Grains, Rice, and Beans

Presents recipes for such dishes as Cajun Peanuts, Amaranth Pear Pie, and Brandade of Navy Beans, along with information on each type of grain, rice, and bean used

Lowly grains and beans have never looked so good as in this beautifully photographed collection of recipes from a well-known New Orleans chef. Graham, author of Simply Elegant: The Cuisine of Windsor Court Hotel (Grove Weidenfeld, 1991) and Kevin Graham's Fish & Seafood Cookbook (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, dist. by Publishers Resources, Inc., 1993), offers both sophisticated restaurant-style dishes like Fresh Baby Fava Beans with Shrimp and Sherry and comfort food like Cock-a-Leekie and Bran Muffins (of course, his version of five-bean salad is dressed with truffle oil). Unlike most grain and bean cookbooks, this one includes some recipes for fresh beans, peas, etc., not just the dried versions. A good complement to the many more homey titles on the subject.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Thank Graham that his collection of dishes featuring grain, rice, and beans didn't turn into yet another vegetarian cookbook--or into a long diatribe on the benefits of consuming less meat and poultry. Instead, he combines these complex carbohydrates every way possible, from salads to soups to entre{‚}es to side dishes. To ease unfamiliarity with the more exotic legumes, sidebars explain history, popularity, and uses of everything from scarlet runner beans to the almost ubiquitous peanut. Home cooks should not let themselves be fooled by the more than 75 recipe names; the names of most of the dishes are longer than the ingredient lists. Barbara Jacobs