Hot chocolate makes us swoon. Fondue makes us melt. And apres-ski fare makes us weak at the knees — especially if we’re not required to actually ski to indulge. So you can imagine how quickly we snatched up a copy of Lizzie Kamenetzky’s “Winter Cabin Cooking” (Ryland Peters & Small, $25) the last time we were in Truckee. (We found it at the irresistible High Camp Home store, where we also picked up red enamelware bowls and other mountain-ish items we absolutely had to have.
English-born Kamenetzky’s year-old cookbook is an ode to Alpine cooking, from dumplings and fondue to strudel and glühwein. And it’s part of a Ryland Peters series of cozy-in-the-face-of-winter’s-chill cookbooks. The newest is “Fireside Feasts and Snow Day Treats” ($25), a revamp of a 2012 edition by Ryland’s editorial team, and it carries a more British focus, thanks in large part to recipes such as Cauliflower Stilton Soup and Rhubarb Custard and Crumble Tartlets. We can only imagine how chilly Great Britain must be to have rhubarb — our harbinger of sweet spring weather — considered a snowy day treat.
Both books offer gorgeous photographs and tempting winter fare, but we’re smitten by Kamenetzky’s and its cassoulets, schnitzels and dishes like Kaiserschmarrn — a fluffy pancake filled with booze-soaked raisins, topped with plum compote and dusted with a blizzard of powdered sugar. And blessed with a name that’s just fun to say. You’ll find it in the dessert chapter, but Kamenetzky says in the Austrian alps, it’s often eaten in lieu of lunch.
