Cooking Library

Thanksgiving roundup: Great food, great friends and family, overall a wonderful day, can’t wait for next year when we get to do it all over again!

Onto the next big event, of course that would be Christmas. Before we get into the foods of the holiday I thought it would be fun to look into unique gift ideas for you and or the aspiring chef in your life

Cookbooks are a wonderful gift. Every year hubby hand selects a special cookbook for his best clients, each book chosen with the chefs’ particular talent in mind.  They are truly enjoyed and appreciated.

Have I mentioned that Jack is a shopaholic? One of his weaknesses is cookbooks. Imelda Marcos and her shoe fetish? She was a piker. Her collection pales to the shelves upon shelves of cookbooks in our home.  You name it we’ve got it, had it, he wants it and will soon get it, or it’s probably not worth having.  He is very discerning about his collection, you won’t find Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, or Sandra Lee among his tomes, (who are those people?). He has an extensive selection from the classic chefs such as Escoffier, James Beard, and of course Julia Child. Jack had the rare privilege of cooking with and for Julia Child in June 1990. She was in Denver promoting her organization, The American Institute of Wine and Food.  He was selected to assist her in several cooking demos around the city, then prepared a special dinner in her honor at his restaurant, Cliff Young’s.  She signed the menu adding a charming inscription and along with a photo of her and Jack cooking together, it hangs proudly in his office today.

We have hundreds of cookbooks written by chefs from all over the world, French, Italian, American, Asian, Mexican, and Vietnamese. But we always need MORE. Scads of new cookbooks are published every year, so how does one choose? Which books are must haves and which ones are a waste of money? Well you are so lucky because I’m going to tell you. Below are a few selections from Jack’s wish list which I’m sure will eventually find their way into our home at some point? Hmmm, and I thought we were on the austerity program…..”Honey, I only paid $10 for this $30 book on Amazon.com!” If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one….

Interest rates and home prices are at record all time lows. If you have been contemplating the purchase of a new home or investment property, don’t sit on the fence too long. These rates, prices and inventories will not be around forever. Don’t look back and wish that you had invested instead of horded. Call me, I’m happy to run comps and research areas of interest. In today’s market you need to think long term investment not ‘fix and flip’, that ship has sailed.

Becky

720-979-3184

1.       Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert – written by Eric Ripert – Originally from France and currently one of the top chefs in New York. Seafood is his specialty.

2.      Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking – Nathan Myhrvold – The truly extraordinary thing about this book is the price, $475!  Advertised as a six-volume, 2,400-page set that is ‘des­tined to rein­vent cook­ing’. The lav­ishly illus­trated books use thou­sands of orig­i­nal images to make the sci­ence and tech­nol­ogy clear and engaging.

I’ll tell you right now, I better not EVER see this book anywhere near our house.

3.      Taste of Mario Boxed Set – Mario Batali - For the Italian food lover in all of us, Mario’s cookbooks are a joy to read and recipes are easy to execute.

4. The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan – Learn and understand where your food comes from; if you care about what you eat, you need to read this book.

5.      The Sweet Life in Paris – David Lebovitz – The ex-pastry chef from Chez Panisse, and lover of all things French. This guy knows desserts.

6.      Tyler Florence Family Meal – Good solid technique, great food, and easy recipes for everyday cooking.

7.      Good Eats Boxed Set – Alton Brown – He’s just so much fun and he has an excellent understanding of theory, technique and reasoning.

8.      Jamie’s America – Jamie Oliver – We love this Brit, he’s entertained us for years and his fresh, casual, robust style of food is fantastic.

9.      Grandi Vini – Joseph Bastianich – Joe is Mario Batalis’ partner and Italian wine expert. This book is his opinion of Italy’s best wines. He is also Lydia Bastianichs’ son; who is one of the great Italian chefs today.

       10. The Perfect Bite - Jennifer Jasinski - Colorado's exceptionally talented chef and co-owner of Rioja, Bistro Vendome, and Euclid Hall. Denver's own has written a stunningly illustrated cookbook that just might be out before Christmas, we're keeping our fingers crossed,  Congratulations Jen!

 11.      Mastering the Art of French Cooking 2 Volume Set – Julia Child – From the Queen, need I say more?