A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes Hardcover - 2008

From the jacket flap

David Tanis might cook in the most famous restaurant in America, but here he is all about keeping meals simple at home.
In this eloquent appeal for good sense in cooking great food, Davis Tanis serves up twenty-four seasonal menus that are simply conceived and simply served on platters, family style. His food bursts with invention and flavor, such as wild salmon with spicy Vietnamese cucumbers to celebrate spring and braised duck with fried ginger for a cool-weather dinner.
Tanis has an elemental, unpretentious finesse with ingredients and a genuine gift for words. Deliciously down-to-earth, his intuitive menus make cooking a pleasure, not a stress whether you're "Feeling Italian" (Steamed Fennel with Red Pepper Oil; Roasted Quail with Grilled Radicchio and Creamy Polenta; Italian Plum Cake), "Slightly All-American" (Sliced Tomatoes with Sea Salt; Grilled Chicken Breasts; Corn, Squash, and Beans with Jalapeno Butter; Blueberry-Blackberry Crumble), or "Too Darned Hot, Alors!" (Provencal Toasts; Melon and Figs with Prosciutto and Mint; Deconstructed Salade Nicoise; Lavender Honey Ice Cream).
"David s recipes are simple and marvelous," says cookbook author Paula Wolfert. "What more can a food lover want?" Tanis shows you how to slow down, pay attention, give ingredients their due, and provide meals that will delight friends and family.
Here, at last, is a cookbook that has nothing to do with celebrity chefdom and everything to do with real life. Cancel the dinner reservations and pick up this book and rediscover the pleasure of cooking at home.

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Media reviews

Citations

• Foreword, 11/14/2008, Page 0
• People Weekly, 11/03/2008, Page 51
• Publishers Weekly, 10/06/2008, Page 49
• Publishers Weekly Best Books, 11/03/2008, Page 31