Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, Morrow, 1984
A Review

My hardcover copy of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen is dog-eared, food-stained and some of the pages are coming out of the binding. It is inscribed, “From Robert and Katy, 1984,” and it is still a “top shelf” cookbook in my kitchen library.

I prize it because the recipes have a zing to them and it contains the best meatloaf recipe of all time. Chef Paul calls it Cajun Meat Loaf. I call it K-Paul Meatloaf.

That’s just by way of introduction. His “saucy” foods – Creoles, Gumbos, Jambalayas – are spicy devils, but in no way fiery; even my wife-of-tender-palate likes them. His Basic Cooked Rice and Dirty Rice make a good bed for sopping up the juices.

His recipes seem intimidating at first – long lists of ingredients and long descriptions of methods. I made little go-by cards to put up over the stove. Once I dutifully did my mies en place I learned they had a drib of this and a drab of that, and the preparation had a rhythm to it. Not so hard after all.

I had the good fortune to eat at K Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans when I was there on business on a balmy night in the late 80’s. I was about 20th in a long line – they don’t do reservations – and noticed that some people in line had drinks – hey, it’s New Orleans. Just as I was about to go to a nearby bar for my own drink, a woman came down the line asking, “any singles.” I quickly volunteered and was seated with a dentist, his wife and son from San Diego. I don’t remember what I had after the Dirty Martini and before the Sweet Potato Pecan Pie, but the experience is etched in my brain.

When BUTTER was BAD, Chef Paul wrote a book called Fork in the Road. His name on the cover caused me to buy the book straightaway. Can Chef Paul really do “healthy low fat?” I guess he did it, but all the taste went away. After one meal, I banished that book from my library.

I went on using Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen two or three times a year – OK, more times just for the meatloaf – moderation is the key.

Dang all, I’m hungry!

James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, Knopf, 1977
A Review

This is my go-to book about cooking. As the title implies, its more a book about cooking than it is a cookbook.

It has recipes, of course, but the recipes are there to illustrate the principles and methods of cooking. The chapters tell the tale. From the front: Boiling, Roasting, Broiling and Grilling, Braising, Sautéing, Frying, Baking. For example, when I buy a piece of Corned Beef for a St. Patrick’s Day feast of New England Boiled Dinner, James Beard starts with corned beef and concentrates on getting that and the vegetables cooked properly… indeed, cooked separately and for different lengths of time and brought together only at the end.

We bought a fish poacher in Boston to poach a four-pound salmon for a party. In James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking there is more than one recipe for poached fish and in my cooking-for-parties phase I poached a few salmon, as well as other fish and shellfish. I especially like the Poached Fish with White Wine Sauce and Shellfish a la Nage, “a la nage” is the French term for a style of preparation in which shellfish are both cooked and served “swimming” in a white wine court bouillon and eaten hot, tepid or cold. Shrimp, crayfish or small lobsters are excellent prepared in this manner. Lovely.
I could cite similar examples from the other chapters, but these will give you the drift.

I grew to love James Beard. Beard encouraged me to use my fingers to mix pate, to press my fingers on the meat to feel for proper doneness; to substitute ingredients and to feel the cooking, rather than read it. He told me about meats and fish and vegetables and herbs and spices, where they come from, what they’re about, in an interesting, chatty way. It would have been nice to know James Beard. He led me to make up recipes based on what caught my eye in the market, or more likely, what was on hand. It is illustrated with informative line drawings. Sadly, it’s out of print, but it can be found used.