Valerie Aikman-smith

For me, the word citrus conjures up simple glasses of juice, or a peeled Naval orange or a Mojito. I’m simple like that. I’ve only gotten fancy with lemon slices and the food processor one time previously. It looked great, covering salmon with thinly sliced pieces of lemon. Otherwise, I wasn’t as adventurous with citrus other than to juice it. This book by Valerie Aikman-Smith and Victoria Pearson holds lemons, limes, tangerines and oranges to higher standards.

The photos are fantastic. Everything looks like it could jump off the page. Such vibrant colors, elegantly plated and poured. Predictably, for me, we made Havana Mojitos inspired by this book.
Overall, I love the looks of this hardcover book. It has, as I mentioned before, gorgeous photography and over 70 recipes. But this isn’t a cookbook I would turn to on a regular basis. Some recipes don’t feature the citrus as a main ingredient but rather as a side component. Such as candied orange peel for the panna cotta or the lemon cream on the blueberry pancakes.

Now, blueberry pancakes are a favorite of mine so this recipe interested me greatly- but I doubt I would make the lemon cream sauce for them.

Overall, this is one I would have been content checking it from the library instead of owning.… (mere)

I love sour. I have always loved sour. And I love fresh citrus flavours. This book is perfect.

Valerie Aikman-Smith and Victoria Pearson live in southern California, citrus heaven where what doesn't grow in your garden is available at the farmers market. They have taken this abundance and collected a series of recipes that use fresh and home-preserved citrus fruit to great advantage.

The recipes are grouped by fruit and also by kind of dish to help you pick out exactly what you need.

All the recipes sound good and I am particularly pleased with the Pantry Staples section that includes preserved tangerines, citrus salt, and citrus oil. Elsewhere in the book we find garnishes like Lime and Chile Salted Almonds and Ginger Kumquats, a blending of two of my favorite flavours.

This is a great cookbook if you like fresh citrus flavour and bright citrus colours. I have a suggestion, though. My grandmother's recipe for Candied Grapefruit Peel changes the water twice on the simmering citrus peel to reduce the bitterness. The recipe here doesn't change the water at all because orange peel isn't bitter. I suggest you candy any peel you want but taste it to decide how many water changes are needed.

I received a review copy of "Citrus: Sweet and Savory Sun-Kissed Recipes" by Valerie Aikman-Smith and Victoria Pearson (Ten Speed) through NetGalley.com.… (mere)