BOOK REVIEW: Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders

Title: Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook
Author: Theresa Carle-Sanders
Publication: June 14, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: Cookbook
Pages: 352

SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

Claire Beauchamp Randall’s incredible journey from postwar Britain to eighteenth-century Scotland is a feast for all five senses, and taste is no exception. From Claire’s first lonely bowl of porridge at Castle Leoch to the decadent roast beef served after her hasty wedding to Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, from gypsy stew and jam tarts to fried chicken and buttermilk drop biscuits, there are enough mouth-watering meals along the way to whet the appetite of even the most demanding palate.
 
Now professional chef and founder of OutlanderKitchen.com Theresa Carle-Sanders offers up this extraordinary cuisine for your table. Featuring more than one hundred recipes, Outlander Kitchen retells Claire and Jamie’s incredible story through the flavors of the Scottish Highlands and beyond. Following the high standards for prodigious research and boundless creativity set by Diana Gabaldon herself, Carle-Sanders draws on the events and characters of the novels to deliver delicious and inventive dishes that highlight local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques. Yet amateur chefs need not fear: These doable, delectable recipes have been updated for today’s modern kitchens. Here are just a few of the dishes that will keep the world of Outlander on your mind morning, noon, and nicht:
 
• Breakfast: Yeasted Buckwheat Pancakes; A Coddled Egg for Duncan; Bacon, Asparagus, and Wild Mushroom Omelette
• Appetizers: Cheese Savories; Rolls with Pigeons and Truffles; Beer-Battered Corn Fritters 
• Soups & Stocks: Cock-a-Leekie Soup; Murphy’s Beef Broth; Drunken Mock-Turtle Soup
• Mains: Sarah Woolam’s Scotch Pies; Slow-Cooked Chicken Fricassee; Conspirators’ Cassoulet
• Sides: Auld Ian’s Buttered Leeks; Matchstick Cold-Oil Fries; Honey-Roasted Butternut Squash
• Bread & Baking: Pumpkin Seed and Herb Oatcakes; Fiona’s Cinnamon Scones; Jocasta’s Auld Country Bannocks
• Sweets & Desserts: Black Jack Randall’s Dark Chocolate Lavender Fudge; Governor Tryon’s Humble Crumble Apple Pie; Banoffee Trifle at River Run

 
With full-color photographs and plenty of extras—including cocktails, condiments, and preserves—Outlander Kitchen is an entertainment experience to savor, a wide-ranging culinary crash course, and a time machine all rolled into one. Forget Bon appétit. As the Scots say, Ith do leòr!

REVIEW:

A few years ago, probably the year it came out, my sister gave me this cookbook as a Christmas gift.  I was so excited to get it. However, with two small children and a newborn, my cooking from cookbooks was something of a pastime for me. Fast forward to now, my kids are 8 (almost 9), 7, and 5 and it is much easier for me to cook different things without being interpreted about 3000000x’s.  I was pretty excited to review this cookbook as I am a huge fan of the books and show. 

I absolutely love the show Outlander.  I have watched the show and am attempting to rewatch it this winter, but it is considered (obviously) a “mommy show” and I lack the time most of the time to watch it.  I have also read most of the books twice and would love to read again.  So when I saw that there was a cookbook that was a companion I was so excited.  I asked for it for Christmas.  To test this cookbook out I picked  7 recipes out of the book.  I will obviously make more but to get my feet wet I picked just a few.  I made a Venison Stew with Beets, Shepherd’s Pie, Scotch Eggs, Sweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken, and Cinnamon Scones just to name a few.  The Sweet Tea Brined Chicken was amazing.  It does take a bit to do because you brine the chicken for 2-3 hours before cooking it.  It is totally worth it.  I will be brining all my fried chicken like that from now on.  The sweet tea flavor was so good. 

The Sheperd’s Pie was pretty tasty as well.  Not soupy at all.  I made one in my Poldark Cookbook and that one was really really liquidy.  This one I made was absolutely perfect.  My kids inhaled it and declared it amazing.  The Venison Stew was good but a little different with the beets in it.  I would never have put beets in my stew.  My husband later mixed it with rice and declared it the best thing has ever eaten.  I made the Scones as well.  My youngest loved them and ate them for breakfast the next day. 

I also tried the Scotch Eggs.  How have I never had one before.  I have already made them multiple times for our dinner.  They have been a huge hit in my family.  I also passed the recipe on to my mother who loves Scotch Eggs (honestly, news to me).  I will certainly be keeping this cookbook at the ready for many go-to recipes.  I see that there is a second cookbook out and I have already asked for it for Christmas.  Excited to see what recipes are in that one too!

Pick up your copy of the Outlander Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and check your local bookstore. Also make sure to add it to your To Read list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished.

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