Eatdrink #63 January/February 2017

№ 63 | January/February 2017 www.eatdrink.ca 57
cookbooks
Jill’s Soups Stews & Breads
By Jill Wilcox with Josie Pontarelli
Review and Recipe Selections by TRACY TURLIN
Photographs by JACKIE NOBLE
January. Ah, January. That magical time of
year when you can’t possibly eat another
piece of cake, candy or chocolate. You’ve
spent the last several weeks eating five
meals a day and “tasting” 342 sweet/salty/
crunchy/chewy things. You’re craving light,
simple food, and at the same time you need to
fuel you up for the 20-minute trudge through
the snow to check the mail.
So what is the answer? How do you find
the balance between getting back to a
normal eating schedule and craving warm
filling food? Jill Wilcox and the culinary team
at Jill’s Table are onto something with their
latest book.
Jill’s Soups, Stews &Breads by Jill Wilcox
is just the thing to get you through the
icy white of January and the bleak grey of
February. Spring will come eventually but
until then, soup is all you need. Soup and a
good loaf of homemade bread. Soup, bread,
and a hearty stew on the weekend.
The author has been offering kitchenware,
specialty foods and cooking classes at her
London shop, Jill’s Table, for many years.
Josie Pontarelli is the resident baker and
contributed most of the
bread recipes as well as
some soups to this book.
Sommelier Christie Pollard
rounds out Jill’s team and
contributed some of her
personal recipes.
Jill directs us to the equipment
and ingredients we
need to make great soups
and breads without a ton of
unnecessary stuff to crowd
our kitchens. She shows us
that making our own broth is
easy, but she also offers great
alternatives for those of us
not inclined to do so. Many
of the recipes include easy
alterations
to
make
them
vegetarian
or vegan.
The food styling
by Jill’s team, and photos by
Jackie Noble of Noble Concepts, were
beautifully done. Soup isn’t always
the prettiest food but these recipes all looked
delicious.
I think what I liked best about this book
is its complete lack of fussiness. There are
recipes for some classic soups that have
always seemed a bit intimidating to me.
Jill’s book makes short work of those same
dishes, turning them into something I’m
confident I could put together in my own
kitchen. Most of the recipes are no more
than a page long, including tips, variations
and personal notes.
Hearty Bean and Bacon Soup reminded
me of visiting my grandparents as a
child. Grandma knew it was my favourite
and always served the
orange stuff in the can.
Unfortunately, some
things don’t translate into
adulthood and that canned
soup just isn’t as delicious
to me these days. Jill’s
recipe takes all the flavours
I remember and elevates
them into a grownup dish
that ticks all the boxes.
Hearty, creamy, smoky and
salty, this soup will make
you smile as you watch the
snow pile up outside and
bury your car.
Jill Wilcox