[.ca] The Olives Table (ISBN 0684815729)

From Amazon.com:
Todd English is articulate about how he cooks. His food is uniquely Mediterranean, muscular and sophisticated; he describes it as "refined rustic." His purpose in The Olives Table is to show home cooks how to make simple Mediterranean ingredients "more interesting, more elaborate, more fun." These ingredients include lobster and foie gras, as well as fresh figs, artichokes, and other seasonal foods. Many dishes are elaborate show stoppers, as in Asparagus Risotto with Ragu of Crazy Mushrooms, Porcini Cream, and White Truffles, or time-consuming: Free-Form Tuscan-Style Rabbit Lasagne that you would more likely want to travel to Cambridge to enjoy. But also look for tempting, simpler dishes you can easily make, provided you have access to impeccable, fresh ingredients like tuna and local, vine-ripened tomatoes. A few highlights are Baked Potato Salad, Ginger Mustard Chicken, and My Mama's Zucchini (a kind of stew). Look, too, for Chocolate Risotto.

Wonderful, but not for everyday:
The recipes in this book are excellent. My husband absolutely adores the shrimp in chorizo sauce. Everything I have made turned out well. Unlike some of the previous reviewers, I did not find the recipes to be difficult nor to have errors. Living in a small town however, I sometimes have difficulty finding the ingredients. Also, the recipes sometimes take a bit of time to prepare. If the cook of the family works, these are probably not for every day meals. If you enjoy cooking you will find many recipes you and your family will love.

Simple and Creative Recipes:
Todd English has put together a masterful book that is at once imaginative and yet full of simply executed dishes. The new and different salad creations are the perfect start to the meat and vegetable entrees. He combines elegance and practicality flawlessly. I especially love his strong opinions about what to use and what not to use in his recipes. (He has a particular prejudice against cello spinach!) He also gives lots of helpful cooking hints along the way. This is a must-have for any cook who enjoys intimate dining.

I've never been there, but . . .:
This is one of my very favorite cookbooks, and I have a lot of them. I have never been to a Todd English restaurant, so I can't comment on how it compares with his restaurant cooking, but my home versions have been fabulous. The directions are clear, and for some reason I find these recipes easy to modify to fit a shorter timeframe or to substitute ingredients when necessary. My favorite? Basque Stew with Tuna (which I usually make with chicken instead).

Great flavors, but heavy on the prep:
I love dining at Olives, but I'm not certain how much I like cooking the dishes myself. Truth is, if you want some great flavors from Todd English without as much of the prep time (and often with lower fat content), you'll probably get a lot of the value out of his Figs Table cookbook. Having said that, Olives Table holds some outstanding recipes. Creative rissottos, great main courses, interesting soups. Even some of the salads and vegetable sides are outstanding. For example, there's a shaved fennel salad that is perfect for entertaining. Or a wonderful grilled portabello mushroom dish that makes a perfect side to many of the outstanding meat entrees. A great source of creative dishes if you're entertaining or want to go to a little extra trouble for some really great flavors.

An Excellent Restaurant Cookbook:
Many restauranteurs publish cookbooks featuring recipes from their restaurants. I have a fair number of these books. This is the *only* such book that I return to, repeatedly. I've made the goat cheese and sausage stuffed olives, the Falling Chocolate Cake (many times and is as excellent as another reviewer said), the Fennel Salad, the Tuna Tartare, and probably a good number of other recipes. The outcomes are consistently good. I've also eaten at Olives a fair number of times, so I'm confident that I'm capturing the essence of Todd's cooking. This is a high-quality hardcover book with high-quality paper, meaning that it should survive in the kitchen for a good long time. The recipes are well-laid-out on the pages and easy to refer to while you're cooking (a stark contrast from my "old" Joy of Cooking - which I love but does have a shortcoming in this area).