Looking for dishes with a different flair, holiday or not, in the coming months?
We like Michelle Bernstein's new book, "Cuisine à Latina" (Houghton Mifflin, $30).
The pages are glossy, the photos beautiful, but, most important, the recipes look like they were created by someone who genuinely loves and knows food.
Bernstein is a three-time James Beard Award nominee and chef-owner of Michy's in Miami, Michelle's at Carysfort in Key Largo and MB in Cancun, Mexico. A former professional ballerina, Bernstein trained at Johnson & Wales University.
Leafing through the book, we were taken by three recipes that looked every bit as good as their photos.
First, a shaved fennel salad looked as healthful as could be, as well as very refreshing and crunchy as a side salad. Two fennel bulbs are simply trimmed and shaved very thin, then tossed with olive oil, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, lemon juice, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Have this salad with one of her favorite recipes in the book, braised chicken thighs with pizza spices.
At the end of the (slow) cooking, just before serving, a handful of pepperoncini is tossed in. Finally, a glance at her chicken soup with dill, chayote, chiles and egg noodles convinced us that this dish could help catapult Bernstein to attaining that Beard award one day.
The soup starts as a simple chicken caldo, but then takes on fresh flavors with the dill and chayote (squash), or pumpkin, as well as minced hot chiles, noodles and cilantro.
Bernstein's mom was Argentinean, her father a Midwesterner, but her palate appears to be Pan-Latin in character. This would be a good gift for the adventurous cook on your list this year.
