#ReadCookEat Round-Up for June

Where did June go? It seems the summer has only just started, yet here we are, moving onto July. I am happy to say we had a great selection of entries to our ReadCookEat challenge in June.

I kicked-off the challenge with a Beef Curry with Pomegranates as cooked by a female protagonist of The Restaurant of Love Regained by Ito Ogawa. It was a flavourful and very colourful dish, which I will cook again with pleasure.

Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews is our super star contributor. She was the first to post a link to her lovely Smoked salmon pate inspired by Back to Blackbrick. When the sun is shining, who wants to spend hours in the kitchen. Smoked salmon pate recipe is easy, quick to make and perfect for the summer outdoors eating.

Cheryl continued her culinary quest to match a recipe to every book she has read with a Steak and salad as mentioned in The Boathouse by R.Harries. It is a classic meal cooked with just a few ingredients.

Chris from Cooking Around the World cooked a soup-er meal as described in Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg. His Fish Soup recipe has captured the moment described in the book perfectly. I confess I haven't read this book, though it is on my list of books to read. One day...

Newfoundland Raisin Molasses Bread is one of dream meals of Mike Martin, the policeman in Beneath the Surface. This speciality bread, cooked by our champion Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews, sounds and looks delicious, and I'd be happy to have a thick slice with my morning cup of coffee. This thriller is jam-packed of tasty food descriptions, and Cheryl has written the most entertaining blog post, which perhaps should be called an Essay on cuisine of Newfoundland. I recommend you visit her blog and read this very informative post Newfoundland Cuisine. Her fascinating account is a veritable encyclopedia of foods and recipes characteristic of Newfoundland.

Caroline from eponymous Caroline Makes has read Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris and created a delicious Low Fat Apple Clafoutis. This novel happens to be brimming with food references and descriptions (as all the other books written by Joanne Harris). Caroline's recipe uses Greek yogurt and honey, and as it is a low fat version, it's a win-win situation, you eat your cake and don't get too many calories. Perfect.

And now we are back to Cheryl from Madhouse family Reviews who goes for an exotic recipe called Sho Shogok. What, you don't know what it is? Neither did I, until I discovered that it is a Tibetan Beef & Potato stew. This recipe was inspired (which other word can I use please? triggered?) by Above All Things by Tanis Rideout. I have never tried Tibetan food, and Cheryl loves to take her readers across the globe, recreating lots of delicious recipes found around the world.

Aliso from Dragons and Fairy Dust cooked a mouth-watering Goulash Soup. This recipe was one of the food references in Jo Nesbo's The Redbreast. It has paprika and soured cream, the ingredients which appeal to my Russian foodie heart a lot. That's a lip-smacking soup, and I'd be happy to tuck in a bowl of Goulash soup on a frosty day.

My Belgian Apple Tart was cooked after I finished reading Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler. The recipe is full of apple-y goodness, with apples cooked two ways as sliced and grated. It was a great hit with my guys, and I will surely cook it again some time soon.

I hope you enjoyed reading our Round-Up, and perhaps would love to join us this month.