There is such a glut
of cookbooks on the market that it takes something special or unique to turn my
head. It also helps to have sensuous photos and a decent recipe or two. Stanley
Tucci's THE TUCCI TABLE has all of this in spades. A beautiful, chatty, unintimidating
volume, it features recipes from a trio of cuisines: Italian, American, and,
with a nod to his wife, British.
Each recipe has a
chatty story, helpful hint, or bit of conversation to accompany it and most
have mouthwatering photos. The photography goes well beyond a beautifully
displayed picture of the end product to pictures depicting step-by-step
tutorials of how to make the dish (very helpful in the case of the sausage
rolls), as well as photos of the actor himself, hard at work in the kitchen,
accompanied by his lovely wife and children.
For the most part
the recipes are clear and concise. A tiny bit of guesswork (or experience) is
needed in some cases where it would have been helpful to know how high to have
the heat beneath the onions when sautéing, but this is a minor point.
The recipes are laid
out as a meal would be served, beginning with soup and salad (I highly
recommend the easy, but tasty, Tuscan Tomato Soup), followed by small plates
(appetizers), main dishes, pasta, and dessert. Because the Tuccis don't serve
many sweets in their young household, desserts in the book are given short
shrift, but as there are plenty of “dessert only” cookbooks to turn to if need
be, I'm fine with that.
This book has good,
solid, doable, delicious recipes presented in an eye-catching way. Every one I
tried turned out beautifully and received raves. The book is worth the price
alone for the heavenly Carbonnade de Boeuf, the best use of stew meat known to
man and easily company worthy.
Other nice aspects
of the book include a list of necessary kitchen tools for those beginning to
set up a cook's kitchen, as well as a section on making various stocks and
sauces. Thank you Stanley and Felicity, well done!
Carbonnade de Boeuf
2-3
tablespoons Flour
Kosher Salt and
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
3
pounds Stewing Beef (cut into 2-inch cubes)
4-6
tablespoons Olive Oil or Goose or Pork Fat
1 1/2
pound Onions (2-3 large, thinly sliced)
4 Cloves Garlic
(crushed)
1 1/4 pint Dark
Beer (preferably Belgian)
2 cups Good
Beef Stock
3
tablespoons Raw Cane Sugar (I used 1 T. granulated sugar)
Dash White Wine
Vinegar
3 Bay Leaves
Few good sprigs
Fresh Thyme
Small bunch Fresh
Flat-Leaf Parsley
1
tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Preheat the oven to
325°F.
Season the flour
with salt and pepper and dredge the meat in the seasoned flour.
In a heavy-bottomed
casserole or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil or goose or pork fat. Add the
meat in batches, browning it on all sides, adding in some more oil as you go,
if necessary.
Remove the beef from
the pan and set aside. Add the onions to the pan and cook until
soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two more. Add
half the beer, stirring to deglaze the pan and scraping all the bits off the
bottom. Return the meat to the pan and add the remaining beer, stock,
sugar, vinegar, herbs - which you can tie together into a bouquet garni if you
like - and the mustard. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cook for a
good 5 minutes, then cover and transfer to the oven to bake for about 3 hours,
until the meat is tender and the sauce has reduced. Taste the sauce,
adjust the seasoning, if necessary, and serve.
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