From Serious to Sublime

   Clara Sturak
   Associate editor

   Think Like a Chef
   Tom Colicchio

   Belgo Cookbook
   Denis Blais and Andre Plisnier

   Clarkson Potter, a division of Crown, is known for publishing beautiful books – interior design, gardening and landscaping, and the ever-elusive “style” are covered in glossy coffee table tomes, the kind that make you say, “Well, I’m never gonna have any style, so I might as well enjoy looking at some.”
   That publishing mentality applies to their cookbooks as well – cookbooks so lovely, so full of style, that they make perfect gifts, even for people who never intend to pick up a saucier or who threw away their mortar and pestle twenty years ago.
   Some Clarkson Potter titles stand out as very good books for actual cooks, too. This season’s Think Like a Chef from Gramercy Tavern’s Tom Colicchio is a successful example of form not outdoing function. Broken up into chapters including “Techniques,” “Studies” and “Component Cooking,” this cleanly designed book really does attempt to change (or at least clarify) the reader’s thinking about food and how to put it together to make delicious dishes and satisfying meals. Lots of big color pictures helpfully show you what the end product is supposed to look like.
   On the other end of the scale is the Belgo Cookbook, which came out late last year, and is available in paperback. It’s also fantastically designed – and this time the design is the star – that is, the design and the authors, French-Canadian Denis Blais and Anglo-Belgian Andre Plisnier, maestros of the small European chain of Belgo restaurants. They are, for lack of a better word, kooks, and their wacky faces cover the pages of the book.
   Not to say that the Belgo Cookbook isn’t filled with lots of information – in fact, there’s more than you would ever need to know about Belgian beer here. And a chapter on which country has the best Fries (France? England? Spain? – No, it’s Belgium!), and lots and lots of recipes for mussels, because the Belgians evidently love nothing more than mussels. You learn something new everyday.
   I’m going to give both of these books to my little brother, a 21-year-old aspiring chef who cooks at local bar, for Christmas. I can only guess which one he’ll like best.
   In grudging acceptance of our nippy weather, two recipes for hearty, warming soups follow.  Colicchio’s chunky twist on the classic potato-leek, and Blais and Plisnier’s beer-filled Cream of Belgian Endive – no, really, it’s good!

   Diced Potato-Leek Soup
   (From Think Like a Chef)
   Serves 4
   4 Leeks, white part only, trimmed
   1/4 pound slab bacon
   4 Idaho or other starchy potatoes (3 to 4 pounds), peeled
   1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
   Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
   3 cups chicken stock, warmed
   2 tablespoons unsalted butter
   2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
   Split the leeks lengthwise, then slice into thin semicircles. Cut the bacon and potatoes into a small dice.
   Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until it slides easily across the pan. Add the bacon and cook until it is rendered but not yet crisp, about two minutes. Add the leeks, salt, pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until they just begin to soften, about three minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the potatoes. Cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes soften slightly, 3 to 5 minutes more.
   Add enough stock to moisten the vegetables, about 1/2 cup. Bring soup to a simmer, then add another 1/2 cup of stock. Continue gradually adding the stock, about 1/2 cup at a time, until it has all been added. Gently simmer the soup until the potatoes are tender (about 10 minutes from the time you begin adding stock), then stir in the butter and chives. Add salt and pepper and serve immediately.

   Cream of Belgian Endive Soup with White Beer
   Crème de Chicons a la Biere Blanche
   (From Belgo Cookbook)
   Serves 4
   4 heads of Belgian endive
   1/4 cup butter
   1 small onion, thinly sliced
   4 large potatoes, quartered
   1/4 cup brown sugar
   1 bouquet garni
   1 cup white beer (such as Hoegaarden)
   3 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
   Salt and pepper
   Freshly grated nutmeg
   1 cup heavy cream
   Cut the Belgian endive in half lengthwise and cut out the cores. Slice the Belgian endive thinly. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion, and cook for one minute. Add the Belgian endive, potatoes, sugar, and bouquet garni, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
   Add the beer, stock (or water), salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer gently for one hour.
   Remove the bouquet garni and mix the soup in a blender or pass it through a food mill. Return the soup to the saucepan, add the cream, and bring back to a boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve hot.