I went to Books to Cooks last night for a demo by Barbara Fairchild, editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit magazine. She was talking about her latest book, The Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook. The book is organized around key shopping ingredients (turkey, pasta, potatoes) so that you can use it at the last minute. Most recipes use between 6-10 ingredients, so it’s definitely designed to be used when you don’t have much time to cook.
While she talked, an assistant prepared a roast chicken with gremolata butter, bacon-wrapped dates, and mushrooms en croute. I had to leave before the chicken came out of the oven, but it smelled delicious. The mushrooms en croute were really tasty, with meaty mushrooms and a kick of lemon zest on a baguette chip, with melted parmesan cheese on top.
But oh, the bacon-wrapped dates were delicious. It was a juicy pitted date stuffed with smoked bacon, with the whole thing wrapped in bacon and baked until it was crispy, smoky, salty perfection. I had to exercise serious restraint, but I still ate three of them.
There were also wine tastings from Farmstead wines and Barrel Select. Tasty.
It was a perfect way to spend a snowy evening: in a cookbook store, listening to Barbara Fairchild talk about food while eating delicious food and tasting lovely wine. Life doesn’t get much better.