Clean Enough

I got this new cookbook right after Christmas and I was so excited to finally see it in print.  The author is my cousins' cousin and I knew how hard she worked on it as I followed along with her writing journey on Instagram.  Katzie (or Kathryn as I have always known her) is a trained pastry chef and has experience in a variety of different culinary settings.   Her cookbook is a combination between "Clean Eats" and "Dirty Desserts".  It's a good philosophy, eat clean food on a regular basis, but when it is time to have a dessert, as part of a celebration or otherwise, enjoy it and appreciate it.  It is a balancing act but one worth pursuing

Setting aside the actual recipes for a minute, I love the stories that accompany each recipe; Katzie is so well travelled and she borrows ingredients and techniques from all over the world.  I also appreciate the glossary of ingredients; there are some things I had never heard of or knew very little about, so I was glad to read about the health benefits, use, and reasons for including them in a recipe, and from a reputable source.  She even mentions our mutual Uncle Robert, an inspiration to her in many ways as she trained in this field, and I could hear his voice when she quoted him  and remembered family meals he cooked for us over the years. 

I have only made a few things so far, but I wanted to read through the whole book first and I will gradually work through them.  One thing that makes an appearance in my regular rotation of breakfasts is a scrambled eggs, radishes, and toast.  It sounds simple enough but Katzie's method of lightly scrambling the eggs and her addition of lemon juice and poppy seeds sprinkled over top makes all of the difference.  

Check out Katzie's website here and buy her cookbook here.

With the author herself last year when she visited Toronto.  

By the way, she did not ask me to write this post and I bought the cookbook myself.  I really do like it, although of course I am biased ;)