California Home Cooking: 400 Recipes that Celebrate the Abundance of Farm and Garden, Orchard and Vineyard, Land and Sea

by Michele Jordan

Overview

A comprehensive and authoritative cookbook covering California cooking and California cuisine, one that unites several different cuisines: Spanish, Mexican, Asian, and Italian, and that makes use of California's year-round harvest of produce. To pull together four hundred recipes, the author combed through old and current newspapers, cooking magazines, and restaurant menus, and talked with home cooks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558325975
Publisher:	Harvard Common Press, The
Publication date:	10/11/2011
Series:	America Cooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	528
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Michele Anna Jordan, a second-generation Californian who has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area her entire lif has twelve years of experience as an award-winning chef and has written a multitude of cookbooks. Currently, she writes three weekly columns for The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Savuer magazine, which recently took a first place award from the Association of Food and Wine Journalists. Jordan has held positions as restaurant critic for San Francisco Focus Magazine, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle, and has written for numerous national publications, including: Cooking Light, Wine Enthusiast, Kitchen Garden, Fine Cooking, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Asian Week, Appellation, Sky, Wine & Spirits, and the Electronic Gourmet Guide. In addition to cooking and writing, Jordan teaches and lectures on a variety of food-related topics and is a frequent guest on radio and television around the country Jordan lives in western Sonoma County with her two black cats, Poe and Rosemary.

Michele Anna Jordan, a second-generation Californian who has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area her entire lif has twelve years of experience as an award-winning chef and has written a multitude of cookbooks. Currently, she writes three weekly columns for The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Savuer magazine, which recently took a first place award from the Association of Food and Wine Journalists. Jordan has held positions as restaurant critic for San Francisco Focus Magazine, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle, and has written for numerous national publications, including: Cooking Light, Wine Enthusiast, Kitchen Garden, Fine Cooking, Bon Appetit, Food&Wine, Asian Week, Appellation, Sky, Wine&Spirits, and the Electronic Gourmet Guide. In addition to cooking and writing, Jordan teaches and lectures on a variety of food-related topics and is a frequent guest on radio and television around the country Jordan lives in western Sonoma County with her two black cats, Poe and Rosemary.

Editorial Reviews

Jordan's (Polenta) collection of 400 recipes glorifying Golden State cuisine will leave unfortunate outsiders pining for that state's vegetables, seafood and wines. Happily, a resources list names nearly 70 purveyors of California foodstuffs from abalone to zinfandel. Accompanying the recipes are dozens of sidebars on such localisms as the fabled Chasen's Chili, the key to marijuana brownies and a young Marilyn Monroe as Castroville's 1947 Artichoke Queen. The recipes demonstrate ethnic diversity: Thai Lamb in Romaine Leaves, Jook (Chinese Rice Porridge), Channa Dal with Yogurt and Chutney from India, Solvang Roast Pork with Prunes and Apples from Denmark and Morcilla de Cabrito (Goat's Blood Pudding) from Mexico, which is anchored by a quart of kid's blood. There are plenty of dishes that confirm the Californian urge to exalt culinary creativity. Avocadoes show up in mashed potatoes; Blueberry Coleslaw calls for blueberry mayonnaise, blueberry vinegar and fresh blueberries. More traditonally minded cooks will find their own temptations: Beef and Barley Soup gets a boost from juniper berries; Trout-Fennel Salad offers a potent taste combination; desserts encompass Ginger Chevre Tart and Lavender Ice Cream. While a little organizationally slack (one Chapter offers Main Courses with Vegetables, another Vegetable Side Dishes), Jordan's omnibus is as wide-ranging as the state itself. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Jordan, a food writer and prolific cookbook author, has written about California cooking before, in A Cook's Tour of Sonoma (Addison-Wesley, 1990). Her latest book includes 400 recipes for the casual but often elegant food she likes to cook for herself and guests: Monterey Artichoke Risotto, Chicken with 100 Garlic Cloves (40 aren't enough in California?), Bing Cherry Compote. Alice Waters, the "doyenne" of California cooking, and M.F.K. Fisher are influences, and they, along with Jordan's fellow Californians Betty Fussell and James Beard, are mentioned often in the readable headnotes and informative sidebars. Occasionally, California's abundant produce seems to have gone to Jordan's head -- do we really need Blueberry Coleslaw or Chicken and Raspberry Sandwiches? -- but most of the recipes sound delicious.

Library Journal