Can cookbooks make it on good looks alone? Oversize volumes filled with alluring photographs of food can take you only so far because, like a dessert buffet, they become overwhelmingly, numbingly rich.
In reality, the best of the gorgeously photographed gift books are the ones that also are a joy to read and to take into the kitchen.
“Bouchon,” by Thomas Keller with Jeffrey Cerciello (Artisan, $50), is one of those. A larger-than-life portrait of a simple, perfect creme caramel made me wish I had a spoon, but the companion essay about making the caramel, and another about custard, satisfied my culinary intellect.
The book is named for Keller’s bistros in Las Vegas and Yountville, Calif., but its viewpoint is more general. A paean to bistro cooking, it may be the best book ever about bistros and bistro food. It is a finalist in the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the James Beard Book Awards cookbook competitions.
The text reveals the chef’s deep, technical understanding of basic soul-warming bistro cooking, and what goes into elevating it to the culinary masterpieces that are more often dreamed of than tasted.
With essays like the one about custard, and with the precision of its recipes, “Bouchon” instills good habits. Ladle stock from the pot instead of pouring it so it stays clear. Wrap meat in cheesecloth before marinating so the herbs in the marinade don’t stick to it. Take four–four–loving hours to saute the onions for onion soup.
Among the recipes tried, the cauliflower gratin and the little bittersweet chocolate cakes called bouchons were marvels.
Keller even knows his Harold McGee, referring to the Maillard reaction of browning meat. But we were surprised that his neutral oil of choice for salad was canola, not cold-pressed grapeseed. And was the reference to the inventor of vichyssoise as Louis Diaz, not Louis Diat, a typo?
Though “Bouchon” is a huge impractical book with pages on such thick stock it feels as if two are stuck together, it is a volume that all good cooks will treasure.
Chocolate bouchons
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 2 dozen
“These small brownielike cakes are named for their shape, which resembles a cork (bouchon); they are very rich and chocolaty, baked with chocolate chips in the batter, and dusted with confectioners’ sugar,” according to “Bouchon,” by Thomas Keller with Jeffrey Cerciello. Although Bouchon uses 2-ounce timbale molds or Fleximolds, we prepared them in mini-muffin tins. Custard cups also would work.
Butter and flour for molds
3/4 cup flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces unsalted butter
(3 sticks), melted and slightly warm
6 ounces high-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into pieces the size of chocolate chips
Sifted confectioners’ sugar for dusting
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 dozen mini-muffin tins or one dozen timbale molds. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in another large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed, about 3 minutes, until very pale. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, add about one-third of the dry ingredients in thirds, then one-third of the butter, and continue alternating with the remaining flour and butter. Add the chocolate. (The batter can be refrigerated up to a day.)
3. If using timbale molds, place on a baking sheet. Place the batter in a pastry bag without a tip, or with a large plain tip, and fill each mold about two-thirds full. Bake 20-25 minutes. When tops look shiny and set (like a brownie), test one cake with a wooden skewer or toothpick: It should come out clean but not dry; there may be melted chocolate on it from the chopped chocolate.
4. Transfer the bouchons to a cooling rack. After a couple minutes, invert and cool upside down in the molds or tin. Unmold the bouchons and dust them with confectioners’ sugar. Serve with ice cream, if desired.
Nutrition information per bouchon:
195 calories, 63% of calories from fat, 15 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 57 mg cholesterol, 17 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 90 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
