Young Man and the Sea: Dave Pasternack

[The Cookbook Addict]

Has anyone cooked anything from this cookbook? I am reviewing it for my blog and have had very mixed experiences. Some of the recipes were fairly easy and delicious, others grossly out of whack. Many had way too much olive oil, which I understand has been a problem for some at Esca as well.

For example, the Taglietelle with Nantucket Bay Scallops had 6 TB of butter and 1/2 cup plus 2 TB olive oil for 3/4 lb of pasta. Absurd. I used half as much oil and it was still unappetizingly oily. Some of the other recipes (olive oil poached halibut, linguine with clams and pancetta) were fabulous.

Anyone else try this one?

[ariggsby]

Has anyone cooked anything from this cookbook?  I am reviewing it for my blog and have had very mixed experiences.  Some of the recipes were fairly easy and delicious, others grossly out of whack.  Many had way too much olive oil, which I understand has been a problem for some at Esca as well.

Anyone else try this one?

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The only thing I've actually made from it was the tuna ragu (with some mackerel or sardine in it) Very simple but very good.

Andrew

[heightsgtltd]

Just read your new blog post on this..

Nice post and pictures!

I think it's interesting that the majority of "reviews" of cookbooks found online or in papers don't actually make recipes from the books and just evaluate how the books look and if the recipes "sound good."

Thanks for giving some of these a try. To your point, recipes aren't always translated properly, and many may not know this before the book is purchasd.

[CtznCane]

I haven't tried any of the recipes from the book yet though I intend to. What I did note was his comment about using wondra for dredging the fish before frying and it helping with providing a crisper crust. I tried that with the fish and chips I make and with other applications and have found with fish it's the way to go and have used that combination successfully with other foods as well.

[Kevin72]

I'm a little mixed on this one. Esca is probably next on the list of Batali restaurants I most want to get to and I was really excited when I found out there was a cookbook for it out. Seemed to really fly in under the radar.

Anyways, I like Pasternack's "tone" in the book, if you've ever heard him talk, it's pretty much exactly right in the writeups and stories.

But the recipes all just seem one note and redundant. Like, basically, if he just outlined one technique in detail, all he'd have to do afterwards is list the recipe variations afterwards. There's one chapter, I think the one on pan-searing or sauteing, where it's just the same technique cut and pasted over and over again with ingredients varied each time.

I think I know the recipe you're referring to that's too oily. Is it the one with pesto? There's even a picture with it and yes, it looks downright unappetizing.