Edible Pockets for Every Meal: Dumplings, Turnovers and Pasties (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Edible pockets are a wonderful way to enclose food – for appetizers, breakfasts, lunches, picnics, casual suppers and desserts. Edible Pockets for Every Meal has been a nitty gritty® best-seller since 1994, bringing together a huge collection of edible pocket recipes from around the world. Whether called dumplings, turnovers, pasties, calzones, empanadas, piroshki, boreks, quesadillas, knishes, pot stickers or samosas, edible pockets are universal.

This newly revised and updated cookbook has lots of recipes for savory fillings made from poultry, meat, seafood, cheese, vegetables and herbs; sweet fillings made with fruit, nuts, chocolate and cream cheese; ready-made wrappers and wrappers made from yeast and pastry dough. There is also extensive information about ingredients, food pairing suggestions and equipment – even a section on leftovers.

About the Author

If it contains flours and grains, Donna Rathmell German has probably written a book about it! She is the leading expert on bread machine baking, and the author of many books on the subject, including The Bread Machine Cookbookseries, The Pasta Machine Cookbook, The Best Pizza is Made at Home and The New Book of Waffles and Pizzelles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Bristol Publishing Enterprises; 2nd edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558672818
• ISBN-13: 978-1558672819
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #318,892 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely Addictive, April 3, 2000

By	Stephen Foster (Seattle, WA United States, via Scotland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Edible Pockets for Every Meal: Dumplings, Turnovers and Pasties (Nitty Gritty Cookbook) (Paperback)

My copy of this unpretentious little book is rapidly getting dog-eared. If the recipes weren't so very good, my family would surely be dog-tired of pies and turnovers by now, because I can't seem to stop making them! I literally had to start decorating my productions so that we could distinguish the three or four kinds we usually have on hand.

The book has two parts, one on wrappers, and one on fillings. Wrappers are further subdivided into yeasted, pastry, and ready-made wrappers. Fillings are split into Savoury, Vegetarian Savoury, and Sweet. I have no sweet tooth whatsoever, so I can't comment on the sweet fillings, but of the fifteen or twenty savoury fillings I've made so far, there has only been one dud.

So why only four stars?

1) The section on pastry wrappers could be a little longer, with more instruction on the often-devilish details of pastry-making.

2) I like my fillings to have interesting textures. Ms. German seems to prefer puréeing everything.

3) She has a tendency to overcook fillings (astonishing comment, coming from a Brit!)

4) She has a fondness for frozen vegetables.

The last three quibbles are obviously easily rectified by adjusting the recipes to your taste.

Highlights: Spicy Asian Chicken, Chinese Orange Beef, Piroshki, and both of the empanada recipes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your bread machines!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I can't recommend this book, February 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Edible Pockets for Every Meal: Dumplings, Turnovers and Pasties (Nitty Gritty Cookbook) (Paperback)

The strongest part of Edible Pockets is the various dough recipes. I've tried only a couple, but they worked. I did have to adapt the process to working dough with a stand-alone mixer. I didn't mind, but in a book that seems aimed at the complete novice, it's surprising that German doesn't address this popular alternative to bread machine and totally manual approaches.

My biggest complaint, though, is the filling recipes. Have you ever made tuna salad as usual for sandwiches and wondered how it would work if heated? Probably not, but German recommends this in the "tuna and cheese" filling and I was sucker enough to try it. For the record, celery just enough off crisp to be soggy is not a wonderful texture. And the cooking directions for fillings are misleading, as another reviewer has pointed out. An example is the "Cornish Pasty Filling," which was already well on its way to mush at half the hour's cooking time prescribed. In general, most fillings lack moisture and make for a mighty dry pocket.

German's directions for assembling the pockets are also at fault.
It's nice to know one can roll out the pastry to 1/8", but there are plenty of fillings that work best with a thicker-sided pocket. German does mention the possibility of letting the yeast-dough pockets rise before baking but fails to point out that the fillings must be at room temperature if this is going to happen. I also wonder why she is so keen on using pressing molds for calzones and other standard pockets. Unless you are cooking for an army, crimping with fingers seals the pockets just dandy.

When German says "If you have leftovers ... try using them as pocket fillings," she hits the nail on the head. If you have access to a toaster oven at work, her book helps provide a tasty lunch solution. Throw away the second half of the book, though, and dream up your own fillings.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful title, February 28, 2000

By	Stephen Foster (Seattle, WA United States, via Scotland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Edible Pockets for Every Meal: Dumplings, Turnovers and Pasties (Nitty Gritty Cookbook) (Paperback)

My copy of this unpretentious little book is rapidly getting dog-eared. If the recipes weren't so very good, my family would surely be dog-tired of pies and turnovers by now, because I can't seem to stop making them! I literally had to start decorating my productions with alphabetical pastry cutouts (made with the help of a Play-Doh lettering kit), so that we can distinguish between the three or four kinds we usually have on hand.

The book has two parts, one on wrappers, and one on fillings. Wrappers are further subdivided into yeasted, pastry, and ready-made wrappers. Fillings are split into Savoury, Vegetarian Savoury, and Sweet. I have no sweet tooth whatsoever, so I can't comment on the sweet fillings, but of the fifteen or twenty savoury fillings I've made so far, there has only been one dud.

So why only four stars?

1) The section on pastry wrappers could be a little longer, with more instruction on the often-devilish details of pastry-making.

2) I like my fillings to have interesting textures. Ms. German seems to prefer puréeing everything.

3) She has a tendency to overcook fillings (astonishing comment, coming from a Brit!)

4) She has a fondness for frozen vegetables.

The last three quibbles are obviously easily rectified by adjusting the recipes to your taste.

Highlights: Spicy Asian Chicken, Chinese Orange Beef, Piroshki, and both of the empanada recipes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your bread machines!