Not one of his best
Rating:
2 / 5
After thoroughly enjoying the Olives cookbook and Olives dessert, I was disapointed at the simplicity of this cookbook. I was expecting more eye opening dishes from the master of Mediterranean cooking.
honest, easy food
Rating:
5 / 5
This cookbook is one of my favorites. Right now, the roasted tomato sauce is bubbling away in my oven. Picture this: fresh or even canned plummed tomatoes, sliced onion, olive oil, herbs--simply dump it all in a roasting pan, come back in an hour and you've got a superb sauce. Most of the recipes are this simple: honest, fresh, quality ingredients, simply prepared, with great results.
Todd English would not want to know how many friends have hand-copied recipes from my Figs Table cookbook--his publisher might sue me. I live near Boston, so everyone knows and loves Figs restaurant and the foodies will always spot the book in my kitchen and want to page through it. Inevitably, they will ask for pen and paper to copy recipes. I do think SOME of them actually bought the book.
In addition to the roasted tomato sauce, Olivia's chicken is another recipe I make at least a couple of times a month. I need to buy a pizza stone so that I can try the pizza recipes. I have had great luck with every recipe from this book.
You won't be dissappointed if you buy this book.
Incredible pizza crust and toppings, plus lots more
Rating:
5 / 5
So far I've mainly made the pizza recipes in this book, but they alone are worth the price. The crust recipe is heavenly and quite easy to make. The dough balls are so light and fluffy after rising that they practically float off the board. They hardly need any working and cook in 6-7 minutes on a baking stone into a uniquely thin, light, crunchy and tasty crust. One thing to watch out for, however, is that English specifies fresh yeast for the pizza dough. I had trouble finding that, so I used the active dry yeast commonly found in supermarkets, and after one try it worked perfectly. The equivalent measure for the two teaspoons of fresh yeast is one generous teaspoon of active dry. Also, dissolve the dry yeast in the water/oil liquid (at 115 degrees F) just prior to mixing, rather than putting it in with the dry ingredients as specified for the fresh yeast. If there's a fault to the book, it's that English doesn't help you much with substitutions like this that vary from his ideal. The pizza toppings are imaginative and yummy, and can inspire you to create your own. English tends to be a bit minimalist, however, so we sometimes increase the cheese and some other topping ingredients. I've also made the white-chocolate challah pudding, which lives up to its billing as "sex on a spoon". Be sure you have plenty of people to share it, however, or you'll wind up with a big pan of incredibly delicious but super-rich pudding calling to you from the fridge for days. It's a uniquely great cookbook. I look forward to working through the other recipes.
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