Easy Cooking

Author(s): Bettina Jenkins
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Publication Date: 1995-10
Pages: 303
Review: I stumbled upon this book at the library and decided I must own a copy.The book starts with an introduction to fish, moves onto scaling all types of fish and then teaches all types of preparation of fish. This is a complete cookbook which starts on the first course and on. If there is a way to prepare fish, this book knows it. There is not a fish missed in this book, even ones that I am not familiar with. The pictures are beautiful and very helpful. I am the type of person who loves to cook but needs pictures in cook books. I will always pass up cookbooks that have no pictures. I have found that sometimes the printed version is unappealing, but when accompanied with a picture, that actually changes my thoughts on trying that dish.

I would highly recommend purchasing this book for everyone who enjoys fish and those who don’t, I think these recipes will change your mind!
Price: $34.95   Buy This Book

Author(s): Ralph Brennan
Publisher: Vissi D’Arte Books
Publication Date: 2008-04-09
Pages: 430
Review: I bought this cookbook to get the recipe for the praline bread pudding we enjoyed at Bacco’s. It was even better to discover that the book itself is such a treat. I would recommend it for both the novice and the more experienced cook. Ralph Brennan writes about his passion for cooking and for preparing seafood a la New Orleans style so well that the recipes seem a bonus. Filling the pages of this well designed, beautifully photographed (by Kerri McCaffety) cookbook are not only some of the finest recipes for seafood in print, but there are also bits of wisdom and humor that spice the presentation, making this one of the classiest cookbooks to come out in a long time.

Brennan is careful to give the background of each of the many dishes he shares, starting with the idiosyncrasies of the ingredients and types of seafood he uses, but also the ‘how to’ aspect of preparation before cooking, step by illustrated step of the preparation , and elegant photographs of the presentation of his works of culinary art. The book is divided into 1( A Seafood Cook’s Manual, 2) Appetizers, 3) Gumbos, Soups and Bisques, 4) Salads, 5) Main Courses, 6) Desserts and their sauces, with additional chapters on accompaniments, sauces, dressings, stocks, spirits, and seasonings. From these pages rise such spectacular foods as Crab Bisque with Cauliflower and Brie, Seared Tuna with Shrimp and Capers and Balsamic Vinegar Brown Butter Sauce, and even Fried Oyster Poor Boy sandwiches (the recipe is as much a tale of history as it is a useful guide to preparation).

Ralph Brennan not only gives precise and easy to follow directions, but he also makes it sound like such fun to prepare his suggestions that the book is readable as literature. This is a must for lovers of seafood, especially those who have enjoyed the author’s restaurant in New Orleans. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, June 08As a college student and definitely not a professional chef I try to find recipes that are easy but delicious. I am helping my mom cook dinner this summer and am trying to find a recipe that appeals to my health conscious parents and my hungry football playing younger brother. Last night for dinner I decided to make the Crab and Shrimp Cobb Salad with Remoulade Sauce from Ralph Brennan’s New Orleans Seafood Cookbook. It looked delicious and healthy but the several pages of instructions seemed like a daunting undertaking. However, I was determined to create this dish and impress my family. After reading all the steps and beginning my preparation I realized that the three pages of instruction were not because the recipe was difficult but instead were detailed steps to instill confidence in the chef that they were preparing the dish correctly. The oohs and aahhs from my family as I brought out the salad encouraged me to try more recipes from the Cookbook and my mom was so impressed she started taking pictures of the salad. The Crab and Shrimp Cobb Salad was such a hit that I know I will look in the Ralph Brennan New Orleans Seafood Cookbook for another recipe. In fact, I have already scoped out the crabmeat lasagna with crab-&-chanterelle butter sauce for the next time my mom needs help with dinner. New Orleans, it’s famous for its seafood. And do you want that great New Orleans taste in your own home? Then this is the book for you! Author Ralph Brennan is a third-generation restauranteur, who owns three New Orleans restaurants, so he definitely knows what he is talking about.

OK, you’ve never heard of him? You don’t care about the man, only the recipes? Then let’s get down to brass tacks. This book is crammed full of excellent recipes. Each recipe begins with an introduction, and then continues on with the ingredients, step-by-step directions, advance steps (if necessary), and special equipment. The book itself is large, which means that it lays flat on the counter, and its ample spacing means that the instructions stay distinct from each other - so, it is easy for the amateur cook (such as myself) to go back and forth between the book and the food.

And here is where the rubber really hits the road - so far we have made three recipes from this book Crab Cakes with Ravigote Sauce (page 56), Shrimp Bisque (page 118), and Dark Chocolate Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce (page 292), and they were all magnifique! Yes, this is a great book, one that we are very glad to add to our kitchen library. I give this book my highest recommendations. If you want too cook up some great New Orleans seafood, then get this book!This cookbook shares some of the best recipes to ever come out of the Crescent City. The food images are stunning and the photographer goes a step further to search out beautiful architectural elements in Ralph’s restaurants. This book not only captures the unique tastes and flavors of New Orleans, it also captures the cities soul. Ralph Brennan’s New Orleans Seafood Cookbook is truly a feast for all senses.

-Lisa from Louisiana

Price:    Buy This Book

Author(s): Howard Mitcham
Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
Publication Date: 1992-05
Pages: 288
Review: I have used this book fro over a decade and am about to order a fresh copy. It is a great read and a great, practical cookbook. I have used it constantly.Creole Gumbo (makes 12 quarts = 48 servings, can be made in smaller batches)

Recipe below evolved and adapted for the beach from “Creole Gumbo and all that Jazz” by Howard Mitcham,who nails it far better than anyone in print. This book is highly recommended.

6 quarts chicken stock or water 6+ washed tomatoes 2+ lbs washed medium shrimp 12+ washed live crabs (essential, buy 18 before boarding ferry)

Bring stock to boil. All in same stock, boil tomatoes 1 minute, skin and seed. Boil shrimp 4 minutes, shell and fridge the meat. Boil live crabs 20 minutes. Eat some crab meat for lunch, return all crab parts, well crushed with shrimp shells, to same stock. Boil vigorously 15 minutes, no longer. Strain stock well e.g. through paper towels and colander.

stick butter flour bunch scallions 3+ onions 1+ heads of garlic 3+ red or green peppers 4+ sticks celery

Melt butter in heavy nonstick. Add flour bit by bit till thick slurry. Stir with spatula over med heat till deep tan or as dark as you dare, without burning. Add chopped veggies (chop garlic and onions at last minute) and saute till soft. Move to heavy gumbo pot if this wasn’t it.

3 lbs okra, fresh or frozen 2+ lbs good ham 3 bay leaves bunch fresh thyme bunch parsley 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1-3 tbsp tabasco sauce 1+ tbsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 lb double smoked bacon 2+ lbs fresh Andouille sausage or similar hot sausage, or kielbasa

Add okra sliced into rounds, diced tomatoes, diced ham, thyme tied into bunch, minced parsley, bay, any meat you crave and have (chicken? beef browned in bacon fat?). Add enough stock to cover solids and keep sloppy. Add some Worcestershire, tabasco, pepper. Slice and cook bacon, crumble and add. Braise sausage in inch of water till ready to eat, poking with fork to release fat. Slice and save.

Simmer gumbo 2-4 hours, low enough and stirred often enough to never stick at bottom. Tasting over next few hours, remembering flavors will “cure” and salt gets added at end, gradually add more W,t,p to taste. Add sausage 30 minutes before serving, shrimp 10 minutes before serving, add any seafood you crave and have (oysters? lobster? crawfish tails?). Salt generously to taste, serve with ample cooked rice.
Price: $15.95   Buy This Book

Author(s): The Chefs at Jake’s
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: 1993-06-01
Pages: 120
Review: This book is well done. There are many beautiful pictures through the book. The receipes are absoutely yummie and easy to follow and prepare. It also contains side dishes and deserts.Anyone who has eaten out much in Portland or Seattle knows about the McCormick and Schmick chain of restaurants. Jake’s, their flagship restaurant, is a longstanding Portland tradition. This small, beautifully illustrated cookbook presents some of their chefs’ favorite recipes.

The emphasis in the recipes, as in the actual restaurant, is on freshness and on locally available ingredients. There is an innovative flair to many of the recipes, although the classics are here as well. There are probably more recipes for shellfish than for fish proper. The dishes range from appetizers, soups and salads through pastas and entrees. There are even some dessert recipes to finish off the meal. Three Berry Cobler anyone?

In terms of actual recipes, I will admit to having eaten more of the dishes in the restaurant than to having cooked them myself. A couple of the recipes I tried didn’t turn out as well as I thought they would, although that may be my fault for “adapting” them a bit. Nonetheless, several of my favorite fish recipes come from this book: the Sole Parmesan (a little tricky to do right, but worth it) and the Orange Roughy with Candied Kiwi-Ginger sauce (works well with salmon) are keepers.

The only true warning I would give for using this book is that it’s not for the cholesterol-challenged. Many of the recipes are rich in butter and cream–maybe that’s what makes them so good.It is difficult to appreciate with words, the overarching quality and class of Jake’s establishment’s in Portland.
Having been to both, I cannot say enough. Orange roughy,
so memorable that now, 6 years later, I can remember this particular dish. Anyhow, I’ve made the chowder from this cookbook, back when I was in Portland, and it was so fantastic that the we all concluded it was one of the finest dishes the palate could behold. Just unbelievable texture and flavor.
Does anyone know the recipe for their chocolate torte cake?
I don’t believe they’ll ever let that one out into the public domain, for the entire world would well go mad with joy.
Perhaps we could use a bit of this just now. Buy the book!!I have had this cookbook for many years. I had a dinner party and my Aunt loved the pasta dish, so I am ordering her a copy (I hope I can now get my copy back from her)
You’ll love the the tuni recipe.This is a great cookbook for the fish lover. I have had it for about 2 years and have tried almost 20 of the recipes– all turned out very well. This book has taken the famous recipes of the McCormick and Schmick(?) restaurants and simplified them slightly. Many of the recipes can be done in 15 minutes or less and without alot of exotic ingredients!
Price: $16.95   Buy This Book

Author(s): Jay Harlow
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Publication Date: 2002-01-10
Pages: 368
Review: This book has a lot of the fundamentals for selecting, purchasing and prepping several varieties of seafood. The one thing that could have been better is to have pictures of the prepared dishes associated with the recipies.This book is probably the best cook book I have ever used. It contains detailed descriptions of a vast array of seafood along with copious information on buying and prepping each type. The recipes range from simple to modestly complex. They generally focus on enhancing the flavor of the seafood with a few well selected accent flavors. They are creative and easy to follow.

Living in Seattle we wanted to take advantage of all the fresh fish available, but we had no idea how to cook it. Everything we have tried out of this book has been easy and delicious. Most of the recipes give suggestions for side dishes which makes meal planning even easier. Whenever we get fish for dinner this is the cookbook we pull out!This is a great reference for cooks at any level of ability. Fundimentals of buying, cutting up, basic techniques, and cooking safety. Easy to follow recipes which are not fussy and don’t loose the flavor of the seafood in the sauces, yet can be quite sophisticated. Expanded information, definitions and seafood facts which can enlighten profesional chefs and intertain those who pick-up cookbooks for leasure reading. For example, what constitutes ‘white fish’,who are the grazers and the predators in the ocean, and how is caviar farmed.This book is wonderful for cooks that use seafood comes from the California coast. The recipes do not take require the resume of a rocket-scientist and yet the finished courses look, taste and smell like fine cuisine from a highly rated restaurant.

Great recipes for every day or special entertaining occasions.
Price: $23.95   Buy This Book

Author(s): Bill King
Publisher: Arnica Publishing
Publication Date: 2008-04
Pages: 200
Review: The McCormick & Schmick Seafood Restaurant Cookbook is THE BEST SEAFOOD COOKBOOK available today !!! Congratulations to my favorite seafood restaurant for this Cookbook. The recipes are complete, straight-forward and relatively easy to execute. The photography represents the food as if it came right out of the restaurant’s kitchen rather than some plastic/fake looking “perfect” food. I appreciate that. Maybe I haven’t been able to quite duplicate the great taste at home that their Chefs create in the restaurants, but I have been able to come close on the look of the food at home . . . and again, I’m getting close on the taste. With these tough economic times, we just aren’t able to go out for dinner as often as we used to. What a compliment to this company to not be all about the GREED and to be willing to share their recipes so we can enjoy good and healthy seafood at home (which I never had the confidence to try and prepare until now), trim our budget, and still make McCormick & Schmick’s our first restaurant of choice when we do dine out. Thank to them. Kudos to the book!!!There are too many errors in this cookbook. For example the Jamaican Rum sauce starts with remove from the heat but at no time does it list when to start the sauce on heat. It seems like there is a step missing from every recipe which is shame because this could have been a really good seafood cook book. Does anyone know who to contact about the missing steps?I love this cookbook!!! Most of the recipes are one-page in length and are gourmet quality. It’s restaurant quality recipes done at home - for those very special dinners. I tested over twenty of the dishes and all are award winning in taste and in presentation. I would recommend this book for the advanced cook who knows the basics and likes to experiment with seafood and sauces. I bought this book after having visited several McCormick & Scmick’s restaurants, and really loved their food. The recipes are easy to follow, simple to make and are very tasty.

The reason for my rating, is that their are HUGE errors throughout the entire book. A few examples: Crab Rangoon recipe calls for yellow cornmeal in the ingredients list but makes no mention of it in the instructions. The recipe for Stuffed Salmon with Crab & Shrimp has no salmon in it! The photo on the facing page shows a stuffed salmon fillet, but the recipe calls for halibut.

This book suffers from poor editing. It smacks of being rushed for publication before the editing was completed.

This book would be a great addition to any home cooking library, but be prepared to find confusing recipes. I like the recipes in this book for being realistic for the average kitchen and fairly unpretentious. There’s nothing too exotic here, just good solid combinations of flavors. There’s little in the way of soups or sides or salads, mostly just different ways of handling protein, with a few pastas and sandwiches thrown in. Also, if you are hoping to reproduce the meal you had at the restaurant, abandon that hope, because in several cases these appear to have been been dumbed-down or changed slightly from what the house actually serves.

However they DO include their recipe for the seafood and corn chowder, one of my favorites, which I have not yet tried to make but appears to be complete. The Spenger’s Fish Tacos are included here, too, although the Kansas City restaurant no longer serves them. This recipe is not exactly the way I remember it–for instance the avocado ranch sauce is not included, but it’s a pretty good start if you are new to making fish tacos at home.

In fact, it’s a good basic primer for handling fish at home. They do cover a wide range of fish types and treatments, from New England Lobster Rolls to a couple of Cajun dishes to Caribbean-flavored tilapia. There’s also a chapter of non-fish entrees.
Price: $19.95   Buy This Book

Author(s): Braiden Rex-Johnson
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: 2005-06-01
Pages: 144
Review: I purchased this book because it was listed as a favorite by a rheumatologist who wrote an article on “painfree life”. I would not be without this book and use it several times a week. I didn’t know there were so many delicious and very simple ways to cook fish, shrimp, muscles, and other seafood. I give this book my highest recommendation. Try it, you will love it!Having been to Pike Place Public Market and a huge fan of Pacific Northwest seafood, this was a no-brainer. The recipes are organized in sections. The first describes a history of the market. The next section is about fin fish, then shell fish, and then the odd kettle section talks about tuna, squid, and seafood combination dishes, to name a few. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are worth the effort and turn out extremely well. I bought this book along with Ray’s Boathouse: Seafood Secrets of the Pacific Northwest and Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes from the Pacific Northwest. So when all three arrived, I was in my glory–three Pacific Northwest cookbooks to complement my Wildwood Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest cookbook. I did a tasting and made seven of the recipes the weekend after receiving the books. Everything was great, and I felt like I was in the Pacific Northwest again — not in Jersey…well…Pike Place Market is one of my favorite places to visit. I was excited to get the cookbook and the recipes do sound yummy. However, they also require a lot of work & ingredients that I don’t have time to shop for. Maybe someday when I have a lot of time on my hands….The Pike Place Market is a destination point for anyone visiting Seattle. The market is a vibrant maze of fish stalls, vegetable vendors, meat purveyors, etc. To local foodies, the market is shopping central, especially for seafood. Tourists love the sense of history, plus the entertaining fishmongers singing and acrobatically tossing whole fish across the counter.

Braiden Rex-Johnson, an expert on the Pike Place Market, captures the essense of the market in this gift-size cookbook. The stunning photographs bring alive the color and commotion of the market, and the exceptional recipes reflect the diversity of Northwest cuisine. Don’t miss trying the recipe for Baked Whole Salmon with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce. I made it for a dinner party and it was a dramatic presentation. The Fried Oyster Caesar Salad was another winner, along with the Shellfish Risotto. I’m looking forward to trying many more, whether I’m cooking for the family or entertaining friends.I was given this book as a gift and I’m delighted with it. It’s sized smaller, like a gift book–so portable and easy to use. I appreciate Rex-Johnson’s introduction that focuses and guides consumers on ocean and fish sustainability. This is befitting any bonafide cook from the Northwest (or anywhere!). Besides great recipes, she includes a helpful Appendix of techniques, everything from making bread crumbs to a chiffonade. The book seems basic enough, and sophisticated enough, for a broad range of cooking skills. And the photos and presentation are beautiful, interwoven with historial trivia related to fishing. There’s a lot in this little gem.

Price: $14.95   Buy This Book