Customer Reviews

Adventures in Jewish Cooking

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jeffrey Nathan. Is he a son of author, Joan Nathan? Nope, his mom is Harriet Nathan. Jeffrey Nathan. The executive chef at New York City's top kosher restaurant, Abigael's. You mean the chef isn't a woman named Abigael? Nope. Jeffrey Nathan. What does a former Navy cook know about kosher cooking? Plenty. Jeffrey Nathan. The most adventuresome, kosher celebrity chef? DEFINITELY! Growing up Jewish in an Italian neighborhood of Queens, NY, Nathan was exposed to unique dishes at home and at the neighbors. Having worked in kitchens since childhood, from Italian to Naval to Sephardic to "New Deal" wild-game, he knows a lot, and this CIA grad imparts it to the reader in breezy, interesting, chatty prose. Each recipe is tagged as Meat, Dairy, or Pareve, and is preceded by a few sentences about how it recipe was conceived.

Highlights include: A chopped liver in which the onions are browned in brandy (a secret to using a food processor is taught); a Vegetarian Chopped Liver using apples and corn flakes in addition to the familiar green beans; and Latin American Cerviche, a Passover alternative to gefilte fish that uses salmon and red snapper cut on a bias and served with a crunchy salsa salad that incorporates matzo with mango, jalapeno, peppers, citrus, and tomatoes.

Speaking of gefilte fish, try the Gefilte Fish Terrine with Carrots and Beet Salads. Familiar with lox and cream cheese? Try his Smoked Salmon Cheesecake with a bit of roasted pepper vinaigrette (he explains how to roast the peppers). There are recipes for 16 soups and stocks, including, of course, a classic Chicken Soup, as well as a miso variation, and a Sephardic variation with Sofrito and Saffron. Tired of chickens? Try Salmon Corn Chowder or his (dairy) Loaded Baked Potato Soup. Do salads bore you? Among his 14 salads are Abigael's House Salad with crunchy greens, almonds, and roasted Garlic (a lesson on roasting garlic); a Hungarian Slaw, an Asian Two Cabbage Slaw (napa and red) with soy and sesame oil; and a Challah Panzanella Salad, inspired by the day old Tuscan bread salads and pita based fattoush.

What? No Brisket? Of course, there is. Try his herb and cilantro infused Latin Beef Brisket with Chimichurri, BBQ Vinaigrette, and Sweet Potatoes. Did I mention his Apple Cider Brisket (3 onions, 3 cups of cider, molasses and more)? His son's trip to Peru and a love of cumin crusted steak led to the recipe for Peruvian Steak with Red Grapes and Onions. His Lamb with Ratatouille and a Balsamic "syrup" are inspired. Syrian Lemon Chicken Stew "vibrates" like he said it will (better than the one they serve at Esca). Nathan's poultry recipes include those with Orange-Soy marinades, paprikash, preserved lemons, pojarski, Yemenite, and raisin and asian styles. A kosher Jambalaya? Yes, he makes it with turkey and veal sausage. Eleven fish recipes are included. Try the Falafel-Crusted Salmon, and the Jamaican Jerk Salmon. Vegetables? Yes, Jews eat vegetables. Try the savory hamantaschen with a vegetable based stuffing; a vegetarian chili; ginger applesauce; a Portobello fajita; wild mushroom kugel; and potato dumplings provencale. Among the nearly dozen pasta recipes is one for a spicy mac and cheese kugel with 3 peppers. Side dishes include a mango-date haroset; smoked trout and scallion mashed potatoes; root vegetable tzimmes; Yemenite curry rice; and string bean puttanesca (a Jewish puttanesca? Her mother has no nachas). Breads include a unique Bialy Loaf and Yemenite Skillet Breads. The book closes with sample menus, measurements, and several desserts, including Jewish standards and a Passover Banana Cake and a Banana Soufganiot pudding.

The restaurant Abigael's is wonderful and now to have a cook book by the Chef is great. I've had the opportunity to attend a cooking class given by Chef Nathan and tried the recipes from the class with complete success. The recipes in the book are easily done at home. I tried the roasted lemon-rosemary chicken and it came out exactly as pictured in the book !!! My kids, ranging in age 6 - 11 devoured the chicken, normally I need to beg them to try something new. Not this time. The Creole Chicken is the best and so easy to make !!! The recipes are klutz proof and easily reproduced in a non-gourmet kitchen. This is a worthwhile investment or terrific gift. You don't have to be kosher to love the food.

I have really enjoyed cooking from this new book. I am the designated cook for family gatherings and I am always looking for new and different ways to prepare traditional recipes. I found the book easy to follow, and the results as good as the pictures. I loved that Jeffrey gave resource for some of the more unusual ingredients found in the book. I reccommend this book highly to kosher and non-kosher cooks.

After having, accidentally discovered Jeffrey Nathan's show on television (New Jewish Cusine), about 8 months age and became an avid viewer and an occational diner in his restaurant, "Abigael's on Broadway", I eagerly awaited his cookbook. The waiting was worth it. I've already made and enjoyed the ruggelah and various other desserts and am now starting on main dishes. The instructions are letter perfect and the results show that. ...I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about cooking.

Disagreement makes the world go 'round. But when I read a review that I know to be out-and-out unfair, I have to jump in and set the record straight.

I have happily cooked my way through this book. I do agree with the readers who found some of the recipes time-consuming and difficult to shop for. However, the book is not advertised as "fast and easy" cooking (a claim that many other chef's books falsely use with abandon), so I wasn't surprised to see many of Nathan's restaurant's signiature dishes appear. Restaurant cooking should be different than home cooking, and this book offers both. As I often cook plain as well as fancy, I like his approach. Being a fan of his TV show, I knew to expect a chef's sensibility towards food--and few of them, for better or worse, count ingredients or bowls!

What rankles me is how jsholkoff talks about the lack of instructions. Did we cook from the same book? I have made both chocolate mousses in the book. Chocolate Flowerpots (OK, I served them in bowls and not individual clay pots) is not made with a ganache. Could this reviewer mean Matzo Napoleons with White Chocolate Mousse? If so, the instructions are spot on. And no where in the book did I see dropped temperatures or incomplete instructions for doneness. In fact, Nathan even tells you what level to place the oven rack.
Sherry Yard's book (which, by the way, I found full of inconsistencies and errors, and has photographs of desserts that are decorated with garnishes not in the book, which really peeves me)is ABOUT making desserts, so I would expect the mousse directions to be concise and detailed. Nathan's instructions for his mousses are not lacking, as I can attest from actually cooking them. I must admit that I take most amazon reviews with a huge spoonful of salt because I can often tell that too many people profile cookbooks that they have not even cooked from.

When you want a fancy dish for company, roll up your sleeves and tackle Nathan's Porcini Striped Bass with Smoked Trout Mashed Potatoes or similar tongue-(or toque-) twisters. Otherwise, there is lots of everyday fare, such as Grilled Chicken Breasts with Orange-Soy Marinade and Sea Bass Vera Cruz.

I was thrilled to learn of a cookbook which put an updated spin on Jewish cooking. Reading the 5 star reviews added to my anticipation in receiving the book. Unfortunately, the book doesn't live up to my expectations. While the book includes some interesting dishes, the recipes are time consuming and include hard-to-find ingredients. I am a working mother of two and do not have unlimited amount of time to cook.

Check out Marlene Sorosky's books. While the dishes are not as exotic, there are plenty of recipes with interesting spin that are not as time consuming. She even includes ideas for make ahead planning and shortcuts.

Finally! The book I've been waiting for! I am a devoted fan of Chef Nathan's TV cooking show and patron of his restaurant in New York City. The companion book is equisite in it's detail of mouth-watering recipes. I especially love the personal anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter. This past weekend I prepared the Moroccan Sea Bass on page 136 and it actually came out perfect and delicious. It is a tribute to Chef Nathan that you don't have to be Jewish to prepare and enjoy this wonderful array of international recipes he has brought to us.

"Oy gevald, that's not how my bubbeh prepared matzah ball soup," you will probably exclaim with shock when you first come across Jeff Nathan's version of that healing dish. "Neither did she cook brisket with apple cider and rosemary -- rosemary schmoesmary, she used to say!"

But once your shock subsides you will find yourself in posession one of the best kosher cookbooks out there. With a mish-mosh of ingredients and cooking methods from around the world, Jeff Nathan created a masterpiece guide for the I-need-a-break-from-the-potato-knish Jew. He was a pioneer when he opened up Abigail's, wandering into the Kosher-fusion restaurant desert. Back then there weren't yet kosher restaurants that served sushi, the idea of a good kosher restaurant was were you could get an oversized pastrami sandwich with a hummus appetizer.

Bottom line: great recipes for the kosher kitchen, with parve alternatives for many dishes requiring meat or dairy. When I need to cook for guests, I usually turn to Jeff for help. Most of the recipes have a Jewish twist to them (I cracked when I saw the recipe for "Gefilte Fish Terrine". He must've had one too many cups of Manischewitz wine that day, I thought.)

Buy this book! I can't say enough good things about Chef Nathans' book! This is a great book for kosher cooks AND it is a great storehouse of recipes and techniques for any kind of cooking! With most cookbooks I am pleased if I walk away with one or two "keeper" recipes. With Chef Nathans' book, every recipe I've tried has been outstanding! When it comes to spices, these recipes present some unusual combinations; yet trust me every dish I've tried has come out perfectly and interestingly spiced! I can imagine how hard it was to create these recipes, then adapt them for the home; that hard work is certainly appreciated! Trying these recipes is somewhat like attending a master class in cooking! These are the types of dishes you remember when you go to a great restaurant and have fond memories about that special meal. I look forward to going to Abigael's restaurant to compare what I've made to the real version. My only complaint about the book is that it only comes in a hard-back edition. It would be wonderful if there were also a version in a spiral bound format where every page was laminated so you cook with it right in front of you. This is really an outstanding cookbook in every way and highly recommended.

After using this book to make several recipes, I was pleasantly surprised, and discovered that the dishes actually worked! I cooked the challah, the falafel encrusted salamon and the double baked honey potatoes.

All the recipes were good, but they were somewhat complicated. This is "restaurant style" food, and not something one can make on a weeknight. I guess Nathan's new book covers that area.

I would give this four and a half stars; I still think that some of the recipes could use more explanation.