Customer Reviews

Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, what this book is NOT: an introduction to classical French cuisine. Or even modern French cuisine. As Greenspan herself points out in a post at the eGullet forums,

"Here's what the book isn't: It's not Escoffier. It's not Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's not a by-the-rules book. It's not a textbook. It's too personal to be any of those things."

This is a collection of recipes that feels like it comes straight out of Greenspan's kitchen: which means that if your cooking style and tastes run with hers, you will like this book. If they don't, you won't. So despite my four-star rating, that is purely a reflection of how well my cooking style agrees with Ms. Greenspan's. I strongly encourage you to check out the table of contents before clicking "Buy" on this one. There are a lot of braises, including three different recipes for what amount to roast chicken. There are two veal stews, and two beef daubes. If that's the food you like to eat, you would be hard-pressed to find clearer, better-written recipes. Naturally Greenspan is not breaking any new culinary ground here: if you have even a medium-sized cookbook collection, you probably already have most of the recipes she presents. What you probably don't have is the exquisite photography (by Alan Richardson), or the extremely well-written recipe instructions. The production values of this book are very high indeed: I am astonished at how low the price is all things considered.

A few favorite recipes of the dozen or so I've made so far: Chicken Breasts Diable, Veal Marengo, Lamb and Dried Apricot Tagine, and the Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast are all very good. In particular I think that the Lamb and Dried Apricot Tagine would be a wonderful dish for an evening with guests: just exotic enough on the US palate to be different, without being totally out of left field. But all of those dishes would go over very well on a typical US dinner table, and some, like the Chicken Diable, are quick-and-easy weeknight meals.

Pros:
* Exceptionally well-written recipes
* High percentage of excellent dishes
* Fantastic production qualities

Cons:
* Not a "learn to cook French Cuisine" book (it doesn't try to be, though)
* Three roast chickens? Really?

I first discovered Dorie Greenspan after reading David Lebovitz's book "The Sweet Life in Paris." I loved the book and started reading everything I could on him. Since Lebovitz and Greenspan are friends, naturally on Google, I soon discovered Dorie's blog, doriegreenspan.com. The first time I went there, I was in search of a Financiers recipe. I used to get them in a wonderful bakery in New Orleans' French Quarter and fell in love with them, and found a good recipe on the blog.

A dear friend sent me Greenspan's latest book "around my french table." When I first opened it, I figured this would be so far out of my league, and probably mostly upscale Parisian food. Not having been to France (yet!) I wondered if I could find anything in the book that would be at my skill set, which is being a very good cook and baker but still, an amateur. I decided to take the book and lay across my bed perusing the recipes. In no time flat, I was off to the desk to get my post-it notes. By the end of the hour session, I had about a dozen recipes marked to make. Far from being anything like the average American envisions French cooking, this seemed to me to be French home cooking. (Actually, she had me on the front cover)...the photo of the recipe "chicken in a pot: the garlic and lemon version" which is depicted on the cover is a very good example of why it wasn't upscale cooking alone. A large, heavy porcelain cast iron dutch oven with a whole chicken, celery, garlic, sweet potato, onions and carrots surrounded by a golden ring of dough (a dough seal) between the pot and the lid. In my mind, this looked straight from Provence, like I know anything about Provençal cooking!

I ventured into some of the recipes. The first I made was the brown sugar squash and Brussels sprouts en papillote. Two years ago, I despised Brussels Sprouts. Now, I love them. The brown sugar and the squash make a sweet compliment and tone down the sulfuric taste of the sprouts. The dish was a big hit. Yesterday I tackled the cauliflower-bacon gratin. Oh wow.WOW. just delicious. I bet some kids would not even know those are cauliflower and not potatoes. The taste is so good, and this is my new favorite vegetable side dish. I also made the spiced butter-glazed carrots and this is going on the Thanksgiving table! On page 342, one of the simplest, yet most delicious and handy to have on hand recipes is the slow-roasted tomatoes. Seasoned and slow roasted, the flavor is intensified, and I keep them in a jar in the refrigerator. They are great with salads and I am sure would be great on pizza.

There are so many things I want to make, but usually I have to make them on the weekend. I have to make the garlic crumb-coated broccoli, the potato gratin (the photo is just wicked!) I found a French version of a brittle cookie my Mom used to make, but simpler and with an egg wash to make it golden, called salted butter break-ups. I can't wait to make that next weekend. I saw something good for the fall, pumpkin & Gorgonzola flans.

Ok, I am about to make myself sick with hunger, so let me just say: GET THIS BOOK! Your family and friends will want to steal it. Be sure and check out her blog at doriegreenspan.com Some of the recipes featured are in the book.

Did I mention the Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake?

UPDATE: I continue to cook my way through...MAKE the Potato Gratin. Velvet is what it should be called. Sinfully good, sinfully simple.

I made the Quiche Maraichere (pg.158), a French Vegetable Tart, the first day I received the book. My husband said it rated a "5 out of 4 stars"! It was delicious both hot and room temperature, and not difficult to make.

Tonight is the second night, and I am making Hachis Parmentier (pg.258)...basically a French Shepard's Pie. The fragrance of the meat cooking and making it's own beef broth is out of this world! Not hard to do, just takes some time.

Clear directions,beautiful photos, and easy to come by ingredients for the American cook; this is my new FAVORITE cookbook. Definitely worth every penny!

The fragrance of the food cooking brings an indescribable sense of home, comfort, and joy in living and being a cook.

Have you ever come across a new technique in a book that is so revolutionary, that it changes the way you do that one task forever??? It's rare, in my world. Yet, in Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table," I came across her method for "ruffled eggs" and I'll never poach eggs the same again. I just never had much success with the old boiling water and vinegar method. I had moved to poaching in the microwave a few years back, but the texture was never quite the same. Then in Dorie's book, I read about her ruffled eggs. Basically, it's like a sort of "sous-vide" at home. Here's what you do: Take two squares of plastic wrap (such as saran wrap), and put them one on top of each other in a small tea cup or ramekin. You want to indent in the middle so you have a place to put the egg...and let the rest go over the sides. Then spray the plastic with oil (such as Pam) and crack in your egg. Bring up the edges of the plastic wrap and twist them together. Dorie says to tie with kitchen twine, but as I don't have any, I never have. It's worked fine without. Then put your little packet into boiling water for 5-6 minutes. Take it out, and you'll have a perfect poached egg! Every time! If it's not fully cooked, you can retwist and return it to the water until you discover the amount of time it takes on your stove.

As for the rest of the recipes, they've been fabulous. I lived in the south of France as well as Paris, and have found numerous recipes which duplicate the tastes I remember. Dorie's recipes are definitely for the home cook--easy and accessible. She fills her book with little stories as well, so you feel like you're there along with her. I've made quite a few of the tartines as well as the soups. I remember the French family I lived with in Mougins always seemed to create such simple elegant soups from whatever they had on hand. Now, I feel that I can do the same.

My favorite part are her "bonne idees" (I don't know how to do accents on my laptop, mea culpa). Basically, recipe variations or substitutions which are included with almost every recipe. (Maybe every recipe, but I'm not going to go through each one to double check.)

This isn't just a beautiful book to look at, but one I think you will find yourself cooking from regularly. Dorie's instructions are really easy to follow--and the results are incredible. Merci bien, Dorrie.

I like DG and have her "Baking From My Home to Yours" book, which is excellent. I also follow her blog and have perused some of her other works and find her to be a great writer. I ordered this book from Amazon based on this, but now wish I had waited to check it out in store. I know the title says "300 Recipes," but, after reviewing the book, I really would have preferred 150 more selective choices. I feel like there is a lot of "filler" in this book to get to 300. There certainly seems to be some terrific ideas (and the previews from her blog over the year pretty much guarantee it) but there are a number of uninspired, plain, or not-very-French dishes that are easy for me to pass up ("Olive-olive Cornish hens, Coconut-lemongrass Braised Pork, Monkfish and Double Carrots"). I know there are tons of books on classical French, and I have no problem with DG wanting to go outside the box, but I really feel the collection of recipes is unfocused and somewhat random - two words I never would have associated with DG.

I love french food. I love to talk about it, I love to eat it. Cook it? Hmmmm, that's an entirely different matter. Where do you begin? Enter Dorie Greenspan's new book "Around My French Table " and I am hooked after the first easy to toss together Tartine. I thought French food would be more complicated and fiddly to prepare? Guess not. The book breaks it down so accessibly, that I'm almost embarrassed by how easy it all is. And delicious. I particularly enjoy the narrative within the sidebars short stories scattered throughout the book.

One of my new food book favorites this autumn!

I've been cooking from this wonderful book for several months, as I was lucky enough to snag a copy of the galleys
Every single dish has been a complete success. I've been playing in the kitchen for a long time and have a large collection of dependable recipes, so when I try a new one it has to earn its way into my Make-It-Again-and-Again repertoire. Well, cooking with Dorie has swelled that repertoire considerably.
But owning this book isn't just about great food --it's equally about great writing and spending time with an incredibly warm, caring cook with a gift for friendship And what friends: chefs such as Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Pierre Herme and talented home cooks from Paris and throughout the French countryside.-- all of whom have shared recipes and "trucs" (little tricks that make recipes shine).
If you love cooking, eating or just dreaming about French food, you have to treat yourself to this book

I read cookbooks and rarely cook from them. I took one look at Dorie Greenspan's new recipes and knew I would be cooking from the book. They are terrific, trustworthy and great to eat. I made her cheese crackers for a party. They were very easy and really good. My friends were shocked that I used a recipe from a cookbook and that it was wonderful.

I have had Around My French Table for over a week and have made at least one item from this cookbook a day. What is striking is that the flavors are "wow worthy", the instructions simple and easy to follow.....best of all...the ingredients are already in my kitchen. No need to go out on a mad hunt to different grocery stores for odd ingredients I will only use for one dish.

My family thinks I'm crazy, taking this cookbook to bed with me at night and reading for hours. But I can't help it, Dorie Greenspan's writing is so captivating. Each recipe has a little back story and includes hints and tips. Best of all, she gives the cook flexibility with the recipes - so you can make any recipe work just about any way you like it. Truly, this cookbook is a keeper.