Customer Reviews

Bistro: French Country Recipes for Home Cooks

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

 

 

Bistro's are enjoying a renaissance on the restaurant scene and if the proliferation of new books with Bistro in the title are any indication, home cooks want to whip up some of these French homestyle dishes to share with family and friends too. Just what makes bistro cuisine so special? Ms. Washburn answers that question in her introduction, "...bistro is synonymous with simplicity...It is honest, fresh, and satisfying food...(that) is not expensive, it is not complicated, and it never goes out of fashion." For those of you the least bit familiar with French cuisine, the recipes will be like old friends coming back to share memories, but updated. For those of you just learning about French cusine, this book would make an excellent addition to your library and one that you'll pull out to make a special, easy dish for family and friends.

The book is divided into chapters by course: appetizers, entrées (in the American sense of main course), sides and sweet things. Nothing unusual there, but what is great is that each recipe is on its own spread - a full-page picture on one page with the recipe printed the page facing it. As an added plus, the book lays flat when opened. Each recipe also starts with a small anecdote explaining the history or some other aspect of the dish. For example, in the appetizer section there is a Basque Fish recipe, Ms. Washburn tells us that although France has many fish soups, only this one includes hot chilis. For the Braised Sea Bass with Fennel and Saffron and Harissa, we are told that sea bass and fennel are inseparable in the south and that ingredients such as harissa from the French colonies in North Africa are now found all over France.

When I first looked through the book, I felt it would be a good book to give to a beginning cook. So I showed it to a couple of beginners and we chose some recipes to try. Over the course of about 2 weeks we tried out 15 recipes, all with great success. They included: Chickpea Salad, Mixed Greens with Garlic vinaigrette, Pork Chops with Piquant Sauce, Stuffed Tomatoes, Creamy Potato gratin, Eggplant, onion and tomato tian and Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. All of them were easy to make and the directions easy to follow. We did run into one problem with the Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. I've always found it hard to find hazelnuts here in the U.S. and when you do the skins have to be removed. In the recipe, there were no directions for doing this, but that was a minor problem. The rest of the recipes were all successful and in some cases even looked like the picture!

I gave this book 5 stars based upon my spur-of-the-moment decision to make the spinach flan recipe tonight. I happened to have a bag of spinach, some eggs, and sour cream on hand so I went ahead, using a small pie pan and my convection toaster oven. Inspired, I also added some minced shallot with the spinach and a light topping of feta cheese. However, I suspect that even without my embellishments, the dish would still be absolutely incredibly delicious. Wow. The flan was so good that, along with a glass of white wine, I ate the entire dish -- alone. I have already input the recipe into my computer's recipe archive and I know that I will make this regularly for breakfast and/or the occasional solitary dinner. May the other recipes in this book be as wonderful.

This is one of the best cookbooks I have ever read. The recipes are plain and simple, yet very delicious. This book is great for me, since I've wanted to learn French bistro cooking. Due to my job, I do not have the time to take classes. Several recipes intrigue my college daughter - she is a vegetarian. Laura - you did it again! YUM!