Mad Hungry Cravings by Lucinda Scala Quinn

I was surprised to see on the cover of Mad Hungry Cravings that it has 173 recipes.  It feels like so much more than that!  There is a little bit of everything in this book!   The book can be summed up in the Mad Hungry Maxims – how and why to cook the food you crave at home – focus on cooking at home instead of take-out.

The book begins with a look at the pantry, or as she calls it the larder.  A lot of books begin like this, but this one is set up a bit differently.  Your larder is divided into American, Asian, Mediterranean, and Latin.  Under each category are the basic ingredients that you need to keep stocked.

The books starts with the breakfast section where I marked the following to try:

• Double Pork Sausage (this is ingenious and I am ashamed that I hadn’t thought of it before)
• Asparagus and Spinach Frittata
• Hash Brown Egg Topper
• Milk and Cookies Smoothie
• Date Walnut Muffins

Next is the Anytime 24/7:

Soups and Sandwiches

• Avgolemono
• Classic Tomato Soup
• Philly Cheese Steak
• Beefy Black Bean Soup
• Chicken Chive Burgers
• Falafel with Israeli Chopped Salad

Salads

• Crunchy Fennel Orange Salad
• Grilled Simple Caesar Salad
• Beet, Carrot and Watercress Salad
• Sausage and Pepper Salad with Golden Crostini

Noshes and Nibbles

• Fake-Out Flautas
• Queso Fundido
• Herbed Flatbreads
• Teriyaki Glazed Wings

Then there is a What’s For Dinner Section:

Main Dishes

• Pasta with sausage Meat Sauce
• Old School Meatloaf
• Cowboy Rib-eye Steak
• Dashi
• Pulled Pork
• Lamb Chops bathes in Greek Herbs
• Chicken Livornese

Noodles, Rice and Corn

• Campanelle with Fresh Tomatoes, Arugula and Peas
• Spinach Pesto Fusilli
• Cold Soba Noodles with Dipping Sauce

Veggies and Other Sides

• Fingerling Potato Salad
• Candied Sweet Potatoes
• Maple Thyme Roasted Carrots
• Japanese Shredded Cabbage

And last but not least and definitely one of my favorite sections is the Spirits and Sweets:

• Lychee Martini
• Spiked (or not) Tarragon Lemonade
• Cucumber-Mint Gin and Tonic
• Vietnamese Coffee Shake
• Strawberry and Cream Chocolate Birthday Cake
• Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you believe all that?  Seriously the depth and breadth of this book is wonderful.  Just look at the main dish section where you have everything from good old fashioned meat loaf, to dashi, to pulled pork.  This is my first Lucinda Scala Quinn cookbook, and I don’t know why.  It will definitely not be my last.

***Disclaimer – I received a review copy of this book.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review other than the cookbook itself.