The Best Cookbooks List

COOKBOOK REVIEW: My Provence by Laurent Gras

     Last night, at the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Award Ceremony in San Francisco, the Judges’ Award went to Chef Laurent Gras for his ground-breaking new ebook: My Provence. Congratulations to Chef Laurent Gras for winning this prestigous award!

     Why is the ebook/cookbook groundbreaking? It is a cookbook designed for the tablet or iPad, although I bought mine and viewed it on my computer and you can view it on your smart phone. It also introduces a new business model. You pay $4.99 in three installments that are charged to your credit card every four months, and receive recipes in every installment delivered to you digitally in the form of an ebook. It uses multi-media, including words, photographs and video.

   This is how it works. If you want to buy it, you log on to the Alta Editions web site, put in your payment information, and then you are taken to your ebook. If you are on a tablet, flip through the pages. If you are on a computer, click through. 

    When you first open the cover and are brought to the title page, there is a small video embeded for you to watch Chef Gras introduce himself. 

    Is this the future of cookbooks? Undoubtedly, as there will be great convenience and lower price points for the consumer to be able to cook from their iPad propped up on their kitchen counter. For those who prefer a cookbook in hand, especially if it is a joy to read as well as cook from, print books will be preferred. 

     Having lived on the Riviera for over 11 years, and with a cookbook of my own coming out in August (Cuisine Nicoise: Sun-Kissed Cooking from the French Riviera, Gibbs Smith), I was very interested in seeing another cookbook that also embraced cooking on the Riviera---as Chef Gras was brought up there, in Antibes.

     I chose to write my cookbook about the style of cooking found on the Riviera and emanating from Nice. It's called cuisine Nicoise. Chef Gras casts a wider net to include all of Provencal cooking, from his childhood home in Antibes westward to Toulon and deep into Provence, where his family owned property.

     In My Provence, he brings together an interesting mix of family recipes, along with elegant, restaurant level recipes from his professional career. Each recipe has a long headnote explaining the food and its origin and is accompanied with a photograph to show how it should look on the plate.

    At the very end of the ebook there is an index of short instructional videos, which I would have loved to have seen embedded within the recipes they describe rather than having to click to the end of the book to view them. My only other aside is that some recipes seemed out of place for a cookbook about Provencal cuisine: Chicken Milanese with Pickled Cucumber, Riesling-Poached Pears. Having said that, I was delighted with the breadth and types of recipes and with Chef Gras' openess to including recipes that are a culmination of his entire cooking life, including the time he spent cooking in Italy. We are a sum of our cooking environment and experience, and that shines through in this ebook cookbook.  

     The first recipe I am going to try is Chef Gras' Olive Oil Cake. Judging by the photo, it looks divine.

      My Provence by Laurent Gras can be viewed and purchased on: AltaEditions.com

 

 

 

COOKBOOK REVIEW: The French Cook: Sauces

  by Holly Herrick 

The joys of making classic French sauces, with their heady aromas enveloping a dish and taking it to another level, are brought home by Holly Herrick in this the first of her new cookbook series: French Cook: Sauces  

Sauces is about cooking, about quickly learning fundamental combinations that underpin classic French cuisine. Each chapter focuses on introducing bullet-proof recipes to turn out brilliant sauces, including: bechamel, fonds, veloutes, emulsions and tomato. What I love about this cookbook is Holly’s reader-friendly writing style and mouth-watering recipe titles, coupled with the beautiful photography of world-class photographer, Steven Rothfeld. His capture of the essence of preparing sauces, from the gleaming copper pots they are made in to their final destination, draped and swirled,  evoke exactly what Holly conveys with her words and instruction.

This is a resource you will want to keep in the kitchen for inspiration and for all time. It is a book that over time will accumulate stains from spoons and drippings from ladles because of heavy use. And it is the kind of book you will want to pass on and gift.

The French Cook: Sauces, by Holly Herrick (Gibbs Smith, March 2013) is available on Amazon.com.

COOKBOOK REVIEW: Sud de France

   Le Sud de France: The Food & Cooking of the Languedoc by Caroline Conran

I have over 500 cookbooks, both new and vintage. This one is without doubt one of the most thorough, thoughtful, well-researched, and interesting ones I own. It's black and white inside with no pictures, only illustrated with a few of Caroline's drawings. It's soft cover and a soft-sell, with a moody watercolor of hills rather than of food on the front. 

But within this gentle tome is a wealth of experience and food know-how.

Caroline and Terrance Conran made a name for themselves in England, first opening their design oriented Habitat shop in Chelsea, following on with a series of companies from there. Terrance then developed as an international restaurateur, opening at least 8 restaurants in London, with Caroline his partner. Although no longer together, Caroline and Terrance wrote a cookbook together, and Caroline went on to continue as a food writer to work with three-star chefs helping them write their cookbooks. She's written many of her own, including Under the Sun, a book about southern French food. 

This one, however, is unlike other cookbooks, conveying every bit of knowledge she has accumulated about food, whether it's attractive to read or not, in the interest of scholarship and because of her fascination with it.

" Boar meat is actually more easily digested than pork, but it is vital that the testicles and guts are removed immediately after it has been killed. If not, the meat, probably because of the animal's thick fur which keeps the carcase warm over a long period, will taint very quickly."

Then, you'll learn about olives:

"Growing and looking after olive trees is an art, one passed down from one generation to the next. The trees are pruned to be open in the centre, so that a bird can fly through. This allows the air to keep them free of mildew and lets the winds of late May flow through and pollinate the flowers for a good crop." 

 Or this, written as a head note before her recipe for Light Chicken Liver Pate:

"Poultry here are strong, tall birds; my neighbor Madame Galy kept a popular, if ugly, red-feathered breed with bald necks, called cou-nu, that pecked and scratched, along with several ducks, beneath a couple of large fig trees. They taste wonderful."

When I received this book and sat down with it, I found myself unable to put it down, as each of the over 300 pages are filled with interesting imagry, facts, and enthusiasm for the area she lives and the food she encounters there. Reading it makes you want to know her, to go shopping with her at the markets, and to cook with her. I hope some day I will be able to do just that. Her love of the Languedoc, its people, culture and food would be an inspiration to experience. For now, I have her wonderful new book.

 

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Sud de France, By Caroline Conran

FRENCH CLASSICS MADE EASY: by Richard Grausman

French Classics Made Easy: More Than 250 Great French Recipes Updated and Simplified for the American Kitchen by Richard Grausman.

Can I just say how totally in love I am with this cookbook??!! I think I have to admit that right now, because I am going to regale you with my delight at owning this new updated version of the original 1998 cookbook, At Home With The French Classics.

First of all, let me tell you about the author. Richard Grausman is a Cordon Bleu trained culinary instructor and cookbook author. He is founder of the non-profit Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, and has been educating young chefs and home chefs about the culinary arts for almost forty years. He is a pro. He is a wonderful communicator. And he know exactly how to explain a recipe so that you want to drop everything and try it. 

This is my kind of cooking. I love classic French cuisine. I love whipping up souffles and terrines, or a Tarte Tatin or rows of puff pastries. However, I was merely skimming the surface. 

For instance, take souffles. I learned from Richard's book that I could prepare them in advance, and bake them at the last minute. I learned a technique where they don't necessarily need the paper collars I envelope them in. And I received a pat on the back for still using my huge copper bowl to hand beat the whites.

Next chapter: fish mousse! In all its glory and variations. Then quiches, soups, main courses and desserts. Almost every recipe is a favorite of mine and offers a different spin on how to make it, causing me to write up a long list of recipes I want to try from this book: Savory Gruyere Pastry Ring Filled With Cheese Souffle, Stretching Noodles (!), Truffled Chicken, Chicken With Riesling, Cream Puffs Filled With Chocolate Souffle,Ladyfingers, and a classic Paris-Brest. And I want to try Richard's Chocolate Genoise With Grand Marnier Ganache (plus its variation, the Sachertorte).

I love the way he explains a recipe, then provides illustrations of how to visually build it, asides that describe variations on the main dish, and short interesting bits about other ways to use the same ingredients for other dishes or the special molds or dishes needed to make the dish: resulting in a delicious discussion thread that makes each chapter a pleasure to read.

He sealed the deal when I came to his chapter containing recipes for dessert omelets, one of my weaknesses! I adore making a deep chocolate omelet for weekend breakfasts. Richard's become after dinner desserts: Orange Souffleed Omelet, Apple Omelet With Calvados, and Strawberry Filled Omelet With Cointreau. Yum!!!!!! Sign me up! Oh, and the recipe for Riz A L'Imperatrice, something you definitely won't find on restaurant menus anymore, is divine and worthy of a special occasion. And a final round of applause for Richard's recipe for Floating Island (Ile Flottante), a dish that has always eluded me (although it is a simple farm house dish) and which Richard solves by baking the meringue rather than bathing it. Easy! 

So you see, this wonderful cookbook is perfect for beginners who want to learn the basics, as well as for people like me who have "cooked French" forever and still have a few new tricks to learn!! I am thrilled with this book, the closest thing I have to a Julia Child cookbook. Interesting to read, breaking down difficult French recipes so they are totally easy to make, and appreciating that in America we have to use substitutes for a lot of the classic ingredients we can't get here. A plus: Richard takes time with each recipe to relate how he has "lightened" it up from its classic rich butter and cream origins, preserving the flavor and reducing the calories. All in all, I would say this is a just about perfect French cookbook.

 

THE FRENCH COUNTRY TABLE by Laura Washburn

The author of this new cookbook, Laura Washburn, is an American who studied in France, used to work for Patricia Wells, and now lives in England, so I was interested in seeing what her take on French food was. 

The French Country Table: Simple Recipes for Bistro Classics is not a big cookbook. Rather, it offers a few simple recipes under each section to make it easy for home cooks to create simple bistro style French dishes. For instance, under appetizers, there are five recipes to try: Rustic Pate, Mackerel Pate, Garlic Prawns, Crudites, and a Goat Cheese Tart. 

Even under the soup section, all has been simplified. I love making Soupe au Pistou, but mine takes all day. I love making it and look forward to it each Spring. This version is considerably pared down in preparation time and ingredients, making it easier to cope with for busy people.

Easy peasy is the theme. Under the chapter, Simple Dishes, there are five recipes to try your hand at: Ratatouille; Macaroni Gratin; Pumpkin and Rice Gratin; Eggplant, Onion, and Tomato Tian; and Potatoes With Reblochon.

When I was a newlywed, someone gave me a cookbook called "The Daughter-In-Law's Cookbook", which was written by a mother for her new daughter-in-law who was just learning how to cook. Although by then I was an accomplished home cook, it was still a delightful reference to have on hand. I think this new cookbook falls under that category. It would be an ideal gift for someone just starting out who wants to try preparing French cuisine. It is approachable with charming photography and has enough choices that anyone could pair recipes from the book to create a lovely French meal. If you know someone who wants to learn how to cook simple French bistro food, this would be an excellent choice.

The French Country Table: Simple Recipes for Bistro Classics by Laura Washburn

I am going to share with you a recipe from the book:

Walnut Cake

Printable Recipe

Need 9 inch round cake pan, greased

Ingredients:

1 stick plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise with a small sharp knife

4 extra large eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup walnuts pieces, ground walnut halves to decorate

Caramel Frosting Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

a squeeze of lemon juice

2/3 cups heavy cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until fluffy. Use the tip of the knife to scrape the vanilla seeds (and add in). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a spatula, gently fold in the flour and ground walnuts. Transfer to the prepared cake pan.

3. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until browned and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool slightly, then unmold while still warm.

4. To make the caramel frosting, put the sugar, lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons water in a heavy saucepan and cook, stirring, until it turns a light caramel color. Carefully add the cream (it can spatter), stirring until blended.

5. Put the cake on a wire rack set over a baking sheet to catch the drips. Pour over the frosting in a thin, even layer. Decorate with walnut halves and leave for at least 2-3 hours before slicing, until the frosting has set.

 

THE SHARPER YOUR KNIFE, THE LESS YOU CRY by Kathleen Flinn

 
Hi everyone!

As many of you know, I have hundreds and hundreds of cookbooks that I have avidly collected over the years, so although I like to review new cookbooks as they come out, sometimes I review my all time favorites. 

I was drawn back to this book again the other day. I started reading one page, and just couldn't put it down. 

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn is one of the best written culinary books I have ever read. It is the story of Flinn tossing her corporate job in America for a spot at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. It is a love story. It is a story about finding your passion in life. And it has recipes! What more could you want?!

She writes so beautifully that you feel as if you are right there with her, learning how to cook from some of France's toughest cooking instructors. Her triumphs and her failures, her love affair with food as well as with Paris pulls you in and keeps you wanting to read more. I even loved reading about her apartment and what she and her friends ate when they went out into the Paris night. And her boyfriend! Yes, there is the love story to follow as well.

"Today we are studying Auvergne, the coldest region of France, says the Gray Chef, with the oldest mountains in Europe. Those mountains were once active volcanoes, and as a result this is an area of high yet especially fertile plateaus loaded with volcanic soil. The hearty people of Auvergne eat a whole lot of pork and stick to the ribs food."

If you can't take the cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, you can take them by reading this book! Flinn literally spends a part of each chapter telling you exactly what she learned in class and how her dishes turned out.

"How many tears did I cry because I didn't know what I wanted?" "The sharper your knife," as Chef Savard had said,"the less you cry." "For me, it also means to cut those things that get in the way of your passion and of living your life the way it's meant to be lived."

Exactly.

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn