cookbook club

Paley's Place

by Sue Frase Haven, a reader in Backus, MN.

The Paley's Place Cookbook makes me want to visit their restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I loved the cookbook because of the stories explaining the why of a recipe and also the wine recommendations following the recipes. Very helpful. It was extremely easy to read with a flowing commentary.
   The recipes can be difficult for the home cook. The ingredients hard to find. Who has fresh chanterelles around and handy? (I was lucky to have a mushroom-hunting neighbor and the season just started here in northern Minnesota.) How about pasilla chiles? (Mail order.) Or caulfat? (Finally found a butcher who knew what it was and saved it for me, but not in time to use for this review.) I found everything, but it was a production and not something for a quick weeknight meal. (Oops....did not find maraschino liqueur to make the homemade maraschino cherries.)
   The directions were very clear and accurate. The only thing I wonder about is...do you really need to make your own chicken consomme? Or fresh ricotta? And why wouldn't all-purpose flour work just as well as bread flour? It was nice having the recipes for the ricotta and other things...but not for the everyday cook, I think.
   All the recipes I tried tasted great. I really liked the Apple Pan Dowdy with Maple Syrup, the Grilled Flatbread and the Savory Bread Pudding. All friends and family had the same feeling. The Chile-Braised Beef Brisket might have been a bit too spicy for most tastes and the Roman-Style Chicken Liver would be an acquired taste. Not too many people like liver.
   I would have liked a photo with each recipe. It always helps in the cooking process. The photos that were with recipes were very good and really made you want to try the recipe. It was also nice to have photos about the vendors and products used. It almost gave it a travelogue feel of the Oregon area in some cases. I definitely want to visit Oregon and spend more time exploring some of the areas talked about and shown in the photos.
   Overall, I liked this cookbook for the interesting stories talk about Oregon, growers, history of the area and really explaining the recipes. The ingredients can be hard to find, but worth it in the end.