BLUE RIBBON RESTAURANT CULINARY SECRETS
Review by Barb & Ron Kroll
Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook
(Clarkson Potter) ISBN 978-0307407948 0307407942
Signature dishes from Blue Ribbon Brooklyn, Blue Ribbon Bakery and other Blue Ribbon restaurants in New York City are easy to make with this cookbook by owners, Bruce Bromberg and Eric Bromberg.
This American home cooking book provides recipes for every meal, from breakfast to dinner, and every course, from appetizer to dessert.
If you follow the simple step-by-step directions, you can make the same American cuisine that entices celebrity chefs, like Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Anthony Bourdain to dine at Blue Ribbon restaurants.
Bromberg chefs' cooking tips
This 256-page cookbook will make you want to visit New York City just to eat at one of the Blue Ribbon restaurants. Until then, the Bromberg brothers' easy American recipes help home cooks prepare delicious dishes from Blue Ribbon restaurant menus.
Each chapter of Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook begins with an index of recipes and an introduction. The Sandwich chapter introduction describes sandwich variations, from muffulettas to the Brombergs' favorite sandwich recipe, barbecued pork sandwich.
Bruce Bromberg and Eric Bromberg also add personal comments to recipe introductions. For example, they explain that their smoky bacon and garlic soup recipe is a great way to use up potato scraps.
Culinary secrets
Some Blue Ribbon recipes include variations. Alternative hollandaise sauce recipes include hollandaise with roasted garlic puree and hollandaise with pureed green peppercorns. The Bromberg brothers suggest several ways to use roasted garlic after their roasted garlic caesar salad recipe (e.g., mixed with mayonnaise or mashed potatoes).
In Blue Ribbon Wisdom sidebars, Eric and Bruce Bromberg reveal their culinary secrets. Home cooks learn how to fix a separated hollandaise sauce, how to caramelize onions and how to use leftover duck fat and crispy skin. (Mix the fat with extra virgin olive oil for salad dressings and use crispy duck skin as a substitute for bacon.)
Large color photos by Quentin Bacon, depict delicious dishes from Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook, such as smoked trout salad. Other photos show shelves of bread in the Blue Ribbon Bakery and the Bromberg chefs cooking.
How to make a quick red wine sauce
A sidebar on oils explains when to use different oils. At Blue Ribbon restaurants, the Bromberg chefs use soy oil for frying, canola for marinades and sauteing, nut oils in salad dressings and extra virgin olive oil for finishing dishes.
The Building Blocks chapter of Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook is especially helpful, with recipes for condiments, like shallot confit, and culinary secrets, such as how to make a quick red wine sauce. (Reduce leftover red wine with onions or shallots until one-quarter the original volume.)
Another sidebar on Mexican honey describes Atlixco honey from the flower capital of Mexico. Golden Reserve Honey and Mt. Mixteca Honey taste great on Blue Ribbon restaurant recipes like manchego and Mexican honey toast.
Sample Blue Ribbon Restaurant recipes
Cumin roasted almonds. Stilton toasts with honey port glaze. Goat cheese toasts. Homemade matzoh. Beef marrow bones with oxtail marmalade. Northern fried chicken (with matzoh). Oven crisped potatoes. Thin and crisp chocolate chip cookies. Challah French toast. Baked blintz souffle with brown sugar bananas. Doughnut muffins. Smoked salmon poached eggs. Homemade challah bread. Grilled eggplant sandwich. Duck club sandwich. Roasted tomato mayonnaise. Fried chicken seasoning.
Contents
- Introduction
- Nibbles, snacks and toasts
- Appetizers, soups and salads
- Main dishes
- Vegetables and sides
- Desserts
- Breakfast and brunch
- Sandwiches
- Building blocks
- Sources
- Index
Authors
Bruce and Eric Bromberg operate nine Blue Ribbon restaurants in New York City. Melissa Clark has authored or co-authored 26 cookbooks.