Charlie Palmer's Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Charlie Palmer to the rescue! Charlie has written three books exploring his restaurant cuisine as well as home cooking, but none is so well thought out and useable as his latest Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen (Melcher Media 2006). From everyday dinner to Thanksgiving or Christmas feast, it covers all the bases in straightforward style. The recipes are hits from Charlie's "Progressive American Cuisine," which he defines in the introduction: Although based on culinary tradition with a deep and lasting infusion of classical French cuisine, my recipesare an extension of my personality – and there's no denying that I'm a big American. There is only one photograph of Charlie (showing that he is, indeed, a big man); the rest of the book is filled with more useful photos by Bill Milne of cooking processes, plated dishes or ingredients. Being a practical book, the pages of the book are waterproof, durable and stain resistant. Being a guide, he starts off with Equipment suggesting practical choices for the basics– why bother with a small frying pan when a large one will be more useful in the long run? He follows with a section on Knives and Tools that will Enhance your Kitchen Life, such as a mortar and pestle, and a Benriner Japanese Mandoline -he even tells you where to get them online (though shopfosters.com doesn't seem to carry the mandoline now). Charlie goes over the Pantry with an explanation of how to approach a recipe's ingredients - he divides them into Perishables, Pantry Specialties and Pantry Staples. It is a smart way to look at what you can do easily, and what will take some planning. Not everyone lives near a good fish market or can get to a Middle Eastern store, so it's better sometimes to go with a recipe you can create. These are good steps to understanding the strategy behind cooking- so you can enjoy yourself. The last chapter before the recipes is about Techniques, which includes: Rendering Fat, Searing, Thickening Sauces and Breading and Deep Frying. The recipes are divided into chapters with headings like Cathartic Cooking full of hearty dishes - really plates of food since each recipe comes with recipes for the side dishes to be served with it. The idea is to take the guess work out of pairing flavors and ingredients. The recipes even come with suggestions for the wine which would complement the dish. Charlie recipes range from Braised Pork Belly, Caraway Saurkraut & Potatoes (p. 89) to Guiness -Braised Short Ribs, Orange Scented Tomato Compote, Grain Mustard Mashed Potatoes (p. 92) both good winter, stick-to-your ribs fair. The recipes range from easy family meals in The Lazy Gourmand to Home Dates and Formal Home Cooking. For those pondering the turkey and fixings for Thanksgiving, Charlie's Holidays & Buffets chapter includes an excellent recipe for Turkey Mushroom Gravy, Cornbread Sausage Stuffing, Cranberry Horseradish Relish, Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts & Onions (p. 144). These are classic, clearly written and will turn out a fine, impressive meal. Be warned: Charlie is definitely in the "cook the stuffing outside the bird" camp. This is a fine book for someone who needs to brush up on the fundamentals and then master dishes from the comforting to the sophisiticated to feed and impress family, dates, and friends. If you only have room for one cookbook choose this one the next time you go to your ski chalet or hunting lodge. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Subsequent reviews: CBS Early Show Hampton Roads Daily Press Winston-Salem Journal Toronto Star Clarion Ledger Denver Post San Francisco Chronicle Cigar Aficionado Epicurious.com Previous articles: Charlie Palmer: Renaissance Chef Kitchens: Better With a Super Chef? Charlie Palmer: Dry Creek Kitchen Floweth Go Forth, Gerry Hayden & Claudia Flemming! Elections East 2: Washington Sports Night Charlie Palmer Ties as Washington's No. 1 Steakhouse Charlie Palmer: Bipartisan Turf Surfs the Hill Chef Don Pintabona Advises Innovation [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks superchefblog --> back to superchefblog