Category Archives: Cookbooks

Cookbook: The Baby Cuisine Cookbook

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Relax, Mindy isn’t pregnant. We have friends that are and I have been looking for something to give them that I enjoy….so it had to be something cooking related.  I’m pretty sure that any kid can start cooking in a kitchen as soon as they can start breathing but this isn’t what this book is about.

I was walking around West Seattle yesterday when I popped into my new favorite book store, Square One Books (click).  It’s a small bookstore but that’s just what I want. I can’t stand going into the enormous bookstores with employees that are there just to take up space, they can never answer my questions. The little boutique bookstores are where it’s at and they do a great job at feeding my addiction to books.  Why? Because of books like the one shown above. Also, because they can tell I have a pretty serious addiction to cookbooks so when I ask them for something out of the ordinary they just say, “hold on, let me see if we can special order it for you” instead of, “you could always go online” (no s*#t, but why do you think I’m here at your store).

It’s from an author in West Seattle and after thumbing through it I realized this book was fantastic. Great pictures, recipes, and ideas for new parents looking to feed healthy food to their children.  Kids deserve a great start in this world and there is nothing better than giving them great food.  I grew up on great food, not that Gerber garbage or other canned stuff. My parents and grandparents fed us what they were eating and what they were eating was stuff like this.

Puerto Rican rice and beans! I have yet to meet a person, baby, or animal that will refuse to eat Puerto Rican rice and beans. They are super healthy for you and easy to make.  The recipe in the book is super easy and it even shows you the option of turning it into a puree for a baby….genius.

There are so many other great recipes from around the world that sound fancy but in reality they are very healthy and easy to make. The book does a great job of keeping things simple while giving your baby food that is exciting….I’ll probably cook some of the food to eat for myself…Eric is hungry and he is grumpy when he is hungry!

Anyway, if you are pregnant or know someone who is pregnant or you just want a great book with pictures, recipes, and some cute babies in it then you should check this book out.  A few of the copies at the bookstore are signed…..you don’t get that online!

BUY IT NOW!

Eric

p.s. Congrats Robin and Dave

Cookbook: James Peterson- Fish and Shellfish

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I have a pretty long list of books I’m always looking for.  There are books that are “unattainable” (anything from Michel Bras) and there are books that you can find just about anywhere.  I have been looking for this Fish and Shellfish book for quite sometime and I ended up finding it at a place I wasn’t expecting to find it, Half Price Books.  The normal price of it is between $32.00-$40.00 so when I saw it for $12.00 at Half Price Books I yelled, “holy s***”.  Hey, it’s not a library!

I love James Peterson’s books. This is my first one that I have owned but I have checked out his other books numerous times from the school’s library.  I wanted my own so my search began. Like I said, I have a pretty long list so I have to prioritize with price because once again, bloggers/students/prep cooks don’t make much. $12.00 moved this book to the top of my list! It’s mine!!

I love his books because I think they’re a middle point between at-home cookbook and culinary school textbook.  I wish the Art Institute would just buy his books and stop trying to write their own.  James Peterson’s books are much better than any text book I have received and I have paid a lot more than $12.00 (add two zeroes….yeah) , which kinda pisses me off but that’s how college goes.

(He taught me how to roll sushi!!!)

Why are James Peterson’s books so awesome? He really knows how to break things down. Cooking, Baking, Sauces (book #3 on my list), Essentials of Cooking, Simply Salmon, Vegetables, Glorious French Foods, Sweet Wines, Simply Shrimp, What’s a Cook to do, and Fish & Shellfish are all books he has written that will cover just about everything you will ever need in a kitchen whether it’s at home or in a professional kitchen.  My favorite part is that Fish and Shellfish is the book where he started taking his own pictures for his books. This guy can do everything!  One day I will own all of his books but this is a great start for me. $12.00!!! Steal of the century

(How to shuck, clean sea urchin, prep squid and octopus……awesome!)

There is so much information covering fish and shellfish that this is my go to book when I want to try cooking something that I have never tried cooking before. Fish and shellfish can be expensive so why take the chance of messing up when you can read about the proper way to do it first then work out your kinks with a halfway educated mind. That was my thought and I have been doing great stuff ever since I picked up this book.  Fish and Shellfish is a huge confidence booster for me.   You should buy it!

Eric

Not a cookbook: The Oatmeal- 5 Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in The Mouth (and Other Useful Guides)

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I think this blog gets too serious sometimes so I like to throw in a few jokes here and there that are subtle. Some notice but most don’t.  I get inspired to do a lot of crazy things when I read TheOatmeal.com.  I don’t know if I will ever have the chance to punch a dolphin but I can safely say that I know how and as we all know, knowing is half the battle.

One reason I bought this book is because it’s awesome, the other is that the Oatmeal guy is from Washington, and the other is it has bacon in it.

There are some other great cooking guides in there too like, “how to tell if someone is trying to eat you”.  If you would like more useful guides then I suggest you check out TheOatmeal.com.

Eric

Cookbook: Herve This-From Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism

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A book from the father of molecular gastronomy.

I’ve been kicking around this whole “molecular gastronomy” thing for quite some time.  When I first heard about it I was reading about at all the cool presentations, shapes, and textures that were being displayed by chefs at numerous restaurants around the world.  I thought, “I want to cook like that one day…..I want to create art through food”.  I didn’t realize what these chefs were actually doing. I just thought it was for presentation purposes only.  I saw a video on youtube that showed Jose Andres hanging out with Ferran Adria and Chef Adria was explaining his spherification of olive puree,  I was amazed.

A few months later I saw Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain talk in Seattle.  Mario Batali called molecular gastronomy fake, I was confused.  I respect all these chefs and what they do. I’m so far down the totem pole in this chef world that I’m a random bush that is hanging out across the field from the chef totem pole.  What to do?

Looking back at the whole thing I realize one thing. Mario Batali wasn’t talking about molecular gastronomy at all. He was talking about the chefs that turned “molecular gastronomy” into elaborate presentations, shapes, and textures. He had no issue with Ferran Adria but he had a problem with the guys trying to be like Ferran Adria without understanding the science behind what Chef Adria was doing.

Heston Blumenthal set me straight when he had Harold McGee on his show, “Kitchen Chemistry”. Harold McGee wrote a book called:

(I have more information on the book coming shortly….not finished yet)

and Heston Blumenthal said that this book changed cooking for him. It was written in 1984, I have the revised version that was written in 2004. This book answered the why’s, how’s, and debunked all those things you have probably heard growing up, “sear the meat it traps in the juices”……these book say, “no, that’s not true”……the books are correct, you are not (I believed the same thing, I suck…haha). Chef Blumenthal listened, learned, and innovated so did Ferran Adria….look where they’re at now.

I did my research, bought my books, and started to read them (I have a lot more on the way). I began reading Harold McGee’s book and then I started doing more research about how the term “molecular gastronomy” came to be.  It was an easy way for Herve This and his science partner to market this science of cooking easily.  What you have probably heard from the mainstream is that molecular gastronomy is the crazy presentations, shapes, and textures of food. The mainstream doesn’t get it…..it’s like Elvis when he first came out.  The teenager’s loved him and parents immediately thought he was the devil. We often shun the things we do not understand or feel uncomfortable with.

My ignorance lead me to this world of molecular gastronomy………OH PRETTY COLORS!!!! My curiosity has lead me to understand and respect it.  Herve This’s book, “Building a Meal from Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism” has broken down all of these things into plain English for me.  Call it stupid, call it ridiculous, call it what you want.  There is a science behind cooking. The days of me looking at something and saying, ‘it’s done”, are over.  The days of believing someone simply because they have been doing it that way forever are over…..if they can’t tell me WHY then I will question them…..woo hooo I’m 4 years old all over again!

Herve This labeled it molecular gastronomy to make it easy to understand and market but he has also debunked over 25,000 culinary beliefs since he has started his research.  This book shows how to boil an egg to perfection, you might say, “well you just boil it for 10 minutes with a soft boil/hard boil/or whatever technique I’ve been using for years”.  Do you want to perfect this process? I do, so I listen.  Chefs have listened to the words of Herve This and they have become extremely successful in the culinary world, I want the same.

Full speed ahead, let’s build a meal “molecularly”!

BUY THIS BOOK…………..now!

Eric

(WTF did I just ramble on about??? Anyway, back to the kitchen I go)

Cookbook: Bittman & Vongerichten- Simple to Spectacular

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You used Mark Bittman’s, “How to Cook Everything”, and now you want to take those simple recipes and make them spectacular? There’s a book for that (an app for that….tough crowd)!

The way this book is written is genius.  For example, you learn how to make the best scrambled eggs, then you add tomato and basil, then another variation with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and sorrel then scrambled eggs with crispy potatoes and prosciutto.  From simple to spectacular!

Simple and spectacular salmon ceviche with green peppercorns…….yes!

Buy this book now.

Eric

Cookbook: Mark Bittman- How to Cook Everything

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(Want to join my book club? It’s kind of like Oprah’s but you’re not going to cry when you read these books and I’m not going to give you anything for free….)

Mark Bittman is my favorite food writer. I read his books, blog, watch his morning show appearances, and do about everything else to follow the guy without “illegally” stalking the guy.  He’s a great writer/cook and he has made it easy for the home cook to cook everything.

When I am looking for a standard recipe for someone or I have a request from someone to cook something the first place I look is this book.  I look for the basic steps and ingredients then deviate from the recipe and give it my little spin.  My Chefs at school always say recipes are guides, they’re not meant to be followed…….well, unless you’re baking something!

I found this copy on Ebay and it was lightly used. It’s easily one of the best purchases I have ever made.  Like to cook? Throw away that Betty Crocker red and white checkered book of garbage and get Mark Bittmanized (Mark Bittmanized? This is why I’m not a writer….haha).

Eric

For more “Eric Approved (I sound like such a douchebag)” cookbooks check out my cookbook category on the right side.  ————————–>  yes, that way. —————————->

Cooking DVD: Michel Bras Inventing Cuisine

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I searched for this dvd all over the internet and all I ran into was messages of “out of stock”, “oversold”, and “soon to be in stock”.  After unleashing my triple black belt google-fu I was able to track down a used copy on Amazon.com (I love Amazon if you haven’t noticed).  When I finally received the package it was actually a brand new dvd instead of a used copy……awesome!

Michel Bras is the chef that other chefs want to be.  He is the pioneer for a lot of the techniques, presentations, and flavor combinations over the past decade or so. The guy is amazing and he has a cookbook but it retails for about $400-$600 because there weren’t many tgat were made and everyone knows that what’s in the book is more valuable than that 400-600 price. If I owned a restaurant I would scoop that up in a heartbeat….I intend to purchase it one day but that isn’t happening anytime soon.

What makes Michel Bras so awesome?  His restaurant is in a secluded area in France and he focuses on using ingredients from that area. He was taught by his mother to cook and holds three Michelin stars at his restaurant.

As always, I’m not going to get into a whole review about this DVD but you should look for it and buy it…..trust me on this one. If you want to see someone who lives, breathes, and eats food then this dvd is for you.

Eric

I need $400-$600…….. :)

A great Chef stops by………

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I wrote this (click here)

Then Chef Rautureau wrote this

Eric,
Thanks so much for the compliments, you are too kind. I will gladly sign your book, no problem. By the way want to know how much I know about rap, check the group SHANK BONE on YouTube, check their video out. Love those guys, cool & fun local band, one of them is my son. Have fun with it- See you in soon.

Thierry Rautureau
The Chef In The Hat!!!

Unreal! I told you he was the nicest guy ever!

Thanks for stopping by Chef!!!

Musical outro brought to you by Shank Bone

Eric

Cookbook: The Island Bistro Cookbook

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My mom purchased this book for me while in Hawaii.  It is a great collection of work by Chef Chaowasaree.  He does an amazing job highlighting the ingredients on the island.  I’ve never been to Hawaii but my parents lived there for a few years so when my mom sent me this book and said it was a good one then I knew it was true.

There are some amazing recipes in here but this one stood out more than anything else to me. It’s not a traditional Hawaiian anything but it’s a masterful interpretation of one of my favorite meals.

A Beef Wellington like I’ve never seen before!

Deconstructed Beef Wellington with Mushroom-Foie Geras Puff Pastry. Holy hell!  I cannot wait to give this recipe a go but I have a few other ones that I will be trying first. You’ll see! Chef Chaowasaree has a lot of great recipes in here and I wish I could show you more but that’s not what I’m here for.   Now it’s your job to go buy it and agree with me :)

Eric

Cookbook- Hawai’i Cooks with Spam

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I love Spam! My mom was recently in Hawaii for my sister’s wedding so I asked her to see if there were any cookbooks she could find that would help me along my culinary journey.  I have explained to my mom that there are two different types of cookbooks…….cookbooks that are made to waste paper and inflate the ego of the author and then there are awesome cookbooks.  I’ve been on a hot streak with cookbooks lately and this Spam one does not disappoint….THANKS MOM!

OMFG AWESOME SPAM SUSHI!!!! I just bought some nori the other day so this is definitely a must.

Oh hi, EPIC SPAM LETTUCE WRAP!!!!!

The next time you tell one of your friends that you like Spam and they give you a weird look or disagree then just point them over to this book…..that will ease their snobbery.

SPAM!!! I wish it was always for dinner.

Eric

Cookbook- Rover’s: Recipes from Seattle’s Chef in the Hat

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Chef Rautureau is probably the nicest guy in the world. My wife met him at a food event that I couldn’t attend and that’s what she told me…..”he’s so nice!”.  Chef Rautureau’s restaurant, Rover’s, is a Seattle staple.  I intend to make my way over there with the book and have him autograph it for me…..he offered (told you he was nice)!

(Diver Sea Scallop with Foie Gras on top!!)

If you live in Seattle or come visit then you can also hear Chef Rautureau with Tom Douglas on their weekly radio show.  It’s cool to hear two Chefs at the top of their game talking about food, events, and just laugh at random things that pop up.  The other day they were talking about rap music and neither of them had any idea what they were talking about….it was hilarious.  If you haven’t seen Chef Rautureau then you will soon……the rumor around town is that he is going to be on the next season of Top Chef Masters. I’m so excited to see it and I can’t wait for him to kick some butt and show everyone that Seattle has the best restaurants out there.

The reason I like this book is because there are tons of local ingredients that Chef Rautureau uses and his listing of purveyors on the back has lots of places that I shop at, which is awesome (WORLD SPICE!!!).  The recipes in the book….amazing!

Eric

Cookbook- Eric Ripert: On The Line

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This by far has been my favorite book that I have purchased. It completely breaks down Le Bernardin and shows everything from the start of the day to the end of the night.  The fish delivery, the creative process behind creating a new dish, the sauce making, the costs, the staff, responsibilities of each person, and of course the recipes from Le Bernardin.

I’m a huge fan of Eric Ripert. He takes extremely high quality ingredients then just lets them do the talking.  It’s a very cool thing to see……great food doesn’t need much.   My favorite part of the book is when Maguy Le Coze (the saucier) takes about his sauces. He makes over 20 of them from scratch everyday before noon……amazing!  He also goes into the breakdown of how many ingredients he uses in a day.

10 pounds  shallots
5 pounds garlic
10 pounds ginger
30 pounds butter
240 sauces made per week!!!

This book is great. I’ve read it over and over since I purchased it.  It’s getting me ready for the day that I get to work on the line.

Eric

Cookbook- Au Pied De Cochon

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I’ve heard Anthony Bourdain talk about Martin Picard like some sort of God of pork. I’ve read about other Chefs like David Chang say great things as well. I thought to myself, “self, you need to track down some more information about Martin Picard and start figuring out how to make some awesome pork”.

I bought this book with a gift card from Mindy’s parents (the other was the Fat Duck Cookbook…awesome) to keep the string of awesome things I have received this year for birthday/Christmas time (food processor, cookbooks, sausage making kit, spices…..etc).  A.D.D. just stepped in…..sorry, I’ll get back on track.

I read through the book and the first picture is of Chef Picard inside of a walk in refrigerator with boxing gloves on punching a pig with his friends sitting down and watching in amusement.   That’s a pretty epic picture and I would love to go back in time and make that my Christmas card for every year….ever….always.  The book gets even cooler from there.

His kitchen at Au Pied De Cochon has a very rustic style to it and from the second I looked at it I immediately thought, “damn, that’s what I want my kitchen to look like one day”.  It’s out in the open for all the customers to see and they can even pull up a chair and watch you do your thing.  There is even access to the beer tap which I think is of great importance!

If you ever wanted to learn how to prep foie gras then you’re in luck. There is a step by step break down how to prepare foie gras before making it even more awesome…..recipes include, foie gras pizza, foie gras hamburger, foie gras poutine, and more….I can’t wait to save up money to buy enough foie gras to make those things.

(Venison Spare Ribs………any hunters out there want to hook me up with some????  PLEASE!!!)

Anthony Bourdain nailed it when he said that Martin Picard makes food that he eats instead of food that most Chefs make…..the fancy/pretty food.  I still haven’t found my own footing yet or really realized what type of food I want to cook in my own restaurant one day but I know there will be a blend between the simple and extravagant.

Chef Martin Picard…..fantastic food……I can’t wait to cook some of it up!

Cookbook- The Fat Duck Cookbook

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I am really excited about this book.  I found out about Heston Blumenthal around February and I have been trying to find every bit of information about him since then.  I’ve watched every episode of his shows, “In Search of Perfection”, and “Kitchen Chemistry”.  I’ve talked about him a few times on here and I’ve even attempted some of his techniques….with some success.  But, I haven’t had the chance to actually take the time to attempt some of the recipes from his restaurant, The Fat Duck.

I think Chef Blumenthal is a f’ing genius…..Everytime I hear him talk or read about some of his kitchen experiments I’m always left in awe.  I received an Amazon giftcard for Christmas from Mindy’s parents so my first thought was to purchase this book (I bought another one too….more on that later).   This book is broken up into three sections (History, Recipes, Science) and should hardly be called a cookbook…  I wish this was one of the textbooks at our school but things don’t happen that way…..I buy this book and it does what 5 school books can’t do……funny how that works.

Anyway, I’ve skimmed through it and read a bit here and there in between receiving it and I’m blown away.  This cooking is something completely different than what I even thought was possible. Most people might call it molecular gastronomy but I call it f’ing genius and this is the way everyone should be taught. The reason is I get to understand why something happens instead of being told, “well, that’s the way it’s been done forever”.   There are techniques used in the book that shy away from using flour in every damn sauce imaginable in order to thicken…..thank you for that (OMFG YOU USED AGAR AGAR…YOU’RE RUINING IT)!

Anyway, you’ll know when I have read the entire book when you start to see a few things change around this blog o’ blog blog.  I’ve been waiting a long time for this book but I’m also saving for Chef Blumenthal’s other book…..it’s the bigger version of this one and it retails for $150….well worth it. I paid $75 for a Nutrition Science book for school that was opened twice by my instructor in class…..nice.

Anywho, if you want to understand the science behind cooking, cook amazing food, and sound cool then pick up this book.  It’s awesome!

Cookbook- I Grandi: Chef d’Europa

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My mom went on a cruise around Europe and she asked me if I wanted her to pick up anything for me. My first response was, “cookbook……one that I can’t read…….one that looks like it has some over-the-top food inside…..”.   Mission accomplished!

A collection of recipes from Michelin star caliber chefs throughout Europe.  I don’t know how to read Italian but I can pick up a few of the words….the great thing is that there are pictures!! I’ll probably translate a lot of it using google translate so I think things will work out.

Goose Liver Pate….yes please!

Eric