Savor by Ilona Oppenheim

My rating: 4 of 5 spoons

gggg

To begin with, this is just a beautiful book! From the front cover photography, to the quality hardcover, sewn binding, to the luscious interior photos (most of them taken by the author!) and lovely recipes, this is definitely a book to delight all the senses. To make it even better, this is not a trained chef doing spectacular things outside of the skill set of most everyday cooks, but a mother who loves to fish, forage and cook for her family and just wants to share this with others. Don’t feel you can’t use this book if you don’t have a place to forage from. Most ingredients can be sourced in stores as well.

There is so much to choose from, it was hard to make the decision of what to cook first. I finally decided on the 24 Hour Onion Soup. How nice to be able to make a full-bodied, lovely onion soup that takes so much time, but does most of the work on its own in the slow cooker! Served with the crusty bread with toasted Gruyere…what could be lovelier?

The Roasted Chicken recipe is packed full of flavor. Serve the chicken with Crispy Roasted Potatoes with a side salad for a meal sure to delight your family. The Ricotta recipe makes it so easy to make your own ricotta cheese at home. Use it to make the Ricotta and Roasted Fig Bruschetta.

I was in the mood for a dessert, so I made the Pine Nut Cookies next. I love that these cookies are not overly sweet and have a light, delicate flavor. The down side is that they’re very addicting! I have a feeling that most of the desserts in this book will be the same. Emphasis is placed on flavor instead of just loading it with sugar, and the results speak for themselves.

This is a great cookbook for anyone interested in flavorful, healthy food. If you’re interested in foraging or sourcing from the wild, that just makes it more appealing, but I think anyone could use and thoroughly enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.

I received a copy of this book from Artisan Books for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.