Classic Cookbook Series: The Silver Palate Cookbook and The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook

It was 1984...












I was in college and had befriended a woman named Susan who had gone back to school – she was probably about 50. She had been married to a wealthy man, then divorced and, as a student, was living hand to mouth. Her clothes and jewelry were worn and shabby but had been expensive when new. She was sophisticated and interesting and I was captivated.

One clear memory I have of Susan was a Christmas party she had in her boyfriend’s rather small apartment. To this day, I remember two of the menu items. One involved a whole, boned chicken -- that is a story for another time.


The other item was White Chocolate Mousse with Frangelico from a chapter entitled, “Nutcracker Sweet Open House” from the Silver Palate Good times Cookbook. Oh…My…God




At the time, I owned just a few cookbooks and paying $23 to own both seemed extravagant, but everything about these books was alluring: from the pictures on the covers, the illustrations, the chapters titles and of course, the recipes themselves.

It was here in the pages of the first volume that I learned to make what was called “Layered Mozzarella and Tomato Salad” which we now see everywhere as Caprese Salad. The authors, Julee and Sheila, asked, “Could any salad be simpler? Or better?” My answers: No and No!!!

These books have a very 80’s feel to me. It was a time of shameless indulgence in many respects and these books reflect that we were still not afraid of heavy cream, butter, red meat, real bread, and doing so in ample quantities. That was a time when we were waking up to all sorts of culinary delights and these books did a good job of promoting dishes that were heavily influenced by French and Italian cuisines in a stylish way. Moreover, Julee and Sheila were clearly foodies but not snobs as evidenced for example, in the Silver Palate cookbook where on one side of the page “Dilled Blanquette De Veau” is to be found with “Pizza Pot Pie” facing it on the opposite page! A good number of the ingredients were still a bit of a stretch to find if you didn’t live in a very cosmopolitan area, but when something is a bit out of reach, it does become all the more desirable, of course.

But, these books are not just style over substance – they possess both style and substance. By and large, you can count on these recipes to deliver. They are terrific books to turn to if you are going to entertain – they allow you to show off a bit.

Now, twenty – five years have passed since I tasted that white chocolate mousse – it’s a memory for me much like Proust’s madeline. Susan and I lost touch long ago although I don’t remember why now. If you happen to be out there, Susan, and stumble upon this blog, thank you for being a good friend, the memory of the white chocolate mousse and for bringing the Silver Palate cookbooks into my life.

Food & Kisses, GiGi

Classic Cookbook Series: The Classic Italian Cookbook

If I were to be put in solitary kitchen confinement with only one cookbook, as a practical matter, I'd probably take the 75th Anniversary Edition of "The Joy of Cooking". However, my heart would yearn for Marcella Hazan's "The Classic Italian Cookbook" (copyright 1973).

You see, Marcella was my first teacher and in that respect, is somewhat like my first love.

I stumbled upon my little paperback copy sometime in the early 80's and in those pages, I heard her speak to me.

One dark and stormy night (not kidding), after leaving work at 9:00 PM, I went home and made my first recipe: Spaghetti Ajo O Ojo (Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil). What could be simpler than olive oil, garlic, salt, spaghetti, ground pepper and parsley? It was food of the gods and a revelation that I could produce something so delicious. I confess that I ate too much and fell into a pasta-induced stupor afterwards, but still...

Then, came the Fettuccini with White Clam Sauce -- I still "benchmark" this dish, meaning that if I see it on a menu, I have to order it because I have to compare it to all the other versions I've eaten and so far, none compare to my rendition of her printed recipe.

Next, I tried and mastered Pasta al Pesto and life was never the same. I've yet to see or taste a better version than Marcella's.

Of all of the wonderful discoveries and adventures I've derived from this work, the best is a simple stew of olive oil, garlic, chickpeas, tomatoes, beef broth, and rosemary -- aptly, titled "Chick-pea Soup". The chickpeas are slowly cooked in the oven and develop a creaminess that puts them head and shoulders above any canned or stove top cooked version. The tomatoes are cooked in the garlic-infused olive oil until "the tomatoes separate from the oil" -- Forget how many minutes, know when to take the next step by looking at what is happening. No matter how much chick-pea soup I make, it is always gone too soon.

Marcella followed up with "More Classic Italian Cooking" which is also a good book and then both books were published as one. I have the combined version, but there are some differences between the original and the revised edition and I recommend tracking down the original which you can do here.

If you love to cook Italian food, you simply must own this book.

Food & Kisses, GiGi

You Know You Want It

The Kiwi Fruit Tart from AnneMarie Colbin's "The Natural Gourmet".

About 15 years ago, I read the story of how Alice Waters cooked her way straight through an Elizabeth David book. Reading this caused a chain reaction of events for me: 1. I promptly bought a slew of Elizabeth David books; 2. I read through them but couldn't get hooked on the idea of cooking through them; 3. I thought about what kind of cooking I wanted to master (at that time); and 4. I finally settled on making the commitment to "The Natural Gourmet".

The experience of making the commitment to a single book and then working my way through the recipes probably taught me more about cooking than anything else.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the wherewithal at the time to record much detail about this experience and that is why there is no movie called "Arlene and AnneMarie" and we have instead "Julie and Julia"!

This tart is truly sensational (I know the photo doesn't quite do it justice). I highly recommend this book for those that want to cook with whole foods with great tasting results.

Cabbage/Sauerkraut Update: Yes, I did it. I put it together late last night. The sauerkraut experiment is on its way. I'm documenting it with photos and will post the recipe assembly shots soon.

Food & Kisses, GiGi

Cabbage-mania

The cabbage from my market share is ganging up on me.

So, I've decided to dance with the devil known as fermentation and make some sauerkraut.

I just read the directions from "The Victory Garden Cookbook". It's simple enough to do -- I'm pretty sure I even have pickling salt on hand -- but there's that little part about skimming the brine everyday for 2 to 3 weeks...now, I have to commit to making sure that gets done because the last one anyone needs is SAUERKRAUT GONE WRONG.

Stay tuned as this story develops...

Food & Kisses, GiGi

Researching Macaroni and Cheese

I'm sitting here surrounded by a baker's dozen of cookbooks.

Thus commences the research on the Food & Kisses Macaroni and Cheese Episode. You see, gentle readers, the Glitzy Gals here at Food & Kisses are launching a production company aimed at bringing our glamourous kitchen style to the world via the Internet.

So, here I am, up too late with a large stack of books sitting next to me. Feeling content and overwhelmed at the same time. I know I should go to bed, but what treasures I have already discovered...

Pam Anderson's "The Perfect Recipe" had me ordering up a copy of John Thorne's "Simple Cooking" within five minutes of starting my research. I may have owned that book at one time and lost it in the shuffle of many moves back in the 1990's. In any event, I remember the book is classic and well, what the hell, when I already have about 800 cookbooks.

I will let you in on a secret that I've already discovered: forget what you thought you knew about macaroni and cheese. The really good stuff isn't made the way you would think at all. Can't let the cat too far out of the bag right now though. Alternatively, I've stumbled upon a trick using the boxed stuff that I'm going to try -- It's somewhat outrageous. Don't know if that will make it past the editor, but I think it's important to come at this from a variety of angles. Hopefully it will because I know some of the viewing audience isn't going to make the leap to the lobster/truffle/cognac version!!

Nitey-Nite -- Food & Kisses, GiGi