Books in Review
by Adrienne Petterson © 2007     About Me

Home Page

Autobiography / Biography   Travel / Places   Cooking / Food   Fashion / Health / Beauty   Other / General / Self-Help   Crafts / Home Improvement   Humor

Bistro Laurent Tourondel
by Laurent Tourondel and Michele Scicolone
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ISBN 0-471-75883-9
Published October 2007 - Hardcover - 286 pages - $34.95

For those of us who want to "take casual cooking and entertaining to a new level," and who of us wishing to improve our cooking skills doesn't?, then this is the tool we need .  French-born BLT Restaurant owner/chef Laurent Tourondel shows us how to go from ordinary to fab, but this book is not limited to fancy schmancy cooking (who's really got that much time!); it's all do-able.  He covers Appetizers; Salads; Pasta and Risotto; Soups, Breads, and Sandwiches; Fish and Shellfish; Meat and Poultry; Sauces; Vegetables, and Desserts.  Tourondel's BLT restaurants are combinations of the "cozy bistro" he remembers from his childhood and the "warm steakhouse restaurants" he discovered in America.  The food in his book is neither strictly French nor American fare - it's a little of everything.  Some of his recipes I found interesting include Warm Chicken Liver Spread; Chopped Vegetable Salad with Creamy Oregano Dressing; Macaroni, Tomatoes, and Spicy Sausage Chili; Smoked Sea Salt and Black Pepper-Crusted Rib-Eye; Grilled BLT Double-Cut Strip Steak; Tapenade-Stuffed Leg of Lamb; Leek-Potato Hash Browns (they look scrumptuous!), and the Dried Apricot Bread Pudding.  I'd like to also try the Spiced Cranberry Sauce and the Peppercorn Sauce.  There are wine and/or beer suggestions which are very helpful when planning a dinner party.  I have to say that I really don't care for black and white photos in a cookbook.  I don't care that they might be "artsy" - they don't convey one scrap of deliciousness or inspiration.  NOTE: In some instances, check over the page for more ingredients as it's not clear that the list continues over the page, which is disconcerting.
Illustrated (not all black and white).  No nutritional guides.
Conclusion - I liked this book as there are many dishes we can all attempt.

book cover


E-mail:   booksinreview@yahoo.com    or     pettprojects@yahoo.com

Queries from Publishers and Advertisers are welcome.

Please visit my other sites.
Index    My Travel Page    Links   

Website design and © Adrienne Petterson 2003-2007.

No  part  of  these  web  pages  may  be  used  without  prior  permission.