Amazing Review of “Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine”

I was scrolling through GoodReads yesterday and I came across this awesome review of my book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine. It’s from January. Can’t believe I’m just seeing it, but it made my day!

Thank you, Gina!

“I received this book from Liguori Publications. It’s easily one of the best cookbooks I’ve come across and has earned a permanent spot on my shelf next to The Joy of Cooking.

“I love that every recipe is accompanied by a photo so you can get an idea of how it should turn out. I also appreciate that the author added extra details in the recipes like brand preferences, preferences for fresh vs frozen or dry vs canned, or tips on size of ingredients, etc. The recipes do an amazing job of going step by step. A lot of recipe books skip over steps or leave you with questions. These recipes are written by a regular person as if they’re written out for a friend with all the little steps included and notes about possible problems and fixes and substitutions. Every recipe is introduced with an intro about what the dish is and the author’s experience with it.

“The mezze section (hummus, lamb-stuffed cabbage, spinach and feta pie) was one of my favorites. I also adore the section on soups (spinach and lentil, lentils and rice, lamb and tomato stew with crispy potatoes, carrot). The breads, sides, chicken, lamb, and desserts are also good. Most of the dishes can be prepared and cooked in an hour. This recipe book has added a lot more rice, lentils, tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, and cauliflower to my kitchen as staples. It also inspired me to start saving items I normally toss (vegetable ends, meat bones, etc) to use for soup stocks. Anyone with an interest in Middle Eastern food or even just food in general should add this cookbook to their collection. I really hope they add more books to the series.

“Side Note: if it’s a concern to anyone, this book can be easily appreciated by non-religious folks and Catholics alike. It’s not preachy and doesn’t go into the Catholic faith a lot. The recipes do briefly touch on their connection to the Holy Land and also talk about the ability of food generally to bring people together around a table.”