Bear Cuisine

Favorite Cookbooks of 2009

 CANAL HOUSE COOKING

I have written about Canal House Cooking before ( click here for my first review) and I am just as enthusiastic now as I was in August. It is a brilliant idea to do a book as a subscription. The authors can focus on each season and include new favorites as they discover or remember them. Their work says fresh and so does ours. This is hands-down my choice for CookBook of the Year.

 CLAY POT COOKERY

CLAY POT COOKERY combines two of my favorite things on this earth-cooking and pottery. I've been collecting pottery ever since I started working. I've been known to eat a lot of peanut butter in order to get a pot that I just couldn't live without. Then the next month I would be cooking something utterly delicious in it. Delayed gratification made the food taste that much better. Wolfert maintains that food cooked in clay tastes better--more alive. I've also collected Paula Wolfert's books from the time when both she and I were much younger. So, you can see why this book was a must for me. She has recipes from many different cuisines in this book and she recommends the pot to match the food. I've marked several recipes to try. From past experience with her cookbooks, I know that anything in here will be fabulous.

 MY NEW ORLEANS.THE COOKBOOK

John Besh has wonderful restaurants in New Orleans and I'm delighted that he has finally published a cookbook. If you've been reading this blog for a while you know how much I love New Orleans and its food. My New Orleans is filled with stories of the people, places and food which make this city such a popular culinary destination. Even if you never cook a single recipe from this book you will enjoy reading it. Besh's stories have renewed my hunger for the wonderful Cajun and Creole food of New Orleans and, undoubtedly, I will be cooking some of his food. 

It's usually hard to pick my favorite books of the year, but these three were standouts and the choice was relatively easy. You won't go wrong if you add any one of these to your collection.

Canal House Cooking Does it Again

A few days ago I received  the  second volume of my subscription to Canal House Cooking. If possible, this may be even better than the first volume.(Click here to read my review of volume 1.) In this issue they focus on Fall and The Holidays. I've already tried two of the recipes and they are both keepers--things I want to make again and include in our list of "Family Favorites." 

I've always enjoyed endive in salads, but for some reason have never braised it. This simple recipe inspired me to try it and I'm a convert for life. What a wonderful vegetable. The slightly bitter quality of raw endive is transformed into an endearing sweetness and the crunch into a silky, tender mouth-feel. I paired this with lamb chops and the match worked. What you want to serve it with is limited only by your imagination.

BRAISED ENDIVE

• 4 tablespoons butter
  
• 6 Belgian Endives
  
• Salt and pepper
  
• 1 cup chicken stock
  

Melt three tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the endives to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a few minutes, turning them as they brown. Reduce heat to low and add stock. Cover and braise, turning endives now and then, until tender, 30-40 minutes.[I found that only 15 minutes of cooking was needed.] Uncover the skillet, increase heat to medium-high and cook for a minute to reduce any pan juices. Swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Taste for seasoning.

Remembrance of Things Past

A HOMEMADE LIFE

If Marcel Proust hadn’t let us know with his Petite Madeleines that food memories are among our most enduring, some of us would have figured it out anyway. Some see the world through rose-colored glasses; others of us taste our way through the world and we prefer to take big bites. Molly Wizenberg is one of those who remembers where she was and what she was doing by remembering what she was eating. In short, she is a woman after my own heart.

 

She chronicles her life and food adventures in her book, A Homemade Life.  While some of her recipes sound scrumptious, this book is so much more than a food memoir and a collection of recipes. This is a love story-- love shared, love lost and grieved and love found. Since I’m a romantic in my heart of hearts, I, in turn, loved this book.

 

Her story begins for us with the death of her father--a large, generous man with an immense appetite for life. Her portrait of him is so alive that I wished I had known him. Even though he was a Republican, I am sure that we would have gotten along famously.

 

“He was the kind of person who could teach you a lot of important things, such as how to ride a bicycle or drive a stick shift, or that dill and potatoes were made for each other. He always put dill in his potato salad. We had a kitchen garden out back that he and my mother planted, thick with tomatoes and herbs. He would rub rosemary under the skin of roasting chickens and stir thyme into his corn chowder. He got such a kick out of that garden. He taught me to make pesto from the basil we grew there, using a recipe by James Beard, who I’m sure, would gotten a kick out of it, too.”

 

“My father woke up each morning wanting that day. You could see it on his face. He was the one at the end of the table, laughing so hard that his round face split open like an overripe watermelon and his fillings shone darkly like seeds. He laughed so hard that he gagged a little and pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his mouth. He knew what he had, and he loved it.

 

“He could have taught me a lot of things. We’d hardly begun. But I have his recipe for potato salad, and when all else fails, it’s a place to start.”

 

This is such a poignant story that I shed more than a few tears while I was reading. Sometimes I shared her sadness and sometimes I was moved by the sheer joy in living and the beauty that can be found in our world. I’m happy to report that this love story ends happily with Molly Wizenberg meeting a wonderful man, falling in love and getting married. Who can say about happily ever after, but I know they will share many good meals and memories along the way.  And that’s better than “pretty good.”

 

As a postscript, I’m including Molly’s recipe for Potato Salad. Potato Salad is one of my many food loves and I’ll readily abandon my current favorite to try this one. Call me a food slut if you wish, but life’s too short not to try new and yummy things.

 

BURG’S POTATO SALAD

(about 6 servings)

 

For the Salad

• 1 3/4 pounds red waxy potatoes, scrubbed
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 8 scallions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
  

 

For the Dressing

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellman’s/Best foods or homemade
  
• 4 tablespoons bottled Ranch dressing, preferably Hidden Valley
  
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
  
• 1to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
  

 

Put the potatoes in a Dutch oven or large saucepan and add cold water to cover by 1 inch. Add a generous dash of salt, and bring to a boil over medium –high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a small, thin knife, about 15 minutes. Drain them into a colander, rinse with cold water, and set them aside to cool. When the potatoes are   completely cool, cut them into rough 1-inch chunks. For the smaller potatoes, I halve them; for the bigger ones, I cut them into quarters or eighths. Put them in a large bowl.

 

Meanwhile, cook the eggs. Place them in a small saucepan, and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When the water begins to boil remove the pan from the heat, cover it, and let it sit for exactly 12 minutes. Immediately pour off the hot water and run plenty of cold water over the eggs. When the eggs are cool, peel them, chop them coarsely, and ad them to the bowl of potatoes. Add the scallions, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and toss to mix.

 

In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, Ranch dressing, dill and caraway seeds. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and stir to evenly coat. Taste, and adjust the salt as needed. Cover and refrigerate over night before serving.

 

The Sweet Life in Paris

I have been a fan of David Lebovitz and his work for quite some time--ever since I discovered a link to his blog. Most, if not all, of the ice cream recipes I have offered on this blog are from his book, The Perfect Scoop and I love reading his Room for Dessert and Ripe for Dessert. One of these days I will actually cook something from them.

Now I have a new book to love and I think it may be his best yet.

The Sweet Life in Paris records his adventures living and working in Paris for the last six years. His wry observations had me laughing out loud and had the people around me wondering what could be so funny. His candid descriptions of what he loves and finds not so lovable about Parisians should be required reading for anyone traveling to that glorious city. I find that Americans take umbrage too easily when visiting foreign countries. After reading The Sweet Life, you understand that the French ,especially Parisians, just do things differently. You'll have a much better time if you just adapt.

Perhaps because I am attempting to learn French, I found his chapter, "Too Many Ways to Say the Same Thing,"  riotously funny. He tried to take a French class, but feared for his life from the bullying teacher. So he dropped out and decided to learn as he went along from his friends and neighbors. He came to regret his decision.

"My greatest gaffe in French t a social event occurred at a chic dinner party with people I didn't know. I had just returned from a trip to Italy and was describing how terrific it was. I'd climbed high in the mountains of Piedmont to see Oropa, the magnificently situated sanctuary famous for its Madonna Nera, a black Virgin Mary who inspires cultlike worshippers. It's an inspiring spot, no matter what your faith, and pilgrims and tourists flock there from all over the world to head up the winding mountain road, then up a formidable number of stairs to see here. (The hot chocolate and pastries they serve in the adjacent caffe are additional incentive to make the trek, too.)

"Hoping to impress everyone with my highly cultured and richly detailed description of the lovely lady herself, I contributed my account: 'Up in the mountains in Italy, il y a une verge noir. C'est magnifique! People come from all over the world to worship it. They kneel before it and pray to it.'

"As I'm talking, rambling on and on and on in my impeccable French, I notice everyone looking uncomfortable and glancing around at one another, taking a renewed interest in what's on their plate, rather than what's coming out of my mouth. But like a high-speed TGV train, I keep going, picking up speed: 'You drive up this long winding road and when you open the door, you see it and it's really, truly incroyable. It's surely one of the most famous verges in the world.'

"I fail to notice anyone getting as worked up as me about this icon, until Romain leans over, 'Don't you mean the Vierge Noire, the Black Virgin?'

" 'Uh, yes. Isn't that what I was talking about?'

"'Daveed, a verge is a penis.'

"I know my version of the story would have received a better reception in different company, but perhaps I was a bit hasty in dropping out of French school. I'm just happy he stopped me before I went on about all the pictures I'd taken of it, from every conceivable angle."

He teaches you how to dodge Les Bousculeurs and how to become one yourself if you're brave and immune to insults. You learn where to find the best hot chocolate in Paris and how to work your way around a cheese plate.  I consider these last two pieces of knowledge essential for civilized living.

Finally, there are some wonderful recipes at the end of every chapter.

Every word in this book is delicious. After you've read it, let's make a date for lunch at Au Pied de Cochon to talk about our favorite chapters.

Canal House Cooking

I regularly have new favorite cookbooks, but this one is truly unique. As a matter of fact, I think that everyone reading this post should have this book in their collection.

You will note that on the cover is "Volume No. 1." This is the first volume in what is billed as a subscription that will come out three times a year. Three times a year you will receive a beautifully conceived, written and executed soft-cover cookbook that offers recipes appropriate to the season. 

Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hersheimer are the authors of this book and both have impressive credentials. Christopher Hersheimer was one of the founding editors of Saveur magazine and has illustrated more than 30 cookbooks with her photographs. Melissa Hamilton has had a long career in food styling and recipe testing and development for cookbooks and food magazines. Now, she and Christopher have opened their own studio in Lambertville, NJ and are self-publishing the Canal House Cooking series.

Everything about this first volume is enchanting-- from the drawings and photographs to the recipes themselves. Reading it was like the discovering the kitchen notebook of your favorite aunt and finding out that she could draw and take excellent photographs as well as cook. These are recipes that are doable and more than that you will want to make them. I know I do.

Get this book. Go to thecanalhouse.com to purchase a copy.