A cookbook club starter
How to organize a group — and why you’ll want to Carrot-and-mustard rillettes
Carrot-and-mustard rillettes from “Everyday
If you like the idea of joining a book club but would really rather not debate pacing and character development in the latest best-selling novel over overly garlicky spinach dip, there’s another option: a cookbook club.
In a cookbook club, you still get to see friends, while gathering to commune over and discuss a book. But the food is better. And you don’t have to read that 350-pager (that no one ever gets through). If you’re doing it right, you
reading the book, but it’s faster.
Participating in such a club also forces you to cook from the cookbooks you buy. How many have you bought and never gotten around to trying? See? And you get to have a dinner party at a table full to groaning, but you only made one dish (or two or more for the more ambitious).
To get you started, here are some things we’ve learned along the way to cooking the books.
How to communicate: If I have one more Google doc to manage, I’ll die. We use email. The string can
get long, but we manage. But, yes, if you’re the super-organized type, create that online doc.
Keep it small: I laughed when I read advice to make cookbook groups 25 members. What an organizational nightmare. Limit your group to six to eight people: large enough to try a number of dishes in a book, small enough to manage the dinner party.
Not a potluck: You’ll consult one another and pick a range of dishes across appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts. A potluck means you end up with the luck of the draw. This is not that.
Knock down barriers: Make it easy to get together. Be reasonable about how often you’ll meet. Monthly sounds like a death knell. How about bimonthly? Or quarterly? Where to meet: We take turns hosting at one another’s condos and houses. No one cares if it’s a tight squeeze, or if we eat standing around the kitchen counter.
Choosing the book: Let the host choose. Assuming all of you have similar goals, no one is going to pick something wild like Rene Redzepi’s mossdominant “Noma.” Also, the choice should be about discovery for every member. I would love to have our group cook from my friend Robin Mather’s “The Feast Nearby,” but I know that book already.
Getting the book: We all want to support cookbook authors, but buying several books a year might be too steep a price for some members. Plus, what if it turns out you don’t like the book? Share. Pick your dish then pass the book along. Or pick up a copy at the library, or use e-books.
Be mindful of sitting time: Are you coursing the dishes (we do) or throwing everything on the table at once? The answer will affect your dish. Prep: Rillettes: Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper teaspoon caraway seeds, chopped or crushed 2½ tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard, preferably French
2½ teaspoon extra-virgin teaspoon mustard seeds, optional tablespoons plain Greek yogurt teaspoon grainy Dijon mustard, preferably French For serving: Cook: Makes: 1 For the rillettes, cut the carrots in half the long way, then cut each half in half (so that you have 4 long pieces per carrot), and slice each piece crosswise about ½ inch thick. (If your carrots are slender, you can just cut them lengthwise in half and slice them.) Season the carrots with a little salt and pepper and put them in a steamer basket over (or in) a saucepan of simmering water. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the carrots are crisp-tender — they should retain some of their crunch and be only a bit firmer than the cheese. Spoon the carrots into a bowl and season with ½ teaspoon sea salt, a few turns of the pepper mill, the cumin and the caraway seeds. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2 Mix the cheese, 3 For the spread, if you’re using the mustard seeds, toss them into a small dry skillet and heat until they’re toasted, about 2 minutes. Turn the seeds out into a bowl, add the mayonnaise, yogurt and both mustards and stir to blend. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you think the spread needs it. (You can use the spread now, or cover and refrigerate it for up to 2 days.)
4 To assemble,
are