Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

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.

If you love ice cream, put down your scooper and run out and buy this book immediately! I got a lovely Cuisinart ice cream machine last summer and I played with a lot of fruit sorbets, but never ventured out into ice cream.

This year I was on the hunt for the perfect vanilla ice cream. I’ve tried several recipes but haven’t been happy with any of them. The French type vanillas, made with an egg custard base, were too eggy for me. I tried other recipes as well, without eggs, and found texture problems, they weren’t creamy enough or worse yet were icy.

Britton has a unique way of thickening her ice creams and she spells it out with easy to follow directions and even better, easy to find ingredients. Her Ugandon Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, (which I made with vanilla beans from Costco and not from Uganda to be sure,) was fantastic; just the vanilla I’ve been searching for. Sweet but not too sweet, creamy, lots of vanilla flavor and just plain delicious.

There are lots of recipes for very unusual flavors that I can’t wait to try; Roasted Pumpkin 5-Spice Ice Cream will be on my Thanksgiving table this year. I will surprise my husband one night soon with Roxbury Road Ice Cream, a dark milk chocolate ice cream with handmade marshmallows, Praline Sauce and smoked almonds. I was intrigued by Toasted Brioche Ice Cream with Butter and Jam, Bangkok Peanut Ice Cream and next time Steve comes for dinner I will be serving The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World. And when I want to treat myself, I’ll be whipping up Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream. Or maybe Banana Ice Cream with Caramelized White Chocolate Freckles. Or Gorgonzola Dolce Ice Cream. Jeni is a genius. I am smitten with Britton!

8/12 Stacy Alesi

JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS AT HOME by Jeni Britton Bauer. Artisan (June 15, 2011). ISBN 978-1579654368. 217p.

MARTHA’S AMERICAN FOOD: A Celebration of Our Nation’s Most Treasured Dishes, from Coast to Coast by Martha Stewart

I must admit up front that I am not a big Martha fan, but I was looking for a new cookbook that included stories. I see this as a newish trend in cookbooks. Recipes aren’t enough anymore, a story about the recipe’s origin or inspiration or, in this case, geography, is included.

This cookbook also features another trend in cookbooks, recipes are arranged geographically rather than by item type (i.e. appetizers, desserts, or even meat, vegetables, etc.) I like this split better than that other trend that drives me crazy, sorting recipes by season which just confuses me (hey, I live in season-less south Florida!)

What I love about this cookbook are the pictures – every recipe has an accompanying gorgeous photograph. This is a collection of Martha’s mostly simpler recipes so it would make a good cookbook for beginners, but has some more challenging recipes for the experienced cook as well.

It is a beautiful book with interesting recipes, from the simple like Meatloaf, Cobb Salad and Blueberry Pancakes (awesome!) to more complex like Pomegranate Guacamole, Lemon Sabayon and Fig Pizza. But it is the back stories to these geographic recipes, like Hangtown Fry, Blackeyed Peas and Shrimp and Grits, that set this cookbook above so many others. Another keeper.

7/12 Stacy Alesi

MARTHA’S AMERICAN FOOD by Martha Stewart. Clarkson Potter (April 24, 2012). ISBN 978-0307405081. 432p.

BAREFOOT CONTESSA BACK TO BASICS: How to Get Great Flavors from Simple Ingredients by Ina Garten

If you’re a fan of the Barefoot Contessa or her Food Network show, then you know that Garten cooks food that people actually want to make, and eat.  This is a nice collection of recipes, from appetizers to entrees to desserts and even some cocktails.

The Roasted Shrimp Cocktail is a nice twist on the usual boiled shrimp and almost as easy, and the Italian Wedding Soup is as good as my local Italian bistro.  A super simple Easy Sole Meuniere was delicious and a great dish for a work night – I live in Florida and we don’t get fresh sole, but we do get fresh striped bass and it was yummy.  And do not miss the brownie pudding.

Rounding out the book are some FAQs (What’s kosher?), “top ten flavor boosters”, and a page of sources to get some of the more esoteric ingredients that you may not find at your local grocers.  Lots of pictures and easy to follow recipes make Back to Basics a nice addition to any cookbook collection.

11/08 Stacy Alesi

BAREFOOT CONTESSA BACK TO BASICS by Ina Garten. Clarkson Potter (October 28, 2008). ISBN 978-1400054350. 272p.

BAKING WITH THE CAKE BOSS: 100 of Buddy’s Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets by Buddy Valastro

This is the cookbook I was expecting from the Cake Boss, the popular baker on TLC. His first book was more memoir with some recipes, and I enjoyed it, but this is the real deal.

Here he offers step by step instructions on how to bake some of the fantastic cakes you see on TV. He compares the process to the “Karate Kid” movies; you do all those seemingly boring repetitious things, like butter cookies, which lets you learn basics that will come into play when you are ready to move on to the “karate”, the cake baking and decorating. This is a great book for beginning bakers as he goes through the entire training process that they use at Carlos Bakery, but is also good for more experienced bakers as he also offers step by step instructions on using fondant and doing some of the dazzling effects so popular today. This book is a keeper.

12/11 Stacy Alesi

Baking with the Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro. Atria Books (November 1, 2011). ISBN 978-1439183526. 352p.