Simple Fare: Fall and Winter is the second book in the seasonal cookbook series by bestselling cookbook author, and originator of the popular blog, Sunday Suppers, Karen Mordechai. This cookbook, like the first in the series, features recipes that can be adapted to individual tastes in Mordechai’s trademark simple, straightforward style. The recipes tend to be trendy, and use trendy ingredients.

Some of the most appealing recipes included are: a delicious Morning Loaf, perfect with morning coffee or tea, Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes (chocolate for breakfast – a great idea!), Smoked Blue Potatoes, and a flavorful Roasted Vegetable Soup. There are excellent detailed instructions for cooking legumes and grains, as well as a guide to all of the popular new salts that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and using in their cooking.

Mordechai’s book has a whole chapter with simple breakfast ideas, and her fish dishes are easy enough that anyone can successfully prepare them with a minimum of fuss. Beef Brisket is all-the-rage right now (with the price rising several hundred percent from when it was considered a lowly tough cut of meat), and I splurged to prepare the version in this book for Braised Brisket. It was very good, and would make a good main dish for an informal dinner party.

The desserts in the book are not particularly exciting, and I wasn’t moved to make any of them. However, there are three ice creams that look good, as well as some churros and dark chocolate bark that could, at the right dinner, be suitable.

All told, Simple Fare: Fall and Winter is a book for the pretentious cook who would rather focus on meals that are all-the-rage and trendy, rather than just good food that everyone likes. While there are some good recipes in the book, and they are easy to follow, most down-to-earth cooks will prefer to prepare dishes that are actually enjoyed by family and friends, rather than to show off with trendy dishes that are good, but don’t satisfy.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

A wonderful guide for everyday cooking in winter / fall...............

This is a beautifully done book by the woman who started Sunday Suppers, which I adored. This is a nice seasonal book for fall and winter but I though many of the recipes had ingredients that the average home chef does not have readily available. Fabulous pitcures.

Simple Fare Fall/Winter Edition A Guide to Everyday Cooking and Eating written by Karen Mordechai creator of Sunday Suppers will be back on bookstores soon and if you had bought also the spring/summer edition you can't lose this cookbook for sure because it is irresistible and original like the previous one.
The philosophy of Simple Fare? This cookbook is dedicated to yourself, your dear ones, introducing to you the possibility of eating good and seasonal food with a touch of exoticism without forgetting the good herbs and other aliments in grade to keep us healthy like, one for all ginger during the winter-time.
Ms. Mordechai in fact thanks to the diversified places where she grew up in, sometimes exotic, will add more than a personal touch of originality to all these dishes, divided in myriads of yummy sections! for all tastes, creating an interesting, dramatically delicious! culinary melting pot of cultures, places.

Another great cook book from ABRAMS! for starting very healthy and well this coming fall.

Highly recommended!

I thank NetGalley and ABRAMS for this eBook.

If you prefer vegetables as your main course, this book highlights some of the wonderful fall and winter finds at your local markets. The pictures that illustrate the book are pretty but don't always pertain to the recipe you are making. The recipes are easy to follow and most of the extra ingredients are probably in your pantry. This is a companion volume to Simple Fare: Spring and Summer.

The most simple thing about SIMPLE FARE is the painfully plain cover that is a dirty pink color with large black lettering. For a $35.oo paperback, it is my opinion they would have used an eye catching cover.

The photos in this book start off very minimalistic. Readers will see photos of crème, and salt, as well as roasted garlic, and roots, all on white plates. The photos do become more colorful. Indeed, so vibrant and artistic they would be beautiful framed. However, many now contradict the SIMPLE FARE title, using edible flowers, and other foods or garnishes that everyday people would never consider “simple”.

As for the preparation of the dishes, there are many in the 65 featured recipes that would be simple enough to make. However, not all of the ingredients can be easily found in your local grocery store (At least not in my area of the United States East Coast).

If you are looking for something out of your normal, everyday eating habits, or if you want to host an impressive meal at a gathering, you may be pleased with the fare you’ll find between these pages. . . Rose Grain Porridge, Daal, Burnt Carrot Toast, Congee, Cilbir, Black Radish Salad. Or fix more commonly known dishes like . . . Cinnamon Toast, Roasted Beef Bowl, Roasted Vegetable Soup, Simple Roast Chicken, and Churros.

I won’t argue the thought, and work that went into SIMPLE FARE. Author Karen Mordechai had a vision and saw it through. Not to mention she had already published SIMPLE FARE: SPRING AND SUMMER, with equally lackluster cover, to a surprising fourteen 5 star reviews. But I will go on record as saying, I found this cookbook left a lot to be desired.