Charlie Trotter's Vegetables (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "To me, each January day feels like the morning after a great party..." (more)
Key Phrases: nonstick sheet pan, cipolline onions, pepper cress, Wine Notes, Pickling Juice, Sauvignon Blanc (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There has never been a more sensuous vegetarian cookbook than this one. The food is photographed so as to accentuate its color and texture, and you'll want to dive naked into the Chilled Yellow Taxi Tomato Soup with Avocado-Coriander Sorbet and take a little swim. The wine notes that accompany each recipe are thoughtful and sensible, a valuable addition to this amazingly beautiful book. Charlie Trotter, who owns the eponymous five-star Chicago restaurant, says: "I just happen to be in love with the experience of touching, cooking, and eating the multitude of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains. It is sincerely one of the most sensual joys of my life."

From Publishers Weekly

Chef Trotter's fancy, multi-ingredient, almost-vegetarian dishes are as rich and extravagant?and as fussy and specialized?as those featured in his renowned Chicago restaurant and presented in his first book, Charlie Trotter's (1994). The 82 recipes here are arranged by month, and in name alone, the recipes are a mouthful: January leads off with Baby Carrot Terrine with Shiitake Mushroom Salad, Carrot Juice Reduction, Dill Oil, and 50-Year-Old Balsamic Vinegar. The preparation of Arugula Noodles with Smoked Yellow Tomato Sauce, Black Olives, and Roasted Garlic Puree requires the cook to make arugula pasta and arugula oil and, for the sauce, to smoke the tomatoes over hickory chips lit with a propane torch. Wine Notes for each recipe are helpful, as is a glossary that defines terms like "kashi" (it's the mixture of seven specific grains called for in Cold Kashi Salad with Dried Cranberries, Celery, White Pumpkin, Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Seed Oil). While a few suggestions for substitutions would have allowed the home cook some welcome flexibility, flexibility is not in the exacting spirit of this chef. Trotter offers highly specific instructions (even to calling for hazelnuts from a certain farm in Oregon) for constructing complexly flavored, architecturally beautiful dishes. So long as readers are not misled, this volume, which is expensive in both in price and effort, delivers.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (July 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898158389
• ISBN-13: 978-0898158380
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,155 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Charlie Trotter Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, July 31, 2002

By	Weimarner (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

I have had this book for past two years and have tried a lot of the recipes. As a vegetarian, I have always had a hard time to find a book that has recipes that very tasty (I am not a big fan of meat substitute), simple, and beautiful. His books provides them all. His soups are pathetically easy...cook, blend, strain, and serve. He does spend sometime in decoration but these are usually not neccessary (I only ocassionally do that, eliminating them will not impact the overall taste). Unlike other readers, I have not had a hard time finding ingredients but then again, I live in Chicago and shop at numerous places for groceries. Although, Whole foods and Treasure Island (chicago area only) carries every single ingredient he calls for (some obviously are seasonal). It is an excellent book for people who love to cook seasonal vegetables (he breaks his recipes by months).

His dishes are laid out for course meals so the portions are small. I eat very small portions so if I cook the soup (the entire recipe, suggested serving is four) with some bread on side, it is enough for my friend and I.

I disagree with anyone who says that the recipes are hard to use. The time consuming part is roasting, baking, or cooling time (which does not require you spend the entire time in the kitchen, I generally spend that time to go do something else). I usually don't have the flavored oils that he calls for but I just substitute with one of the oils I have or just really good olive oil. I think if you have the time than go for the entire recipe but skipping the oils, or very small amount of sauce is not going to hurt the taste of the dish.

If you are intimidated by his book, I suggest your start with his soup recipe (for example, his Tomato soup recipe calls for taxi tomato...if you don't find taxi tomato, use big yellow tomato or even good quality red tomato).

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging but worth the effort, January 5, 1999

By A Customer

Charlie Trotter's "Vegetables" decorated my coffee table for over a year before I dared to cook from it. I started with six recipes for a dinner party of 6 people. By checking sources early in the week I was able to find most ingredients, the most difficult part of the entire process. I had to substitute a few items, but all very successfully. The next trick was to start early (it might take hours of boiling to reduce a stock down to the desired consistency). So I wouldn't be cooking while my quests were there, I prep'ed everything I possibly could and only had to do a few last minute sautes to finish things up. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was a "triumph." Later, I realized that in the 6 recipes I made there was no garlic and only one herb in the final prep--all the wonderful flavors came from concentrations of the natural ingredients and the unusual match-ups. Though not marketed as a vegetarian cookbook, I made it so by substituting a slightly thickened vegetable stock for veal stock. Now I ready to take on more of Charlie Trotter's "Vegetables."

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a love for vegetables, November 28, 2001

By	CJ Hafner (Menlo Park, CA United States) - See all my reviews

None of these recipies are easy, but if you are willing to sacrafice time and money, the results are pretty amazing. I find CT's Vegetables to be his most versitile book, where Charlie really shows us his most spectacular innovations.

I've cooked successfully out of this cookbook for 4 years, and have come back to it time and time again, when I'm in need of something truly smashing - and in particular, when I'm feeding vegetarian friends.

A word to the wise, buy this book to cook from only if you know your way around a kitchen and the standard resturant vocubulary (he's not going to tell you how to blanch or julienne). Another word of warning - don't try any of this if you're trying to take care of small children at the same time - the recipies demand all of you attention.

Show stoppers are the glorios carmalized onion and potato tart, the chilled cucumber soup, the blue cheese souffle (the brioche is out of this world), the asparagus terrine, and the grits-filled morelles. ymmmm.