Suzanne GoinReseñas

I haven't eaten at AOC. Maybe if I had I would have liked this a bit better. I did find a few things that look interesting to make mostly in the salad and desert sections.

I can't wait until lockdown is over and we all feel more comfortable about being together again so that my friends and I can have a dinner party around this cookbook. We live in LA and will sorely miss Lucques when it is gone. We've spent the last 8ish years celebrating with each other on Cassoulet night. My mother and I also went numerous times for Sunday Supper. When friends would come to town my husband and I would take them out to dinner at Lucques.
There were quite a few recipes I would make. Funny enough I'm looking forward to the hot chocolate recipe the most :)

Suzanne Goin is one of my favorite female chefs. She's truly a role model: she knows good food, she's successful, she's fit and healthy, and her recipes are incredibly good. Basically everything I hope to be.
I wouldn't recommend this book for beginners, of course. Also, most of the ingredients aren't available in this part of town, but I don't think you need to stick to the script when it comes to cooking some things. Think of her menus/recipes as mere suggestions and you will get the most amazing ideas in no time.
I cannot wait to try the halibut with fingerlings, fava beans, lemon and creme fraiche. And the lamb skewers. Also, the coconut flan sounds really good.

There is a lot of text here, so much so, I skipped over most of it: the Forward, Acknowledgements, & Introduction alone were 12 pages of not very large print. The recipes are in menu form and broken down in to sections by season and each season has 1 1/2 pages of print. Each season also has a list of vegetables & fruits that you can get from the local Farmers' market, what they are, taste, texture, how to sue & prepare them.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, & Winter all contain 8 different menus w/ four dishes each. Each recipe has a list of ingredients, a short to long paragraph about the dish, notes/tips on preparation, and instructions for preparation which can be quite long.

The photographs were lovely, but most of the dishes do not have photographs.

What sounded good to me:
Saffron risotto; Sweet cherry compote;
Wold striped bass w/ faro, black rice, green garlic & tangerine;
Sautee of white asparagus, morels & ramps over polenta;
Glazed duck confit w/ black rice, mizuna & cherries;
Ricotta gnocchi w/ chanterelles, sweet corn, & sage brown butter;
Grilled pork burgers w/ Rob's coleslaw;
Green Goddess salad w/ romaine, cucumbers, & avocado;
Mussels & clams w/ vermouth, cannellini beans & cavolo nero;
grilled Quail w/ pancetta, ricotta pudding & Sicilian breadcrumbs;
Warm squid salad w/ spinach, chorizo, & black olives;
Jessica's favorite Meyer lemon tart w/ a layer of chocolate;
Taylor Bay scallops w/ chanterelles, sherry & parsley breadcrumbs;
Blood oranges, dates, parmesan & almonds
Wild mushroom tart w/ Gruyere, young onions & herb salad......

I'd like someone to cook for me from this cookbook, but it is not one I would cook from, unless I was able to take short-cuts.

I had never even heard of Lucques before this cookbook made a big splash in the blogosphere a few years ago. I've had my copy for ages now but it's not one I reach for often. Something about this book is a little intimidating, though not all the recipes are complicated. I guess it's the perpetual problem of having too many cookbooks and not enough time to cook. And this is a real entertaining cookbook, not your everyday get-a-meal-on-the-table cookbook.

The book is divided into seasonal menus, each containing an appetizer (often a soup or salad), 2 different entrees (so you can choose between fish or chicken, red meat or white meat, etc., or if you're having a really elaborate meal, you could do both), and a dessert. There are TONS of mouthwatering photos, too, which I always appreciate. If I hosted a lot of dinner parties or cooked for dates more often, this book would get a lot of use, cause it's really perfect for when you want to impress someone. All the recipes in the book are designed to serve six.


A few dishes I've tried:

Jessica's Favorite Meyer Lemon Tart with a Layer of Chocolate: 4.5 stars
What's better than lemon curd? Lemon curd with chocolate. Minus a half star because the crust shrank quite a bit. I would probably make this again with my usual pâte sucrée recipe instead.

Devil's Chicken Thighs with Braised Leeks and Dijon Mustard: 4 stars
I guess the "devil" in this recipe comes from lots of vermouth, mustard, and breadcrumbs. This was quite easy and very flavorful, though I found it a bit on the salty side. I love braised leeks, but I think I like the ones in [b:All about Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking|400137|All about Braising The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking|Molly Stevens|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174439342s/400137.jpg|389567] a little better.

Braised Beef Brisket with Horseradish Cream: 4 stars
This particular brisket is braised in balsamic vinegar and dark beer with lots of herbs and the usual mirepoix. It was great, but I have yet to try a bad brisket recipe... it's just good comfort food. The horseradish cream was a nice variation. I also made the suggested side dish of Sautéed Rapini with Garlic and Chile, which was fine but nothing really notable, except for the exorbitant amount of oil it calls for.

Wild Mushroom Tart with Gruyere, Young Onions, and Herb Salad: 3 stars
I love a good savory tart, but unfortunately this one wasn't much more than the sum of its parts.


There are lots more recipes in here I have my eye on, so I'll be sure to update this review.