Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

CARMINE’S FAMILY-STYLE COOKBOOK: More Than 100 Classic Italian Dishes to Make at Home by Michael Ronis and Mary Goodbody

I finally got to eat at the original Carmine’s in NYC last summer and the food was fantastic. The menus are written on chalkboards hung on the walls, and the food is served family style, so you either go with a large group of very hungry people or bring home lots of leftovers. Either way you win.

The cookbook helps home cooks recreate a lot of the recipes from the restaurant, including the most delicious, garlicky Caesar Salad and the best Penne alla Vodka ever. But what makes this cookbook really standout are all the “basic recipes” that are included, like Carmine’s Marinara Sauce, Bolognese Sauce, Carmine’s Bread Crumbs, Peppers and Onions and lots more.

I have a Sicilian mother-in-law and all I can say is these recipes meet her high standards – and mine. If you want to cook southern Italian food, look no further than this incredible treasure trove of recipes.

10/11 Stacy Alesi

CARMINE’S FAMILY-STYLE COOKBOOK by Michael Ronis. St. Martin’s Press (October 14, 2008). ISBN 978-0312375362. 336p.

This two-time James Beard award winner takes us on a journey of American food. But this cookbook is not an homage to southern food or midwestern food or whatever you think of as American food. Instead it is a blend of all of our ancestry, from Greek Lamb Stew to Pierogies to Beef Short-Rib Mole to a Dutch Baby to Rigatoni with Sunday Night Ragu . This is interesting food like Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin with Maple and Vinegar and Wax Beans with Popcorn & Parmesan, comforting food like Fried Chicken and Mac-‘N-Cheese-Stuffed Meatloaf. This is a good cookbook to have on hand when you are tired of the same old thing and want to try something different, but not too far out there. I loved the Heirloom Zucchini Bake with Fresh Tomato, Mozz, and Basil and the Pecan-Crusted Cod with Rosemary, an unusual flavor combination that really worked well together. Yankee that I am I have trouble making biscuits, so my next project will be the “World’s Best Biscuits – End of Story”. 

5/12 Stacy Alesi

AMERICAN FLAVOR by Andrew Carmellini & Gwen Hyman. Ecco (October 18, 2011). ISBN  0061963291. 336p.

I think it was while I was reading one of the last issues of Gourmet magazine that I found out that this cookbook won the prestigious 2009 International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award as Book of the Year. After having perused it, I can see why it won; this is more than just a cookbook. A good chunk of the book focuses on the wines of southern Italy, and the rest on the food.

A16 is considered by many to be one of the best Italian restaurants in the country, and to have the chef (a James Beard 2009 Rising Star Chef of the Year award nominee & a recent contestant on The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network) share his recipes is truly a gift. In fact, this book will make a wonderful gift this holiday season.

While I haven’t tried the Monday Meatballs recipe, I’d like to, it’s very different with its infusion of ricotta cheese and milk. I loved the Braised Cannellini Beans with Garlic, Marjoram, and Oregano, especially since I got to use the oregano & marjoram from my garden. But this is not a cookbook for the beginning cook; the meatballs involve grinding your own meats, and it would take a very brave novice to attempt to make their own sausage. But do try the Neapolitan Pizzas and do use the wine pairings suggested, they are worth the cover price alone.

FYI, the A16 is the highway that runs through southern Italy.

11/09 Stacy Alesi

A16: FOOD & WINE by Nate Appleman & Shelley Lindgren.  Ten Speed Press (September 1, 2008). ISBN 978-1580089074. 288p.

I am a huge fan of Keller’s French Laundry cookbook, and I know the esteem with which he is held by chefs worldwide. When I finally got my hands on this new cookbook, it was with great anticipation. I love the “back to basics” approach like the pictorial on how to cut up a chicken, the chart differentiating between cheeses made of cow, goat or sheep milk, the pages on kitchen equipment and so forth. But the cookbook itself, the recipes, are very difficult to follow, not because they are especially complex but because of how the book is laid out.

For instance, one of the first recipes is for Pan-Roasted Chicken with Sweet Sausage and Peppers. At first glance, this doesn’t seem especially complicated, there are less than 10 ingredients, and the entire recipe fits easily on the page. But a careful reading reveals that the chickens should be no more than 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, a size that is not generally available in supermarkets but have no fear, there is a footnote that suggests trying a farmer’s market. The chicken is cut up according to the accompanying pictures, then brined. That recipe is on another page. The sweet sausages called for involve checking out the page of sources in the back of the book. The ingredient listed as “Peperonata Rustica” actually requires another recipe on another page. While many of the recipes are more self contained, many are not. “Grilled cheese” requires visits to three recipes on three separate pages, “iceberg lettuce slices” also requires three, plus another visit to the “sources” page, and “meatballs with pappardelle” requires 4 or 5 recipes, depending on whether you’re purchasing or making your pappardelle.

That said, the back of the book, the “basics” chapter is worth its weight in gold. Those mysterious gastriques that are on fancy menus and every episode of “Top Chef”? A simple recipe for cherry gastrique is here, feel free to impress your family and friends. Roux is explained, as is emulsified butter and clarified butter, and a recipe for mayonnaise that is so good and so easy you’ll never want to buy another jar. It’s too complicated to be my favorite cookbook, but some of the recipes are worth the trouble. It is a book that I know I will give as a gift and that I will refer to time and time again.

04/10 Stacy Alesi

AD HOC AT HOME by Thomas Keller. Artisan (November 6, 2009). ISBN 978-1579653774. 368p.