currently reading cookbooks

two books i'm currently studying:



The French Laundry Cookbook
by Thomas Keller

Supposedly The French Laundry is the best restaurant in the country, so I'm pretty damn curious what this guy can do in the kitchen and onto a plate...and i'm REALLY impressed with what I've only flipped through so far...the secrets about super green veggies and poached eggs and how important vinegar and salt are in cooking, and how if you can taste either of those two, well then you've used too much... check out his current menu





you've probably read my older posts about Anthony Bourdain and his tv show on the travel channel, No Reservations. I've been dying to see what kind of dishes he kicks out of his restaurant after seeing the guy critique food from all over the world and it's pretty decent french food, though nowhere near the innovation on Frnech Laundry. les halles is a typical decent french cafe, and bourdain even says so in the book... however, i've definitely scraped up some really nice recipes from this book, such as the pot au feu, coq au vin, onion soup, mushroom soup (for mel), beef bourgnion, and one or 2 duck dishes... oh and the real way to make stock and demi-glace.. some more on this book here...




happy labor day. life is cool. i worked work out for now...had a good sales month. melenie is doing good in grad school. stinke and meca are coming to visit us for thanksgiving. i have a new chef apron. my tomatoes and strawberries are blazing. fall is coming. i miss my friends. i want a dog. and a house with a big backyard. its saturday night and i had some beers with lunch. made a blazing breakfast. chopped up green bean and cherry tomatoes from the garden omlette w/ goat cheese, some tater tots and decent breakfast sausage cooked in chicken stock. happy hour/lunch around the corner, bloody mary, beer, spinach crab dip w/ chips, a pear and walnut and blue cheese salad, couple of oysters and a fish taco. helping mel w/ a powerpoint presentation tonight. reading more of my new cookbooks from the library. drink some wine, maybe.

bye for now.