Sheilah Kaufman is a brave author. Within a culture that has made the term "carbs" a dietary obscenity, her recently published book features close to 150 bread-based recipes for every meal and every course.
The Potomac, Md. writer said the carb-crackdown wasn't a consideration in authoring "Upper Crusts: Fabulous Ways to Use Bread," which was published by Capital Books earlier this year.
"It all depends on what kind of bread you use. A corn tortilla is something that's healthy. Nobody wants to be told, 'You can't have something.' But you can have part of something and eat less," said Kaufman, 65. "And bread pudding never went off the menu at popular restaurants during all that business with carbs. Grain is still part of the food pyramid."
Kaufman will discuss this philosophy, and will share both recipes and food, at Olsson's Crystal City, 2200 Crystal Drive in Arlington, on Wednesday, Aug. 15 beginning at 5 p.m. More information about the author can be found by visiting www.cookingwithsheilah.com.
The event is the first in a series called Crystal City Tastings, scheduled to be held the third Wednesday of every month.
Although the first edition of the series features a local author, Olsson's manager Susann Campbell said the plan is to focus each event on a restaurant in the Crystal City community.
"They'll bring in a sample of their foods, and in conjunction with us we'll have a happy hour with their food and our coupons," she said.
Crystal City is home to some big-name eateries, including chef Roberto Donna's Bebo Trattoria, Jose Andres's Jaleo and both Morton's and Ruth's Chris steakhouses.
"There are some big ones down here. We're going to try [and have them in]," said Campbell.
KAUFMAN SAID her book is divided into distinct chapters: soups, salads, bread as a container, bread crumbs, sweet and savory bread puddings, French toast and delectable others, like summer pudding.
"Every recipe uses some kind of bread in some form or another," she said. "Anything from a bagel to a tortilla to a challah to a croissant to a French bread to a sourdough bread."
In press materials, her publisher is clear that "Upper Crust" is not a bread-baking book, but rather one that uses bread as an ingredient. "This book reminds me of my mom," blurbed celebrity chef Michel Richard of Citronelle, "she'd never throw away a piece of bread."
Kaufman first thought about writing the book three years ago, around Passover. She would freeze bread she would purchase around the holiday, and decided to try and make some bread-based dishes before placing them in the icebox.
Looking through her library of recipes — "Upper Crust" is her 25th book — she realized there hadn't been a cookbook dedicated solely to bread-based meals.
While writing the book, she called up some local chefs and asked for bread recipes — quickly discovering that many of them don't stick to them.
"They throw stuff into a pot or a pan. It was hard, because they give these recipes and — I won't say where — but I went down to watch one chef make the recipe, with a printed out [version] in my hand, and I see that he's grabbed some bottle of something and he's pouring it in. And I say, 'Hey, that's not in the recipe!' It's some kind of liqueur."
"UPPER CRUST," available wherever books are sold, features inventive meals, many of which can be assembled in less than 30 minutes.
For the Crystal City event, Kaufman plans on making a Jarlsberg and onion dip in a bread bowl, along with mock cheesecakes.
Despite authoring a book filled with bread-based recipes, Kaufman said she isn't a bread eater; by that, she means she doesn't go to restaurants and fill up on bread — have to save room for dessert, after all.
"I'm a sugar addict," she said.