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 NEW CLASSIC FAMILY DINNERS
By Mark Peel with Martha Rose Shulman
(John Wiley, $34.95)
Cookbooks authored by restaurant chefs have come a long way. First they wrote glossy, stylish coffee-table books full of recipes nearly impossible to manage without an army of cooks and more equipment than any home kitchen could ever contain. Later, chefs began writing cookbooks that reflected how they cook at home, but those still offered recipes that were difficult to execute and often not well-tested or not tested in a home kitchen. Next came chef books intended for "quick and easy" cooking. Most of those could be easily dismissed.
Award-winning chef Mark Peel, owner of the popular Los Angeles restaurant Campanile has a different take on the restaurant cookbook. Peel and his co-author, Martha Rose Shulman (a Zester Daily contributor), have written not a chef's book but a friendly cookbook with family-friendly recipes easy to make at home with minimal equipment. These recipes will not only give you a better understanding of how to get the most depth and flavor from a recipe, but ultimately make you a better cook.
Every Monday night at his restaurant Peel hosts "Family Dinner Night," offering a seasonal three-course meal, served family style and inspired by a holiday or a local ingredient. His family dinners have had customers returning week after week for more than 10 years.
From Simple to Complex Recipes
Peel makes it clear that some recipes take longer to develop and are more involved than others, but if you start with simpler dishes -- such as the tasty leek tart with creme fraiche -- you will feel more comfortable moving on to the more complex recipes. The spinach and mushroom salad with warm bacon vinaigrette is a straightforward salad but is made special by the simple flavorful dressing. When making the vinaigrette, Peel cooks the bacon with water in the pan, rendering some of the fat without over-browning the bacon.
Peel encourages home cooks to develop the technique of taking their time with recipes and coaxing every bit of flavor from ingredients, which will make you more confident in the kitchen.
A word of caution: Be sure to read the recipes thoroughly to avoid any surprises. We're told to make the Bolognese sauce when we have more time, perhaps on a Sunday afternoon, but after reading the first paragraph you realize the meat must first marinate for 12 to 24 hours. This delicious, versatile sauce is the basis for many recipes and worth every bit of extra time.
Don't forget dessert. Check out dulce de leche ice cream, which is rich and flavorful and uses the addition of creme fraiche to temper the sweetness of the milk.
Peel is passionate about food and cooking, and he wants to share his knowledge with everyone. He conveys an infectious enthusiasm for teaching us to take a little more time with a recipe, which will make even the simplest dish the best it can be. He and Shulman have written a beautiful hardback book with full color photography, several pages of menu-planning ideas, suggestions on equipment and countless tips that make cooking family dinners at home more satisfying than ever.
Tim Fischer managed The Cook's Library in Los Angeles, named one of the "Top 10 Cookbook Stores in the World" by Saveur. He also has been a judge for the IACP Cookbook Awards for four years.
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