Susan Feniger

This one looks exciting, from the apps to the condiments to the desserts. Can't wait to try the black licorice and cherry biscotti, the picadillo chili dog, and all of the condiments. Can't find a recipe I don't want to try, even though some of the ingredients are going to take a bit of tracking down.

Bit overwhelmed by beverage quantities -- how many purchasers are really going to make a gallon of mango lhassi at a time?

NOTE: I have now made several of the smaller items from this book (enjoying a variant of the spiced millet puffs right now -- had to use Kashi 7-grain puffs because I couldn't find millet), and all but one have been terrific. That being said, I live in a medium-sized city in the Southern US, one with a fair number of ethnic grocers, and I still find myself making do because I can't easily get all the ingredients in the book.

The one recipe that was only ok was the licorice and cherry biscotti, but I used the licorice and dried cherries I had on hand, which were not as potent as those called for in the recipe. While I thought the flavors could have been more pronounced, I put that down to my ingredients; for me, the real issue was that these were short/softish/crumbly biscotti, where I like the hard ones.

Conclusion: This is a smart and sharp book, even if the yields are sometimes restaurant size and some of the ingredients are difficult to find. It's not hard to tweak the recipes to your taste and the ingredients you can find, and you will definitely be rewarded with delicious and interesting food.… (more)