16 replies to this topic

[sheepish]

I'm getting rather taken with growing my own veg. Upped growing space this year. I eat out in maybe one 2 or 3 star place a year, and I'm always loathed to forgo my meat and fish to try the increasing number of vegetarian tasting menus. But I do like to try my hand at cooking that kind of thing.

I have Essential Cuisine by Michel Bras. I've just ordered a second hand copy of Charlie Trotter's Vegetables book. Any other good sources of the kind of vegetable focused dish one might find in these kind of establishments?

Thanks

[Rover]

You might like to check out Nigel Slater's Tender I - Vegetables. I really love this book which traces Slater's experiences and preferences in his own vegetable garden and in his kitchen. I also have Tender II - Fruits which is a gorgeous book.

These books are filled with information, ideas and recipes. I recommend them both, but suggest you check out the vegetable volume from your local library to see if it meets your needs.

[Moopheus]

I don't know if this quite what you're looking for, but you could do worse than start with some of the books in this thread:

http://forums.egulle...ing-the-flavor/

[Will]

I really enjoy Chez Panisse vegetables, which has some great vegetable (though not all vegetarian) recipes, as well as general advice on selecting vegetables.

Kind of more in the "food porn" than "stuff I want to cook" category, at least for me, but I also enjoyed Great Chefs Cook Vegan, edited by Linda Long.

[Darienne]

There are so many vegetarian cookbooks out there now that you can't help tripping over them.

My current favorite is: Habeeb Salloum. Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa. New York: Interlink Books, 2000 (2009) ISBN 978-1-56656-398-7

[andiesenji]

In December 2005 I purchased Olive Trees and Honey and it is still one of my favorite cookbooks.

It's not just vegetables but includes legumes, grains and pasta but vegetables are the stars of so many of the dishes.

Last summer when my eggplants were producing heavily, I prepared several of the recipes - there are around fifteen, not counting spreads and use as a filling.

There are several wonderful cauliflower recipes.
The Zucchini, leek and cheese casserole is so much more than the sum of its parts.

You can check inside the book/the index here.
Scroll down half way on the page.


I have a number of vegetarian and vegan friends, as well as friends who keep kosher or halal and I am on pretty safe ground cooking from this cookbook for almost anyone.

Edited by andiesenji, 30 March 2011 - 04:45 PM.

[LindaK]

I really love Roger Vergé's Vegetables in the French Style. Traditional recipes are there, but so are lovely, unusual flavor combinations for vegetables that don't always get attention--turnips, celery root, salsify, artichokes. Personal favorites include a gateau d'aubergine (eggplant cake) and turnips with cardamom.

[nickrey]

How about the Yotam Ottolenghi book called Plenty?

These are the sort of dishes that you'd see in restaurants. The emphasis is on tasty, well-presented, dishes without meat rather than tub-thumping vegetarianism.

[johnder]

Charlie Trotters vegetable volume. Be warned it is intense and the recipes are labor-intensive but beautiful

[janeer]

In addition to the Chez Panisse book, closer to your home would be Jane Grigson's Vegetable Cookbook, a lost little gem called Leaves From Our Tuscan Kitchen, and any of Elizabeth David's books on French cooking, which are very good on vegetables. A U.S. classic, Greene on Greens, has a mixture of sophisticated and robust vegetable dishes. Chris Schlesinger's book Lettuce in Your Kitchen has a lot of good composed salad ideas.

[DanM]

In December 2005 I purchased Olive Trees and Honey and it is still one of my favorite cookbooks.

It's not just vegetables but includes legumes, grains and pasta but vegetables are the stars of so many of the dishes.

Last summer when my eggplants were producing heavily, I prepared several of the recipes - there are around fifteen, not counting spreads and use as a filling.

There are several wonderful cauliflower recipes.
The Zucchini, leek and cheese casserole is so much more than the sum of its parts.

You can check inside the book/the index here.
Scroll down half way on the page.


I have a number of vegetarian and vegan friends, as well as friends who keep kosher or halal and I am on pretty safe ground cooking from this cookbook for almost anyone.

Olive Trees and Honey is a great book that I will also recommend. The cultural information and the maps make for a great read.

I don't want to keep plugging his books, but Denis Cotter has several amazing vegetarian cookbooks that should meet your needs. He has another one coming out in a month or so.

[rarerollingobject]

How about the Yotam Ottolenghi book called Plenty?

These are the sort of dishes that you'd see in restaurants. The emphasis is on tasty, well-presented, dishes without meat rather than tub-thumping vegetarianism.

I second this recommendation. It's one of my favourite books of all time - I'm not vegetarian, but could happily be, on this kind of food.

[dougal]

... to try the increasing number of vegetarian tasting menus. But I do like to try my hand at cooking that kind of thing. ...

For "that kind of thing", (as opposed to straightforward veg cookery books from Grigson to Walters, or ethnic-inspired novelties like Ottolenghi), I think you need Terre a Terre.

UK link (since you are in the UK) http://www.amazon.co.../dp/1906650047/

From an Amazon review quote --

... was amazed at how well they turned out. As a result I've continued to try things from it whenever I've got TIME. That's the key thing, TIME, these recipes take a lot of preparation, although most of the accompaniments, dressings and sauces can be done well ahead and then finished. But you have to be in the mood, those Sundays when you're happy to potter.
I've found that the results have been so good that I'm willing to put in the time...

So here are some of the recipes I've cooked from it that worked well for me, and were worth the effort.
Dunkin Doughnuts (parmesan and porcini dust doughnuts to dip into chestnut soup), Arepas Mojo (corncakes with salsas) Skordalia and Seasame Discos (sesame sumac aubergines with garlic puree), Walnut Whip (red onion and blue cheese bruschetta with walnut whip topping, lentils and seared radicchio - this is a particular fave, probably the one I've made most often) No Cocky Big Leeky (cheesey sausages, mash and cinnamon merlot onions, with the best gravy ever), Lettuce and Lovage (pea and parsley pikelets with st germain sauce-though I've no idea about lovage, I just left it out!)Sodden Socca (chickpea fritters, caponata, marmara tapenade, saffron orange dressing) Bum (sheeps milk cheescake with sambuca sultanas on walnut biscotti with rosemary syrup). These were all good! One recipe was only okay, Send My Regards to Broadway(mille fouille with mousse and asparagus and broad bean salad) and one didn't work and was an annoying waste of a lot of time- Saltimbocca, I just couldn't get the thin sheets of sun dried tomato to wrap around the polenta sauages and ended up with a crumbly mess!

[Moopheus]

Oh dear, a few new ones on me that look interesting...bookcase already full...

[sheepish]

For "that kind of thing", (as opposed to straightforward veg cookery books from Grigson to Walters, or ethnic-inspired novelties like Ottolenghi), I think you need Terre a Terre.

Thanks. That looks well worth a look. Unusally for Amazon the reviewers haven't given it one star on the basis the recipes can't be made when you get in from the pub and before you fall asleep.

[Corinna]

How about the Yotam Ottolenghi book called Plenty?

These are the sort of dishes that you'd see in restaurants. The emphasis is on tasty, well-presented, dishes without meat rather than tub-thumping vegetarianism.

I second this recommendation. It's one of my favourite books of all time - I'm not vegetarian, but could happily be, on this kind of food.

I can't wait to get my hands on this book. I love his food!
Until my budget, I am enjoying rediscovering Deborah Madison's Local Flavors-- simple recipes that celebrate the ingredients, some quite innovative too!

[Rover]

I forgot to mention Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest - Vegetables at the Centre of the Plate. This isn't strictly vegetarian, but the recipes do celebrate vegetables and has some lovely presentations. I'd almost forgotten about this book so I'm glad this topic was posted; now I'm reminded to cruise through its pages.