Prune

Prune
by Gabrielle Hamilton

There is something very endearing about a seeing a highly-acclaimed, celebrity chef's handwritten notes in a cookbook.  Suddenly, the recipes all seem approachable.  Friendly.  Fun.  Which is exactly what I need during the holiday season where there are so many potluck parties.  Not your grandmother's potluck party where you could bring any dish and your grandmother would still pinch your cheeks!  No, a foodie potluck party!  A dish foodies can or will love!

My brother is taking a leisurely drive cross country to make his way to California, so I have no idea what day he will land on my front door.   I do know that I want to cook something special for my brother, but not spend so much time cooking and shopping that we end up with no quality time together.   Also, several folks have made it known they want to meet my brother, a motorcycle racing champ and former bodybuilder.  Could I really pull together a last minute gourmet dinner and still get all my work done?

That's the other problem us foodies/home chefs have.  No one wants to come to your house and eat takeout.  Talk about mutiny.

For the record, I have eaten at Prune a few times.  I've read Hamilton's articles in The New Yorker, seen her on TV.  And it is for that reason, I bought her cookbook.   I look forward to recreating warm memories and creating new sensory experiences.  There are plenty of photos, though I wish there were more.  Most, not all, of the recipes embody simplicity and elegance.  Grilled head on shrimp with anchovy butter.  Whole grilled fish with toasted fennel oil.  Grilled rib-eye steak with parsley shallot butter.  These recipes enable a hostess spend more time enjoying her guests.

There are some recipes for whole rabbit, suckling pigs -- ingredients not so readily available to the home chef.  I'll have to go back to Prune to sample those dishes.

I received this Book from Blogging for Books for this review.

A Year in France

A Year in France

A Year of Cooking in my Farmhouse

by Mimi Thorisson

Pick this book up at your own risk.  I'm serious, you will want to move to France immediately and recreate this fantasy.  This life of deliciousness where every meal and everyone is beautiful.  The photos are stunning, food porn  -- beautiful food, beautiful people. The recipes are organized by season, beginning with spring.

Are the recipes practical for the home cook?  Yes and no.  Depends who your supplier is.   Calves' Liver a la Bordelaise, Langoustines with Armagnac, Black Pig Pork Roast, Poussins, Quails, Squab, Spider Crabs.  It isn't easy.

The good news is there's plenty of inspiration to be found.  Aunt Francine's Fava Bean Soup, Roast Chicken with Creme Fraiche and Herbs.   Thorisson is half Chinese, half French, so towards the end of the book, she includes a little section devoted to Chinese New Year.   Happy Valley Wonton Soup is one of the six recipes lumped in at the end.  

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Laurent Quenioux: A Retrospective of a Master Artist/Chef

No question, Chef Laurent Queinoux is a master chef and master artist.  This is less of a review of one meal, and more of a retrospective.

Like so many others, I've been a fan of LQ since his Bistro K days.  His "foodings" are always innovative, artistic, inspiring and of course, scrumptious.  How many Chefs continue to delight their customers dish after dish?  Push, experiment, hunt, gather, procure?  In this brutal economy, so many of us are forced to scrimp and save, hunker down, cut corners someway somehow-- but Chef Laurent does not compromise his craft.  Jamais!  LQ is always cooking.  This commitment to excellence and craft only makes me love LQ more because that is exactly how I feel about my craft (writing).  I only wish I had more loyal paying fans!  :-)

Cassoulet

Go to great lengths to bring you new tastes?  Cheeses?

Eric dazzles us with cheese

Like many others, we followed LQ to Bistro LQ on Melrose in West Hollywood to Starry Kitchen to Vertical Bistro.

His pop-ups often sell out quickly.  You have to reserve fast, and sometimes that makes it challenging to invite others.  The back and forth required to pick a date, time and commit -- well, all the tables could be snapped up before a consensus is reached.  You're also torn.  You want to spread the word to support LQ near and far because he is an international treasure, but you don't want to make it impossible for to get reservations next time.  I have foodie friends who do not share new gems for precisely this reason, they don't want to sabotage their chances of getting a table.

The past two pop-ups, however, I did invite some newbies to join in the culinary experience.  Oh my, what an incredible joy it was to see their eyes light up, to remember what it was like to taste LQ's cuisine for the very first time.  Yes.  You always remember your first.

My first egg meurette

As folks enter the dining room, many came over to say hello or waved.  One guest in our party was so impressed, he asked me I knew everyone.  The host recognizes me from Vermont and walks over to say hello.   Friends from Pleasure Palate could fill the room.   I had to laugh as my eyes scanned the room.  I guess after all these years, you do begin to recognize people, make friends, exchange hugs and bisous, and share.  Delicious joy has a way of bonding you to each other, organically.  After several wonderful meals, you feel like family.  LQ's extended family.  I've always wanted to be French!   If you are what you eat, I'm getting there one dish at a time.

Some other fine LQ dishes.

Frog legs

You're drooling, aren't you?

Hope to see you at the next LQ Fooding.  Don't forget to say hello :-)