I'm Out of Lemon Juice! I Only Have Dried Basil! - Food Substitutions To the Rescue!

I don't know about you all, but there have been many times I have been half way through an amazing recipe when I realize, "There are only TWO tbsp of lemon juice left and I need THREE!"  or  "Saffron costs $18??  No way am I buying that just so I can make paella for dinner!"
You know the routine: you accidentally leave an item off the grocery list, or you swear you had enough cream in the fridge, or you didn't feel like running to the grocery store when you have dry herbs even though the recipe calls for fresh herbs...and so on.

But when you are mid-recipe you can't drop everything and go to the store, and exactly how many teaspoons of dry herbs are the equivalent of the fresh herbs called for in your herbed rice pilaf?

Well, fear no more and get your hands on The Food Substitutions Bible.  I heard about this gem on NPR about 6 months ago, and Lucas being the wonderful person he is told my Mom this would be the perfect birthday present....and IT WAS!!  When I first received The Food Substitutions Bible I must admit I was a bit skeptical about how much I would actually use it.  Turns out the answer is a lot and it has turned out to be one of the most useful tools I have in the kitchen!

I made paella a few weeks back and I didn't realize saffron was the most expensive spice available until I was staring at it, mouth ajar, in the spice aisle at King Soopers.  When I got home, I looked up Saffron in the Food Substitution Bible and not only found out what to use in it's place, but also learned that saffron is the most expensive spice available because it takes 70,000 saffron plants, harvested by hand to yield a mere 1 pound of the spice.

This cooking bible is laid out brilliantly, and each entry not only gives substitutions, but also measurement equivalents, interesting facts about the ingredient, tool or technique and other useful information.

1. The book is arranged alphabetically so it is extremely easy to find any ingredient you are looking for...and I mean ANY ingredient.  It provides substitutions for ingredients I have never even hear of in my life...Galantina, Limpet, or Qurut anyone?
2. Each entry has a column on the left that provides information about the ingredient/tool/technique - tastes, where it comes from, how to use it, etc.
3. On the right, there is a list of potential substitutions ranging from closest in taste with appropriate measurements, to ingredients that provide the same color but different taste, to options for better health, to ingredients that are close in flavor but will provide a different taste and so on.  Given the amount of suggestions made for each entry, I would be surprised if you didn't have SOMETHING in your house that you could use in place of whatever tool or ingredient you are missing

I have used The Food Substitutions Bible to figure out how much dry ginger to use in place of fresh ginger, to determine what to use in place of buttermilk when I had 2 T less than I was supposed to, to find out what to use instead of saffron because I wasn't willing to spend $18...the list goes on!

If you are serious about your cooking, I suggest you get a copy of this book.  It is a purchase you certainly won't regret!

Bon Appetit!!