A blast of sweet strawberries, balanced with a touch of bitter Aperol, this Strawberry Rosé Aperol Spritz is perfect to start your evening.
Another session of cookbook club has come and gone. This time we reviewed Food52’s A New Way to Dinner. The whole “new way” is based upon the concept of meal planning. Which in theory sounds fantastic, but most members who tried do complete a whole week of recipes for dinner weren’t convinced this is the new way to follow.
One thing I know is that when a cookbook has amble excellent (and easy) cocktail in it, I’m usually on board 😉
Was all the food and beverages we tasted delicious? Sure was. We truly enjoyed every recipe, but they were recipes as individuals. Overall, the cookbook was a solid 7 out of 10, but it left a few members wanting more from the meal prep and from the ingredients used.
The winning recipe was the Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine (page 187). It was everything you wanted a braised short rib recipe to be, saucy, heavy handed with red wine, and slightly salty.
A number of the ingredients from the cookbook weren’t necessarily pantry stables. Ingredients that are pantry staples in my cupboard are most likely aren’t found in everyone’s. Ingredients like farro, persimmons, and vast quantities of olive oil (to the point that we were suspicious of an olive oil company sponsoring the cookbook … JK. Mostly).
The recipes are also hyper seasonal making cookbook club a bit tricky. There are two weekly meal plans per season. The authors offer suggestions to switch it up, but really some more unique ways to stretch basic pantry ingredients is wanted.
I made 2 recipes from the book, “Zucchini with Mint and Chile” and their version of a “Strawberry Rosé Spritzer” aka Aperol Spritz. The zucchini was ho-hum. The recipe show it being served with yogurt, but didn’t have yogurt in the recipe.
I served with a lemon yogurt at cookbook club and I think it would have fell flat without it.
The Spritzer was also a bit off. I ended up changing the recipe to rosé sparkling wine and adding Aperol (a bitter aperitif) to balance out the sweetness. The Aperol ends up giving the cocktail a hint of bitterness and balances it all out nicely.
Looking for other cookbook reviews? We have reviewed Smitten Kitchen, A Modern Way to Eat, and French Country Cooking to name few. Think there’s a cookbook out there we should review? Let me know! I’m always on the lookout for new books for our group.
A refreshing and perfectly summery Apreol Spritz turned over the top amazing with Strawberry and Rose Sparkling.
- 2 2/3 cups (1.2 kg) strawberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (6 fluid oz.) strawberry purée
- 12 oz (355 ml) dry sparkling rosé wine
- 6 oz (122 ml) Aperol (liquor)
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Wash and hull the strawberries. Toss with sugar in a large bowl and allow to macerate (sit and get juicy) for about 1 hour. Purée strawberry/sugar mixture in a blender until liquified. Strain through a fine mesh sieve in a large jar or other air tight container*.
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Add 1.5 oz (45 ml) strawberry purée into four 8 oz tumblers. Add 1.5 oz (45 ml) Aperol to each glass and stir to combine. Top with 3 oz (90 ml) sparkling rosé.
Enjoy! xo
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