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Welcome to This Month's

Projects Choice

 | Project Book 1  | Project Book 2  | 

Project coordinator: Stephen Block

The Project will be reviewing this book for a month, trying the recipes, and reviewing them.

Review:

I feel Paul Prudhomme is one of the true innovators of our time. He has really brought Cajun into the mainstream, and given comfort food, that dimension of excitement. So the project wants to explore his world and discover the things that make his recipes so HOT.

It seems that Chef Paul is a true integrationist, that wants to blend all of the ethnic cooking styles in our world, breaking the traditions and using the best aspects of them all to pump up a recipe. Paul takes a Southern style baked chicken and adds the dimension of the mustardy spices of India, with the rich flavor of Mexican chilies.

What I see so far is that they are not necessarily HOT hot. So in the title fiery doesn't mean cringe hot.

The colored photos of the food are absolutely exceptional, as usual with his books. A lot of traditional comfort food style only with the spectrum of spices.

The recipes are challenging but most are not anything that sounds too unusual.

The chapters span the menu from breads, all the meats , fish and desserts. There are recipes like; Fire roasted onion bread, "The best damned chicken I ever ate", and Stuffed Pablano peppers.

They are not just traditional cajun and creole spice mixtures but Chef Paul has adventured in his test kitchen with Mexican peppers, Asian , and Indian spices. That grabbed my attention. Seasonings for a broiled chicken include Habenero chile pods that you grind up in a coffee maker blended with cinamon and cardamon to name a few.

I tried the spice mix for his Broiled Tuna. I liked it a lot! It gives the Tuna a warm glow, Then these sweet spices hit your mouth giving the juicy Tuna steak great accent. My boss and I said wow this is different. It goes from comfort to exciting, without being weird. I really want you to try this. I'll bet you never would have thought of using anise and cinammon, in a seasoning salt. I really want you to try this, and on other meats and vegetables as well.

I like very normal food that have accents that are new, unique and profound. This works. The project will update often on a great deal of these recipes, to give you a in depth look at what Paul's up to in this book.

Stephen Block- The Kitchen Project

The Classic Barbecue and Grill Cookbook

By Marlena Spieler

Project coordinator: Wendy Ericson

Test kitchen: Mrs. Beasley's Restaurant, Redmond,Or.

For the month of November the kitchen project is going to be trying recipes from the book, testing them for ease, expense, and customer reaction. We want to give you a range of reactions so you can get a feel of the book and if the recipes would appeal to you.

Review:The Classic BBQ and Grill cookbook by Marlena Spieler is a must have. Any Cookbook that motivates me to pull the dusty gas grill out of the garage, polish it up and treat it to a new set of utensils is worth looking into. Beyond burgers and kebobs, (though there are recipes for those too) Marlena entices you with an array of dishes from the simple dishes like charred vegies to a gourmet elegance like grilled salmon steak with Leeks.

FAVORITE FEATURES;

No black and white pictures! They don't make my mouth water. Instead there are rich color pictures of each dish and along with it pictures of the individual ingredients, including each spice, arranged in a semicircle around each picture of the finished dish.

1.Wonderful international variety, Meditteran, Morrocan, Mexican, Thai, and others.

2.I felt equipped with the basics, Now I feel I can expand on my own ideas.

3.The format is immaculate. Step by step instructions are clear and precise. Vivid illustrations of the prepared dish gets you excited before its even on the grill.

I believe this cookbook would be great for beginners as well a seasoned professionals. For those of us who know little more than "hey its on fire, thats a bad thing", take heart your bases are covered. From how to cook on different types of BBQ's , the basic techniques, to the items you should have in your pantry. For those of you that have the basics down , including you men who are already bastions of the BBQ, you will find new twists on spicy hot marinades, delicate herbed butters, and spicy rubs from around the world, to enhance your masterpieces.Wendy Ericson-The Kitchen Project