Ok, let’s see. Music star decides to begin a line of food products and produces her first cookbook. The question is simple: is this really good or is this merely vanity.
Fortunately, this question can be answered in a flash. You just go to the Dessert chapter and see what recipe is first up the plate: Cappuccino Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust and Dulce de Leche Topping.
I’m in. I’m all in. Serious book. Lovely book.
To be honest, I did not know who Kelis is or what her music is like. I do have Pandora so I found out. A mix of R&B with percussion and hip-hop. She does not sound at all like Frank Sinatra. Not at all.
But oh how creative Kelis is. She grew up in New York in a Puerto Rican household with, of all things, a mostly vegetarian father. In her music travels around the world, she’s sampled and loved the dishes that are far from Harlem. And Kelis even attended Cordon Bleu because her foodie genes could not be suppressed.
So what happens in this book? The subtitle is “Recipes from Around the World” and that is what appears with abundance, color and enthusiasm. There are recipes from Puerto Rico to Singapore. Some are pretty authentic but most have a particular Kelis spin. The Cordon Bleu béchamel sauce now has sweet corn added. A savory pancake she had in Poland becomes her own Vegetable Buckle, the picture at the end of this post. It’s a clever recipe title because how can you have a buckle with no blueberries or peaches? Kelis can.
It’s enlightening what you can learn from a combination of a great mom and months at Cordon Bleu. Consider these Kelis recipes:
Burrata-Stuffed Meatballs [three meats!] with Pistachio Basil Pesto
Chorizo Date Stuffing [to sit next to your turkey]
Coconut Curry Crab Soup [whole crabs Asian style]
Eggplant and Asparagus with Five-Spice Plum Sauce [she tours Asia a lot]
Puerto Rican Pork Shoulder with Spice Rub and Olives and Garlic [her favorite]
Shredded Beef Slider with Root Beer Espresso BBQ Sauce
Skillet Cornbread with Candied Ginger and Corn Kernels
Puerto Rican Egg Nog with Coconut, Condensed and Evaporated Milk [and rum!]
This is a book that is exuberant. It’s not concerned with authenticity down to each teaspoon of spice. This is a book about taking a great idea, making it personal, and then making it beautiful to the eye and to the taste.
There are many ideas to try here. The book was just published in late September and you’ll find recipes to carry you through the holiday season with kitchen joy.
I do suggest you start with that Cappuccino Cheesecake. Then the Root Beer Espresso BBQ sauce which only calls for twenty-two ingredients and will empty out your spice cabinet. There is nothing meek or mild in My Life on a Plate. It’s all in.
