"Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook"

[nickrey]

My copy arrived yesterday.

Creativity with twists, turns and backflips and some of the best plating and styling I've ever seen. I've seen some good looking food in my day but this is exceptional.

The details and complexity of each dish are staggering, so be prepared for some high-end cooking without compromise.

Having a dinner party in a few weeks and the entrée and main will be straight out of here. Will report back with photos.

[ChrisTaylor]

I've got a copy on its way for my Christmas gift (along with a couple of other new releases). Having seen photos of some of the food they serve at the restaurant--I haven't been lucky enough to actually go there--it seems like the sort of book that should come wrapped in black plastic and purchased by dodgy men in trenchcoats.

[jnash85]

I was just getting ready to create this thread myself. I look forward to cooking from it, but with some modifications. I don't see any truffles or foie gras in my future.

[Twyst]

Gorgeous pictures in this one. Between this and Volt Ink (picked up both last week) I have a couple of books with a pretty ridiculous level of difficulty to keep me busy for quite some time.

[FoodMan]

I am looking forward to getting my copy as well, but I was surprised to read on the Ideas in Food blog that the book uses no weight measures. Is this accurate? or are they just saying that the book uses Imperial weights instead of metric?

[nickrey]

Somewhat distressingly as Daniel Humm is a Swiss chef, it does tend to have the full American cups/tablespoons treatment.

Some of the quantites are in imperial (eg. 3 ounces of...). In certain dishes, for example those using thickeners such as agar agar, he does give the grams measurement as well.

It's a bit frustrating but not something that would stop me buying the book (Particularly as I estimate and taste rather than measure for virtually everything I cook).

[FoodMan]

Somewhat distressingly as Daniel Humm is a Swiss chef, it does tend to have the full American cups/tablespoons treatment.

Some of the quantites are in imperial (eg. 3 ounces of...). In certain dishes, for example those using thickeners such as agar agar, he does give the grams measurement as well.

It's a bit frustrating but not something that would stop me buying the book (Particularly as I estimate and taste rather than measure for virtually everything I cook).

It's not stopping me either, but it is just a bit surprising in this day of high-end cookbooks that they would not include appropriate weight measures throughout.

[jnash85]

I'd really like to start with the scallop dish on page 131, even though its out of season. Any thoughts on what could stand in for the fresh flageolet beans?

[FoodMan]

I'd really like to start with the scallop dish on page 131, even though its out of season. Any thoughts on what could stand in for the fresh flageolet beans?

I can usually find dry flageolet beans at grocery stores. That should work.

[jnash85]

I'd really like to start with the scallop dish on page 131, even though its out of season. Any thoughts on what could stand in for the fresh flageolet beans?

I can usually find dry flageolet beans at grocery stores. That should work.

Wow. Pretty embarrassing I didn't think of that... I'll have to check for them today.

[KateBChi]

I have had some wonderful meals at EMP but if Thursdays NYT recipes are any indication of what is in the cookbook then this is the best marketing tool for dining at the restaurant rather than attempting to recreate it at home in the history of marketing. I was exhausted reading the instructions for the butternut squash cannelloni and nearly comatose with the beet dish. I have cooked my way through The French Laundry so I am willing to go the distance but these recipes require way more than one cook to run the marathon.

Kate

[nickrey]

It's certainly a record of how the restaurant dishes are created. With food at this high level, you'd expect the recipes to be complex with many processes involved and, in this respect, it doesn't disappoint.

I wouldn't expect a large number of home cooks will try the recipes in their entirety. On a scale of one hat (easy) to four hats (very complex) , you'd have to categorize a lot of the recipes as being of four hat difficulty.

[mm84321]

I received my copy yesterday. I've always wanted access to the recipes of a 4 star restaurant like EMP. If nothing else than for reference. I look forward to attempting some of the autumn and winter dishes within the coming months. The largest issue that I see with replicating some of these recipes is having ready access to the extensive list of ingredients. The dover sole poached with mushrooms, for instance, is a fantastic recipe, but it isn't likely I'll be able to get my hands on all of the 6 different types of wild mushrooms at once. I don't think I've ever seen fresh black trumpets at the market, and matsutake are pretty hard to come by. Oh well, I'll just have to substitute with domestic mushrooms.

[Broken English]

I picked it up today and I'm really impressed. It looks to be a modernized version of The French Laundry cookbook, which is a very good thing. My only issue is that the primary unit of measurement is in cups, which I have an inherent distaste for.

I look forward to combing through it in more detail.

[Robert Jueneman]

I had the four hour, 13 course, 10 wines tasting luncheon menu at Eleven Madison Park Nov. 4th, but unfortunately the book wasn't yet available in the restaurant then or I would have gotten an autographed copy.

In reading through the recipes, it becomes obvious why they had 30 cooks and six sou chefs on duty for lunch, and it wasn't all that busy!

Certainly the recipes are complex and the presentation stunning -- the photographs in the book are exquisite.

However, one of my purposes for visiting EMP was to see what a high end restaurant is doing in the area of Modernist Cuisine, and in that regard I was a little disappointed.

Although they did take me back in the kitchen and prepared an "edible cocktail" with liquid nitrogen, most of the rest of the recipes could have been prepared by Julia Child 50 years ago, or even Escoffier, 100 years ago. And come to think of it, I think liquid nitrogen was first used to prepare ice cream back in the 19th century. (BTW, their safety practices with LN2 made me shudder.)

So from the standpoint of learning and perfecting new things, without necessarily being as far out as Alinea or El Bulli, I think that I will probably make more use of the Volt, Ink cookbook by the Voltaggio brothers.

If I were to recommend one dish that was exquisite and doesn't seem all that complex, it would be the smoked sturgeon sabayon with potato, lemon, and caviar, served in an egg cup.

For those with access to foie gras, the foie gras torchon with cranberry pain d'epices, and almonds was delicious. They cut a small circle out of the center of the torchon, and bruleed it separately.

[hapacooking]

Book is quite beautiful. The recipes look challenging but not impossible to make.

It seems that there the dish on pages 128-129 is missing a name for the dish. Does everyone's copy have this error or is it just mine?

[mkayahara]

It seems that there the dish on pages 128-129 is missing a name for the dish. Does everyone's copy have this error or is it just mine?

Pages 128-129 are the continuation of the Black Bass recipe on 127.

[hapacooking]

It seems that there the dish on pages 128-129 is missing a name for the dish. Does everyone's copy have this error or is it just mine?

Pages 128-129 are the continuation of the Black Bass recipe on 127.

Thanks. I should have looked at it a bit closer before posting. I just skimmed the book and saw the empty page. doh

[jnash85]

I made the Guinea Fowl recipe on page 285 with some heavy modifications today. For starters I used chicken instead of guinea fowl. I also left out the truffles since I was out, or rather, was not going to spend over $50 on them...

I made the parsnip and butternut squash puree's yesterday. They held well in the fridge. I did the sauce, sous vide chicken, and cabbage today. Even with a simple recipe as this one there was a lot of work and a lot of dishes to do.

It was very good though. I look forward to making some more recipes in the book as I have time.

Edited November 28, 2011 by jnash85 (log)

[inductioncook]

Why do you suppose they didn't include grams? Does anyone know anyone who would actually attempt dishes like this who does not think (and measure) in the metric system?

[mm84321]

Stuff from the book:

"Beet Salad with Chèvre Frais and Caraway"

"Langoustine Marinated with Celeriac and Green Apple"

"Beef Roasted with Red Wine Braised Onions and Foie Gras"

[nickrey]

Stuff from the book:

"Beet Salad with Chèvre Frais and Caraway"

"Langoustine Marinated with Celeriac and Green Apple"

"Beef Roasted with Red Wine Braised Onions and Foie Gras"

Nice looking food.

[Mjx]

Why do you suppose they didn't include grams? Does anyone know anyone who would actually attempt dishes like this who does not think (and measure) in the metric system?

If it's being sold to a US market, they may have been concerned that metric measurements would be intimidating. I haven't seen the book, but frankly, if they're giving weight measurements (of any sort) for dry ingredients, it would still put the book leagues ahead of a lot of other cook books out there.

[mm84321]

Here's another shot I took of the beef. I think it looks better in this one.

[Broken English]

I'm still wondering how exactly one measures two cups of sliced potatoes.