An American Family Cooks: From a Chocolate Cake You Will Never Forget to a Thanksgiving Everyone Can Master

by Judith Choate

Publisher: Welcome Books / Rizzoli

Publication Date: September 2013

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Featured Recipe: Pork Scaloppine with Arugula Salad

With its irresistible recipes, gorgeous photographs (by renowned food photographer Steve Pool), charming illustrations (by Stephen Kolyer),  and narration by award-winning cookbook author Judith Choate, An American Family Cooks sets the table to which we all want to be invited. Choate and her family of foodies celebrate the new American home cooking. Within the cookbook’s pages, one will find a sophisticated yet cook-friendly variety of recipes that meld influences from the fundamentals of traditional home cooking to classic follow-to-the-letter French techniques, contemporary California cuisine, exciting ethnic dishes, holiday classics, and the most simple and satisfying of family meals.

Cooks&Books&Recipes Featured Cook Kim, A Well-Seasoned Life:

How often are you invited into someone’s home, someone’s life, and allowed to explore the family’s cooking routines? After reading An American Family Cooks and entering the kitchen of Judith Choate and her sons Michael and Christopher Choate, you will get an insider’s view of the food traditions of this American family.

An American Family Cooks is a voluminous and absorbing cookbook filled with personal essays and detailed recipes. The word that comes to mind while reading the cookbook is “legacy.” The Choate family has built a legacy in the kitchen–beginning with the mother, passed along to the sons, and now to the grandchildren. It is inspiring to read how one woman’s culinary journey has influenced her sons and to watch those sons evolve into cooks themselves as they have absorbed and expanded their mother’s food traditions.

The cookbook features over one hundred recipes that cover a myriad of genres and cultural inspirations. The Choates introduce us to a world of wine, appetizers, soups, chicken and meat dishes, pastas, vegetables, breads, and desserts. Throughout the cookbook, we find recipes with French, Spanish, Middle Eastern, and Italian roots that have come to find a home on an American family’s table.

Cooks&Books&Recipes {Dee} on An American Family Cooks:

With the holidays just around the corner, I have to add some notes about a favorite aspect of this cookbook for me: the recipes for full holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) meals. I love having all the info for a festive feast in just one cookbook. How can you go wrong with son Chris’s San Francisco All-Day Thanksgiving: Champagne & Fried Eggs on Toasted Baguette with Shaved Truffles and a Drizzle of Honey; Iced Vodka & Caviar with Quail Eggs, Minced Red Onion, and Tiny Toasts; and Traditional Turkey Dinner with All the Fixings?? Yes, just as the title says, you can master the traditional Thanksgiving, with Judie’s help, of course! Her recipes include Perfect Roast Turkey and Gravy; My Stuffing; Brussels Sprouts; Carrot-Parsnip Puree; Cranberry Ice; and Easy Rolls, At Least I Think They Are. But just as important as the recipes to your/my success are her detailed explanations — and her stories.

Because, truth be told, I read this cookbook almost as much for the stories. This book really is a family endeavor, with commentary from her “cookaholic” sons Michael (“Mickey”) and Christopher (“Chris”), plus wine notes from the latter, along with gorgeous photographs by Choate’s husband, Steve Pool,  and illustrations by longtime friend Stephen Kolyer. Whether or not you have an equally food-oriented family, you’ll enjoy becoming a part of Judie’s as you enter their kitchens and learn from the insights they share.

The Cookbook Basics:

Hardcover (10.1 x 8.3 inches)

272 pages

324 full-color photographs + 15 illustrations

About the author: Judith Choate is a James Beard award-winning writer, chef, and pioneer in the promotion of American food. Known for her flair with food preparation and presentation, Choate owned and operated a retail bakery, food shop, and catering business in New York City. She has also worked in the field of menu and restaurant development as a consultant to companies ranging from Heinz and national restaurant chains to small airlines and health food shops. She has authored or co-authored over 100 books and blogs at Notes from Judie’s Kitchen. For more, see this interview by Andrew Zimmern.

An American Family Cooks