No. 14: Cooking through Cook This Book by Molly Baz

Sneaky cottage cheese, weenie dogs, and all the abbreviations

Molly Baz has reached celeb status. A Bon Appetit alum, she’s a cook, author, and recipe developer with her own wine label, kitchenware line with Crate & Barrel, and merch. Her MO is: bold colors, lots of abbreviations, and signature recipes like her Cae Sal (a.k.a. Caesar Salad—case in point). Her weenie dog Tuna appears in a lot of her content.

I like Molly but I’m not a stan. I’m impressed by her post-BA trajectory and ability to build such a strong personal brand, but I’ve never been that enticed by her recipes (in part because she loves things I don’t, which often appear in her cooking: mortadella, anchovies, runny yolks. No, runny yolks are not my fave. Sue me.) But because her next book is on the horizon (More is More, out in October) and will no doubt be a runaway success, I was curious to delve deeper into her recipe archive. I was pleasantly surprised!

The High-Level

Cook This Book, Molly’s first cookbook, is a general cookbook with 95 recipes for all kinds of dishes—chicken, seafood, “noods,” “salading,” soups, snacks, and more. It’s very personality driven. Lively and fun-loving, like Molly, with all the abbrevs and nicknames you’d expect: Ants on a Log Cel Sal. One-Pot Chicken & Schmaltzy Rice with Lemony Yog. Sweetie P’s with Peanut-Chile Salsa. Party Nutz.

The book aims to convince all-level home cooks that cooking is F.U.N. For the beginners out there, QR codes throughout the book link to how-to videos showing various techniques—deveining shrimp, carving a chicken, chopping an onion. It’s a smart concept, especially for someone like Molly who is so used to being in front of the camera.

One Random Thing I Like

The design of the book! It’s fun and distinct. Primary colors and chunky fonts dominate, creating playful, oversize, and LOUD interiors. Molly can be silly, and the book reflects that side of her personality well.

Peach & Burnt Honey Cobbler

The Recipes

Here are the recipes I made this month, with a few notes, in order from what I’m most likely to least likely to make again:

1. Nectarine Tomato and Halloumi Salad: My fave of the month—I already made it twice more! In-season ingredients obviously make all the difference, so eat this now during the height of summer.

2. Pasta al Pomodoro: Pasta is my all-time favorite meal. Loved this simple dish with lots of garlic and pops of juicy tomatoes.

3. Peach & Burnt Honey Cobbler: The honey adds great flavor here. Next time I’ll sub the biscuits for a crisp topping.

4. Sneaky Cottage Cheese Salad: Sal with extra protein thanks to cottage cheese in the dressing. Smart!

5. Roasted Salmon with Olives, Lemon, and Potato Chips: A bit oily overall, but nothing like Castelvetrano olives and potato chips to make salmon more exciting.

6. Coconut Shrimp with Crushed Chickpeas and Basil: Like the deep-fried stuff, but not actually fried! Tasty over rice for a weeknight meal.

7. Black Sesame Shortbread: Brought these to work and they were a surprise hit. (And if cookbook editors compliment a dessert, you know it must be good.) These are not very sweet, so. Just know that.

8. Watermelon Granita: Bright and punchy. Fun for summer. I’m not much of an iced dessert gal, but if you are, this is for you. Perfect for making on a hot day and eating by the pool.

9. Mushroom Toast with a Molly Egg: Good but I didn’t want to eat the leftovers, which is a sign, I think… I would make this again in the fall with shiitake mushrooms and less creme fraiche.

I also bought all the ingredients for Molly’s Blueberry Cornflake Crisp, but this weekend got busy and I ran out of time. May make this dessert post-newsletter—follow me @books.to.cook to find out!

5 recipes I didn’t get to this month but want to try:

1. Orzo al Limone

2. Hot ‘n’ Crispy Chicken Cutlets with Kimchi Ranch

3. Seared Scallops with Curry Butter, Sweet Corn, and Sungolds

4. Big Beans & Spicy Greens Gratin

5. Miso Apple Tart

Sneaky Cottage Cheese Sal

In August, we’re traveling to the kitchen of Esteban Castillo with Chicano Eats, which is filled with Mexican-American recipes like Mac and Queso Fundido and Toasted Coconut Horchata. Yum! Stay tuned @books.to.cook and thanks, as always, for reading!

xo,

Claire