“Charlie Palmer’s Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen” by Charlie Palmer ($35) is what we call an accessible chef’s cookbook. Palmer, who has created of-the-moment restaurants from New York to California wine country, has delivered 135 recipes that are basic yet sophisticated, organized into menus and accompanied by wine recommendations. And the book itself claims to be “splatterproof, sauceproof, waterproof.”
It’s all delivered in a graphic style that’s clean to the point of clinical, but you can’t deny this book’s user-friendliness. It starts with an entertaining timeline of Palmer’s 30-year “kitchen life,” from the stewed rabbit and biscuits he made at his boyhood home in Smyrna, N.Y., to the slow-braised harris ranch shortribs with melted leeks and thumbelina carrots on the menu last year at his Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant in Sonoma County, Calif. He even makes fun of himself by noting his contribution to “tall food” mania: a 16-inch-high caramel semifreddo napoleon served at Aureole in New York.
The recipes in this book, by contrast, are homey rather than showy. That’s not to say you won’t want to show them off. A garlic-studded pot roast slow-cooked in a bottle of red wine was simple and delicious, with fingerling potatoes that made an effortless accompaniment. Palmer’s pan juices looked so good that we adapted the recipe slightly to make a thick sauce for the roast.
Palmer also includes a guide to his favorite equipment and pantry items, and offers recipes for one or two (for late-night suppers and dates) or up to 10 for holiday dinners and buffets. Desserts are a bit heavy on the tarts, which may be too much work for the home cook, but a simple poundcake dressed with ricotta cheese, honey and stone fruit sounds heavenly.
As for those “sauceproof” claims? We anointed the paperback’s pages with red wine, pan juices and water – and they wiped clean every time. We couldn’t even tear them. A-plus.
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