Bitter Sweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate
Author: Alice Medrich
The time when home bakers had only one choice of baking chocolate is long passed. Today, we have an entire new generation of chocolates to choose from: chocolates with less sugar, more cocoa bean solids, and definitely more flavor. And these new chocolates - called percentage chocolates - beg for the creation of new recipes and a fresh take on the classics.
Every recipe in Bittersweet in foolproof and utterly delicious, no matter what your level of expertise. You'll marvel that receipes as classics as brownies, chocolate cake, and ice cream can still surprise and that souffles, crepes, and even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.
Publishers Weekly
Medrich founded the dessert shop Cocolat in Berkeley in 1976 and authored Cocolat and Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, which offered new, more "adult" flavors than the super-sweet tastes in vogue until that time. Today, as Medrich points out in an interestingly market-savvy introduction, the popularity of high-quality brands of chocolate is on the rise, and each of these recipes includes notes about how to alter it using chocolates with a higher percentage of "chocolate liquor," or cocoa bean content. This all sounds highly cerebral, but once Medrich puts her theory into practice in the form of Macadamia Shortbread Brownies, and Grappa, Currants, and Pine Nut Torte, it becomes deliciously clear. Hers are highly inventive creations, grouped in chapters loosely defined more by feel than by strict adherence to categories, such as a group of fluffy confections that includes Intensely Bittersweet Souffl s and Melting Chocolate Meringue. Medrich provides a recipe for her signature Queen of Sheba torte, along with detailed notes about how it has evolved over the years. She even uses chocolate in a handful of savory recipes, such as Roasted Squash Soup with Cocoa Bean Cream. Clearly, this author's curiosity is her defining characteristic; her ability to convey the fruits of that curiosity is the readers' good fortune. (Oct.) Forecast: Medrich's Cocolat (1990) was an IACP and James Beard award winner, and Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts (1994) was also the recipient of a James Beard award. This highly personal, engaging collection is likely to garner prizes as well, and Artisan is supporting it with a 45,000 first printing and a 10-city tour. This is bound to be one of fall's big books, and it deserves to be. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Chocolate queen, cookbook author (Cocolat; Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts), and founder of groundbreaking Bay Area chocolate and dessert shop Cocolat, Medrich focuses her latest effort on baking with percentage chocolates. These high-quality, often expensive gourmet chocolates (which contain varying amounts of chocolate liquor) are delicious but do not always substitute properly in older recipes. Medrich has developed nearly 150 recipes that include notes for adjusting each recipe to the specific type of chocolate used in order to guarantee a scrumptious result every time. Divided into eight sections, the book features recipes for ice cream (Toasted Coconut-White Chocolate Ice Cream), brownies, tortes, cakes (Molten Chocolate Raspberry Cakes), cookies (Bittersweet Decadence Cookies), savory dishes, and, of course, truffles. Scattered throughout are insightful essays on Medrich's love of chocolate, from her youth through her time at Cocolat to the present. Attractively designed with wonderful color photos and simple recipes, this is highly recommended for all collections.-Pauline Baughman, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Book review: King Hussein of Jordan or Upstream
Lobster Roll: And Other Pleasures of Summer by the Beach
Author: Jodi della Femina
Just east of the village of Amagansett, toward Montauk, the towns fall away, the trees disappear, the sky opens up, and the lush farmland gives way to sand and reeds and scrub in an area called Napeague. On the ocean side of this lonely stretch of Route 27, nestled in front of dunes, a sign announces "Lunch" at a shingle-style diner. As New York magazine explained, "Anyone who's ever been to a Hampton has seen the Lobster Roll, better known as Lunch--a weather-beaten roadside clam bar, no-frills seafood restaurant, and geographic point of reference that's as much a part of the South Fork as the Montauk lighthouse."
The Lobster Roll is indeed an institution, evocative of carefree, casual summer eating--exactly the type of food in this book:
Soups and appetizers such as New England Clam Chowder, Lobster Bisque, and Steamers and Broth
Rolls and sandwiches that include Lobster Rolls and the Perfect Hamburger
Perfect summer entrées like Lavender-and-Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Barbecued Ribs, and Grilled Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
Refreshing sides such as Creamy Coleslaw, Pickled Squash and Mint Salad, and simple recipes for summertime treasures like corn, tomatoes, and new potatoes
Desserts like Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie and Raspberry-Peach Cobbler as well as drinks such as Homemade Berry-Citrus Iced Tea and Fresh Strawberry-Mint Lemonade
The Lobster Roll has been dishing up this food for three decades to locals, tourists, and summer residents alike. This book is a celebration of that cuisine, with the restaurant's preparations adapted for home cooks, plus non-restaurant recipes for quick, simple dishes that take advantage ofsummer's fresh bounty. And the beautiful color photographs perfectly capture both the food and the region--this book is what summer looks like, and this food is what summer tastes like.
Publishers Weekly
For those eager for balmy weather and picnics on the beach, this little cookbook dishes out recipes designed for summer consumption, when open air markets feature the freshest bounty from soil and sea. Named after the famed Hamptons eatery, a.k.a. Lunch, a fish shack turned into an area icon by Terry's now ex-husband, this volume offers entrees, snacks, salads, soups and desserts from the "quintessential summer restaurant," including the much-loved Lobster Roll sandwich. The book includes family recipes in addition to those from the restaurant: Pickled Zucchini with Mint, for example, is Della Femina tradition. Della Femina (author of the helpful and locally infamous Jodi's Shortcuts) and Terry, who owns the Lobster Roll, give plenty of advice on cooking seafood, such as oysters, clams, and mussels. (On soft-shell crabs: "Using poultry shears, snip off the face of the crab, located directly behind the eyes-this will also instantly kill the crab.") Fresh sides, such as Tomato, Vidalia Onion, and Basil Salad, the feta and mint-enhanced Savory Watermelon Salad and Chopped Tarragon and Blue Cheese Salad, add vigor to traditional accompaniments. The entrees, which include Grilled Citrus Chicken, Baked Lemon Salmon with Lemon-Dill Sauce and classic Crab Cakes, are all perfect for warm sultry evenings. Recipes are simple and easy-to-prepare-though the authors throw in a few gimmes, such as recipes for S'mores and a straightforward Summer Fruit Salad-and the cooking tips interspersed throughout make this a delightful guide to summer eating. 60 full-color photographs. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
The Lobster Roll is a popular restaurant in the Long Island resort town of Amagansett. More or less a family-run spot (the relationships are a bit complicated), it's been open since 1965; Terry is the current proprietor, and her coauthor is the manager of a gourmet market elsewhere in the Hamptons. Here they offer 75 recipes that include both favorites from the restaurant and other easy, casual dishes, from the Lobster Roll (as well as a Clam Roll) to Grilled Citrus Chicken to Raspberry Peach Cobbler, with color photographs of the food and the summer scene throughout. For area libraries and other larger collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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