Jeremiah Tower Cooks: 250 Recipes from an American Master Book

As founding chef at California's famed Chez Panisse, chef at San Francisco's Stars, and author of the award-winning New American Classics, Jeremiah Tower is a forefather of New American cooking. His culinary signature is pristinely flavored food made with the freshest seasonal ingredients. Jeremiah Tower Cooks presents 250 recipes for dishes like Chilled Mushroom Soup with Spiced Crab, Ricotta Dumplings with Fava Beans and Savory, and Spiced Duck Sichuan Style. Though dishes like these can demand a shopping and cooking commitment, there's nothing difficult about putting them together. For cooks interested in simple yet refined cooking that veers to the deluxe (Tower's favorite hamburger is made with truffles), this cookbook is a must.Organized by courses and food categories, the book begins, provocatively, with "Delights and Prejudices," a compendium of often-wry observations. (Tower favors using a microwave, for example, but only for reheating food--"[so used] it changes the food less than any other method," he says--but is against the pervasive roasted garlic purée, which he finds "indigestible.") Tower is also a culinary reader and dishes like English Autumn Salad (adapted from Robert May's 1685 Accomplisht Cook) and The Anchovy Toasts of Austin de Croze (from his 1931 What to Eat and Drink in Paris), among others, reflect that pursuit. A selection of mostly simple, mostly fruit desserts includes New Summer Pudding, "Burnt" Passion Fruit Curd, and Black Bottom Pie, which Tower says "needs no comment. Or rather, I can't think of any that would do justice to this perfect pie." With many more opinions, and illustrative paintings that are a welcome change from the usual food photography, the book will fill many hours with good reading as well as superior cooking. --Arthur BoehmRead More