Gourmet Cooking Made Practical

Usually if a well known chef writes a cookbook, it is written in terms that only other chefs know. Home chefs are left woefully in the dark, looking at on line dictionary or asking around as to what the methods mean or where to acquire rare and expensive ingredients. Not so with the newest cookbook from Chef Gabrielle Hamilton. Anyone can read these recipes, even the greenest of novice home chefs.

 She was featured in the new Cookbook section in yesterday's New York Times Dining section. Dining regular Julia Moskin contributed this piece which is an interview ,review and recipe all rolled into one article. Chef Hamilton's new cookbook Prune, named after her East Village restaurant and it reflects her refreshing rule breaking attitude towards cooking and fancy food. She is a rebel of sorts, serving canned sardines on Triscuits  on her first menu at her East Village bistro.This is not your typical, food snooty kind of cook. The recipes are easily replicable.She doesn;t talk down to those who don't have a culinary education or are new to the cooking scene. The steps are easy to follow even if they are broken down to almost simplicity . Cooking and baking this way ensures the perfect dish. There are also recommendations about using already prepared food like Thomas' English muffins,,Grape Nuts and  -gasp - PAM Cooking Spray (although this is not a new approach. Chefs Sandra Lee and Jamie Oliver have been suggesting this for a decade and a half)

Another first is that Chef Hamilton is opiniated , putting her  edicts and opinions in the book. There is one trope about  never using balsamic vinegar ,or why candied lemons should be served ice cold with chilled peppermint patties.. Those mysteries orders, aside, the recipes are tasty and perfect for any home chef to try. Ms. Moskin includes a recipe  which is salt packed cold roast beef with bread crumb salsa. This is a roasted piece of beef tenderloin caked in regular Kosher salt. The description is just as delicious as the dish itself. Chef Hamilton suggests piling on the salt so it looks like a cast on a broken leg. As for the breadcrumb salsa, drain them in coffee filters. Really???!!!Also parsleys aren't just added, they're roughed up. I love the way she describes the oil in the pan , beautiful, veinous, and streaking. Her recipes are really a joy to read ,possessing a brio that even the most flamboyant chefs in the business do not have.

Chef Hamilton is a breath of fresh air in the cooking world. Her recipes are simple yet delicious. Her words are just as tasty and filling as the dishes from the new book honoring Prune, her restaurant.