Review: Yogurt by Janet Fletcher!

Title: Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Author: Janet Fletcher
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: April 14th 2015
Source: Ten Speed Press

Description:

A fresh, modern yogurt-centric cookbook that showcases the versatility of this dairy superstar in 50 recipes for appetizers, salads, soups, sauces, marinades, beverages, and desserts, and provides fail-proof directions for making your own yogurt at home.

Americans have fallen in love with yogurt, thanks to its creamy texture, tangy flavor, and health-promoting probiotic cultures. In Yogurt, a fresh and modern full-color cookbook, author Janet Fletcher demonstrates the versatility of this dairy superstar in more than fifty recipes for appetizers, salads, soups, beverages, and desserts. From roasted tomato bruschetta with yogurt cheese to meatballs in a warm yogurt sauce to a golden yogurt cake, these recipes showcase yogurt in dishes both rustic and sophisticated. Drawing inspiration from the culinary traditions of Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, India, and beyond, this useful handbook includes a guide to purchasing yogurt (all of the recipes work with quality store-bought brands), advice on choosing a yogurt maker, and easy methods for making yogurt, Greek yogurt, and yogurt cheese at home.

★★★★

Review:

Yogurt is one of my absolute favorite ingredients. Living in a dorm, it's a fast go-to food to always keep on hand, and it's something familiar to me as I grew up eating Greek yogurt and honey. When I saw that this book used yogurt in every recipe for both sweet and savory, I couldn't resist. And I'm glad I didn't; this is a really useful collection of dishes.

It starts off with a really interesting pre-recipe introduction section that includes how to pick (and separate) the different kinds of yogurt, a brief history of the ingredient, the science behind it, as well as the health benefits of consuming yogurt. There's also a really neat guide on how to make your own yogurt with clear, step-by-step instructions on how to do so. There's also a really handy list of what fruits are readily available in what month, so that you can easily pair fruit with your yogurt at anytime of the year. At the end of the book, there's also a list of references and bibliographies for those who are interested in finding out more.

The recipes in this book are sorted by course, complete with a chapter for beverages which is something that I hadn't even thought of. I thought that was a really nice addition to the collection. There's a really nice mix of sweet and savory recipes which is good, because even though I love yogurt based sauces and the like, I don't usually think of yogurt as a savory ingredient. This book is very vegetarian friendly, but there are also dishes for meat eaters, which was also a happy surprise. The author offers good tips for how to substitute and change recipes according to availability and tastes.

There's a lot of international dishes here which works well to show just how versatile of an ingredient yogurt is. The photographs that are included are very pretty and professional, but I wish there were more pictures of the finished dishes as opposed to aesthetically pleasing but mostly artsy photographs. I like being able to see how on par I am when I complete a recipe.

Some of the recipes that I'm most excited to cook in my own kitchen include Lamb Meatballs in Warm Yogurt Sauce with Sizzling Red Pepper Butter, Grilled Swordfish with Yogurt Tahini Sauce and Sumac, and Indian Yogurt Pudding with Saffron, Cardamom, and Toasted Nuts.

I recommend this to those who want international flair brought to their yogurt dining experience, as well as those in mixed vegetarian-meat eating house holds. This book is good for beginners and seasoned cooks alike.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.