Bistro Cooking at Home
Author: Gordon Hamersley
Bistro cooking—bold and full-flavored—is more like the best home cooking than restaurant fare, featuring slow-cooked stews, exquisitely roasted chickens, perfectly seared steaks, vibrant salads, fresh fruit tarts, and comforting custards. Now Gordon Hamersley of acclaimed Hamersley’s Bistro in Boston helps home cooks bring these classic dishes into their own kitchens.
Bistro Cooking at Home offers a complete menu of versatile selections for cooks who crave sophisticated but easy-to-prepare comfort food. Many of the dishes allow for “walk-away cooking,” such as stews, roasts, or braises. And many of these same dishes taste best if prepared a day or two ahead, making entertaining foolproof. Although the accent is French, dishes such as hamburgers stuffed with blue cheese and Pear Cranberry Crumble reflect Gordon Hamersley’s all-American roots.
Start a bistro meal at home with Hamersley’s classic Onion Soup au Gratin or signature Wild Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Sandwich. For a main course there is roast chicken (you can cook it ahead and reheat it under the broiler), New England Bouillabaisse with Rouille and Croutons, or Moroccan lamb shanks. Pasta, polenta, and risotto are given French finesse in dishes such as Lemon-Scented Risotto with Morels and Chives and Oven-Baked Penne with Onions, Walnuts, and Goat Cheese. The Savory Tarts, Gratins, and Galettes chapter holds such richly satisfying dishes as Portobello Mushroom and Roquefort Galette or Creamy Bistro Potato and Leek Gratin, each practically a meal in itself. Even vegetables are made exciting in dishes ranging from Roasted Artichokes with Garlic and Pancetta BreadCrumbs to Garlicky Mashed Potato Cakes. Bistro-inspired desserts include Maple Crème Brûlée, Profiteroles with Easy Chocolate Sauce, and a dense Chocolate Truffle Cake.
All the main dishes are accompanied by knowledgeable, down-to-earth wine recommendations from Fiona Hamersley, Gordon’s wife, who runs the wine service at the restaurant. With the Hamersleys’s expert guidance every step of the way, you can re-create the romance of bistro dining—at home.
Author Biography:
After training with Wolfgang Puck at the famed Ma Maison in Los Angeles, GORDON HAMERSLEY lived for a year in Nice, learning everything he could about French bistros. Ever since he and his wife Fiona opened Hamersley’s Bistro in 1987, numerous publications (including Zagat’s) have regularly ranked it among Boston’s top restaurants. In 1988, Food & Wine named Hamersley one of the country’s best new chefs and in 1995, he received the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast. He lives outside of Boston. JOANNE McALLISTER SMART is a freelance food writer and has been an editor at Fine Cooking magazine. She lives and cooks in Connecticut with her husband and two children.
Publishers Weekly
Serving Bostonians some of the best French fare in the city at Hamersley's Bistro, James Beard Award winner Hamersley presents his hearty yet simple dishes for all occasions, like Walk-Away Roast Chicken with Onions and Potatoes or the elegant Pot-Roasted Pork with Prunes, Armagnac, and Walnuts. Instructions are succinct and helpful, for example how to test for doneness in Fiona's Easy Halibut with White Whine, Shallots, and Basil (when the fish is cooked, the bones can easily be picked). Bistro staples like Onion Soup Au Gratin, Mushroom Duxelles, and Tian of Summer Vegetables Provencal are familiar to most serious home cooks (thanks to Hamersley's teacher, Wolfgang Puck) and are classics that, like a good trench coat or pair of black slacks, never go out of style. Home cooks can't go wrong with Mixed Greens with Fried Walnut-Coated Goat Cheese and Sherry Vinaigrette, followed by Grilled Salmon with Peas, Potatoes, and Mint. There is an especially pleasing chapter on Savory Tarts, Gratins, and Galettes and plenty of vegetarian options like Autumn Vegetable Stew with Cheddar-Garlic Crumble Crust and Creamy Gratin of Celery Root, Onions, and Black Truffles. Hamersley and Smart (an editor at Fine Cooking magazine) include a generous dessert chapter with an assortment of tarts, such as Apple Tarte Tatin, cakes, like Chocolate Mousse Cake and others, like Profiteroles. While there's little new here, this volume-with its bold photos and bistro menu-inspired design-makes a fine, comprehensive bistro cookbook. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In 1987, Hamersley and his wife, Fiona (who provides wine suggestions here), opened Hamersley's Bistro to acclaim, and it has remained one of Boston's top restaurants ever since. It's known for its welcoming ambiance and deeply flavorful food, two characteristics that the authors successfully evoke. Hamersley describes bistro food as closer to the "best home cooking" than upscale restaurant cuisine, and he's especially fond of what he refers to as "walk-away cooking": roasts, stews, and the like that require little hands-on effort. In addition to French classics like Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley, he also serves up dishes that are not necessarily French but reflect the spirit of casual bistro fare, such as Orange-and-Ginger-Glazed Roasted Swordfish. The headnotes offer serving suggestions and ideas for variations, and color photographs add to appeal. For most collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Books about economics: Bananas and Business or Effective Health Care Supervisor
Greens Glorious Greens: More than 140 Ways to Prepare All Those Great-Tasting, Super-Healthy, Beautiful Leafy Greens
Author: Johnna Albi
The latest word from the nutrition front is that green leafy vegetables may be our most powerful weapon against cancer and other diseases of aging. Plus, most dark leaft greens are high in nutrients such as beta-carotene, anti-oxidants, folic acid, and fiber.
In Greens Glorious Greens! Johnna lbi and Catherine Walthers, both gourmet natural foods chefs, unlock the mysteries of buying and preparing these delicious vegetables. IN an easy-to-use A-to-Z format, they cover thirty-give different greens, providing nutritional information and a brief historical profile for each, plus tips on how to shop for freshness, and how to store, wash, and cut the greens for maximum flavor. Albi and Walthers offer more than 140 ways to turn these nutritional superstars into delicious salads, soups, stews, entrees, and sautees. Most dishes are quick and easy, low in fat, and of the scale in terms of nutrients and taste. Many of vegetarian and therefore cholesterol free, come contain chicken, beef or fish. Any home cook will delight in this clear and engaging guide to preparing all the vegetables that are not only good for you, but just plain good.
Recipes include:
Grilled Polenta with Dandelion Greens, Southern Style Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens, Cajun Kale Salad, Broccoli Rabe with Toasted Pecans and Currants, Skewered Chicken Teriyaki over Frisee and Arugula
Publishers Weekly
We know that there is life beyond broccoli and iceberg lettuce, but what is one to do with the odd-looking green things with exotic names that increasingly line the produce shelves? Albi (who recently died) and Walthers (formerly food editor for Natural Health) take a careful look at greens from arugula and dandelion to kale and mesclun and other salad greens. The authors explain their subjects' virtues and shortcomings (steamed broccoli rabe served solo can be unpleasant); how to choose them; how-and how long-to keep them; how to clean them; and, in more than 140 recipes, how to cook them. Greens need a little help, they say, and many of the recipes lean on a smattering of olive oil, garlic or raisins to bring out the flavor: Kale with Raisins and Toasted Pine Nuts; Chinese Bok Choy, Shitake and Tofu; Garlic Escarole Soup with Rice. Carrots or red peppers can add color as well as flavor-a Broccoli Rabe Vegetable Pasta with yellow summer squash and freshly grated Parmesan or Romano is an exceptionally pretty and tasty dish. Interspersed are informational chapters on nutrition (most greens are high in vitamins, minerals and beta-carotene), the best cooking methods, and home gardening tips. (Apr.)
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