Customer Reviews

Christina's Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Northwest Island Kitchen

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

 

 

As customers who have already enjoyed Christina's restaurant--which, as expats visiting from France, my family and I stumbled into 20 years ago--we may be biased. But this is more than a compendium of the wonderful cuisine we have enjoyed there, more than the sum of welcome and ambiance (and WHAT a view from the deck overlooking the waters of Eastsound!). Christina knows how to write as well as to cook. The little essays about discovering food as she grew up in the Pacific Northwest bring the recipes to life. They also provide a capsule history of a generation: from the wheat fields of eastern Washington to the burgeoning restaurants of Portland, Oregon, to the lovely little island north of Seattle (Orcas) that is home to the gem she created as a single mom a couple of decades ago. Read the book. Go to the restaurant. Live some history!

We purchased this book during a visit to the most beautiful of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State, Orcas Island. The food reminds me so much about what I love about Orcas Island. Fresh, natural, organic foods prepared simply to create an elegant evening for any home. You will love this book. Every recipe is a supreme delight!

Christina opened her restaurant on beautiful Orcas Island over 25 years ago and it's still a restaurant we recommend to visitors as a must. Before it was fashionable she began her restaurant committed to fresh local ingredients and seasonal recipes. We love her cookbook because it's designed that way with pages dedicated to tomatoes, apples or oysters and we love her stories about growing up in the Northwest and how that shaped her vision of food. The best thing is the percentage of recipes we'd make again - always our judge of a great cookbook. We love her crab fondue, her steamed clams with thyme and lemon vodka, her picnic chicken liver terrine, roasted vegetable salad with tomato caper vinegrette, hot and sour fish soup... and there's lots more. Makes your mouth water doesn't it!!!!!!

I was prepared to love this cookbook after reading the other reviews and knowing something of Christina's history. However, I am not sure how tested the recipes are. For instance, the Lamb Shanks, Flageolets and Root Vegetables (the cover). In the directions, it says to remove the shanks from the oven after 1 and 1/2 hours and add the beans. The next direction is to remove 1/2 hour BEFORE it's done to add the root vegetables. Now I'm something of a seasoned cook so I don't have any trouble determining when my beans are nearly done but a novice might get confused so it would be nice to at least estimate the length of time the beans should cook.
For me the recipes are lovely and I am able to convert or adapt as needed in cooking for one or two people. I recommend the book to anyone that loves o cook.

My wife and I enjoyed a night full of incredible food and music at Christina's on the evening of our wedding. The reception was attended by friends who took planes, trains, and ferries from as far away as Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Ann Arbor... everyone fell in love with Christina's food, Bruce's smile, and Christopher's Hot Monks. A perfect night to a perfect wedding day. Christina's cookbook is a wonderful reminder of the unique flavors and fresh tastes that has always distinguished her restaurant as simply the best!