I have to admit that I have a love for a bad boy. He smokes, he drinks, he swears like a chef. That's because he's a chef. His No Reservations show on television is the best thing on since the writers strike has basically trashed the television season. I can't watch his show without cringing and sometimes gagging.
That being said, for Christmas I bought us a cookbook. Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. It's truly a work of art. This isn't a book for those with delicate sensibilities, the author calls it's reader names like "useless screwhead" or "numbnuts". It's quiet obvious that the author is full of poetic sensibilities. This is just the most fun cook book I have ever cooked out of.
Last night I made Veau Viennoise (pg 148-9) from the cookbook. I kept telling myself that it just couldn't be as easy as he says. It was beautifully easy. It was wonderful. The only thing that I left out of the recipe was his garnish of anchovies on top of each cutlet. I'm not a fan of fishy anchovies, so I passed. I also made a beurre blanc for the veau. It was just perfect. We paired it with Green Beans seasoned with toasted, slivered almonds and a little lemon juice. The starch was a simple box of Rice Selects-- the tomato one that's got Paul Prudhomme's photo on the front. (There were two with his picture on the front...this is the one with the mild spices, the other was Louisiana style and hot.)
Dinner was delicious. I love capers, and this recipe calls for capers as a garnish. It was so amazing, and it was so easy. Truly, the hardest part was pounding the veal chop.
Next on the list from the cookbook is Pot-au-feu (pg 204). I will report in on this recipe. I've decided to throw in a recipe now and then too, but I can't believe how easy and amazing his recipes are now that I'm actually working my way through the cookbok and discovering that I don't mind being mocked for using prepared bread crumbs ( we don't buy bread, so making it fresh is kind of out of the picture...) I am really learning from him. Even though he tells us in the introduction that he's NOT going to teach the reader to cook.
So, you can see. Sometimes a bad boy is a good thing to love.
3 comments:
We love Anthony here too! He rocks! One of the best episodes of NR is the one where he went to Paris :)
Anyone who likes the Ramones can't be that bad. Thanks for the review, I am cooking impared so I will have to check this out. I haven't seen No Reservations yet but I will look for it.
Oh yes, Katy, he's definitely on my Hottie List. Very sexy man, IMNSHO, LOL. Have fun, I hear the book is awesome.
"Chef, author, remover of leaches."
Love that commercial for his show.
Hey, girl, about the home front, thanks for explaining. I am here if ya need to talk, bitch, whine...
Oooh, someone say wine?
[clears throat] well, you know what I mean....
{{hugs}}
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