Cindy Pawlcyn has had an iconic career, as a chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author. Suzen and I have eaten at Fog City Diner and Mustards Grill and we have the cookbooks to go with those very California restaurants. Fresh and local. Delicate and yet substantial. The restaurant food makes you glow and the cookbooks happily let you glow when you get home, too.
In 2006, Cindy published Big Small Plates in collaboration with some of her Mustards crew: Pablo and Erasto Jacinto. Mustards is famed for small starter plates and this idea was nourished and expanded into this book featuring soups, finger foods, salad, mini entrees and even sweets. It’s tapas-like with Cindy’s own California twists.
Somewhere, in one or more of the chapters of this book, you will find something you need to make now. Or at least this coming weekend.
In Sticks, Pick and with Fingers, you’ll find very interesting nibbles:
Chile-Roasted Hazelnuts
Mustards’ Famous Onion Rings with House-Made Ketchup
Three-Cheese Croquettes with Quick Mustard Sauce
Roasted Artichokes with Tarragon-Basil Dipping Sauce
Squash Blossom Quesadillas
Mongolian Barbecued Lamb Chops
In Dressed, Not Naked a very raw main ingredient is fitted out for public consumptions:
Tuna Tartare with Cucumber Salad and Avocado
Shrimp, Crab and Octopus Stuffed Avocado with Cilantro-Caper Mayonnaise
Herbed Goat Cheese and Walnut Log with Gard n Greens
Dishes with more substance appear in Bowls and Spoons:
Duck and Mustard Green Wontons with Vietnamese Style Sauce
Baked Goat Cheese and Tomato Fondue
Morel Mushroom Casseroles with Pedro Ximenez Sherry and Thyme
Dishes On a Raft presents dishes served on toast [or buns or tortillas]:
Crispy Fried Rabbit with Dijon-Madeira Sauce
Soft Shell crabs with Ginger Garlic Butter
Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Charred Tomato Sauce
Chiles en Nogada
The “big” in Big Small Plates comes in array of concepts in Knife and Fork:
Crisp-Fried Squash Blossoms with Tomatillo-ancho Chile Salsa
Salmon Cakes with Corn-Mushroom-Piquillo Pepper Sauce
Japanese Crab and Shrimp Pizzas
Glazed Scallops with Almond-Caper Butter Sauce
Something Sweet offers finishes that will keep smiles wide and conversations joyous:
Raspberries Romanoff
Baked Peach Crisps
Lemon-Buttermilk Pudding Cake with Chantilly Cream and Berries
There is satisfaction on every page of Big Small Plates, ideas that can easily be accomplished in the home kitchen. And ideas that will garner the full attention of everyone at the table — even if it is only you at the table. Do you have a little time on your hands? Rather than buy a bottle of cocktail sauce, you might look on Page 159 for her 15-ingredient homemade cocktails sauce. Fresh ginger, fresh horseradish, some chile, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and tequila! How could you resist.
Don’t resist. Find a copy of Big Small Plates and enjoy a sophisticated level of California comfort food.