If you have read my review of Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean slow cooking book, you know that I am not the world’s most patient cook. Slow recipes make me suspicious. They are also wholly incompatible with my career situation and temperament. Lucky for me, many of the world’s best recipes require less than fifteen minutes of cooking time.
But, even I must admit that there is something special about the soothing aroma and savory gravies created by slow cooking. So, I decided to brave my second reader-recommended cookbook, Braise by Daniel Boulud, time demands notwithstanding. Needless to say, the majority of the recipes are strictly weekend projects for me. So I hope you will forgive me for the missing review last week; it just took me that long to get through enough recipes to review this one.
The most striking thing to me about this cookbook is how different these bold, assertive multi-ethnic recipes are from the restrained, elegant food served at Boulud’s New York restaurants, Daniel and Café Boulud. It seems that Mr. Boulud likes to cook far more adventurous meals when he is on his own time. While most of these flavors were delicious, some of the recipes were actually a little too assertive for me. In particular, I was a little overwhelmed by the Indian-Style Quail in Beet, Apricot, and Tomato Chutney – the profusion of apricot, tomato mint and spices ended up tasting like the aggressive love child of a North African casserole and an Indian stew. But, it was still quite good and the accompanying fennel, apricot and saffron salad was inventive and delicious. The Spicy Merguez with Spinach and White Beans was also a gamey, assertive dish; I liked it, but Mr. Addict felt the lamb flavor was too gamey for his tastes. It was also a bit watery.
Everything else we tried was lovely. The Pork Butt with Hazelnuts, Golden Raisins and Jerusalem Artichokes had the most scrumptious, slightly sweet gravy; after soaking up this gravy for two hours, the Jerusalem artichokes and cippolini onions were melting rich and tender. Also, I was grateful that Daniel’s braising method mostly took place in the oven; I am notoriously bad at babysitting a simmering pan on a flame for hours. Here, at least I could put it in the oven and let it do it’s thing.
I should mention that most of the recipes are braised in the oven. This is a definite plus for me, but does require multi-step cooking processes for every recipe. These recipes were not low mainenance. In fact, I would classify these recipes as fairly fussy, involving lots of peeling, soaking, making of crusts, etc. Boulud being who he is, rest assured these are not “fix it and forget it” type stews.
Interestingly, the most wonderful recipe that we tried was one that did not require a long cooking time, the Scallops with Salsify, Shiitake Mushrooms, and White Miso. For this dish, the scallops are seared on one side, the vegetables are separately sautéed in butter and miso, and then the whole affair makes a brief, fifteen minute visit to the oven (first braised and then broiled with a toasted crouton and herb topping). There was something unfamiliar about this dish. I think it may have been the taste of the reduced yuzu, which I have not cooking with before. Whatever it was, we instantly fell in love with this charismatic, mysterious dish. This is one I will definitely make again, soon.
The recipes I tried these last two weeks made me appreciate Boulud’s sophistication, boldness and mastery of flavor and technique. I am still not 100% over my suspicion of slow cooking, but I did warm up to it a little bit more.
One caveat about this book, though: I have had it exactly three weeks and it is completely falling apart. Granted I do not treat my cookbooks gently but I thought that a three week shelf life is a little ridiculous. Not that this should stop anyone from getting this book, but just thought you should know.
See you next week!
I agree wholeheartedly with TCA on this book. I have had mixed experiences eating at Daniel, but have always felt that the food could be a bit more inventive and less "classic." The flavors and style of cooking in this book have given me a new appreciation for the man and his cooking.
Standouts for me were the fennel salad and the scallops. That being said, the pork was really good as well.
As the individual who peeled a large amount of the Jerusalem artichokes used for the pork dish, I can attest that though worth it, some were pretty labor intensive.
Posted by: Mr. Addict | April 02, 2008 at 12:15 PM