Campagna Table Cookbook - New York City Italian Restaurant

Additional Details

Description: Night after night at his popular New York City restaurant Campagna, Mark Strausman serves country-style Italian fare to a crowded house. The mouthwatering antipasti table, exquisite flower arrangements, imported pottery, and simple yet warm decor all make diners feel as if they've been transported to an Italian villa. For years, Strausman's fans have been asking for the recipes that have made his restaurant so successful. Strausman does just that in his first book, The Campagna Table, and shows you, through food, stories, and beautiful photographs, how to evoke the Italian country spirit in your own home. 

In Italy, home life is centered around the long wooden kitchen table. It is the place for eating as well as preparing meals, late-night talks, and family celebrations. As Strausman explains, it doesn't take much to make the kitchen table inviting -- cloth napkins and place mats, a centerpiece of simple flowers, a painted water pitcher. Let the beautiful photographs in The Campagna Table inspire you. 

Just as important as the table is the food. As a parent, Strausman knows that few people have time to make elaborate, restaurant-style food every night of the week. The Campagna Table presents satisfying dishes that you can prepare using ingredients that are available at any supermarket. The key is buying the best-quality kitchen staples that you can afford -- real stone-pressed extra- virgin olive oil, good-quality red wine vinegar that isn't too acidic, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (though Grana Padano is a good, more affordable substitute). 

With a well-stocked pantry, Strausman's more than 150 recipes are easy to follow. The antipasti chapter includes such recipes as fennel that is drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and braised in the oven, and baked button mushrooms tossed with pesto. After a long day at work, try any of the Quick-Cook Main Dishes such as pork chops that are baked and topped with rosemary and balsamic vinegar or Italian sausages cooked on the stove with broccoli rabe and garlic. 

The pastas at Campagna are legendary and Strausman teaches you how to prepare them at home, just like a pro, including the restaurant's signature dish and number one most-requested recipe, Penne A.O.P -- it's named for the three key sauce ingredients, aglio (garlic), olio (oil), and pomodoro (tomato). Other favorite pasta recipes include Spaghetti alia Pescatora, prepared with squid, octopus, clams, and mussels, and Penne alia Silvana -- your dinner guests will never know this fantastic dish is prepared with frozen spinach. 

For weekends and winter days when you want to spend the extra time to prepare a special meal for family and friends, turn to Slow-Cook Main Dishes and try Real Eggplant Parinigiana. Preparing this dish simply, with layers of eggplant, Parmesan, real tomato sauce, and a few seasonings, allows the true taste of Italy to come through. Osso Buco alia Fiorentina and Lamb and Pepper Stew each take extra time to prepare but are worth the effort. For special occasions, Strausman includes holiday menus for Passover, Easter, and Thanksgiving. 

The gorgeous photographs of finished dishes and table settings set the mood, making this eagerly awaited cookbook a joy to thumb through. The recipes from one of New York's best-known chefs make it easy even for beginner cooks to try their hand at authentic Italian cooking. More experienced cooks will find inspiration here to re-create the dishes that made Mark Strausman so famous. The Campagna Table includes everything you need to bring the style and cooking of the Italian countryside into your own home. 

---- 

Condition: Very good condition.