Sunday Best: Cooking Up the Weekend Spirit Every Day

 

I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Sunday Best: Cooking Up the Weekend Spirit Every Day

Author: Adrienne Cheatham (with Sarah Zorn)

Publisher: Clarkson Potter

Release Date: 4.12.22

Publisher’s Summary 

Make everyday meals something to celebrate with more than 100 recipes inspired by the Southern roots and Sunday suppers of Top Chef finalist Adrienne Cheatham's upbringing. 

At the core of chef Adrienne Cheatham's debut book is the deep sense that everyday moments should be appreciated, celebrated, and made special for those you love. In this stunning personal collection, Adrienne showcases her signature style of cooking, sharing more than 100 recipes that combine her family's Southern roots, her classical training in professional kitchens, and her distinct point of view, full of multicultural influences.

Adrienne captures the culinary essence of "Sunday best" with fresh but familiar recipes that include a feast-worthy pork roast crusted with pecans, charred okra roasted with tomatoes and warm spices, skirt steak topped with chimichurri of sharp mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts tossed with a nutty brown butter. She also shares tips and methods for upgrading classic, staple recipes into a dish worth talking about, like a roasted chicken that gets incredibly deep flavor from a marinade made with stout and soy sauce or a split pea salad that suddenly feels special when tossed with a bacon-sherry vinegar glaze.

Full of dishes that will soon be part of your own family's beloved repertoire, Sunday Best will help you celebrate home cooking every day of the week.

My Review

I love cookbooks for a variety of reasons. I especially love learning something new and being submersed into different cultures. Pick a city, state, or country and there is likely a cookbook featuring its traditional fare and modern delicacies, often with wonderful commentary on the dish's history and insight into the region. Three of my favorites of this type are World Food: Mexico City by James Oseland, Old World Italian by Mimi Thorisson, and Cook Real Hawai'i by Sheldon Simeon. There are celebrity chef cookbooks that are very hit or miss, usually focusing more on the celebrity than the food itself. There are advanced cookbooks that will make your head spin. For me these are usually baking books--all that science and precise measurements are overwhelming. I could go on and on but I say all this to make the point that I believe the best cookbooks are the ones that get pulled down from the shelf time and time again. Adrienne Cheatham's Sunday Best will now be one of those cookbooks in my kitchen. This cookbook is filled with recipes similar to how I already cook but with some new ideas and twists. The first recipes I'm trying are: Overnight Grits with Fried Eggs and Mushroom Ragout, Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Bacon-Miso Sauce, Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings, and Yuzu Banana Pudding. In addition to having traditional sections (breakfast, snacks, sauces, proteins, starches, vegetables, and desserts,) Sunday Best features 2 unique sections: Family-Style Feasts and Leftovers Reimagined that I think really round out a week's menu. Each recipe is precluded with a short and sweet note from Chef Cheatham and almost every recipe features a beautiful full-page color photo. I definitely recommend this cookbook to cooks of all skill levels and it would also be a great gift.