Three? Just three?
It’s hard picking my three favorite food books of the year. I could come up with three on Southern ingredients … or three by Atlanta authors … or three on pies alone.
This year, I cooked with Atlanta chef and author Richard Blais (“Try This at Home,” Clarkson Potter, $30). I discovered James Beard Award-winning Dunwoody resident Cynthia Graubart’s Lime Pot Roast With Tomato Sauce and Apple Crisp, both from her “Slow Cooking for Two: Basics, Techniques, Recipes” (Gibbs Smith, $19.99). I drooled over Atlanta native Kelly Alexander’s “Peaches” (UNC Press, $18) — with its recipes for Peach Omelette, Peach Iced Tea and Peach-Glazed Ham.
I dog-eared my copy of "The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen" (Clarkson Potter, $35) so that I'll remember to try the Kumquat-Chile Bloody Mary; Peanut and Oyster Stew; and Sweet Benne Wafers. I swooned over David Tanis' gorgeous "One Good Dish" (Artisan, $25.95) — with its instructions for Tunisian Meatballs, Winter Minestrone and Ginger Spice Wafers. And thanks to Sandra A. Gutierrez's "Latin American Street Food" (UNC Press, $35), I dreamed about Brazilian acarajé (black-eyed pea fritters), Guatemalan beef taquitos and churros con chocolate — without so much as leaving the comfort of my own pillow.
As always, the books I can’t put down are the ones that showcase the kind of uncomplicated cooking I love. It was a terribly tough decision. But here are my choices — with a tested recipe from each.
Saving fresh food for later
I would be smitten with Kevin West's "Saving the Season: A Cook's Guide to Home Canning, Pickling, and Preserving" (Knopf, $35) even without its delectable recipes for Blackberry Jam With Gin and Persimmon Butter. Even with no recipes. A Tennessee native and former W magazine editor, West writes about the art of preserving with the eye of a painter and the soul of a poet.
While canning manuals can be dry and technical, West is on a quest to capture the timeless beauty of putting up food in jars so that its bright fresh flavor can be enjoyed when the orchard is barren. Sprinkled among his essays on Edna Lewis and Brillat-Savarin, his luscious photographs of peaches and strawberries, are meditations on 16th- and 17th-century painters (Caravaggio, Adriaen Coorte) and poets from Virgil to Seamus Heaney.
Though I have put up a few pickles and preserves in my day, I’m new to citrus-canning, which is what the winter chapter is devoted to. Since I didn’t get this book until recently, I immersed myself in West’s recipes for oranges, grapefruits, lemons and the like. So far I’ve made Kumquats in Burnt Honey Syrup, Lime Curd and Winter Fruit Cocktail — all wonderful. Come spring, I’ll turn to strawberries, asparagus and cherries. Caramelized Pineapple With Tequila and Saffron — gotta try it. Pine-cone Syrup? Perhaps not. But how intriguing. West even includes a recipe for Nocino, the walnut liqueur I fell hard for in Emilia-Romagna.
This spectacular, accessible, 534-page tome deserves a special place on my kitchen shelf. Hands down, it’s my favorite food book of the year.
Kevin West’s Winter Fruit Cocktail: Citrus Sections in Their Own Juice
Hands on: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Yield: 3 pints
I dreaded sectioning my 6 pounds of fresh oranges and grapefruits. But once I got started, it was a pleasure to see those juicy crescents of pink and white and orange fruit fall into the bowl. This citrus cocktail will be lovely to bring out on a drab sunless day. All you need is a dollop of whipped cream or a sprig of mint.
6 pounds mixed orange and grapefruit varieties
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus one whole lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Cointreau, brandy, bourbon, Scotch, red vermouth, Campari or other alcohol (optional)
Using a vegetable peeler, remove large strips of zest from an orange, a grapefruit and a lemon. Reserve.
Peel and section all the oranges and grapefruits, using the supreme technique. (See note.) Place the sections in a large mixing bowl. Squeeze the leftover pith and connective tissue over the bowl to extract the juice. When all the citrus has been sectioned, add the lemon juice and gently toss everything together.
Using a slotted spoon, loosely pack the citrus sections into three sterilized pint jars, leaving 3/4 inch head space. Tuck a slice or two of lemon peel, orange peel and grapefruit peel into each jar.
Measure the remaining liquid in the bowl. Add water if necessary to make 1 1/2 cups total liquid, and combine it with the sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and add the alcohol if using.
Ladle the hot liquid over the fruit to cover, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Run a skewer or other thin implement around the inside edge of the jar to remove air pockets. Top again if necessary. Seal the jar, and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. To reduce venting, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars.
How to supreme citrus: With a sharp knife, slice a round off both ends of the piece of fruit, going deep enough to reveal the pulp. Stand it up like a barrel on a cutting board. Slice away the peel with a series of downward cuts that follow the curve. Once you have gotten all the way around, trim any remaining pith.
Now place the knife alongside the membrane that divides two segments, and carefully cut to the center. Make a similar cut along the other side of the segment and lift out the segment. Repeat, methodically cutting one segment at a time, until you’ve gotten them all. Squeeze the remaining membranes over a bowl to extract the juice.
Adapted from “Saving the Season: A Cook’s Guide to Home Canning, Pickling, and Preserving” by Kevin West (Knopf, $35)
Per 1-cup serving: 201 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), 2 grams protein, 45 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, trace sodium.
In search of style and flavor
Atlanta chef and restaurateur Anne Stiles Quatrano is almost as involved in shopping for the beautiful kitchen-y things she sells at Star Provisions as she is with the menus at her flagship restaurant, Bacchanalia. For her first book, “Summerland: Recipes for Celebrating With Southern Hospitality” (Rizzoli, $39.95), every detail, from goblets to greens, has been lovingly and thoughtfully procured.
Organized by month, Quatrano designs menus around fall hog killing, Valentine’s Day romancing, August fig picking and so on. Beginning with cocktails (say a Preserved Meyer Lemon Collins for March or Watermelon Sangria for Fourth of July) and ending with the likes of Charred Pomegranate Popsicles or Fried Blueberry Hand Pies, she lays out beautiful, imaginative meals that will appeal to trendsetters and turnip truckers alike. (Summerland, by the way, is the name of the Cartersville farm that’s been in Quatrano’s mother’s family since the Civil War and where she lives with her husband, Clifford Harrison.)
I love this oversize book for its relaxed elegance and voluptuous food. This New Year’s Day, alongside the greens and hoppin’ john, I’ll be serving Quatrano’s pork chops with tomato gravy. It’s the essence of country cooking and simple enough for beginners.
Anne Stiles Quatrano’s Browned Pork Chops With Tomato Gravy
Serves: 6
Hands on: 40 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Quatrano includes these fried and oven-browned pork chops in her New Year’s “fireside brunch.” They would be delicious with grits and eggs. I love them with rice. Just be sure to fry in bacon fat — that’s where all the flavor comes from — and crumble a slice of bacon on top as you eat.
6 (8-ounce) pork chops, with or without the bone
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 (1/2-inch-thick) bacon slices
1 sweet onion, coarsely chopped
4 cups homemade canned tomatoes or 1 (28-ounce) can store-bought whole tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and set aside.
In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon slices until crispy, about 5 minutes per side. Remove and drain on paper towels. Set aside.
Brown the pork chops in the bacon grease over medium heat. Work in batches if necessary, so as not to crowd the pan. Cook until browned on both sides, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the internal temperature of the chops reaches 140 degrees. Wrap in foil to keep warm; the chops will continue to cook as they rest.
Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pan and place over low heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Roughly chop the tomatoes, discarding any fibrous stem portions. Add the tomatoes with their juice to the pan. Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat. The gravy should be very liquid, so add water if necessary. Add the sugar. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
To serve, place a pork chop and a slice of crispy bacon on each plate. Then top with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the tomato gravy.
Adapted from “Summerland: Recipes for Celebrating With Southern Hospitality” by Anne Stiles Quatrano (Rizzoli, $39.95)
Per serving: 496 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66), 31 grams protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 36 grams fat (13 grams saturated), 119 milligrams cholesterol, 468 milligrams sodium.
The bad boy of Oxford, Miss.
John Currence’s “Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey: Recipes From My Three Favorite Food Groups (and Then Some)” (Andrews McMeel, $40) can be maddeningly silly and self-indulgent. First you see the photo of the Oxford, Miss., chef kissing a giant turnip. Then you notice the pop-music song pairings with every recipe. (For Steen’s Syrup-Braised Pork Belly, cue Green Day’s “Basket Case.”) Or his little pickling manifesto, which begins: “How do I love thee, pickle? Let me count the ways.”
But what’s wrong with having fun? Perhaps the food world could stand to take itself a little less seriously. Any man who suggests pairing fried quail with waffles, gives a recipe for “Homemade ‘Duke’s’ Mayonnaise” and serves Chocolate Chess Pie With Woodford Reserve Ice Cream gets my vote. Currence’s three-step recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake was clearly written and easy to follow. And oh, my lord. It’s killer.
John Currence’s Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake
This decadent cake — two fudge-y layers enrobed in ganache with a layer of peanut butter mousse in the middle — is worth every minute it takes to make it.
Hands on: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Serves: 10
For the cake:
3/4 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 pinches of salt
3/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts (optional)
For the peanut butter mousse:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
For the ganache:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 pound dark chocolate, chopped
To make the cake: Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and lightly flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
Place a stainless steel or glass bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the bowl, about 5 minutes.
On medium speed, beat the eggs in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat 5 more minutes. Beat in the chocolate mixture on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes.
Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients 2 tablespoons at a time. Be sure to incorporate each addition fully before adding the next.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until set. Fully cool the layers in the pans. When cool, invert onto cardboard baking circles, a baking sheet or two plates. Place in the freezer to chill while making the mousse and ganache. A cool cake will make the mousse easier to spread.
Put one of the layers, bottom side up, on a cake circle or plate. Spread the peanut butter mousse evenly over the top. Place the second layer on top (bottom side up, so as to create a flat top surface). Return cake to freezer while preparing ganache.
Remove cake from freezer and smooth the thickened ganache over the top and down the sides of the cake. If you have more ganache than you need, return the cake to the freezer to chill the ganache. Then add another layer. Chill until the ganache hardens. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts if desired.
To make the mousse: Whisk heavy cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla on high speed in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
In the same bowl on the stand mixer, beat the peanut butter until smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream, one third at a time, until fully combined.
To make the ganache: Warm the cream, sugar and chocolate in the top of a double boiler over medium-low heat. (You may use a glass or stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering water.) Stir well and regularly with a heatproof spatula or wire whisk until the chocolate is fully melted and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for 15 minutes or longer to thicken.
Adapted from “Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey: Recipes From My Three Favorite Food Groups (and Then Some)” by John Currence (Andrews McMeel, $40)
Per serving: 968 calories (percent of calories from fat, 62), 14 grams protein, 83 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 71 grams fat (32 grams saturated), 180 milligrams cholesterol, 243 milligrams sodium.
