs and celebrates the best of the sporting lifestyle.
Here is one recipe from the cookbook that is perfect for fall, Ground Venison Kabobs with Tomato Jam.
Ground Venison Kabobs with Tomato Jam from The Chef’s Field to Table Cookbook. Recipe from Chef Gordon Hamersley. Photo: Carl Tremblay
Ground Venison Kabobs with Tomato Jam
Makes 4 servings
2 pounds venison, ground, 90% lean
2 tablespoons ice-cold water
2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
½ cup onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons za’atar (Middle Eastern Spice Blend)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garlic, finely minced
About 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
About ½ cup Tomato Jam (recipe following)
Heat a grill for direct high heat.
In a large bowl, crumble the venison and pour the ice water over the top. With gloved hands, gently mix in the parsley, mint, cilantro, onion, za’atar, salt, and garlic to combine. Divide into 4-ounce portions (about 10) and shape each into a log around a long metal skewer, pressing gently.
Scrape the grill clean and coat it with oil. Brush the skewers all over with the oil, and grill for 2 minutes. Turn and grill for another 2 minutes, then turn one final time and grill for 2 minutes more. The 6-minute cooking time is for medium-rare kabobs—the perfect doneness to serve venison. Transfer the kabobs to a platter and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
For the Tomato Jam
Makes about 2 cups
28-ounce can whole peeled canned plum tomatoes, with juice
6-ounce can tomato paste
½ cup onion, finely minced
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Empty the can of tomatoes and juice into a heavy-duty, nonreactive, 3-quart saucepan.
Using your hands, squeeze and crush the tomatoes. Stir in the tomato paste, onion, sugar, vinegar, garlic, salt, and cinnamon, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally about 45 minutes.
Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender or stand mixer to puree the mixture until smooth.
Return to heat and simmer until it has a thick, jamlike consistency, another 10 minutes. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
To Serve: For each plate, spread a generous spoonful of tomato jam on the plate and top with two kabobs.
© Game: The Chef’s Field to Table Cookbook by Covey Rise, Welcome Books, 2018
5-Ingredient Vegan
By Nava Atlas, author of Vegan Holiday Kitchen and Wild About Greens published by Sterling Publishing, 5-Ingredient Vegan is a new collection of 175 delicious 5-ingredient recipes is for vegans, vegetarians and the veg-curious.
Most of these recipes can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes. The recipes call for fresh produce as well as good quality canned and frozen foods, whole grains and time-saving off-the-shelf prepared sauces. If you need help in planning menus, the author offers ideas on how to create a complete meals and gives tips on what dishes go well together.
One of the many recipes we like is:
Pesto & Mushroom-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes from 5-Ingredient Vegan. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky
Pesto & Mushroom-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Makes 3 servings
3 large sweet potatoes
8 ounces mushrooms (cremini or white), cleaned, stemmed, and sliced
1 (6- to 8-ounce) jar vegan pesto
Microwave the sweet potatoes until soft but not collapsed. Allow 3 minutes per sweet potato; test to see if it can be easily pierced, then add another minute or 2 as needed.
Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms in a small skillet with a little water until wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain well.
Cut the cooked sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and mash lightly with a fork. Divide the pesto and mushrooms among the sweet potatoes and serve at once.
Reprinted with permission from 5-Ingredient Vegan © 2019 by Nava Atlas, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky
Fresh Flavors from the Slow Cooker
By Nicki Sizemore, Fresh Flavors from the Slow Cooker, published by Storey Publishing, is definitely perfect for fall cooking.
For those of us who were cooking in the 70s, we called today’s trendy “slow cooker,” the crock-pot. Some people might remember them from college days or when they started their first jobs and had no time to cook.
What became known as the crock-pot was created by Irving Naxon in 1940 as a cooking appliance to cook a Jewish inspired bean stew, called cholent. In 1970, The Rival Company bought Naxon’s patent and introduced “The Crock-Pot” in 1971.
Today, we all know the appliance as simply “the slow cooker.”
Although a long-time kitchen staple due to its ease of operation, the slow cooker has a reputation for turning out bland and watery dishes. But in Nicki Sizemore’s Fresh Flavors for the Slow Cooker this trusted kitchen appliance makes a garden-fresh comeback with simple- yet-inventive recipes complete with whole-food ingredients.
Using her skills as a trained chef and recipe developer, Sizemore reinvigorates a favorite method of meal prep with healthy and fun ingredients that breathe life back into using the slow cooker. Fresh Flavors for the Slow Cooker features 46 recipes for main dishes, along with 31 recipes for quick and vibrant sauces and side dishes to round out the meal. Complete with tips and do-ahead steps for recipes like Thai Curried Chicken and Rice Noodles, Braised Short Ribs with Gremolata, French Toast Casserole, and Vegetable and Quinoa Chili, you are sure to create foodie-approved dishes for any palate.
Whether you are looking for an elegant meal for entertaining, a new dish for game day, or an overnight no-fuss breakfast, Fresh Flavors for the Slow Cooker brings delicious and nourishing meals to your table with ease and reliability.
One recipe we like from her book is Overnight Pumpkin–Brown Rice Pudding.
Overnight Pumpkin–Brown Rice Pudding
Overnight Pumpkin–Brown Rice Pudding
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Slow Cooker
3 cups whole milk
¾ cup canned or fresh pumpkin purée
2⁄3 cup brown basmati rice
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1⁄8 teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch of ground cloves
For Serving
Heavy cream, half-and-half, or unsweetened whipped cream Chopped pecans (optional)
Slow Cooker Jump Start Up to 1 day ahead: Measure out and combine the cinnamon, ginger, salt, cardamom, and cloves (store at room temperature).
Assemble the Slow Cooker
Lightly spray a 1½-quart or similar sized baking dish with cooking spray or rub it with oil.
Combine the milk, pumpkin, rice, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cardamom, and cloves in the baking dish and whisk to combine. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil, then place it in a 4- to 7-quart slow cooker. Pour in enough water around the sides of the baking dish to come about a quarter of the way up the sides of the dish. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or until the rice is tender. Transfer the baking dish to a heatproof surface, and stir well to combine (it will look strange at first, but it will come together!). Let cool for about 30 minutes to thicken.
Serve
Spoon the rice pudding into serving bowls, and drizzle each with heavy cream, half-and-half, or a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, if you’d like.
Storage
The rice pudding can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Excerpted from Fresh flavors for the Slow Cooker © 2019 by Nicki Sizemore. Used with permission from Storey Publishing.
