When I saw this book, “Parks and Recreation, The Official Cookbook,” I knew I had to read and review it.
Disclaimer:
I absolutely LOVE the show “Parks and Recreation,” so take my impending gushing with a grain of salgur.
First, a bit about the author, Jenn Fujikawa. She is “an author and content creator specializing in lifestyle and pop culture.” She has her own cooking blog and her recipes have been featured in numerous places, including Food & Wine magazine. Currently, we have one other of her cookbooks.
What is in the book? Nearly 60 recipes inspired by the show, ranging from breakfast (“Why would anyone eat anything besides breakfast foods?”) to main courses, even “Apps and Zerts.” As expected, waffles figure prominently in a few recipes. (“We need to remember what’s important in life: friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends, work. Doesn’t matter, but work is third.”)
The book itself is less than 130 pages but manages to pack in quite a bit. Scattered amongst the recipes are quotes and short bios of the main characters. Another fantastic touch is the referencing of which episode the recipe came from. Most recipes have some sort of picture, either of the dish itself or a still from the show. Many recipes offer ways to make them gluten-free or vegan or some other helpful variation.
The first recipe we tried was “Literally the Best Salad You’ve Ever Had,” made with watercress, roasted chickpeas, red wine vinaigrette, segmented oranges and feta cheese. It was very good, but I changed a few things: I added pepperoncini, used spring mix, substituted agave for honey, and used a chile-infused salt. It actually reminded me of a salad I previously made at a restaurant back in Green Bay, so it’s not the most adventurous salad, but it is very, very good.
The second thing I made is one of the most iconic recipes in the book, “Meat Tornado.” (“You had me at Meat Tornado”.) Now, don’t tell Ron, but I made it with a meat substitute and a chiffonade spring mix. It is a simple burrito, maybe the only surprising ingredient is french fries. Still, this was a great burrito, even with a meat substitute.
The recipes are not outrageously difficult and some reviews elsewhere called them “gimmicky” and dismissed the book because it explains how to cook bacon and other simple tasks. I don’t have a problem with this as any pop culture cookbook will not be written for a professional, so it makes sense to cover the basics. My one quibble is a recipe’s ingredients included garlic salt and salt. I feel there’s no need for garlic salt if salt will be added anyway, just use garlic powder.
Lastly, I want to mention a few of my favorite recipes that I didn’t yet get to try: “Four Horse Meals of the Egg-Pork-alypse,” “Paunch Burger’s Double Bacon Grenade Deluxe,” “Uteruses Before Duderuses Caffe Mocha,” “Snake Juice” and “Sweetums Sugar Splash Float.”
*Yes, I wrote this while listening to Pawnee’s greatest band, Mouse Rat.
