****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I'm a fairly experienced cook - I bake my own bread, roast a chicken every week or so (and make stock religiously), and three times per week make a Bon Appetit grade meal.For years my favorite cookbook was the Bon Appetit orange book. A year or so back Mourad's "The New Moroccan" joined that list.Last night, this book joined that list as well.I made the Beef Burgundy and the Rum and Maple Sweet Potatoes.In my cooking blog I rate recipes on an A-F scale. A means "would definitely make again".The Beef Burgundy got an A+, and the Potatoes got an A++ (this is maybe the second recipe I've given that rating in three years of semi-sophisticated cooking).The recipes are all complex enough to create deep interesting flavors (say what you will, but this recent fad of "5 ingredients or less" boils down to "boring tastes for lazy people") without being gratuitous for the sake of being gratuitous.The potatoes didn't call for anything exotic: potatoes, salt, cream, butter, etc... with the two utterly critical additions of rum and maple, which work PERFECTLY together.Likewise, the beef has no silly fripperies - there are a few spices, red wine, a bit of brandy, and a host of simple "honest" (as the hipsters say) ingredients like onions, mushrooms, etc.A slight bit of preparation complexity is the key. The beef, for example, required TWO pans (horrors!): one to reduce the sauce, the other to brown the ingredients in batches.I can't wait to try more recipes from this book.I actually cook from my books, so unlike some I don't base my reviews much on visual presentation or graphic design, but that said, this is a gorgeous book, with color and tone that perfectly match the rich hearty comfort food within.Highly recommended - buy this book!
