Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean Flavors to Crave with Wines to Match
Author: Cathy Mantuano
After the workday, in places like Seville, Milan, Barcelona, and other cities that dot the Mediterranean, people gravitate to wine bars to relax, meet friends, savor small dishes of flavorful food, and, of course, enjoy the local wines that perfectly complement the moment.
In Wine Bar Food, acclaimed restaurateurs Cathy and Tony Mantuano show you how to re-create this irresistibly appealing part of the Mediterranean lifestyle at home. Organized by city, from Lisbon to Rome, and paired with accessible wines from each region, the delightfully unpretentious, simply prepared dishes can be shared as small plates by many or make a sit-down dinner for two or more. The 100 recipes emphasize flavor and ease of preparation over strict authenticity, so you’ll be able to round up the ingredients effortlessly to create delicious meals any night of the week, including:
Flaming Ouzo Shrimp (from Athens)
Pork Ribs with Garlic, Chilies, and Tomato (from Naples)
Pea, Bacon, and Pecorino Salad (from Nice)
Amaretto Polenta Pound Cake (from Venice)
Rich with great advice on affordable wine gems and recipes for some killer wine cocktails, Wine Bar Food has everything you need to make weeknight dinners and gatherings with friends simple, fun, and flavorful affairs.
Publishers Weekly
Husband-and-wife team Cathy and Tony Mantuano (chef-partners of the Spiaggia in Chicago, and authors of The Spiaggia Cookbook) share their delightful versions of wine bar recipes from across the Mediterranean. Each chapter focuses on a specific city (Rome, Seville, Nice and Lisbon, to name a few) and includes fun, fresh cocktails as well as simple yet delectable small plates and regional wine suggestions. The authors encourage mixing and matching recipes from different cities, explaining "the point is to bring a little bit of the wine bar lifestyle-good food, good wine and simple technique-into your home." The couple includes background information on each dish, giving the reader a distinct sense of each recipe, all written with clear and thorough instructions. From Venice there is Whipped Baccalà with Polenta Crostini, and Black Pasta with Scungilli. Cocktail recipes include Limoncello Martinis from Naples and Mediterranean Lemonade made with ouzo, anise-flavored liqueur from Athens. Unique dessert recipes round out the assortment of options such as Mascarpone-Filled Dates with Chocolate and Lavender Ice Cream Sandwiches. With excellent sections on cured meats, imported cheeses and specialty pantry items, this is a wonderful book for food and wine lovers alike. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Susan Hurst - Library Journal
The Mantuanos, husband and wife restaurateurs, collaborated on this work focusing on regional foods and wines from the Mediterranean, which is organized around ten iconic cities (Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, Seville, Barcelona, Nice, Lisbon, and Athens) and offers approximately ten recipes for each. The recipes range from snacks/tapas to more substantial entréelike preparations, as well as desserts, and recipes for wine cocktails for each area. At the end of each section is a two-page entry on the wines of the region, including descriptions of major wine types and names of well-known local producers. No specific wine pairings are provided with the recipes, however, which would have made the book more useful and interesting. Interspersed between the city chapters are also short sections on artisanal cured meats, prepared pantry items from the areas, and cheeses. A resource guide for hard-to-find items is included at the end. Overall, the focus seems to be more on food than wine. Nicely illustrated; purchase where there is interest.
New interesting book: Make It Super Simple with G Garvin or Eating the Moment
Small Bites, Big Nights: Seductive Little Plates for Intimate Occasions and Lavish Parties
Author: Govind Armstrong
Whether he’s setting the scene at his acclaimed restaurant Table 8 in Los Angeles, entertaining the audience on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, or designing the menus for Hollywood hot-spots RokBar and L’Scorpion, chef Govind Armstrong knows how to create spectacular menus for occasions of all sizes. As Govind says, small plates encourage people to be more adventurous, to share food, and to enjoy the mélange of flavors and textures. In his first cookbook, Small Bites, Big Nights, he shows you how to put together a menu of small, sophisticated, sexy dishes and pair them with the perfect cocktail. The result? Guests get to enjoy a feast of flavors, and as the host, you’ll be able to relax and have fun, instead of spending the whole night in the kitchen.
Wow a crowd with hors d’oeuvres like Arugula, Dates, and Parmesan (a salad that’s finger food; Rare Tuna Crostini with White Bean Puree and Tapenade; or Seared Kobe Beef on Mini Yorkshire Pudding. To drink: Black Martinis. Barbecue sizzling treats like Grilled Endive with Serrano Ham; New Zealand Scampi with Heirloom Tomatoes and Summer Truffle Vinaigrette; or Grilled Chicken Thighs with Wood-Roasted Gazpacho and Avocado Salsa.
Make dinner for 8 unforgettable with Tender Bean Salad and Prosciutto; a deceptively simple Foie Gras–Stuffed Quail; and luscious Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis.
Warm up a cool night with bite-size comfort foods: Mini Onion Soup; Braised Chicken Oysters Piccata; and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Mousse.
Publishers Weekly
Celeb chef Tyler Florence writes in the foreword that "Govind Armstrong [the executive chef and co-owner of Table 8 restaurant] is the new king of Los Angeles and I want to tell everybody about it." Armstrong's big personality certainly comes across in the pages of this festive book; his passion, dedication and playfulness are evident from the first lines of his intro to the last recipe, and he never gets pretentious about it. After a discussion of the well-stocked pantry, there are chapters-somewhat sporadically arranged-on cocktails and hors d'oeuvres; grilled dishes (Grilled Squid with Green Garbanzos and Bruschetta, for example); dinner party food; comfort foods; "Sexy Savories," such as Heart & Sole and Breakfast in Bed (an omelet with asparagus, morels and goat cheese); and "Lounge Foods," like Scotch Quail Eggs with Chorizo, Smashed Spuds with Sliced Beef and Blue Cheese, and Krispy Kreme "Coffee & Doughnuts." Even recipes that sound intimidating are approachable (although readers will have to get used to the somewhat unconventional recipe format in which ingredients are listed on the left and amounts on the right). But that's a quibble, for the 125 color photos are simple and striking enough to make up for that. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Judith Sutton - Library Journal
Armstrong is the personable chef/co-owner of the acclaimed Table 8 restaurant in Los Angeles, with a branch in Miami's South Beach and others planned for Las Vegas and New York City. He actually began his culinary career at 13 as an apprentice at Wolfgang Puck's Spago (he went on to spend three summers there). The recipes in his first book, organized into chapters such as "Lounge Foods" and "Dinner for 8," are fresh, imaginative, and designed for entertaining. They are restaurant-style recipes, to be sure, featuring expensive or exotic ingredients, but they will appeal to sophisticated cooks who like to feed friends and want to make a splash. For any collection where chefs' books are popular.
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