SPRING COOKING BY THE BOOK
Six new volumes from superstar chefs will guide you to some inspired dining
Spring has arrived, in all its blossoming, fruitful glory. Small green shoots are emerging from the lush loam of Bay Area farms, and fruit trees are adorned with frothy petals. And a fresh new cookbook crop has arrived to provide a little culinary inspiration for all those spring berries and greens. Among them: a new Tartine volume, the first Burma Superstar cookbook and Melissa Clark’s bid to change the dinner game. Here’s the scoop.
Tartine All Day: Modern Recipes for the Home Cook
The book: Tartine Bakery’s James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt shares personal tales — turns out the baker is gluten-intolerant — as well as recipes in this useful, inspirational volume, which focuses on home cooking.
“Tartine All Day,” (Lorena Jones Books, $40, 384 pages) is inviting and approachable, with irresistible, easy-to-follow recipes that run the gamut from basic aioli to Dry-Rubbed Tri-Tip, creamy Vegetable Slaw and Tartine’s Chocolate-Almond cake. The mouthwatering image on the book cover is for her blueberry jam, by the way. Prueitt covers all the meals, from brunch to dinner. Many recipes are gluten-free. And her menus are packed with crowd-pleasing dishes to fit any occasion, from taco night and picnics to holidays feasts — including what to do with leftovers.
Great for: Tartine Bakery fans and home cooks looking for an all-purpose cookbook full of pro tips on simple ways to make good food.
The dish: Prueitt’s spicy Lamb Kofta skewers are both delicious and amazingly simple to make. We’d advise chopping the onion in a very fine dice — and grilling these kebabs outdoors for maximum flavor.
Burma Superstar: Addictive Recipes from the Crossroads of Southeast Asia
The book: Owner Desmond Tan’s longawaited first cookbook (with co-author Kate Leahy) reveals the rise of this beloved Inner Richmond neighborhood restaurant, along with personal stories of growing up in Burma and immigrating to San Francisco at age 12, plus 90 recipes to re-create these vivid, intoxicating dishes at home.
“Burma Superstar: Addictive Recipes from the Crossroads of Southeast Asia” (Ten Speed, $30, 272 pages) is finally here, which means longtime fans of savory Pork and Pumpkin Stew, Fiery Tofu, Mohinga (fish noodle soup) and other iconic dishes can enjoy their favorites at home, while reading fascinating stories about Burma then and Myanmar now. Ingredient lists are understandably long, and the clear instructions are involved — how could they not be, when you’re creating these complex combinations? With stunningly beautiful photographs and touching stories about Tan and his team, this is a memoir-style cookbook to examine and contemplate.
Great for: Anyone who loves Southeast Asian cuisine or has visited a Burma Superstar outpost in Alameda or Oakland, as well as San Francisco — and longs to cook those fragrant curries and chewy samosas.
The dish: Tea Leaf Salad, the crunchy salad featuring fried garlic chips, shredded romaine, toasted peanuts, jalapeno, shrimp powder, Roma tomatoes and lime, is so popular, it has its own cult following. Tan even offers a way to fake
laphet — the fermented tea leaves that star in the dressing. (Even easier shortcut: The restaurant sells jars of this superstar dressing.)
Joy the Baker Over Easy
The book: If you’re a food blog fan, chances are good you know all about Joy Wilson, who chronicles buttery, sugary forays on her award-winning Joy the Baker blog. The native Californian lives in New Orleans these days — answering the sazerac’s siren call, we suspect — but you’ll find her online at joythebaker. com and in the pages of a new, brunch-centric cookbook, “Joy the Baker Over Easy” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50, 257 pages).
The book’s 125 recipes run the full brunch range, including boozy libations (Black and
White Russian, anyone?), eggs, baked goods and various griddled deliciousness, from Breakfast Quesadillas to Earl Grey and Ricotta Waffles.
Great for: Any home cook who believes that brunch is the most important meal of the day and that life without bacon isn’t worth living.
The dish: We are mad for Shakshuka, the Middle Eastern egg and spicy tomato sauce dish that looks divine, smells sublime and tastes even more so.
Dinner: Changing the Game
The book: This cookbook may be the exception to today’s California-centric homage — but we’re ready to argue that if the fabulous, home cook-friendly recipes of the New York Times’ Melissa Clark are on our driveway, phone or iPad, then they, at least, are California residents. No? Besides, Clark’s newest cookbook, “Dinner: Changing the Game” (Clarkson Potter, $35, 400 pages), asks a question too gamechanging to miss: Does dinner really have to be a main and two sides? Can’t it just be one fabulous offering?
With 200 recipes to choose from, these single-dish dinners include all the usual protein suspects, plus “salads that mean it,” grain bowls and plenty of vegetarian options. We want to cook them all, from the grilled Cuban Flank Steak with lime and fresh mango to the Summer Grain Bowl with sweet corn and black beans.
Great for: Home cooks looking for flavorful, delicious alternatives to the usual supper plan.
The dish: Italian food fans and carb-watchers, say ciao — er, the “hi!” ciao, not the good-bye one — to the Pizza Chicken. Ready in less than an hour, this easy single-skillet dish translates the pizza concept into a mouthwatering chicken, pancetta, tomato and melty mozzarella dish, sans dough.