Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: The Broadway Lover’s Cookbook could satisfy even the most insatiable Schuyler sister!
Gideon Glick and Adam Roberts have put together a cookbook full of recipes, puns, and trivia inspired by the most iconic Broadway shows, new and old. Get your Playbills ready because this dinner is going to be an event that you’ll want to remember.
As a Broadway fan, there’s nothing I want more than to become part of the colorful, musical, and vibrant world of some of my favorite shows. Luckily, the Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway cookbook gave me a way to do that without having to learn a single step of choreography.
With its adorable illustrations and fun dialogue, this book immerses you in its tone quickly. If you like puns and wordplay in your Broadway numbers, this book will have you smiling from ear to “The Last Five Ears” recipe.
It’s not just the recipe titles that are infused with fun either. The overture, descriptions, and the cooking tips (including one I really appreciated about being generous with the butter and salt) are just as packed with them as Tracy Turnblad’s hair is full of spray.
Admittedly, I was initially taken aback by the fact that this cookbook doesn’t contain any actual photos of the food! While the book doesn’t feel bland with its colorful and delightfully detailed illustrations, it felt strange to choose recipes without any idea what the final product would look like.
That said, I ended up enjoying the experience of jumping into a recipe and figuring out how it would look as I went. I’m always drawn to the pictured recipes in cookbooks, but this allowed me to use other methods to determine what I would make and prioritize substance over style. It was good for me in the end, but it’s likely not for everyone.
So, which recipes were worthy of a dinner with Lumière? Check out my review of these five dishes from Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: The Broadway Lover’s Cookbook to find out.
‘Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: The Broadway Lover’s Cookbook’ review
Cheeses Crisped Superstar
These cheese crisps are exactly what they say they are, which is delicious! I never would have thought to simply put seasoned cheese on a pan and let it bake up to a crisp little cracker, but after trying the “Cheeses Crisped Superstar,” I’ll be serving these until my last supper.
These are very lightly themed for Jesus Christ Superstar with a halo effect created by the different types of cheeses, so you could dress them up to make them a stage-worthy dish, or serve them for any occasion.
Taste: 4/5 I mean, it’s cheese! What’s not to love?
Presentation: 3/5 The perfectly haloed crisps were cute, but it was quite difficult to make them look as round as intended.
Difficulty: 2/5 There’s nothing too difficult about heaping seasoned cheese on a pan, but I added a point because of how tough it was to achieve the roundness.
Accessibility: 5/5 No special tools required for this one. Again, we’re heaping cheese on a pan, people!
Fun: 2/5 Such a lightly themed dish is nice because you can make it for all occasions, but it does take away some of the fun. That being said, watching cheese sizzle does supply its own special brand of joy.
Weenie Todds
You’ll want to steal these little “Weenie Todds” upon first sight! Don’t worry, they taste better, and contain at least 99% less human than Mrs. Lovett’s pies.
This is such a simple recipe for how delicious they are and how impressive they look. Store bought puff pastry and pre-seasoned sausage make these sausage rolls quicker to prepare than you’d think, while the taste still packs a serious punch.
Just like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the musical that inspired them, the “Weenie Todds” are great for spooky season. What makes them even better is that you can dress them up with the recipe’s “devil’s ketchup” for a bloody good time!
Taste: 5/5 These taste great with or without the added “devil’s ketchup” sauce, so try them both ways!
Presentation: 4/5 It’s so easy to make these sausage rolls look great, and so easy to control how creepy they look.
Difficulty: 2/5 While these are slightly more difficult than heaping cheese on a pan, they are so much simpler than they appear.
Accessibility: 5/5 This is another recipe from Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway that requires no special tools to create.
Fun: 4/5 I loved setting the scene for these treats, and it would be fun to dress them up even more for a Halloween party.
Little Chop of Horrors
You’ll be transported somewhere that’s green with this Little Shop of Horrors-inspired salad. And luckily, you probably won’t even have to go see the dentist after!
The beets add a nice gory touch to this well-balanced salad, but this is also a delicious dish that you could serve for any occasion. This is just one of many great salad recipes in the Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway cookbook.
Taste: 4/5 The bacon, feta, and beets add some great flavors and textures to this green salad. The dressing perfectly ties it all together for an awesome taste experience.
Presentation: 4/5 All of the colors in this salad make it look so scrumptious and appealing.
Difficulty: 2/5 It’s more than just chopped lettuce, but there’s nothing really difficult about putting this salad together.
Accessibility: 5/5 You’ll be good to go with your normal kitchen utensils for this recipe from the Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway cookbook.
Fun: 2/5 It can be fun to toss everything together for the salad, but in the end, I was hoping for more of a themed dish for one of my favorite musicals.
Grease (Is the Bird)
Don’t worry, you can make this amazing fried chicken inspired by Grease even if you’re a cooking school dropout! You’ll be hopelessly devoted to this recipe in no time.
Fried chicken is such a classic summer food that will transport you back to summer nights in the simpler Grease era. Luckily, the Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway cookbook has this incredible fried chicken recipe that you’ll definitely want to make again and again.
Taste: 5/5 Truly amazing. Several of my guests for this Broadway feast described this as the “best fried chicken they’ve ever had!”
Presentation: 5/5 Not only did it taste great, but this recipe easily created a fried chicken that was worthy of showing in any KFC commercial.
Difficulty: 3/5 This is another recipe from Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway that’s easier than you’d expect. However, you do need to fry the chicken on the stove, and there’s some inherent difficulty in using hot oil that you’ll need to be mindful of.
Accessibility: 4/5 Like I mentioned, this chicken is fried on the stove, so you won’t need any special equipment. That being said, you’ll still need to be comfortable working with hot oil.
Fun: 3/5 Frying this chicken was fun, but it’s another dish that’s quite lightly themed for the musical that inspired it.
Jell-O, Dolly!
Put on your Sunday clothes any day of the week and whip up this gorgeous and delicious dessert inspired by Hello, Dolly.
I was so worried about this one, as it can often be difficult to get gelatin to set when you start adding special ingredients, but the Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway recipe makes it so easy. This is a recipe that I’ll definitely be making again for both dinner parties and after parties!
Taste: 4/5 These have a great taste on their own, but I recommend adding whipped cream to add some more sweetness to balance the champagne and the tartness of the raspberries.
Presentation: 5/5 I absolutely loved the finished product for this recipe. The raspberries and the champagne compliment each other perfectly!
Difficulty: 2/5 The only difficult part about these was popping the Jell-O out of the molds, but as long as you go slow you’ll be okay.
Accessibility: 4/5 I used silicone cupcake liners for the Jell-O, which made them slightly easier to pop out. Depending on what you use for a pan, the process could be more difficult.
Fun: 5/5 This recipe doesn’t have much to do with Hello Dolly, but it was still so fun to make and eat!
‘Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: The Broadway Lover’s Cookbook’ hit store shelves in October 2022!
Buy Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: The Broadway Lover’s Cookbook by Gideon Glick and Adam Roberts from Penguin Random House, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.
You must be logged in to post a comment.