Jewish Cooking For All Seasons: Fresh, Flavorful Kosher Recipes for Holidays and Every Day

"The recipes in this book are mouthwateringlydelicious I know because I've prepared most of them.This exciting book thoroughly demonstrates thatkosher food can be as refined as the most exquisitegourmet cuisine. This is a real winner." Charlie Trotter Laura Frankel, full-time chef and full-time mother, celebrates and enlivens Jewish cooking for the holidays and meals throughout the year with this book of seasonal specialties from Shallots restaurant, adapted for home cooks. In autumn, wow the family at Rosh Hashanah with Quince-Stuffed Veal Breast with Roasted Fennel and Apples and a knockout Chocolate Opera Torte with Chocolate Ganache, and in spring, serve an unforgettable Passover meal of Leek-Spinach Soup and Standing Rib Roast with Porcini Mushroom Crust and Mushroom-Onion Ragout. Jewish Cooking for All Seasons features 150 tempting recipes for soups, salads, starters, main dishes, and desserts grouped by season so you can use fresh produce to its best advantage and serve unique dishes for the holidays. Frankel's passion for the best, freshest ingredients is inspiring. Even when she writes about heirloom tomatoes at the peak of flavor or rhapsodizes about the fragrance packed into a tiny vanilla bean, she helps you genuinely appreciate the difference top-quality ingredients make in everything you prepare.

"The dinner table inTHE kosher home is the center of family life." —Laura Frankel Whether she is in Shallots®, her highly respected Chicago-area restaurant, or cooking in her home, chef Laura Frankel believes in using the best ingredients to create incredible kosher dishes. In this book, she celebrates and updates Jewish cooking with innovative recipes for holidays and everyday meals, adapting many of her restaurant classics for the home kitchen. She also expands the traditional repertoire, drawing on flavors from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Mexico, and many other regions forinspiration. Keeping kosher and celebrating holidays, she shows, do not require compromising flavor, but do call for creativity. Fresh and top-quality ingredients are key to Frankel's cooking, so she groups 150 delicious recipes by season, allowing you to create wonderful menus for holidays, Shabbat meals, or anytime you feel inspired. In spring, try Morel Mushrooms Stuffed with Ground Veal or Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp. For summer, serve Heirloom Tomato Salad or Shallots Fried Chicken. In autumn, try specialties such as Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque or Homemade Gnocchi. In winter, enjoy Braised Veal Shankswith Moroccan Spices and Mango "Gremolata"or Sticky Toffee Pudding. Every recipe has make-ahead information for holiday or Shabbat preparation, plus a short introduction that includes tips, serving ideas, or information that will heighten your appreciation of the dish. A Basic Recipes section includes recipes for spice mixes, pickled vegetables, stocks, garnishes, and more that you can make and store so you have a head start. Then you can just buy the fresh ingredients and get cooking. You'll find recipe suggestions for the Jewish holidays, as well as a list of all the recipes by course in the event that you want to mix and match your own menus. There are also sections on choosing high-quality, versatile cooking equipment and finding sources for good kosher ingredients. Jewish Cooking for All Seasons will inform and inspire kosher and nonkosher cooks who want to share memorable meals with family and friends.

You can say one thing for this collection of modern kosher recipes it ain't chopped liver. That fatty, flavorful favorite is replaced with fancy-schmancy fare like Artichoke Confit and Fava Bean Salad. Frankel, owner of Shallots restaurant in Chicago, deserves credit for widening the horizons of kosher cooking, as she incorporates novelties such as venison (Ginger-Marinated Venison Loin with Purple Sticky Rice and Spring Pea Salad) and bison (Bison, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches). Dishes are grouped by season, but despite the promising subtitle, there are no holiday menus included. Chatty prose abounds in sidebars ("It may sound a little silly to say that I am passionate about salmon. Nevertheless... I am!"). There's nothing especially Jewish about Grilled Marinated Short Ribs with Spicy Fruit Barbecue Sauce or Herbed Roasted Chicken with Quinoa-Mushroom Pilaf except that they can be prepared to meet the laws of kashrut. Even without a strong hook, though, bubbe would approve, and the two million kosher households in the U.S., as the publisher figures, will likely be grateful for these new recipes. (Aug.) ( Publishers Weekly , May 8, 2006)

"You can say one thing for this collection of modern kosher recipes-- it ain't chopped liver.... Frankel, deserves credit for widening the horizons of kosher cooking." ( Publishers Weekly , May 8, 2006)