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Cookbook Review of the Month - February 2007

This month's selection is The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook.  I know that this month is Valentine's Day and that I probably should have selected a Chocolate or Dessert Cookbook for the choice of the month, but this book was kind of fun for me.  I love garlic and use it in almost everything, and here was a cookbook from a restaurant that is known for their garlic dishes.  In fact, The Stinking Rose Restaurant, it's flagship restaurant, located in San Francisco, and it's second restaurant in Beverly Hills use more than 30,000 ponds of garlic a month!  The executive chef Andrea Froncillo had concocted everything from Creamy Garlic-Spinach Fondue to Garlic Ice Cream.  This is a great little addition to any cookbook collector's bookshelf.

 

  • The Welcome
  • THE RECIPES
  • A Drink While You Decide What to Eat?
  • To Begin Your Meal
  • Pasta Dishes
  • Seafood Entrees
  • Hearty Entrees
  • On the Side
  • And for Dessert
  • Bits and Pieces
  • Index

Imagine the aroma that greets you at the door when you enter The Stinking Rose Restaurant, Italian cuisine at it's finest.  Every dish is filled with the sweetness of garlic, savory at the same time, delectable on the tongue.  The book gives a history of the Restaurant from it's San Fransisco Location to it's original owners.  It gives a great guide to garlic, including the types of garlic, how and when to buy it, how to store it, and how to cook with it. The appetizers are great, including a Mozzarella Spedini and an Italian Potsticker a takeoff on it's famous Chicese counterpart.  The pasta's are so wonderful that you can almost smell them on the pages.  Recipe after recipe, there are many here you probably won't find elsewhere.  In additon, there are dessert recipes, not all of them containing garlic, although there really is a recipe for garlic ice  cream.  The is a great cookbook, intestersting to read as well as cook from and reasonably priced.

 

Sample Recipe from the book:

Everything looks so wonderful but I was intrigued by a Potato-Onion Soup in Croute Recipe, so that's my choice for the month.  It would made a great starter for a Valentine's Day Dinner, as long as both of you eat it!


Potato-Onion Soup en Croute                                                                        

Ingredients:                                                                                                                  

                                           

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 cups diced white or yellow onions

  • 10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 pound Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced about 2 cups
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 package thawed frozen puff pastry                                              

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium-low heat.  Add the onions and saute, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until translucent.  Add the garlic and saute 2 to 3 more minutes, until the garlic becomes translucent around the edges and the onions are golden brown.  Gradually pour in the chicken broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring gently to incorporate.  Add the potatoes, increase the heat to high, and bring the mixture to a boil.  When bubbles appear on the surface, decrease the heat to low and cover.  Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes become soft and are easily mashed with the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.  Cool for about 5 minutes, then pour into a blender and blend on medium speed until thick and creamy.  Pour the mixture back into the pan and slowly add the cream, stirring to combine thoroughly; the soup should be thick and velveety.  Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange four 4-inch ceamic soup terrines or ramekins in a row and divide the soup among them.  Cut four 5-inch squares from the defrosted puff pastry.  With a pastry brush, apply some of the melted butter to the rim of each of the terrines.  Place a puff pastry square over the top of each terrine, pressing the dough around the edges with your fingertips to seal the dough around the sides of the dish. Brush melted butter over the top of the pastry crust and puncture the crust with a fork two or three times.

Place the terrines on a baking sheet and bake 12 minutes, or until the dough puffs up and turns a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven and serve hot.

Serves 4

 

Book Title:

The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook

Authors: Andrea Froncillo and Jennifer Jeffrey
Category: Restaurant Cookbooks
ISBN: 0-13-978-1-58008-686-8
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Publisher address:

Bob 7123

Berkeley, California 94707

Website or e-mail of publisher:

www.tenspeed.com

Published: 2006
Edition: First
Description: Hard Cover
Illustrated: Pencil Lines
Photographs: Several Color Photos of many recipes included
Price: $19.95
Reviewed by: Elise Feiner
  January 15, 2007

 

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