“Morning Food,” by Margaret S. Fox (Ten Speed Press, 202 pages softcover, $19.95), is the second edition of the book first published in 1989 with recipes from Fox’s restaurant at the time, Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino. However, the book has been so revised, it might as well be new.
The recipes may be different, but the philosophy is the same.
Without resorting to outlandish ideas, Fox challenges the notion that morning food has to be limited to the narrow range of cereals, eggs, certain meats and pancakes and traditional breakfast pastries.
Not that some of these don’t find a place in her repertoire, but a banana-pecan waffle may be seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg and parade as a sundae, topped with a scoop of ice cream and a pineapple sauce.
Eggs may change their usual profile and start the day in tofu- dressed egg salad sandwiches with a little crunch from walnuts. And as for pancakes, Fox suggests berry-filled custard crepes. It’s a book worth getting up for.
“Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory,” by Lou Seibert Pappas (Chronicle Books, 132 pages, $18.95), is a perfect stocking stuffer.
Even a beginning cook might feel encouraged to try these generally uncomplicated recipes that range from standards – banana, macadamia nut and coconut coffee cake, for example – to the unexpected – olive-herb-potato fougasse with black olives or Italian cheese and herb pinwheels that would pair deliciously with a picnic salad or a cold-weather soup at supper.
-Karola Saekel, The San Francisco Chronicle
