verbatim: Two More Books, Two More Recipes

A few years ago I read Any Human Heart by William Boyd and was blown away (review here). So I was delighted to see that he had another book of the same ilk (by which I mean a loooong novel that tells every detail of one person's life story), this one about a woman. It's called Sweet Caress (which is kind of a sappy title, but the book did not feel sappy to me in the least). This one is about Amory Clay, a British woman, born in 1908, who becomes a photographer, and she tells her story with actual photos strewn about here and there, although it's a work of fiction. I read somewhere that Boyd collects old photos and then just kind of plunked them in wherever he could—and it worked! I found Amory more likable than the main character in Any Human Heart, and I think Boyd did a (mostly) good job of writing from a woman's point of view. I recommend this if you're up for a good long read, well-written and interesting.

I was less impressed with Paris by the Book by Liam Callanan. This one is about Leah and her two daughters, who have moved to Paris on a whim after their husband/father Robert vanishes without a trace. They luck into a job running a bookshop, including living in an apartment above it. I enjoyed the first two-thirds or so, maybe three-quarters, but then I got that same feeling I so often get: that the author had a deadline and positively raced to finish writing the book. I won't give away anything, but I found the last part rushed, unbelievable, and wholly unsatisfying. I can't really recommend this one, sorry to say.

But I have two more recipes for you, and both of these are highly recommended. The first is another winner from Budget Bytes, this one for very tasty turkey burgers. I've made these a couple of times already and everyone loves 'em. There's a recipe at that site for a lemon-dill yogurt sauce to top the burgers with, but I went with a tub of Cedar's tzatziki, which I can't get enough of, and it went perfectly with these flavors. I also offered Pickled Red Onions, because I always have those in the fridge these days and we put them on just about everything. You could also top your burgers with some raw red onion slices and/or cucumber slices.

Mediterranean Turkey Burgers (you can see a nice photo at that link)

1 pound ground turkey (I get dark-meat turkey.)
¼ cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (the dry-packed kind)
¼ cup minced red onion
¼ cup thawed frozen chopped spinach (make sure to squeeze it out good)
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 hamburger buns, toasted (We like brioche buns.)

Combine the ground turkey, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, feta, spinach, dried oregano, garlic powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together by hand until evenly combined. Divide and shape the turkey mixture into four patties. Make them flatter and wider than usual because they will shrink up and in as they cook.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the patties and cook until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Serve on buns with your choice of toppings (see my notes above).

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Andy's birthday was a few weeks ago, and he loves coconut and almond and chocolate, so I knew I had to make these little cakes for him. The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan via the New York Times. They were fantastic! You make them in a mini muffin tin, so they are thicker than regular cookies (but they don't get as tall as a mini muffin), and the almond meal and coconut make them pleasantly chewy. They are not at all overwhelmingly coconutty, if that is not your thing. I used my scale to measure all the ingredients (well, not the stick of butter), since I wasn't sure about how much to pack the coconut and almond flour. Look how pretty!

Toasted Almond-Coconut Financiers

½ cup/45 grams unsweetened, shredded coconut (The recipe calls for sweetened but I could only find unsweetened. But several commenters at the NYT site suggested they would still turn out plenty sweet—and they were right! I will use unsweetened again next time.)
½ cup/55 grams almond flour
⅓ cup/67 grams granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch kosher salt
2 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon almond extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick)/113 grams unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
3 ounces/85 grams bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon neutral oil

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 12-cup mini muffin tin (I used cooking spray).

On a rimmed baking sheet, spread out the coconut and almond flour, side by side. Toast until both are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring halfway through and keeping a close watch at the end. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool slightly. (Note that a commenter said that they made two batches of these cookies, one as instructed and one without bothering to toast the coconut and almond flour, and they could not detect any difference in flavor. I did the toasting, and it's not difficult, so I will probably do that next time too ... but if you are short on time, skipping this step might be an option.)

Use your fingertips to grind the coconut with the almond flour to break it down into small pieces. Add the sugar, all-purpose flour, and salt and whisk to combine. Whisk in the egg whites and almond extract, then the melted butter.

Spoon the batter evenly into the greased muffin cups. Tap the muffin tin on the countertop to smooth the tops.

Bake until the cakes spring back when pressed gently in the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Pop them out of the tin and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Melt the chocolate and oil together in a small bowl in short, 10-second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each. Dip half of each financier in the chocolate and place them back on the rack until set, at least 30 minutes. (I was sure there wasn't going to be enough chocolate, so I was rather stingy with the dipping at first. Then when I saw that there was plenty, I went back and re-dipped, hence the messy dribbles in my photo.)