Cooking with David Burke

From Publishers Weekly
Burke’s attention to the details of culinary preparation and his instinctive eye for food as art are well-known and reflected in this accomplished book. In his chapter “Small Things/Large Flavors,” for instance, Burke discusses pantry basics and batterie de cuisine. Tools and garnishes are detailed first, followed by chapters on “building a dish” with fish, shellfish, fowl and meat. Flavored oils, vinaigrettes and sauces merit their own chapter, as do appetizers and small meals. Burke demonstrates his flair for presentation not only in the food itself, but in table setting and ambiance suggestions for the dining room. “Chili looks best in pottery, fish looks best on porcelain,” he says. The final chapter on presentation reveals Burke’s whimsical approach to trompe l’oeil in serving food: consomme can be served in a brandy snifter, and breadsticks in a vase. Though such notions might suggest an overly refined palate, Burke serves food that is hearty and unpretentious, such as a black bean soup with shrimp and jalape?o jack cheese quesadillas topped with salsa. More ambitious dishes, such as barbecued squab with cheddar corn cakes, onion and pistachio marmalade, and pistachio wafers still appear surprisingly accessible. Directions are clear and succinct, with substituitions offered for exotic or seasonal ingredients. Home cooks who entertain frequently will find this book a trove of ideas, while aspiring professional chefs will get realistic insights into the long hours and hard work required to succeed in food service. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Burke is executive chef of a popular, elegant Manhattan restaurant. With food writer Reingold, he presents his culinary philosophy (including a 20-page bio-graphical sketch) and his favorite recipes. His delicious Pastrami Salmon is here, along with other unusual starters, soups and small meals, entrees, and desserts. There are also chapters on flavored oils and sauces and on “small things, large flavors” (fresh-herb wafers, ginger puree). Although some of the recipes call for exotic/expensive ingredients or are time-consuming to prepare, others are relatively easy, and the instructions are clear. For area libraries and other larger collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

David Burke’s New American Classics

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this original and challenging cookbook, meatloaf is a starting point rather than a destination. Having introduced the world to smoked salmon pastrami and goat cheese lollipops, the executive chef and co-owner of davidburke & donatella is known for his quirky, often humorous sensibility in the kitchen. Here, he turns his attention to American comfort food. The guiding principal is that once a cook masters a classic recipe, he or she can transform it into haute cuisine—and then use the leftovers to create something else entirely. Eggs benedict is transformed into a Canadian Bacon and Onion Potato Cake with Poached Eggs and Spicy Tomato Salsa; the following day it becomes Bacon, Potato, and Eggs Strudel. It’s in these second-day dishes that Burke displays his whimsy. Few cooks, after all, make Oatmeal Gougères, Barbecued Chicken Sticky Buns, and Coconut Cheesecake Beignets with Red Fruit Sorbet and Berries at home. These are convenient, creative solutions, but they are not shortcuts; even the “classics” go a few steps beyond basic and require considerable skill and time. The results, however, are almost always worth the effort. 16 pages of color photos. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
A unique and clever approach to cooking raises this cookbook above its rivals in the genre of cookbooks based on restaurant cuisine. Celebrated New York chef Burke presents each dish in three separate and distinctive guises: classic, contemporary, and second day (leftovers). This tripartite approach allows him to address cooks possessing different levels of expertise and sophistication. Burke creates a simple pot roast made from beef brisket festooned with standard root vegetables. The same piece of meat with ginger, spices, rice wine, and soy sauce becomes a very modern Asian pot roast. Leftovers from either of these recipes may be shredded and mixed with barbecue sauce and chopped peppers for an elegant Sloppy Joe. Burke’s imagination roams free: his spareribs call for replacing the bones with asparagus spears. A large number of these recipes require advanced kitchen techniques so that only the most experienced cooks will have the skills to reproduce Burke’s results. Color photographs help guide when the instructions alone fail to communicate the chef’s intent. Mark Knoblauch

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