Under the Covers: Exploring Below the Dust Jackets of Cookbooks

I’m not sure what compelled me to get under there. Maybe it was a lustiness that arose from the shirtless, tanned, fish-tossing-in-a-rough-ocean photo towards the beginning of the book that make me remove the dust jacket on Chef Ludo Lefevbre’s first book, Crave: The Feast of the Five Senses. Since that first time, I’ve wiggled my hands under the cover of many a hardcover cookbook to see what I might find or quickly bent back a front over to peek between the glossy paper and cardboard cover. Often enough the results are uninspired, a design space forgotten. But once in a while I hit the jackpot and discover lush photographs or gentle textures and reap my reward by carefully running my fingertips over the book with a glassy-eyed gaze. My heart swells, my stomach growls and my grin widens.

Chef Ludo’s interior is elegant enough, a blacked-out background with khaki-colored text. Organic swirls mimic the title on the cover, the black and off-white print play up his then edgy-rockstar cooking style:

Others simply utilize the space to mimic their cover art, such as Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours, Paula Wolfert’s The Food of Morocco, and Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home. Not exactly inspired, but better than nothing:

Some go as understated and tasteful as desired… not just on book covers…

LUDOBITES - Finally! LudoBites 8.0 at Lemon Moon

Stars and planets aligned and I was finally able to go to my first iteration of Chef Ludo Lefebvre's "pop-up" restaurant LudoBites in its eighth outpost. This time Chef Ludo took over Lemon Moon restaurant on West Olympic Boulevard. Thankfully, after so much hype and excitement there was not an ounce of disappointment from first experience under Chef Ludo and Krissy Lefebvre's care. 

By now it's been over two month's since I sipped hard cider and languished over course after course of Chef Ludo's cuisine. But better late than never, eh? And it doesn't feel like its something of the past because I am still thinking about and craving the tuna with somen I had that night every single day (no joke). (Sorry in advance for the dim photos, was trying not to be too ... flashy.)


So, let's start at the beginning. My dinner guest and I opted for the NV Cambremer Cidre. Our meal began with a bang- literally- as the cork popped out of the bottle of cider the moment the cage was undone.

Next it was time to survey the menu and devise our plan of attack. We didn't opt to have the whole menu, as many do. As it was I was totally full when we left after eating less than half of the menu. I admit I was thrilled to have this simple piece of paper finally sitting in front of me in real life, not just a photo on the internet for once:

Burgundy Gougères and Chicken Tandoori Crackling got things going. I found it smart and comforting that Chef Ludo offers up something as simple as cheese puffs on menu. It is a way to taste something familiar at start of the meal as a means of easing into his unique flavor combinations and cooking techniques. The cracklings were like super fancy nachos without a tortilla in sight. The chicken liver mousse was a meaty cloud on a crisp chicken skin 'chip'.

On the Twelfth day of Christmas... Twelve Amazing Cookbooks!

The last day of my 12 Days of Christmas gift guide is full of my favorite things- cookbooks! Like the 11th Day, you should be able to run out to the book store and pick up most of these great books, making them perfect last minute gift ideas. Again, I recommend a gift receipt if you are giving these books to friends and family with plentiful cookbook libraries. Enjoy! 

Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing. During the Kitchen Arts & Letters book sale this spring, I scooped up this first book from Andrea Reusing. It is visually beautiful and filled with drool-worthy recipes. She gently takes her reader through the seasons with simple yet innovative ways for using whats available. This is for your friends who love amazing recipes and food photography. 

Cook This Now by Melissa Clark. I've come to sing the praises of Melissa Clark plenty of times this year. She's a delight as is her newest book Cook This Now. Like Reusing's book Clark's is full of seasonal recipes focused on local food that really make you want to make all the recipes ASAP. Read about why I love her and then get this book for the people on your list who do most of their shopping at the farmer's market or co-op. 

French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano. It is disheartening to me that this book is classified as "diet" or "weight loss" because it is one of the greatest cookbooks I own. Guiliano's outlook is just to eat really good food, in simple ways with moderation and above all joie de vivre. This is not a diet book! It is full of fabulous recipes that make you feel good about yourself just reading over them, while making you hungry as well. I really recommend this book for any Francophiles, lovers of simple food and fans of Mireille's other books. Check it out for yourself- its one of the best.

Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook by Mary Risley. Tante Marie's made my list of cooking schools on the Sixth day of Christmas and the Tante Marie cookbook would make a great gift paired with a gift certificate for the school. I liken this book to a sort of Julia Child's cookbook with a Californian flair. It is highly instruction with lots of notes on the given recipes. She includes plenty of basics along side original recipes. A perfect book for someone who cooks a lot but wants to learn more techniques. 

In the Small Kitchen by Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine. I think I came upon the Big Girls, Small Kitchen blog via a giveaway. Their book is a tasty volume of recipes perfect for college student and recent graduates getting into their own kitchens for the first time. Not to be misleading by that, these are full fledged recipes perfect for everything from feeding a party of 8 to oneself. This gift will keep on giving, too, for once they discover the book they will then have the blog to keep up with that has fresh recipes, cooking tips, entertaining ideas and giveaways. Wrap this up for your favorite 20-somethings who are home for the holidays. 

The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Written by the woman who got Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking published, this book has recipes perfect for the single chef who believes in a little indulgence. This book has been pretty revolutionary for me, the constantly solo cook. There are so many recipes I want to try but always hesitate to pare down from 6 or 8 servings to 1 or 2 just to have something like bœuf bourguignon. Jones gives perfect recipes for one, many French inspired and all delicious. An excellent option for your dear friends who live alone but absolutely love to cook. And not to be morbid at all, but the reason Jones is left cooking for one is due to the lateness of her husband-- this book could uplift someone who has lost their loved one and get them back into the habit of cooking.

Twenty by Michael Ruhlman. Oh Michael Ruhlman, how do I love thee? Let me count the techniques.... This is one of two Ruhlman books on this list because he is just that amazing. I found out about Ruhlman watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Christmas special last year. I thought, who is this handsome man with such amazing hair? I immediately Googled him and found his wonderful blog and the opening recipe for home made English muffins. He's so smart and logical and makes great food even more amazing. This book discusses twenty techniques- methods and ways of using key ingredients like salt and water. The photos are descriptive and stunning (taken by his wife Donna). Give this book to everyone! Even if they don't cook out of it (try not to though) it would be a fabulous coffee table book. (I got this for someone on my gift list and its also on my wish list- Twenty for everyone!)

In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters. Staying in the vein of technique, In The Green Kitchen gets the best chefs and friends of Alice Waters together to create this volume of simple recipes for making everyday food. Recipes for things like pesto, simple tomato sauce and how to make and dress a salad from the masters of each. It is a basic yet luxurious volume of recipes, again, perfect for anyone but especially lovers of local and organic ingredients.

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. I heart Michael Ruhlman part two. I picked up Ratio in late spring after reading so many blog posts about making your own bread. Shortly after I bought my kitchen scale for macarons and trying some of Ruhlman's recipes out with the extreme precision a scale allows. Amazing! This slim paperback is misleading, thinking it might be a funny little work on how things equate when it comes to food. What you get is a book bursting with recipes simplified to their most basic that come together quickly and perfect every time. A nice one for new and experienced cooks alike.

Crave by Ludo Lefebvre. I couldn't very well get through a proper cookbook list without Chef Ludo, could I? I've sung the praises of Crave a few times in the past, but this is an especially special present because it is out of print. Luckily, if you can't find it you can just look forward to the forthcoming LudoBites Cookbook (I know I can't wait!). This book is an inspiration that encourages me to play with flavor combinations and techniques in my own cooking. Superb for any Chef Ludo lovers (or, as we're called "Ludo Bitches") or people who like big colorful cookbooks with creative recipes. [I know Kitchen Arts & Letters had a copy of the book, which may have sold, but I'd try there first!]

The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert. My birthday is right around the corner (New Years' Day!) and I'm throwing myself a Moroccan themed party. I gifted myself her brand new book on Morocco and have been raving about it ever since. It is a complete look at Moroccan food and an examination of how people dine in Morocco, what spices they use and more. I can't wait to cook from it next week. For any Moroccan food/culture enthusiast in your life, this is the book for them. Also great for travelers and lovers of North African food. 

Ideas in Food by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot. This book is full of crazy ideas for amazing things to do with food. I don't have the book but I follow the Ideas In Food blog and they always have ways of stretching the way we normally think of ingredients. A really great idea for any chef stuck in a rut and totally perfect for your friends working the line in restaurant kitchens to keep them inspired and on their toes.

As I finish writing this "Auld Lang Syne" has come on my iTunes. I hope you've enjoyed all 12 days of Christmas here on The Culinary Librarian and that you got some great ideas for gifts to friends, family and probably yourself. Thank you for reading!

Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays, 

the merriest of Christmases and 

the most magical of New Years!

Follow Fridays: #Favorites

We have come to the final post in my Follow Friday Series. We've talked about my top tweeters for #Reading, #Activism, #FoodJobs, #Friends, #Shopping and now we come to my overall #Favorites. Some of these accounts are just things I really love, some not even related to food. Others are food related favorites that really don't fall into the other categories but I want you to know about them because I think they are great. 

Each week I change up who I put in my #Favorites tweet but I usually cycle through the same batch of people depending on what I've been thinking about during the week. So here is my last group of Follow Friday (#FF) accounts, #Favorites: 

@chefludo - Of course Chef Ludo is on my favorites list! I talk about him nearly as much as I talk about macarons! Follow him on Twitter for tweets with fun photos (lots of coqs), menu items for LudoBites and information on Ludo Bites America. 

@frenchchefwife -Krissy Lefebvre keeps the business side of Chef Ludo's work in order and takes to Twitter to keep a lot of things in order. Hoping for a last minute reservation opening at LudoBites? Better be following Krissy on Twitter. She also tweets pictures of Chef Ludo you just won't see anywhere else, like him eating a just-killed-buffalo's heart (Warning!: not for the squeamish). 

@mylastbite - Jo Maxwell Stougaard of My Last Bite is a wonderful food blogger based in LA. She is well-known for her informative Twitter feed that has over 87,000 followers. She is one of the main LudoBitches and I found her from retweets of her tweets by Krissy and Chef Ludo. After reading this LA Times article about her, she quickly became one of my favorite food bloggers and tweeters (she's also the one who I learned about Google Reader from- which has changed how I get my food news). She has a fabulously positive outlook on life and like her website states: "MyLastBite shares just the positive and never the negative. If I like it, I share it… If I don’t, I don’t!" She's a must follow for anyone who loves food. 

Meatopia: A Celebration of Meat at Brooklyn Bridge Park (and one very special Chef)

On a sweltering hot Saturday in July the crowds showed up to Pier 5 at Brooklyn Bridge Park for Meatopia to devour tastings of meat provided by restaurants in New York City and from across the country. The annual celebration was having its first year at Pier 5, moving from their location last year on Governor's Island. The new location, in addition to an adjusted ratio of chefs to attendees, worked out very well. The normally bare Pier 5 made for a stage ready to be set with grills, fire pits and smokers. All the Chefs were set up with stands, clearly marked with large red signs with their name, restaurant, and a shadow of the animal they were serving with the company who provided their meat. The maps that were given out included a full list of chefs and their menus, making it easy to find just who and what you wanted. 

To start off my meat eating I headed with my lamby friends to try The Meatball Shop's Sloppy Joes, Lamb Belly Sliders from 42, Lamb Ribs from ilili, and Lamb Breast and rice from Sip Sak. Every single one of these lamb dishes was cooked to perfection, spiced with a balanced hand, and the portion was more than just a taste. My favorites were the lamb belly sliders and the lamb breast. The sliders were served on soft little buns with a pickle layered on the bottom. With streaks of lamb fat and crispy edges, the belly was tender and chewy. Sip Sak's lamb breast was served with fluffy rice and homemade bread. None of these dishes had the gamey flavor that sometimes comes with lamb. The sloppy joes were indeed sloppy, served piping hot, that made you want to take a fork to scoop up all the tangy meat that fell off your bun. ilili's ribs were crisp and chewy, a little hard to eat, but worth getting your fingers dirty for (served next to a basket of wet naps). 

Restaurant Celebrity Chefs: Why Chef Ludo Lefebvre is my Favorite

When getting ready to finish reading Blood Bones and Butter the other night, I got to thinking about the idea of a celebrity chef. I was deep in the part when Hamilton is spending a full month in southern Italy with her husband’s family. With the written admissions that her marriage doesn't ever quite fit and after some previous poking around online, I know they end up less than together. So the whole time I’m reading about how much she loves being a part of the Fuortes family I am wondering if at the moment I was thinking about it she is gearing up for a month long vacation with her 2 sons to visit their paternal relatives in Italy- leaving Prune in the hands of her chefs and staff.

This got me thinking about what happens when a chef transitions from an executive chef or restaurant owner into celebrity. It is the very fact that they made amazing dishes to put a restaurant, and then their name, on the map in the first place, but then as their celebrity grows and the demand for their appearances at events, book signings, on television, etc, grows equally, they are cooking in a restaurant less and less. Some celebrity chefs, mostly TV chefs and now some bloggers and food writers, were never really known for restaurant cooking; like Ina Garten and Giada DeLaurentiis. But what sense does it make that the more celebrity that is demanded of a restaurant chef, the less cooking they actually do? The celebrity turns into more restaurants, which in turn makes it impossible for them to ever cook at all the places under their name, and more books, which requires time to write outside of the kitchen in that limited amount between closing after the dinner shift and opening for prep the next day.

Chef Ludo's Chocolate Soufflé Pour Une!

Ever have a hankering for some chocolate after dinner? And not just a nibble of your 70% cocoa Lindt bar, but warm satisfying chocolately goodness? Thursday night was one of those nights for me. Chocolate soufflés are something I crave ever since I had my first many moons ago at the now closed Carmine’s Restaurant (in Albany, NY, now Grappa 72). Last May I picked up Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s cookbook Crave and finally made something from it tonight. His soufflé recipe always came to mind when I wanted one. I decided to make them tonight. Rather than make 4-9 oz. ramekins of soufflés, I opted to pare down the recipe for 1, using 2-4 oz. ramekins, as I was only baking for myself.

The recipe I normally use contains melted butter. Chef Ludo keeps it simple and light with

JOYEUX QUATORZE JUILLET!!! French Cookbooks.

Happy Bastille Day!!!

As most of you know francophilia runs deep in my blood. My love of the French, their language, and their culture-- food included! goes back probably to when my brother was in elementary school taking French and I thought it was super-cool and wanted to learn it for myself some day! Voila! Je parle le francais (avec le plus mauvaise grammaire de tout!).

In honor of Bastille Day I compiled a list of my favorite French cookbooks and some recipe highlights. I hope you are celebrating the day of French independence (from their corrupt monarchy, bien sur!) in a special way. VIVE LA FRANCE!!! VIVE LES MACARONS!!

La Grande Dame de la Cuisine Francaise

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 and 2

Julia Child

I have yet to cook a full recipe from these legendary volumes, but I use them as my go-to books for any questions when it comes to execution of any French recipe or how to cook certain French ingredients (did someone say magrets de canard? you know how I feel about duck...). Must-haves for any chef and any francophile, cook or not!

Moleksine Passions: RECIPE JOURNAL!

Successful day in the city-- my first Saturday in NYC since the beginning of April-- which didn't even count because I was entertaining my parents! I was determined to make the most out of today-- and so I did! 

Started out sleeping way to long after the amazing Hanson premiere performance of their new album "Shout It Out!" due out June 8th. Check it out! www.hanson.net. Then I went up to one of my very very favorite places in the city-- Kitchen Arts & Letters. I was browsing and on the table by the door where they feature what's new and I discovered the Moleksine Recipe Journal. It is perfect. Its compact, well laid out, comes with stickers for the blank sections and to qualify your recipes, even has additional templates available for printing online-- and my favorite part AN INDEX! It is the perfect start to writing your very own cookbook! 

I've been thinking about starting a recipe notebook but I really don't like starting new things if they'll be done haphazardly at the start because it makes it harder to organize later on. This Carnet Recettes is the perfect beginning and I think I will start using it today! 

After I went to Kitchen Arts & Letters (and then dropped off a stack of 15 CDs to the library!) I hopped on the 6 down to Union Square to check out the Green Market (another thing I can only do on the weekend and have not been able to being away). I was on a mission to find some farm fresh leeks-- just because-- but there were none today. Whole Foods was the answer-- I also picked up some fresh cherries (yum yum!) & saffron threads. I've never used saffron before but after reading the Saveur paella feature I've been wanting to. I think I'm going to do a risotto with saffron tonight (I've been looking for bomba or calasparra rice in the stores but have yet to find any). Also while in Union Square area I stopped by the Strand to pick up Chef Ludo Lefebvre's Crave: A Feast of the Five Senses which I currently have out of the library but didn't want to start cooking out of the libraries in case I wanted to make notes, etc in the book. The cover features a photo of Chef Ludo intensely looking at his readers with his brown eyes, how can anyone resist (see what I mean? owh-owh!)! Hoping to someday cook his "Lobster Poached in vanilla with melon, mango, papaya, avocado, and aged balsamic vinegar and honey vinaigrette." It looks/sounds insanely delicious but involves wayyy too many expensive ingredients for me to cook on a whim (vanilla bean, lobster, aged balsamic).