Jane Austen #2 retellings- Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors AND. Recipe for Persuasion

 I do love a JA retelling!  I’ve read so many of them and plan to bore you with so many reviews.  This new series by Sonali Dev forces on the Raje family.  In the first book, Pride , Prejudice and Other Flavors, we meet Dr Trisha Raje who is an acclaimed neurosurgeon.  The immigrant Indian family is descended from royalty and now settled in San Francisco.  We learn that Trisha broke some trust with the family over a scandal with her older brother who is an aspiring politician and her father won’t get past it.  There is an up and coming chef who’s sister needs brain surgery and immediately he clashes with the dr,  She makes assumptions about chefs and is arrogant in her status.  He is full of Pride and won’t let her get away with her prejudice but he also needs her help.   Of course you know where this is going!  I loved the cultural take on the story.  The food descriptions are yummy!  This retelling manages to be original by adding in family subplots, touching on racism and having some new original characters.  An easy 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.  

Dev’s second book in the series is Recipe for Persuasion. I liked this one also but not quite as much as the first book.  Persuasion is not my favorite of the JA novels but this one was an original take on the classic.  Chef Ashna Raje is the cousin of Dr Trisha Raje and is trying to keep her family's Indian restaurant afloat. She joins a reality cooking show where the chefs are teamed up with a celebrity, aka dancing with the stars, to compete for a large payoff that could keep her business alive.  She gets paired with celebrity soccer star Rico Silva .  Of course they have a history and losing Ashna years ago was extremely painful and something he hasn’t moved on from.  This retelling , similar to the first one, did a great job of making it original enough to be super interesting.  There are some heavy topics so it’s not a breezy romance.  We go back and forth from Ashna to her mother who was forced into an arranged marriage, an alcoholic father and child neglect.  I loved the food in the story and getting to learn more about this family.  It was a bit heavier then I expected and  that slowed me down in the first half.   I was expecting a fun romance and I’m not sure I would classify it as such.   But, started to love the characters and even though I knew how this would turn out, I was still anxious to get there.  I give this 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Because of the way she handled the story and because I really cared about these characters people.  

The 3rd book in the series is due out in July and I can’t wait! 

Let's talk food.  I don't eat a lot of Indian food but as i expand my horizons and read more diverse characters, I'd also like to do the same with my food.   So, I found this recipe on the Skinnytaste.com site.  It is Salmond Coconut Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas.  I'm always a little afraid of curry but this was delicious.  https://www.skinnytaste.com/salmon-coconut-curry-with-spinach-and-chickpeas/  

I highly recommend it.  I did omit the Fresno Chili and i couldn't find the curry powder it called for so substituted with what my store had.  Overall delicious and new flavors for me!  I will make this one again! 

For Recipe for Persuasion I felt inspired by some of the fresh fruit she used and i made myself a Mango Blackberry vodka cooler!    Found this one on Pinterest! My mango wasn't super ripe so this was good but could have been better if I found a good mango.    Still, delicious and refreshing.   

More JA to come! 

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice - reread , podcast and more to come! Part 1 of ?

 I first read Pride and Prejudice back in my college days.  SInce then I've watched every movie multiple times!  My favorite is the 1995 BBC version.  I've seen it multiple times and just love it.   This year i've discovered Podcast and one of those is Novel Pairings.  The Hostesses did a 4 part episode on reading, rereading and retellings/sequels and Pastiche relating to P&P.  (I had never heard the word pastiche but it means to imitate the work or style of the artist) .  I loved all of it.  I ended up downloading the Audible version which was recommended.  It was so good and is free with my subscription.  It's read by Rosamund Pike and was wonderful. I highly recommend it.   I also bought the Annotated version of P&P which is full of notes and drawings and everything you might want to know about the book. 

It was so nice to revisit this classic.  It felt familiar and listening to the podcast helped me listen for different things and learn a few new things. They did a nice job of digging into the meaning of things and the customs of the time period.   Since i'm also a patreon of the podcast, I also got bonus episodes and classes .  I have to admit I haven't had time to explore all of it but I am planning to! 

 I have so much to say about Austen. 
I am planning out a series of posting.  I have JA cookbooks and cocktail books.  I have read multiple retelling and sequels.  I have puzzles and graphic novels.  SO much to say!!   This is post one of several.  I should admit that i posted about JA a few years ago when i started this blog.  At that time i had just read the Jane Austen Project and posted a review and a review of By the Book which is a modern retelling of Persuasion.  

https://veryhungryreader2017.blogspot.com/2018/05/jane-austen-inspired-books.html

I won't post all of the JA together but will spread it out over the year.   I'm super excited to share all the books related. 

For this post I made a cocktail from Gin Austen.  It is the Brandon Old Fashioned.  More Austen coming soon!  Keep reading! 

Hamnet and Honey Brussel Sprouts

 Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.   I saw this book all over Bookstagram last year and added to my list.  Finally got to it in March and oh my!   I loved it.  This is the story of the death of Shakespeare's 11 year old son Hamnet.  At least that is the description on the book but it is really more about his mother and how grief can shatter a family.  This book is beautifully written and I read it in just a few days because it was tough to put down.  The story is told from different viewpoints but Agnes is the main character.  We jump to her first introduction to the bard and then to her family.   Shakespeare, while an important character, is not the focus.  Agnes feels almost mystical.  Her relationship with animals, her
premonitions and her use of plants to heal, all lend a feeling of magic to the story.  This is in  the time of the plague and she cannot heal the plague.   I was so taken by this novel that i needed to know how much was true.  Turns out Shakespeare did have a son that died but very little is known about his wife.  O'Farrell obviously used her wonderful imagination to give us this story. At the end, I realized I had never read or seen Hamlet.  I had no idea how this story might be related to play.  I was visiting my sister and we decided to watch it.    We googled it to find the best version and the critics seemed to pick David Tennant's version from 2009.  So, that's the one we watched.  Ummmmm  it was not very good.  I think we wanted  costumes and a more historically accurate Hamlet.  This one is a modern version and there are limited sets and terrible costumes.  I wish we had gone with the Kenneth Branagh version.  Oh well.  I got the story and not sure I needed to see it after all.   

In the book, Agnes is a beekeeper.  Because of her connection with nature, i thought making something with Honey seemed appropriate so I had 2 ideas.  One turned out great, one not so great.   

1st  was sauteed shredded Brussel Spouts with honey and balsamic glaze.  I bought the shredded sprouts they sell at Trader Joes in the bag.  Almost every recipe I see for shredded brussel sprouts has bacon in it.  I really trying to stop eating all pork products so i had to make my own recipe.  I cut up an onion and an apple and added them to the brussels and sauteed them in a generous helping of butter.  Near the end i drizzled honey over them , sprinkled some salt and pepper and let them sit till nice and soft.  I ended with a nice topping of balsamic glaze.   They were delicious.   Perfect amount of sweetness.   

The dish that didn't turn out so good was the figs.  Figs just feel very shakespearean to me (don't even ask why).  Unfortunately this isn't fig season.  They don't come in until June or July.  So i bought dried ones and stuffed them with cream cheese and covered them with honey.  I put them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350.  They weren't terrible but not great.  Fresh figs would have been perfect but the dried ones don't do much in the oven.   I think i'll have to wait for fig season!  

Pick up the book, make some brussel spouts and skip the figs.  Hamnet ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐