In this warm look into the world of French bistro food, eminent food writer Patricia Wells reveals her love for this simple, robust cuisine in a collection of recipes garnered from France's best bistros. From Warm Potato Salad with Herbed Vinaigrette to Lamb Stew in White Wine to Pear Clafoutis, Wells admits her preference for hearty, homey bistro dishes. Through clearly written recipes, Wells encourages cooks to buy the best ingredients and turn them into fragrant, warming dishes. Each recipe has a note telling where it came from and alluding to its flavor. Pithy quotes throughout the book relate to bistro style--in cooking, serving, and eating--and historical quotations give a cultural connotation. Wine choices reach deep into the heart of France, from a crisp white from Provence such as a Chateau Simone with lamb, to a good Côtes du Rhone (Cru du Coudelet) with guinea hen. From the introduction to the last dessert recipe (for Prunes in Red Wine), Bistro Cooking is sure to please not just the novice in the kitchen, but the experienced cook as well. --Susan Loomis, Amazon.co.uk


From Library Journal
Bistro cooking is currently the rage, and the author of The Food Lover's Guide to Paris (Workman, 1988. 2d ed.) and . . . to France (Workman, 1987) is just the person to write about it. Wells has collected recipes from bistros all over France, as well as adapting classics and creating some new dishes of her own. This is real food, simple but not without sophistication, usually uncomplicated, and always delicious: Watercress and Potato Soup, L'Ami Louis's famed Roast Chicken, a Tarte Tatin of pears. With a text that is a pleasure to read, as always, and 200 recipes for what is really "French home cooking at its best," Wells's latest is highly recommended.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Bistro is warm. Bistro is family. Bistro is simple, hearty, generous cuisine-robust soups and country omelets, wine-scented stews and bubbling gratins, and desserts from a grandmother's kitchen. Researched and written by Patricia Wells, author of The Food Lover's Guide to Paris and The Food Lover's Guide to France, together with over 220,000 copies in print, here is a celebration of the no-nonsense, inexpensive, soul-satisfying cuisine of the neighborhood restaurants of France. BISTRO COOKING contains over 200 scrumptious bistro recipes made lighter and quicker for the way we cook today. Warm Poached Sausage with Potato Salad. Benoit's Mussel Soup. Guy Savoy's Fall Leg of Lamb. Beef Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Orange, Chicken Basquaise, Pasta with Lemon, Ham, and Black Olives, L'Ami Louis' Potato Cake, Provencal Roast Tomatoes, Pears in Red Wine, and Golden Cream and Apple Tart. Throughout, lively notes and sidebars capture the world of bistro owners in the kitchen, les grands chefs, and more. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. Winner of the 1989 IACP Seagram Food and Beverage Award. Over 166,000 copies in print.

ANNOTATION

Here are 200 recipes inspired by the neighborhood restaurants of France, adapted and tested for the American table.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For all occasions, Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking provides the kind of uncomplicated good food that cooks everywhere are rediscovering, with joy.

From Jose Lampreia's Leek, Potato, and Bacon Soup to Madame Francoise Potel's Apple Tart, each recipe has been prepared, tested, and adapted by an acclaimed French food authority.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal