The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook: A Consuming Passion by Patrick O'Connell

Description: The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook by Patrick O'Connell The Inn at Little Washington, located just south of Washington, D.C., owes its international reputation to Patrick OConnells brilliant cuisine. Now, here for the first time, are 138 of his favorite recipes, presented in a straightforward, clear, and sparkingly original fashion. 250 color photos. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description 110 sparklingly original recipes from the world-renowned self-taught chef and founder of the three-star Michelin restaurant The Inn at Little WashingtonPatrick OConnell, a self-taught chef who read cookbooks to learn how to cook, began his culinary career with a catering business in an old farmhouse, cooking on a wood stove with an electric frying pan purchased for $1.49 at a garage sale. To OConnells surprise, the pan was able for boil, saute, and deep fry for parties of up to 300 guests, which sharpened his awareness of how much could be done with very little. In 1978, his catering business evolved into a country restaurant and Inn, operating out of a defunct garage in a small Virginia town affectionately referred to as "Little" Washington. Now a multiple James Beard Award-winning and Michelin star restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington was Americas first five-star Inn.In The Little Inn at Washington Cookbook, OConnell assembles elegant, simple, and straightforward recipes that elevate everyday ingredients. With helpful, detailed instructions, OConnell teaches you how to make over one hundred dishes, from Fresh Tuna Tartare on Tuna Carpaccio with Wasabi Mayonnaise and Miniature Caramelized Onion Tartlets to Rockfish Roasted with White Wine, Tomatoes, and Black Olives on Toasted Couscous and Steamed Lobster with Grapefruit Butter Sauce. He also includes delicious desserts, such as Rosemary Cr me Brule and Double-Pumpkin Roulade, and savory sides, like Creamy Garlic Polenta and My Grandmothers Baked Beans.With over three hundred stunning, mouthwatering photographs and thoughtful reflections from OConnell, The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook is a fresh and glorious resource and a romantic culinary journey through the Virginia countryside. Author Biography A native of Washington D.C., Patrick OConnell began his culinary career at the age of fifteen, working in a neighborhood restaurant after school. As a drama student at Catholic University of America, he financed his education working as a waiter. In 1972, together with Reinhardt Lynch, OConnell began a catering enterprise in the Shenandoah Valley that eventually evolved into The Inn at Little Washington.A member of the prestigious Paris-based Relais and Chateau Association, The Inn received the first perfect score in the history of the Zagat rating system. The James Beard Awards named Patrick OConnell Best Chef of the Mid-Atlantic region in 1993 and selected The Inn at Little Washington as Restaurant of the Year. OConnell was one of the original inductees into "Whos Who of Food and Beverage in America." He lives in Washington, Virginia.Tim Turner is a preeminent food photographer. His previous books include Charlie Trotters and Vegetables also by Charlie Trotter. His photographs have appeared in Food and Wine, Bon Appetit and Ladies Home Journal, among other publications, as well as numerous advertisements. Prizes Short-listed for James Beard Foundation Book Awards (Food Photography) 1997 Excerpt from Book INTRODUCTION Probably the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me was that I got a job in a restaurant at the impressionable age of fifteen. The addiction was immediate. Once I discovered the pace and intensity of this delicious business, I was hooked. I found restaurant people to be fascinating characters. Whoever was writing this script had an outrageous sense of humor, and I wanted a part in the production. I was supposed to have become an actor but soon found the living theater of the restaurant world more compelling than the stage and discovered that working with food gave me a much-needed grounding and connection with the real world, which contributed to my remaining somewhat sane. Running a restaurant allows me to be the producer, director, set designer, and lead player in a wonderfully fractured nightly performance in which the world of complete illusion in the dining room is brilliantly juxtaposed with the blood-and-guts reality of the kitchen. The fact that no scene can ever be captured or exactly replicated adds a certain spice to the intensity of the moment. This book is a distillation of my thirty years in the kitchen. Many of the recipes I have included are like old friends who have been brought from distant places for a culinary version of This Is Your Life. Each one has a story to tell and relates to the others. Collectively, they define a style and taste that are uniquely American, though full of influences from other countries. This is not a typical chefs cookbook of esoteric, egomaniacal, and impossibly complicated formulas that only a wizard with a staff of eighty would attempt to produce. The recipes assembled here make up a practiced, finely honed repertoire of elegantly simple and straightforward dishes that are continually evolving. Everyday ingredients are elevated to new heights through surprising combinations and seductive presentations. As a self-taught chef, I have learned my most valuable lessons through making mistakes. I hope this book will keep you from making similar ones. You should be encouraged to know that I taught myself to cook by reading cookbooks and through years of trial and error. I was recently quoted in the book Becoming a Chef as saying that cooking "cant be taught, it has to be caught" -- rather like a fever, which then takes on a momentum of its own. This book is intended to help you catch it -- to become consumed with the passion. In addition to some of my favorite recipes, I want to share some of the less tangible secrets of creating a memorable event centered around a meal. Great food is simply one component of a magical dining experience. In planning a menu, I always aim for an element of novelty. A guest expects the food to be delicious and perfectly executed but also craves the unexpected surprise--something to remember and talk about. Often its the tiniest details that leave the most indelible memories. They represent the thoughtfulness that goes into making an occasion special and are often personal touches that cost little or nothing. For example, hand-writing individual menus on interesting little cards that include the date lets the guests know what theyre eating and gives them an inexpensive souvenir of your party. Enhancing the moment by emphasizing the season in both your choice of food and its presentation strengthens the memory-making potential of a dinner party. Try to make each meal a celebration of the moment: look for ingredients that symbolize the time of year and try to do something out of the ordinary with them. My suggestion for the home cook has always been to build confidence and a repertoire by mastering one well-conceived three-course meal, re-creating the same three dishes over and over, perhaps one night a week for six or eight weeks, until youve made every mistake possible and learned something from each one. By then, your menu will feel like a part of you, and youll be amazed at how quickly you can accomplish the preparation. At that point, youll be ready to invite guests, who more than likely will be astonished at what an accomplished cook you are, even though secretly you may not be able to cook anything but those three dishes. Youll then have the confidence to proceed and live up to your newfound reputation as a wonderful cook. Like a good wardrobe, many of the components in my recipes are interchangeable. I invite you to rearrange them as you like. At The Inn at Little Washington we sometimes joke about "spinning the dial" in choosing the accompaniments to the dishes on the menu. One day the tangle of tart greens may be served with the rabbit sausage and the next day with the venison. An unusual sauce may complement five or six different foods. Mixing and matching is part of the fun. Ive provided suggestions for substitutions with the recipes, as well as alternative ways of using various components interchangeably. Flexibility is essential to creative cooking. In planning a party or an event, I visualize it in advance, as if Im watching the preview of a film. I pretend Im the guest and walk myself through it scene by scene, from the entrance, to the table, through dessert and departure, looking for areas of potential discomfort, glitches, or rough edges. This exercise can be done in minutes and will always bring to your attention details that you forgot to take into consideration. While on your walk-through youll probably come up with great ideas for special touches. Its reassuring to have a little rehearsal of the meal a few days in advance to ensure that everything works and to analyze how the food makes you feel. As a result, you may decide to add or delete a course or to increase or decrease a portion size. The best way to minimize stress while entertaining is to be thoroughly organized. Knowing exactly what china and serving utensils will be needed for each dish is important. If you make this a habit while cooking for yourself or preparing simple family meals, it will eventually become automatic. A blackboard in the kitchen is useful for listing your menu, garnishes, and side dishes to ensure that nothing is forgotten in the tense final moments of bringing everything together. Most of us can remember at least one occasion when we discovered that a course wed spent hours preparing was left unserved in the kitchen. To improve your cooking, it is essential that you receive helpful criticism. Find someone whose opinion you value and ask him or her to be brutally honest in critiquing your work. Dont rely on your guests or friends because theyll invariably tell you everything you cook is wonderful. Compare your creations with similar dishes in fine restaurants. Begin developing reference points of taste. While traveling, seek out and analyze the great dishes of the regions youre visiting and try them at home. Compare the results and keep practicing until your version is even better than the original. Each time you prepare a dish, ask yourself, "How can I make it better and do it faster next time?" Fantasize about how you would like your food to look and taste and, amazingly, in time, little by little, your fantasy will become a reality. But be careful. All your dreams could come true, and one day you might wake up owning a restaurant. Details ISBN0679447369 Author Patrick OConnell Short Title INN AT LITTLE WASHINGTON CKBK Language English ISBN-10 0679447369 ISBN-13 9780679447368 Media Book Format Hardcover Year 1996 Imprint Random House USA Inc Subtitle A Consuming Passion Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Edition 1st Birth 1944 Pages 208 DOI 10.1604/9780679447368 UK Release Date 1996-11-19 AU Release Date 1996-11-19 NZ Release Date 1996-11-19 US Release Date 1996-11-19 Publisher Random House USA Inc Publication Date 1996-11-19 DEWEY 641.50975539 Illustrations OVER 200 FULL-COLOR PHOTOS Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:141716301;

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