86 Recipes New York

By JULIETTE ROSSANT We have been bombarded by recipes from the beginning of time, from ancient Sumer to the present. There are websites, search engines, magazines, cookbooks, supermarket checkout counter pamphlets with tips on how to cook the ultimate aphrodisiac-filled repast for Valentine's Day. Health-conscious, indulgent, fresh, fruity, meaty, you-name-it-kind of recipe. Do you really need another vehicle for recipes? Yes, if you can't get a reservation on Valentine's Day at your favorite restaurant and yet you and your main squeeze are pining for that one dish you can't find anywhere else – or worse, you are pining for a dish at one restaurant and your partner wants a dish at another. Remember those old fashioned (read "retro") recipe boxes with smudged index cards of Aunt So-and-So's famous chicken pot pie? Cleo Papanikolas main character in her novel, Cook Until Desired Tenderness, is a recipe box. The recipes are cherished, if a bit dated. That is the idea behind 86 recipe boxes. 86 New York: Recipes from Top Restaurants for the Home Kitchen is a box (laminated cardboard, not metal) with cards (glossy) that promise 86 of the best, most-sought after recipes from New York's top restaurants is an answer to that Valentine's Day quandary. ("86" refers to restaurant speak for a dish that is sold out, thus the idea that you get the recipe and make them at home.) Each card has a photo of the restaurant, a map of its location, and website and on the back a recipe like Homard Poele – Lobster in a Pan with Julienne Garden Vegetables from Markt, perfect for a Valentine's Day main course. You'll find the chef's name and helpful hints for the recipe, too. But if you don't care for seafood, you could try the Filete con Hongos – Beef Medallions with Mushroom-Tequila Cream Sauce from Rosa Mexicano and serve that with the Manchego-Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms with Piquillo Sauce from Anita Lo's Annisa. Restaurants like Daniel Boulud's Restaurant Daniel is represented with Guinea Hen Casserole with Morels, Fava Beans and Fiddlehead Ferns and Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit with Gravlax with Mustard Sauce, but you won't find any of Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurants, or Suvir Saran's Devi though many of Danny Meyer's restaurants (Blue Smoke, Eleven Madison Park, Union Square Cafe), are represented. Many of these New York chefs have their own cookbooks so you could grab one of Tom's or Suvir's, but it's extra fun making a romantic Valentine's dinner from a stack of cards in this nifty box o' recipes. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Valentine's Day, cookbooks --> back to superchefblog