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4.5
First thing, in case you have not yet seen it in other reviews, EVERY RECIPE RELIES ON NUTS AND EGGS. If you are allergic to either of those or eating a vegan diet, this will not be your book. There is no clear way around these ingredients, but for those avoiding gluten, dairy and/or carbs, read on.From other reviews, yes there are a couple of pointless photos, and no the authors don't give nutrition info, but I found these things to be completely overcome by finding good food that can be made without dairy or gluten and fit into a low-carb diet. Those trying to combine these things know know how hard it is to do, but you are probably also worried about buying even more overpriced, disgusting food products that will end up in the trash (paleo bread, anyone?). These recipes do not seem to fit that category, but that is admittedly based only on one recipe I tried so far. I posted user pics on the main product page of my Italian herb bread and will try to remember to update this review when I have tried more things; I am eyeing the pizza next.On a minor note, I disagree with the person who said it is a nice lay-flat cookbook, but that is no big deal to me.I also find the nutrition information issue to be a nuisance but easy to fix. The authors give ingredients by standard kitchen measure and by weight. Finding info online or on the package by weight for each ingredient makes conversion very easy. The first time I try a recipe I will just add up whatever I want to count (carbs, fiber, etc) for the whole batch. I write the batch totals right in the book (why not? it's pretty but it's gotta be useful, after all), along with any ingredient variations I used so I will have it next time. This really doesn't take long. If math challenged, the amount of calories, carbs or whatever for a whole batch is just the number of grams needed for the whole recipe, divided by however many grams make up a serving on your food label, times the food label number for whatever you are trying to calculate (calories, carbs, fiber, etc). Add those up for all the ingredients in the recipe; you can usually ignore salt and herbs if counting just for weight loss, but not splenda - it has carbs and calories enough to count when you use it for baking.After all that math (only have to do it once...), I can decide later how big a serving makes sense for me and how many net carbs are in that much (a tenth of the total, an eighth, or maybe all the cookies at once :) This can be estimated without a scale, but I prefer to weigh a whole batch the first time & write that in the book too, so I can control portion size easily. This book, like most baking, will be easier to use with a kitchen scale anyway but that is not mandatory equipment. Here's an example from the book if it helps: my estimate of the whole loaf of Italian herb bread, made with unsweetened So Delicious brand coconut milk, almond flour homemade from whole nuts and ignoring any small contribution from the herbs, came to 3029 calories, 83 g carbs, 67 g fiber, and 16g net carb; you will not likely want a serving size more than one tenth of this loaf. Not very recipe here is such an easy fit for low carb diets, but many are.While not in the book title, all but a couple recipes either are already or can be easily made dairy-free. They suggest unsweetened soy milk but I hate the taste and prefer unsweetened coconut milk (worked fine in my one sample). They have a good section on choosing the best substitutions for different recipes and offer variations on individual recipes. That section also has a lot of general tips on gluten free baking and using the recipes. Most ingredients are easy to get - xanthan gum and liquid stevia are the main ones requiring a health food store trip or Internet order but these are used sparsely and should last you a while. You may want some sort of grinder (inexpensive coffee grinder will do) to make your own nut flours even if you prefer to buy the flours pre-made. You can do that for most recipes, but a handful of the recipes call for things like sesame seed flour, which I've never seen anywhere but would be easy enough to make. These recipes could also be tough on tight budgets because of all the nuts, but for an occasional treat they will still cost less than prepared low-carb or gluten free stuff online, especially if you can get the nuts in bulk at a warehouse store.As I said, I only tried one recipe so far, the Italian herb bread, mostly because I had ingredients on hand. I am a lazy baker most of the time, and skip anything too convoluted unless it is a special occasion. I cheated and used 2 tsp. Italian seasoning blend in place of their list of herbs and it turned out great and was really easy. Looks and tastes like actual bread, but the savory sort you would serve with a meal, or maybe even pour soup over, rather than for snacking (although I am snacking on it right now anyway). It is not dense or chewy, and the only maybe unusual taste is the nuttiness you would expect from the ingredients. This is a lot like a traditional "hearty" or multi-grain homemade bread with flax. When oven-fresh, it is soft and moist with a nice texture, but not fluffy like a yeast-leavened bread. Can't speak yet to how well it keeps if stored. If accompanying the right meal (herb flavors are distinctive), I would serve this at a dinner for guests without diet restrictions and I don't think they would notice anything unusual. Will have to confirm that with my husband when he gets home to try some though.The recipes appear to vary from easy to very complex, but mostly the former.
