Customer Reviews

Tom's Big Dinners: Big-Time Home Cooking for Family and Friends

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
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This is neat concept, that of "big dinner." Tom and his wife both knew what this was all about, everyone has their own job. Now, for Tom it means that everybody contributes something to the meal. What a great idea!

He starts it with helping us home chefs to "Basics" that is making stuff in advance and saving it, e.g. stocks,dough, etc. so that it comes in handy in putting together spectacular dinners.

Additionally cool about this are the some thirteen feats that are Tom's big dinner gang's favs. There is the rarified Wine Cellar Dinner with Chocolate Crepes for the finale, or the inviting "Merlot Release Picnic." This has as its continuous theme, you guessed it, "merlot." Included is yummy "Lamb Chop T-bones in crushed cherry marinade with tarragon mustard," with merlot in the marinade. This is great picnic or barbie fare.

The book is warmly written with great color photography and source info and wine & drink suggestions galore. Big dinners will be advanced significantly and funnier with this aid.

Tom's Big Dinners is a big ambitious cookbook, which will be perfect for all ambitious chefs out there who have plenty of friends and kitchen space. Tom Douglas has planned 10 wonderful dinners, complete with the wine and mixed drinks. The dinners are all fabulously planned and wonderfully varied. You could please vegetarians and carnivores at each of these feasts. These recipes, however, are not really for the kitchen novice, but certainly are something to set your sights on if you are one. Douglas provides some helpful "prepare ahead" tips, but not too many shortcuts. He tells wonderful stories about all of these meals--they certainly have worked for him.

I love this book. Tom's a legend in the Seattle area. You'll see his first book reviewed by many Northwesterners. I prefer this book to his first. It's beautiful, well laid out and has a wealth of information for those who seriously love to cook...or beginners who are at least willing to get put some effort into a few spectacular dishes. I find the variety of recipes accessible to people with varying skills in the kitchen. I have had about a dozen dishes from this book (made by me and friends) and each has been fabulous. Enjoy!

I've had this book for years and had only made desserts until now because the recipes were less intimidating than the multi-page "big dinners" that take hours of preparation and 85 different ingredients. The blueberry cornmeal tart is a favorite in my house. But this week I've made a few different things from the book and they've all been REALLY delicious. Tom Douglas has a knack for Greek cooking, as his Greek restaurant here in Seattle (Lola) is delish. So I tried his Greek-themed dinner the other night and it was a hit in my house. The yogurt sauce is delicious (make sure you get some good Greek yogurt for it - I tried it with regular yogurt before and it's not as good) and the grilled shrimp and garlic-stuffed black olives skewers are great. grilled lamb skewers with red wine and honey glaze was also really delicious even after marinating only for a couple of hours (as opposed to overnight as the recipe calls for). Oh, and the smashed Greek potatoes ARE SO GOOD! Holy cow, I never want to eat a different potato. They're even better homemade than the ones you can get at his Greek restaurant, Lola. Yum!

I also made the fresh corn crepes with goat cheese and roasted peppers, ancho chile sauce (YUM), avocado-tomatillo salsa, and fresh corn salsa. I'm not a huge pepper fan, and roasting/peeling the peppers can be very time-consuming, but the people I made this for LOVED IT. And I must say, it was really delicious. The ancho chile sauce is SO good, kind of sweet and spicy thanks to the orange juice it's made with. The crepes are easy and tasty, and can be made ahead, the fresh corn salsa is yummy, and the avocado-tomatillo salsa is fresh and a perfect complement to all the other parts of the meal. Definitely read through all the recipes before you make them, though. It took me about 1.5 hours to make all this on a weekday night, which felt like forever. Probably better for a weekend, or just make lots of stuff ahead of time and them put it together, or better yet you could probably make all of the crepes and stick them in the fridge or freezer, then bake them at the last minute while making the corn salsa and tomatillo salsa. The ancho chile sauce was fine in the fridge for about 4 days after I made it ahead. Seriously though, this whole menu was SO GREAT, looks impressive, and is vegetarian to boot! Perfect if you're trying to cut back on how much meat you eat.

Don't be fooled by the "Big Dinners" aspect of the book's title - you can definitely feed a crowd with these recipes, but you can also have some leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day OR if you're cooking for ~4 people, some people might want seconds and this is perfect. Definitely halve the recipes if you're cooking for 2 though (other than things like pies and desserts and other baked goods that don't really scale that way).

If you live in the Seattle area, you can easily find all the ingredients you need for these recipes. Even if you don't, there's nothing that you won't be able to find if you know a good place to get fresh seafood. I do find myself cooking more from this book in the summer when there's lots of fresh produce and seafood available. Plus, there's a lot of grilling, which I don't particularly like to do inside (although you could). My only realy complaint is that there are a few recipes that look wonderful but I won't be making because I don't deep-fry at home (too much of a hassle). So, sadly there will be no sweet goat cheese turnovers, homemade potato chips, or crispy shrimp rolls with sweet chile sauce for me. Oh well, I guess that's the kind of thing you'd go to his restaurants for anyway - let the pros do it.

I have Tom's Big Dinners cookbook checked out from the library, but tonight after making the entire fresh corn crepes dinner (with goat cheese & roasted peppers, ancho chile sauce, avocado-tomatillo salsa, & fresh corn salsa), I want my own copy of the book to try out some other recipes. The crepes are so good that it's hard to not just eat them up and skip the rest of the meal. ' Judging from the one dinner I've made, these recipes definitely take some time; but, for me, they also infused some much-needed enthusiasm into meal-prep time as I stepped outside my normal box and made something new that was also exceptionally delicious.

Tom Douglas is an award winning Seattle chef. He and his wife Jackie have several successful eating establishments to their credit. In this book he gives 13 of his favorite feasts- big dinners. He tells stories of his family and food philosophy and gives a section of cooking basics including his recipe for chicken stock.

He tells what to do with leftover food, barbeque tips, and what kind of wine goes with Chinese food. He advises what equipment you should have and sources for that and for ingredients.
Each feast has a story and of course menus and recipes. There are many pictures, but not necessarily of the food itself; instead this book is almost a coffee table book, more of a joyful romp through the feast of food . .Some recipes included are: caramelized fennel tart, smoked paprika rouille, and bitter orange chocolate mousse.
Feasts included are: salmon roast, Chinese, Pike Place Market, wine cellar, crab feed, Greek, Barbecue, winter solstice, Czech, Merlot release, spring chickens, and Christmas Eve.

It is not a regular cookbook, nor for the beginner or unadventuresome