ReadCookEat Round-up for May and June

As I'm half-way through One Summer in Venice by Nicky Pellegrino, I am already planning dishes to cook for the next ReadCookEat challenge. Looking back at the May-June linky, we have travelled again across the world of books and cuisines.
I started the linky with an Italian Renaissance recipe for Torta di Tagliarini as described in the novel The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas. It was a gripping historical novel, partially based on the real story, partially on the poem My Last Duchess by Browning. It is set in Ferrara, a gem of a city and a place which I visited many times, as my husband is originally from Ferrara. The chocolate cake is most unusual as it uses fresh pasta as one of the ingredients.

Chez Maximka: Torta di Tagliarini

Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews is a staunch supporter of the ReadCookEat cause, and she has cooked many a wonderful dish from the books she has read. The lady is a Superwoman, I tell you. She reads a lot, and I always enjoy her book reviews and recipes.
This time she cooked a Smothered Salmon dish as inspired by A Twist of Fortune by Mike Martin. This is the latest Sgt Windflower Mystery. He's a food-loving Mountie who enjoys talking about food and dreaming of eating as well. If you want to know what Smothered Salmon is, visit Cheryl's blog and enjoy recreating the recipe.

Madhouse Family Reviews: Smothered Salmon

Inspector Montalbano is of course another dedicated foodie who is obsessed with good food. He enjoys cooking of his housekeeper Adelina, but he himself is not a bad cook either. I fancied trying a Sicilian recipe of Sarde a Beccafico which is mentioned more than once in Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri. I have picked a quote from The Snack Thief to illustrate the recipe. The name of the dish is translated from Italian as a fig-pecker, and is a tasty recipe for sardines, stuffed with breadcrumbs, pine nuts, anchovies and more.

Chez Maximka: Sarde a Beccafico

It's a bit like a game of ping pong. Back to Cheryl. She has read Making Nice by Matt Sumell and noticed a mention of pizza bagels. Being a curious foodie, she immediately set to cooking her own version of pizza bagels. She also had help from her mini-chefs and together they created a meal, which would appeal to pizza lovers of all ages. A very child-friendly recipe, which I'm sure will be popular with little people.

Madhouse Family Reviews: pizza bagels

Cheryl enjoys cooking exotic recipes. Chicken Choyla is not something I am familiar with, but it looks like a delicious dish with lots of spices. This meal was mentioned in The Last Exile by E.V.Seymour. This foodie find is Nepalese in its origins. It is full of flavours and apparently is served as a starter, though Cheryl served it as a main course with rice.

Madhouse Family Reviews: Chicken Choyla

Last week I finished reading a gripping ghost story This House Is Haunted by John Boyne. I enjoyed the story, and fancied trying a recipe for pear and cinnamon cakes which the heroine eats with a friend. Unable to find smaller sized tins for individual tarts, I baked one big pear, almond and cinnamon tart, and we loved it.

Chez Maximka: pear, almond and cinnamon tart

As I never did a round-up for April with only three entries, I'm adding the posts to the current round-up, in case you missed them.
I am a big fan of medieval mystery genre. The Book of Fires by Paul Doherty is one of the Brother Athelstan series. It is brimming with murder, intrigues and ruthless killers. The main characters enjoyed their pottage which is something inbetween a soup and a stew. It's a kind of a magic pot dish where anything could be added. I cooked a spinach and dried mushrooms pottage, and it was a lovely soup.

Chez Maximka: spinach and mushrooms pottage

Ping Pong, Cheryl's turn again. In The Time of Our Lives by Jane Castello a trio of friends head off for the holiday of a lifetime to Barcelona. There were several food references, and Cheryl decided to recreate a dish of patatas bravas. It looks colourful and full of spices.

Madhouse Family Reviews: patatas bravas

Alison from Dragons and Fairy Dust is a creative cook as well. Back in April she has been reading a series of books by Ann Cleves which feature a detective Vera Stanhope. I haven't watched the TV series but know that it had good reviews. Reading The Glass Room, Alison was inspired to cook an Orange Mousse with Raspberry Sauce. It looks divine, I'd be happy to tuck in.

Dragons and Fairy Dust: Orange Mousse with Raspberry Sauce

Have you read a book recently which inspired you to run to the kitchen and cook to your heart's content?

Come and join in our #ReadCookEat challenge. Cook a meal inspired by the book you have read, either recently or in the past.

The idea is to choose a book, either a world classic or modern fiction, or even memoirs and pick up a dish mentioned or described in that book and then recreate it in a recipe. Please say a few lines about your chosen book, and maybe even do a quote from the book.

If you decide to take part, please add the badge to your post and link up back to this page, and either use a link-up tool or add the url of your post as a comment. Alternatively, email me with the link to your post (my email is sasha1703 at yahoo dot com).

I will Pin all blogs posts taking part in this challenge, as well as RT and Google+

An InLinkz Link-up