The Complete Robuchon: French Home Cooking for the Way We Live Now with More than 800 Recipes: A Cookbook - Hardcover

Robuchon, Joel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307267199 ISBN 13: 9780307267191

Publisher: Knopf, 2008

Synopsis

An incomparable culinary treasury: the definitive guide to French cooking for the way we live now, from the man the Gault Millau guide has proclaimed “Chef of the Century.”

Joël Robuchon’s restaurant empire stretches from Paris to New York, Las Vegas to Tokyo, London to Hong Kong. He holds more Michelin stars than any other chef. Now this great master gives us his supremely authoritative renditions of virtually the entire French culinary repertoire, adapted for the home cook and the contemporary palate.

Here are more than 800 precise, easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes, including Robuchon’s updated versions of great classics—Pot-au-Feu, Sole Meunière, Cherry Custard Tart—as well as dozens of less well-known but equally scrumptious salads, roasts, gratins, and stews. Here, too, are a surprising variety of regional specialties (star turns like Aristide Couteaux’s variation on Hare Royale) and such essential favorites as scrambled eggs. Emphasizing quality ingredients and the brilliant but simple marriage of candid flavors—the genius for which he is rightly celebrated—Robuchon encourages the beginner with jargon-free, impeccable instructions in technique, while offering the practiced cook exciting paths for experimentation.

The Complete Robuchon is a book to be consulted again and again, a magnificent resource no kitchen should be without.

About this title

About the Author

Joël Robuchon was born in Poitiers, France, in 1945 and began his apprenticeship at a hotel restaurant when he was fifteen years old. In 1981, he opened his own restaurant in Paris, Jamin, which had earned three Michelin stars by 1984. It was the fastest rise in the guidebook's history. Named "Chef of the Century" in 1989 by the Gault Millau, he now works as a consultant and runs L’Atelier restaurants around the world.

Reviews

Robuchon might be a three Michelin-starred chef-owner of an empire of restaurants, but in this back-to-basics compendium of classic French recipes, he shows that he still knows how to cook at home. He also knows how to teach: though the book has no illustration and his instructions tend to be terse, a cook with basic skills should make great progress just by cooking through the book's pages, from stock to meats and fish, every kind of vegetable and pastries. Robuchon features each ingredient (e.g., turbot or cauliflower) or food category (e.g., cold cream soups or fruit-based desserts) in several treatments to show its versatility, building on his introductory tips for sections and certain recipes. Most dishes are as French as can be, including worldwide standbys like sole meunière and beef bourguignon and regional treasures like John Dory with almonds and tomato confit or Hare Royale. But reflecting the passage of time and the influx of immigrants into France, Robuchon also includes some unusual recipes such as Tunisian-inspired langoustines in brik packets with basil. Cooking from this book certainly makes the full breadth of refined French cooking seem more within reach for the nonprofessional. (Nov.)
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Superchef Robuchon has fashioned a massive record of his cuisine that will appeal to fellow chefs and to highly skilled amateurs. His worldwide empire of acclaimed restaurants has brought him fame and established him as one of the leading exponents of contemporary French gastronomy. As this cookbook testifies, Robuchon adheres to current taste with lightness and an emphasis on superior, fresh, and seasonal ingredients. He keeps sauces on his dishes simple, not eschewing flour to thicken sauces but using such thickeners with restraint. Few unusual ingredients appear, the most exotic being pineapple. He loves to work with game, especially birds such as partridge and pheasant. Chefs replicating recipes for meat cookery will need close cooperation from a skilled and accessible butcher. Robuchon’s many ways of preparing potatoes offer enough familiarity to home cooks to encourage them to step up to the challenge of the master’s recipes. --Mark Knoblauch

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Flap Steak with Shallots
Bavette à l'échalote
SERVES 4

The unusual cut we call flap steak is called bavette d'aloyau in France. It is difficult to find in the United States, so you might try substituting skirt steak. An exceedingly tasty and juicy cut, it must be cooked rare or it becomes tough.

1.Remove the meat from the refrigerator 15 minutes in advance. Prepare a cooling rack over a large plate or set a small overturned plate on top of a large one.

2.Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. Put the butter in the skillet. When it foams, lay the steaks in the skillet, in a motion away from you. Sear the steaks over high heat for 2 minutes. Turn them and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. Reduce the heat to very low and remove the meat to the rack. Season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper on both sides.

3.Add the shallots to the skillet and cook over the lowest possible heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. It is important that they not turn dark brown. When they are lightly colored, add the vinegar, turn the heat up just a little bit, and cook for 30 seconds. Season with a pinch of salt.

4.Put the steaks on a platter and pour the shallot sauce all over. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.




Potato and Leek Gratin
Gratin de pommes de terre et de poireaux
SERVES 4

A mandoline will make slicing the potatoes easier, but you can also do it by hand.

1.Preheat the oven to 250°F and place a rack in the bottom third of the oven.

2.Melt 2 teaspoons butter in a saucepan. When it foams, add the leek and season with 1 pinch of salt and 1 dash of pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. The leek should not color.

3.In a bowl, combine the crème fraîche, 1 pinch of salt, 2 pinches of five-spice powder, and 1 dash of pepper.

4.Butter a baking dish. Put down one-third of the potatoes in a layer. Top with one-third of the potatoes in a layer. Top with one-third of the leeks and one-third of the seasoned crème fraîche. Repeat twice.

5.Pour 1 quart water into a deep sheet pan or dish large enough to accommodate the dish of potatoes and leeks. Put the gratin dish in the water and put both in the oven for 45 minutes.

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0307267199
• ISBN 13: 9780307267191
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 832