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Dine Out Phoenix

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A Cowboy in the Kitchen
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Webster's New Word Dictionary of Culinary Arts
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The Quotable Cook
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Contemporary Southwest
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Commander's Kitchen
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Chez Panisse Fruit
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Ever consider shucking your 9 to 5 corporate job for a culinary career? Laura Pauli did just that, trading in a successful high tech job in the San Francisco area for a whole new life. After graduating from The French Culinary Institute, she headed to France and cooked her way from Paris to the Riviera. Along the way, she wrote email letters to all her friends, documenting her experience. She's now gathered those emails and put them in a book. Filled with side-busting humor, tear-jerking drama and mouthwatering recipes, Laura's book will inspire you to take a look at your own life and maybe even follow in her footsteps.

This is the second dining guide published about Arizona restaurants in the past year, and of the two, this one is more comprehensive, with just over 200 restaurants. The cover is shockingly purple and red, and no, that isn't a pitchfork on the cover, it's a fork.

The author/publisher is a valley resident who wrote and published Arizona Getaways for the Incurably Romantic. She isn't a food professional, so she brings a normal, everyday person's perspective to the book. There are chain and independent restaurants covered, but thankfully, she has enough sense (and taste) not to include The Olive Garden.

I gather from her introduction that she'd rather make reservations vs. dinner, which is a good thing when compiling a dining guide. She's covered all the bases of valley dining, and each restaurant has a short summary describing the ambience and food. Hours of operation, costs, and websites are covered along with addresses and phone numbers.

The restaurants are in alphabetical order, which is handy if you know the name of the restaurant you are looking for. If not, in the back of the book you'll find a few cross references so that you can pick a restaurant by location, cuisine, or type (romantic, girls' day out, power lunch, etc.)

You might want to buy a couple. Put one in your glove box so next time you're out and about, you can find a new restaurant to try, and put one in your guestroom for out-of-towners. Visit www.dineoutphoenix.com for more information.

A Cowboy in the Kitchen by Grady Spears and Robb Walsh

If you only buy cookbooks to read them like novels, A Cowboy in the Kitchen could be the book for you. If you are a transplanted Texan, it's simply a must-have. It's a beautiful (coffee table) book with lots of gorgeous food shots and interesting tidbits written by Grady Spears about life as a cowboy-turned-cook. You almost feel he is talking to you, it's that conversational.

Grady starts the book with this, "Back when I was punching cows, if you'd told me I was going to be a chef someday, I would have doubled up in laughter and fallen off my horse." Boy, are we glad he fell off his horse! I personally love this book and bought it the first time I saw it months ago.

The thing I've noticed about chef cookbooks (usually the recipes are written by a person who is supposedly trained to do so) is that the recipes don't work exactly like they are written. The one notable exception is Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, recipes interpreted by master of recipe writing, Mark Bittman, author of the 1998 How To Cook Everything).

I've tried 16 recipes from the 112 or so recipes with varying success. Fortunately, I know enough about cooking to know what to do to adjust the dish. But if you are one of those cooks who needs perfectly clear direction, buy this book for the pictures and text and the handful of recipes that are sure bets, like the Grilled Strip Steak with Cilantro Butter. It's easy and the spice rub dubbed "Reata Grill Blend" is one of the best tasting, freshest chili powder combinations I've ever tried. You might also try any of the recipes in chapter 10, labeled "Chuck Box Secrets" which consisted of various rubs and herbed butters and procedures.

I loved the Catfish Cakes on page 68. The directions don't call for flaking the fish after cooking, but the picture clearly indicates the fish is in flakes, not chunks as it is after cooking. I donned gloves (the kind of surgical gloves you should wear when handling chiles) and just mashed and incorporated all the ingredients until it looked like the consistency of the picture. The flavor is fabulous! Even crab cake connoisseurs would be please with this concoction. Serve it with Grady's Mescal Hollandaise on page 118 for a special treat.

There is a delicious version of ranch dressing, heavy on buttermilk, on page 135 that tastes so fresh you'll be tempted to drink it in stead of lavish it on mere Iceberg as Grady suggests. The vegetable recipes are equally delicious and relatively simple, such as Char-grilled Squash and Ranch Beans. I'd be remiss if I didn't brag on the wonderful dessert recipes, too, such as Cajeta Pound Cake, made with the Cajeta Sauce recipe on page 188 (Cajeta is caramel sauce made with goat's milk). Grady is big on goats, and also has several Cabrito meat recipes in the book.

Grady Spears is talented in bovine cookery. His short stories and recipe introductions are charming and funny. The book is a beauty to behold, and has enough recipes that are fun and interesting enough to make you head to the kitchen. It's worth adding to your collection if you have any fascination with cowboys at all.

Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts , by Labensky, Ingram & Labensky

Everyone has a gourmand on their holiday list, I'm sure. I can't think of a better gift (other than a copy of one of my books), to bestow on the lover of all things food and wine than the newest release from Webster's stable. A culinary dictionary is a useful thing for those of us in the business, no doubt. It is also useful for the serious cook, the studious cook and of course, the curious cook.

With more than 25,000 terms, the authors have canvassed the world, near and far, seeking out definitions and descriptions of culinary prose. For example, otsumani is the Japanese word little tidbits or small plates of food (like our hors d'oeuvres). More familiar terms, like the American lollipop are also defined. The book familiarizes us with the origins and uses of each word and provides pronunciation for the unfamiliar and foreign words. Other bonuses include more than 260 hand-drawn illustrations, mostly of tools and equipment, and measurement and conversion charts.

I recently had dinner and didn't recognize an item on the menu. I wish I had a pocket version, or better yet, an electronic version of this dictionary so that when I run across a term I'm not familiar with, I can look it up on the spot. The word, by the way, was salpicon, as in a "Mango and White Truffle Salpicon". Salpicon has two entries in the Webster's culinary dictionary, one for savory, one for sweet. The savory definition is "Diced ingredients bound with a sauce...to garnish..."

I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely sweet on food.

The Quotable Cook, edited by Kate Rowinski
This is a fun little book with a comprehensive list of quotes about food from a variety of sources--including world famous cooks (Julia Child), famous people (Woody Allen and Groucho Marx) and political leaders (Ronald Reagan).

It's fun and easy to pick up and put down at will. The book is organized by the subject of the quotes, broken into chapters like Dinner Invitations; Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner; Coffee or Tea; The Cook is in the Kitchen; Hospitality; Tonight's Vegetable; Dinner is Served; Season to Taste and many, many more.

Calvin Trillin, one of my favorite food writers, is quoted as saying "Health food makes me sick." I laughed and agreed. Mark Twain says "Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." Sounds like good advice to me. My favorite quote of all is a French proverb, "The torch of love is lit in the kitchen."

I won't pretend to know all the people who are quoted: who is Joe Moore? I haven't a clue, but he wisely said "Appetizers are the little things you keep eating until you lose your appetite." I don't always understand the quote either. "Even a melon seed may come between a husband and wife," an Iranian proverb baffles me. Does anyone know what the heck that means?

Whether or not I understand the quote, or even know who the quotee is, I thoroughly enjoy this book every time I thumb through it. (I get this trait from my father, who has been collecting old sayings for many, many years now.) I think you will like this book, too. And you might even know who said, "Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili."

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If you like southwestern food, you will appreciate Chef Donna Nordin's innovative book. The first 30 pages are dedicated to the basics of contemporary southwestern cuisine, including ingredients, techniques and equipment. I learned how to smoke foods on my stovetop from this book. It's super easy and very inexpensive. You just need an inexpensive wok that becomes your smoker (and nothing else because once you smoke wood chips in it, you really can't use it for anything else).

The book is divided into courses, starting with Salsas, followed by Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Entrees and Desserts. Chef Nordin provides a list of mail order sources, though this was published before the extensive use of the internet and you can find these and many more sources at your disposal today.

I have to tell you a story. Three months after I started culinary school (remember, I was a complete novice in the kitchen before I went to school), my parents came to Arizona for a visit. My husband informed me that the very same evening, his best friend from college, Lee, and his wife, Tia, would also be here. I had planned to cook a meal from this southwestern cookbook for my Texas parents, and thought it would be a good fit for Jeff's Georgia friends, too.

I was a nervous wreck, hoping to pull this dinner off with the flair and style that my guests were expecting from a culinary student. The pressure was on. I made the Black Bean and Smoked Corn (yes, stovetop!) Salsa and the Pineapple Salsa for starters. I selected the Sauteed Shrimp with Chipotle Chile and Green Onions for the entree for a couple of reasons, one being there was a picture so I knew what it was supposed to look like, and a Grilled Filet Mignon with a Red Chile Cream Sauce. I forgot that Lee's father owned a seafood processing plant on the Georgia coast and that Lee is somewhat of an expert in cooking seafood. Everyone is hovering over the island in my kitchen where my cooktop is. I'm sweating and stressing, pulling all this together, listening to Tia tell me she doesn't eat this or that and Lee casually walks by to warn "Don't overcook the shrimp or it will be rubbery." If only I would have had a pan in my hand I might have popped him.

We sat down to dinner, and I nervously watched as my guests devoured every single last morsel I dished on their plates...even Tia who does eat this or that. I knew that I had a winning cookbook on my hands and over the past 5 years, this cookbook and I have become good friends. Of course, now I know the author and could call her if I needed to, but I haven't needed to exercise that option. The recipes are well-written and the flavors just explode off the plate.

Most of the dishes are chile-based, but not all. There is a wonderful Mushroom, Jarlsberg and Parsley Salad. Jarlsberg is a mild Swiss cheese. One of Chef Nordin's signature dishes is Garlic Custard with a Tomato Vinaigrette and Herbed Hazelnuts. It's one of her most popular appetizers on her menu.

She's also known for her chocolate work and has won several awards. This book has three extraordinary chocolate desserts: Arizona Princess Cake (with apples, tequila and pecans), Saguaro Pate (fudge-like with almonds), and Chocolate Mousse Pie. Of course, there are plenty of non-chocolate desserts, too.

I'm so sad to report that Chef Jamie Shannon passed away in November, 2001, losing a courageous battle with cancer. The angels in heaven are eating well. -- Chef Gwen

This book wins an award for the longest subtitle I've ever seen. It also wins my award for outstanding Creole cooking. Ti Adelaide Martin is the daughter of Ella Brennan, one of the Brennan siblings who purchased Commander's Palace in 1969. Commander's has produced some famous modern chefs, notably Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse.

Jamie Shannon is the current executive chef, and has been with the restaurant for more than 16 years. Together Martin and Shannon have penned a delightful cookbook, chocked full of traditional and updated New Orleans classic recipes. This book is one of the best for genuine Creole dishes, from one of the most famous restaurants in and out of New Orleans.

Sprinkled throughout the book are little tidbits of history, which Martin calls "Lagniappe"-- a Creole word for a little something extra -- a bonus, if you will, that serve as an extension of the story told in the introduction.

Recipes are divided into 12 categories, beginning with cocktails (of course, it's a book from New Orleans, the home of the cocktail). Below are the categories and a few recipes from each.

A helpful glossary clears up any confusion to Creole terms and provides helpful pronunciations of terms like andouille (ahn-DWEE) sausage.

I absolutely love the spicy Gumbo Ya-Ya, a dark stew with chicken and andouille, a satisfying dish for a crowd. The Boiled Rice dish makes perfect rice, starting on top of the stove and finishing in the oven. My other favorite recipe is the Blue Cheese dressing, a tangy, biting vinegar-based dressing which I prefer over creamy varieties. Many of the recipes take some serious time and effort in the kitchen, but the resulting flavor explosions are worth it, and the recipes produce generous leftovers, which helps justify the extra effort.

I doubt I'll ever make Turtle Soup, but it was fun to read about this classic New Orleans fare. I do keep this book in my kitchen, though (as opposed to the 5 other spots in my house where I've stashed my 350+ cookbook collection) and whenever I want to please a crowd, I pull it out and turn my home into Mardi Gras West.

I see Alice Waters as the definitive source on all food ingredients, especially ones that are in American markets. If Alice is writing about an ingredient, it's because it's grown here somewhere, regardless of where it originated. I thirst for more information about the foods I cook and eat, and I trust Waters to have the most thorough knowledge, and to write about food in a way that makes me want read more.

The best part of this book, as with the vegetable book, is the background information Waters shares about the fruit, including its season, where it's from, where it grows now, how to harvest it, and ideas of how to extract the most from it. The recipes are just a bonus, really.

The book is arranged alphabetically by fruit, beginning with apples and ending with strawberries. In all, 39 fruits are explored, including familiar staples like lemons and peaches, but also some not so familiar fruits like loquats, a sweet-tart tropical fruit that looks like a teensy lopsided pear.

Berry fans will appreciate Waters distinction between blackberries and other wild berries like loganberries, olallieberries and boysenberries. Cherries, blueberries and even cape gooseberries have their own chapters. My mother would have loved the fig chapter and the eight
accompanying recipes.

Speaking of recipes, the 202 compilations range from familiar standards like Apricot Jam, Applesauce, Wine-Poached Pears, and Pickled Watermelon Rind, to new ideas with both new and centuries old fruit. Every course, from breakfast through dinner's dessert, is represented.

Fig and Grape Salad with Pancetta Crostini, Grilled Salmon with Citrus Sauce, Grilled Squab with Huckleberry Sauce, and Moroccan Chicken with Dates, are just a few of the savory temptations sprinkled throughout the dessert recipes. Waters finishes the book with a special section
called "A Basic Dessert Repertory," and it includes recipes for a crisp topping, a galette dough, pie dough, and puff pastry
(which Waters acknowledges takes time and concentration).

If you've ever wondered about kumquats, quinces, persimmons, or pomegranates, this is the book to help you discover the fascinating world of fruits you know and those you don't, and how to liven up your menus with these luscious gifts from the earth.