I will admit to having a slight cookbook problem. I love to cook, and I love having inspiration to make new things and keep me from falling into a rut. And I may or may not buy my Frank’s RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce from Costco in the big two pack bottles. So you can imagine that Cooking with Frank’s RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce: Delicious Recipes That Bring the Heat by Rachel Rappaport became my latest coveted cookbook.
This cookbook fits the bill for me in so many ways. I love that there are photos for each of the recipes, meaning I know what things are supposed to look like when I’m making them, and it makes browsing through the cookbook for inspiration that much more fun. I can simply flip through until something catches my eye, like the deviled egg salad.
I had initially expected this to contain primarily appetizers, side dishes, and main dishes – your typical savory applications for a hot sauce. I couldn’t have been more wrong, which of course intrigued me all the more. Rappaport has come up with ideas for breakfast items. And dessert items. And they aren’t the recipes where you say “wow, that’s interesting” as you back away but ones that actually sound delicious. The cinnamon cayenne buns were fantastic, even though my son refused to eat them (more for me!), which makes me really want to try out the sugar and spice peach crumble and other more nontraditional uses for hot sauce.
This cookbook is appealing to me, as well, because it doesn’t call for canned soup or cake mix or other processed foods. It uses more whole foods, which is the way I cook and eat. They aren’t the unusual items that require a special trip to the grocery store for an ingredient I’ll use again three years from now. Even better, Rappaport smartly offers up alternatives for ingredients where you can substitute.
Her instructions are clear and easy to follow, and she also includes tips with each recipe to help make it easier to recreate her recipes. The twists on some of my favorite foods as well as her unique creations make for a great variety, and they are definitely recipes I intend to make, especially when making items to share with others where I don’t want to bring the same old mac and cheese again.
Written by Michelle of Honest & Truly! who lists hot sauce as among her favorite foods. See what she’s cooking up in her kitchen as she shares on her blog Honest & Truly! and follow along with her on Twitter where she is also @HonestAndTruly.