Home Page

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

Italian Two Easy - Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe
by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
Clarkson Potter
ISBN 0-307-33835-5
Published July 2006 - Hardcover - 288 pages - $37.50

I love cookbooks from established and well-known kitchens, be they restaurant kitchens or hotel kitchens.  And Italian food being my favorite, this book was a double delight.  Co-founders of London's River Cafe (I've never been there) Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers offer this book as a follow-up to their Italian Easy and to their River Cafe cookbook series.  Billed as "the recipes are designed to save home cooks time at the end of a busy day without ever sacrificing flavor" - sounds like a deal to me.  The book is divided into the following categories: Mozzarella; Salads; Salted, Smoked & Dried Fish & Meats; Tomato Pasta; Fish Pasta; Really Easy Soups; Fish with ...; Birds with Wine; Roast Meat; Grilled Fish & Meat; Italian Vegetables; Baked Fruit; Lemon Desserts, and Chocolate & Coffee.  Fourteen categories!  One for Mozzarella alone!  These recipes were gathered during trips to Italy and include the likes of: Smoked Haddock Carpaccio; Spaghetti, Raw Tomato, Arugula; Ditalone, Mussels, White Wine (yummy); Pot-roast Guinea Fowl, Marsala (I'd use chicken for practical purposes); Whole Leg of Lamb, Rosemary; Pork Shoulder, slow-cooked; Roast Celeriac, Squash, Fennel (I wish I could find celeriac), and Lemon, Ricotta, Pine Nut Cake.  Their salads are interesting and their passion for vegetables helps make a change from the regular old stuff.  Enticingly illustrated throughout.  Visit the River Cafe at their website.
Conclusion - Great for that something special to rustle up.