Review: Steeped by Annelies Zijderveld

Title: Steeped: Recipes Infused with Tea
Author: Annelies Zijderveld
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: April 7 2015
Source: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Description:

Get your oolong on! From morning eats to evening sweets, Steeped infuses your day with the flavors and fragrances of tea.

"Steeped is smart, inventive, and most of all, inspiring.. Annelies has got me daydreaming about the possibilities of tea, from Sweet Tea Jelly on toast to California Tea Leaf Salad and Arnold Palmer Poppy Seed Muffins. This beautiful book deserves a spot next to your teacup." - Molly Wizenberg, author of A Homemade Life and Delancey

Romance your oat porridge with rooibos, jazz up your brussel sprouts with jasmine, charge your horchata with masala chai! Annelies Zijderveld's deliciously inventive tea-steeped recipes include:

Matcha Chia Pudding Parfaits
Earl Grey Soba Noodle Salad
Green Tea Coconut Rice
Chamomile Buttermilk Pudding with Caramelized Banana
Earl Grey Poached Pears with Masala Chai Caramel Sauce
This beautiful book will inspire you to pull out your favorite teas, fire up the stove, and get steeping!

★★★

Review:

I love tea. I drink it pretty much daily. However, my love of tea is nothing compared to my girlfriend's obsession. She collects all things tea related, from drinking it, to books, to tea cups and wall art. I love to cook, and she loves tea, so I thought that this book would be perfect. It's not a cookbook I'll be running out to buy anytime soon, but there are some pretty good recipes in this book.

Steeped starts with a helpful introduction to tea, what teas are featured in the book, how to cook with it, as well as what equipment you'll need to most effectively use this cookbook. At the end of the book, there's also a section for further tea resources (such as where to buy them) as well as measurement conversions.

The recipes in this cookbook are sorted into time of day menus, which makes it really lovely and easy to plan a full tea spread of treats. There's a nice combination of sweet and savory recipes in here, making for a nice variety of different dishes.

The pictures that are included in this book are well done, but there weren't nearly enough for my liking. I like having visual references to what I'm making, and this book was lacking in them. I also wasn't aware of the fact that this book is vegetarian. Most of these recipes are easily adaptable, but I love me some meat and I was looking forward to looking on how to cook meat with teas as a complement, but I didn't get any of that in this book. The instructions are very descriptive, but are written in a more paragraph-like style so it's a bit harder to follow. Cooking with tea is rather involved as it turns out, and I wouldn't recommend this to those who aren't regulars in their kitchens.

Some of the dishes that I'd like to try from this book include Fresh Fennel Lychee Spring Rolls with Black Tea Dipping Sauce, Green Tea Noodles in Asparagus Sauce with Goat Cheese Pearls, and Mini Cherry Cream Pies with Sweet Tea Glaze.

All in all, I'd recommend this book to vegetarians, lovers of tea, and those who are more confident with their culinary prowess.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.