Since 1987, Judy Rodgers has been chef of San Francisco’s Zuni Cafe, a prized restaurant even in a city of great restaurants. Now, at last, she has produced a cookbook of the restaurant’s best recipes: “The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant” (Norton, $35).
Trained in France and well traveled there and in Italy, Rodgers arrived at Zuni as it was morphing from its vaguely Mexican repertoire into a distinctive destination that combined the best of American, French and Italian ingredients. Under her the restaurant has been recognized for its experimental and inventive cuisine as well as for exceptional renditions of standards such as Zuni roast chicken (seasoned with salt and thyme and roasted at a high heat), Zuni Caesar salad (top-notch ingredients, freshly prepared), Zuni hamburger (grind or chop beef chuck and season with salt 18 to 24 hours in advance) and espresso granita (“fiercely rich” espresso is the key).
Do not fly through this book, simply stripping it of recipes. As the subtitle indicates, this book is rich with lessons, found either in a serious and informative opening chapter (“What to Think About Before You Start, and While You Are Cooking”) or larded into the recipes themselves. There are batches of glossy pictures, but that’s really not why you’re here.
Salting–when and with what type–plays a critical role in Rodgers’ cooking, and no undertaking should begin without reading her thorough explanation. The same is true for her text on finding flavor balance, choosing wines, weighing and measuring, tools, heat sources and cooking vessels, all complex topics artfully explained.
After this required prefatory reading, the book is organized by courses, including “Stocks and the Sauces They Make Possible,” “Dishes to Start a Meal” and the non-traditional “Starchy Dishes.”
Some of the recipes, such as the fried egg in the accompanying recipes and the Zuni classics, are simple and accessible. But there are ambitious undertakings (4 pages on making pot au feu), ingredients that are exotic to many (rabbit belly flaps) and techniques that are hard to master (corkscrewing a leg of lamb).
Beginners could learn from this book, but it takes commitment. This is not a guide for those in need of chirpy, encouraging introductions to recipes. Rather this book is a good fit for strong cooks, for those who want to learn more about technique and ingredients.
The Zuni way to make fresh bread crumbs
Excerpted from “The Zuni Cafe Cookbook,” by Judy Rodgers:
“By fresh bread crumbs I mean fluffy, soft crumbs made from chewy, peasant-style bread. You’ll need to make them in the processor–I’ve never seen this type of crumb marketed. Do not substitute fine, dry, toasted bread crumbs, whether store-bought or homemade.
“For the best and most reliable results, use day-old bread. It is less humid and tends to make lighter, looser crumbs than fresh. Occasionally, when some types of peasant bread are very fresh, they turn into heavy, gummy nibs. “There is no foolproof way to stale such bread artificially–I’ve tried slicing it and leaving it in the refrigerator to dehydrate as well as slow-drying it in the oven at the lowest possible heat. In nearly every case, I got either gummy crumbs or sawdusty ones. The best solution is to keep a little stale bread around, or identify a type of peasant bread in your market that makes light crumbs even when it is fresh.
“To make fresh bread crumbs: Carve off all the crust. (Set aside to use for croutons.) Cut or tear the tender insides of the loaf into walnut-size wads and grind in a food processor. Don’t grind too finely or evenly. Variation in the size of the crumbs makes them more fun to eat; every batch should have some fat `snowflakes’ and some mustard-seed size crumbs. A cup of these tender crumbs will usually weigh about 2 ounces and shrink by about one-third when toasted. But the precise character of the bread you use and how fine you grind it can skew these numbers. If not using the crumbs immediately, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for up to a few days. You can also double-bag them and freeze for a week or so.”
Fried eggs in bread crumbs
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving
“I like these crunchy eggs for dinner with a salad of bitter greens,” Judy Rodgers writes in “The Zuni Cafe Cookbook.” “At Zuni, they appear on the Sunday lunch menu accompanied by house-made sausage or bacon and grilled vegetables or roasted mushrooms. This is a very easy dish and fun to eat when you are alone, so I provide proportions for one person. For more people, make it in a larger pan, in batches of four to six eggs.”
3 heaping tablespoons packed, fresh, soft bread crumbs made from slightly stale, crustless, chewy, white peasant-style bread, see box
Salt to taste
About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
A few fresh thyme or marjoram leaves or coarsely chopped fresh rosemary, optional
2 eggs
About 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar
1. Sprinkle the crumbs with salt to taste, then drizzle with enough of the oil to just oversaturate them.
2. Place the crumbs in a 6- to 8-inch French steel omelet pan or non-stick skillet and set over medium heat. (If you like your fried eggs over easy, reserve some of the oiled raw crumbs to sprinkle on the top of the eggs just before you flip them over.) Let the crumbs warm through, then swirl the pan as they begin drying out–which will make a quiet static-like sound. Stir once or twice.
3. The moment you see the crumbs begin to color, quickly add the remaining oil, and the herbs if using, then crack the eggs directly onto the crumbs. Cook the eggs as you like. Slide onto a warm plate, then add the vinegar to the hot pan. Swirl the pan once, then pour the drops of sizzling vinegar over the eggs.
Note: If you are preparing the eggs for more than a few people, it is a little easier to toast the seasoned, oiled crumbs in advance in a 425-degree oven instead of in the skillet. In that case, toast them to the color of weak tea. Then scatter them in the skillet, add the remaining olive oil and proceed as described above.
Nutrition information per serving (calculated by the Tribune):
445 calories, 77% of calories from fat, 38 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 425 mg cholesterol, 12 g carbohydrates, 14 g protein, 250 mg sodium, 0.3 g fiber
