Pull up a chair and enjoy “The Family Table: Recipes and Moments from a Nomadic Life” by Jazz Smollett-Warwell, Jake Smollett, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Jussie Smollett. This charming hardback features over 120 recipes that pay tribute to the family’s past and present. The photos and anecdote highlight their lives moving from coast-to-coast for a total of 13times.
The Smollett clan shares their favorite meals inspired by those encounters growing up in New York and California, their travels and diverse heritage. “The Family Table” is a total of nine sections making it easy for navigation. Several of the recipes look appetizing such as the spicy smoked gouda twice-baked potatoes, loaded turkey burger sliders, stuffed bell peppers, stuffed Cornish hens and butter lettuce apple crisp salad. They include common ingredients with easy-to-follow instructions. A few of the entrees offer a beverage pairing which adds a nice touch. Also, readers get to see pictures of the other two siblings throughout the cookbook.
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Jazz, Jake, Jurnee, and Jussie Smollett are renowned television stars of shows such as “Empire, “Friday Night Lights,” “Underground” and Food Network’s “Smollett Eats.” Their parents wanted 10 children; they ended up with six. Their father is Jewish and of eastern European background who grew up in Queens, New York. Their mother is African-American and was born in Texas and raised in New Orleans. No matter where the self-described multicultural-nomadic family lived, their mother would transform a butcher block into a smooth varnished table that took three days to complete. She also made sure to have weekly family feasts cooked on a budget without sacrificing taste with a salad incorporated each time. Today, at each of the sibling’s residence sits a communal kitchen table handcrafted by their mother – the focal point of their daily existence.
Deciding which dish to prepare first proved to be difficult – a testament to all the delicious-sounding and looking recipes presented in the book. I started with 24 and then narrowed it down to my final three: Asian lobster wonton tacos, slow-cooked miso short ribs or citrus sorbet with limoncello. Which one should I pick? In the end, I went in a totally different direction. Head over to our recipes to try their Rosemary-Garlic Butter instead that is perfect on hot bread and more.
The Family Table is available on Amazon.
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