wester's Reviews
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The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
Aïoli : page 289
The kind of recipe that's simple not because it started simple, but because everything superfluous has been weeded out. Just egg yolk, garlic, salt and oil. I found it a bit sharp, but I think I should have added a bit more oil.
I did find it difficult to pound the garlic finely enough in the mortar, next time I will chop it finer before starting to pound.
I did like the extra bit of advice on what to do when you've added too much oil, even though I did not need it this time. It's always good to know that kind of thing.
useful (2)
I thought this was good, but not as brilliant as some other dishes in this cookbook.
I agree with aj12754 on most points:
It definitely needs much more coriander - doubling it is not enough - and it needs to be toasted for longer.
It is very pretty even when you don't follow the plating instructions, with its contrast of dark red and bright green.
I was fine with the oil/vinegar ratio of the vinaigrette.
I made some scrambled eggs with herbs to go with this, some nice bread, and called it a nice summery main course.
useful (2)
Braised Fennel : page 255
This was good but not as special as some of the other recipes in this book. It turned out quite sweet, to the point that my four-year-olds loved it. Maybe I should have taken an even dryer wine. I added quite a big splash of Pernod, but it blended in nicely enough.
It did need longer in the oven and a higher temperature than mentioned in the recipe.
useful (0)
Braised Peas with Onions, Sage, & Pancetta : page 251
Good winter fare. Sweet, starchy and rich. The children (4 years old) loved it too.
I made it with frozen peas and diced bacon. I think my sprig of sage was too small - next time I'll use a bigger one.
I served it with Buttermilk mashed potatoes from the same cookbook, which was good. I'm sure they would be great with pasta as well - the cookbook itself suggests gnocchi, which sounds great.
useful (0)
Bread salad : page 342
This recipe is a bit elaborate, but it did have everyone asking for more. It's not difficult though, she really takes you by the hand, she tells you when to taste, and what to pay attention to.
Do read the recipe carefully before you start, even when you have made it before. I didn't and I thought I was close to finishing off the salad when I still had to cook the scallions and put the bread in the oven. And there are other small details that are easy to miss if you don't read carefully.
In the book the salad is given together with the roast chicken for two reasons. Good reasons, but not so essential that you can't make this without the chicken. One, you need to put the bread in a hot oven for a few minutes and it's good to use the cooling-off heat for that. Two, you are supposed to put a bit of the pan juices of the chicken in the salad, which makes it even more delicious.
I have also tried this with flat-leaf parsley instead of the greens suggested, and it's very good like that as well. This is a well-balanced recipe though and I wouldn't want to change too much.
useful (4)
Brine for Turkey : page 402
Together with Barbara Kafka's high-temperature roasting this made an amazing turkey - succulent meat, brown crispy skin, and very tasty throughout.
If you can find enough room in the fridge (or another sufficienly cool but not quite freezing place) for a week, and if you can start a week before roasting, you must try this with your next turkey.
We used a baby turkey (6 pounds) and brined it for 4 days.
The amount of brine given in the recipe is not enough to brine even such a small turkey, we needed three times that amount. Better to see it as a ratio.
useful (1)
Brouillade aux Orties : page 184
Simple, vegetarian, cheap, and tasty. Just not as brilliant as some other recipes from this book.
useful (1)
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes : page 233
A really good mashed potato recipe. Buttery, light, tangy. The mash does not really taste of buttermilk in the end, that just adds a lightly acidic note.
I melted the butter in the same pan I used for heating the milk. As the amounts are small, that doesn't take much time, and I think dirtying three pans for mashed potatoes alone is a bit much.
useful (1)
Chicken Bouillabaisse : page 348
I found this disappointing. It was quite good, but not much more than that - a sunny Mediterranean soup/stew.
The recipe didn't tell what to do with the clove of garlic to be used if not using the aïoli. I rubbed it against the bread, which was exactly what the dish needed, so it probably was the thing I was meant to do.
useful (0)
Citrus Risotto : page 196
I noticed this recipe and I was intrigued by it. And I happened to have all ingredients on hand (except the mascarpone, which I replaced with whipping cream).
It was good, with a clear but not overwhelming citrus flavor. It looks pretty too, with those flecks of pink grapefruit.
The preparation technique was easy with the lime but trickier with the (thicker-skinned) grapefruit. Still, the preparation of the whole thing was not difficult. You do need to stay around while it cooks, though.
I served this with a lamb stir-fry but I am sure it would be really excellent with white fish and/or the suggested shrimp.
useful (1)
Endive & Fuyu Persimmon Salad with Pecans : page 153
This was an interesting combination of bitter and sweet, of soft and crunchy, and we all enjoyed it.
I used walnuts as well, and Sharon fruit, which I understand to be basically the same as Fuyu persimmons. If I have endive and / or persimmons again, I will make this again.
useful (1)
Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs : page 178
This was quite good, crunchy and flavorful. It reminded me of good bacon and eggs, but of course it's vegetarian.
I used Panko crumbs, no herbs. My eggs were sunny side up. My husband and children did not like the balsamic vinegar on it, but I did. I will make this again.
useful (1)
Onion Soup with Tomato & a Poached Egg : page 159
A good, tasty, robust soup, but not as brilliant as I had hoped. Still, it is nice to find an onion soup without cheese.
I did use the duck fat.
useful (0)
Pasta alla Carbonara : page 210
The ricotta in the sauce was brilliant, it made a smooth creamy sauce, but not as heavy as it would have been with cream. The amount of salt in the pasta was much smaller than I usual use, but it worked out fine. However, I was not very happy with the addition of peas. They were not bad, they just didn't add much, so I thought they just distracted from the brilliance of the rest of the sauce.
In short, I will make this again, but without the peas.
useful (2)
Pasta with Preserved Tuna & Pine Nuts : page 211
Sometimes you are making something and you're quite certain you will like it, and still the end result totally blows you away. This is one of those cases. The spices and lemon zest give a really spicy and fragrant (but not overly hot) result, and they go really well with the tuna.
As I am not "burdened or blessed" with leftover fresh tuna, I used canned. It was still very lovely.
If I have any criticism, it's that I don't really feel the pine nuts add much to the recipe. They could be left out without diminishing the dish.
useful (2)
Pasta with Spicy Broccoli & Cauliflower : page 203
This does not have the surprise value anymore that it must have had when this book first came out, but it is still a very good dish with bold flavors.
Not too complicated to make. The main difficulty is not burning the vegetables while not being afraid to let them caramelize nicely. The slicing technique given is nice as well.
useful (3)
Red Onion Pickles : page 270
Yes, you can call the process of dunking these onions in brine for a few seconds and taking them out a again tedious, or you can call it meditative. I think it's quite doable to spend a few minutes on doing a batch, and then do other things while they cool down, and come back when you have a few more minutes to spare. And the kids loved helping separate the onion rings: when they are a bit older they can help dunking as well.
I did not quite know what to do with the whole spices during this process. They come out with the onions - do I put them back in the brine again? (I did.) Or is it supposed to have infused with the spices enough earlier? (I'll see, sometime.)
The end result is good, very pink, quite sweet, which is enhanced by the spice mix, and still with a bit of crunch.
useful (3)
This is a lovely chicken salad, although I wouldn't roast a bird expressly for it.
A nice combination of different colors, flavors and textures.
I used about 3/4 arugula and 1/4 parsley as greens. I think next time I want to put in more parsley, or try something else. Celery could be nice in here.
I do think it makes a difference whether you use red peppers, which added a nice sweet note, or green ones. I might use both colors next time, to add even more different flavors.
useful (1)
Roasted Applesauce : page 260
This was really easy and made a lovely applesauce, not too sweet and with a hint of caramel. It's also quite forgiving of things like keeping the apples in the oven a bit longer. If I make it again this way, it will be because it's easy, not because it's brilliant. My kids thought it was OK, but they preferred the zucchini pickles.
useful (0)
Rosemary-Pickled Gypsy Peppers : page 273
As with the other pickles, these were good and easy to make, and I really like how the differences in spices and method are geared to the vegetable being pickled. The end result is quite soft, but as the skin is still on, not overly so. It is also quite sweet, but the it does still taste of green peppers. They are not as pretty as some of the others pickles either - green wrinkly flaps. I can see this combined with any kind of meat (probably great on a hamburger), or with cheese. A good way to use up green peppers if you have a glut of them.
useful (0)
Rosemary-Roasted Potatoes : page 235
It's great to see that something as basic as potatoes baked with rosemary can still be improved with a few small changes. This produced lovely baked potatoes with a crunchy-crumbly crust and a nice rosemary aroma.
The oven time given was much too short. I increased it by about 10 minutes, next time I might double it.
useful (2)
Wilted Escarole : page 249
Simple and nice. The wilting takes only a very short time - don't try to do anything else at the same time.
I thought the amount given was much too small - I easily ate two portions and I wouldn't have minded more, and escaroles are usually not too small either.
useful (2)
Zucchini Pickles : page 269
Day-glo indeed! This makes a very pretty pickle, bright yellow with bright green. Almost a shame to keep it in the fridge - a cool place where it can be seen would be better. It is also very easy to make. And it tastes good, although it could have been a bit less sweet. My children loved it, probably partly because of the color.
useful (1)
Zuni Roast Chicken : page 342
I don't roast whole chickens that often, but this one was excellent. It was really succulent and very flavorful. It wasn't that difficult to make either, if you take the time to read the recipe, and don't forget to salt the chicken one or two days before roasting it. I made the bread salad with it as well (with flat-leaf parsley), and a tomato salad. The bread salad was finished way before the tomatoes.
I did have a problem with fitting the bread salad and the chicken in the oven at the same time: you might want to check the size of your baking dishes.
useful (1)