The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends
By Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Stanley Tucci’s association with wonderful foods began for fans with the movie Big Night and resonated in his role as Julia Child’s husband in Julie & Julia. But well before these films, he was enjoying innovative homemade Italian meals throughout his childhood, when family and food were nearly inseparable and cooking was always a familial venture.
Now, in this family-focused cookbook, Tucci captivates food lovers’ imaginations with recipes from his traditional Italian roots as well as those of his British wife, Felicity Blunt, tied together with a modern American ribbon. The time-tested recipes include pasta alla bottarga, mushroom-stuffed trout, pork chops with onions and mustard sauce, barbeque chicken wings, and much, much more! Nothing will make you happier to spend time with family than the aroma of a hearty Italian dish sizzling on the stovetop.
Featuring 100 luscious, full-color photographs, The Tucci Table captures the true joys of family cooking. Buon appetito!
Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci is an actor, writer, director, and producer. He has directed five films and appeared in over seventy films, countless television shows, and a dozen plays on and off Broadway. He has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony, and a spoken word Grammy; is a winner of two Golden Globes and six Emmys; and has received numerous other critical and professional awards and accolades. A lover of all things culinary, Stanley wrote and directed Big Night, the critically acclaimed movie about two brothers running a failing restaurant, starred in Julie & Julia, and is the host of three-time Emmy winning Searching for Italy. He is the author of Taste: My Life Through Food and two cookbooks, The Tucci Table and The Tucci Cookbook.
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Reviews for The Tucci Table
10 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love Stanley Tucci! Whether he’s a hypersensitive tango dancer in Shall We Dance?, the husband of a beloved cooking icon in Julie and Julia, the mischievous Puck in A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, or any one of the scores of other roles he’s had, I think he’s brilliant.So I was bound to love his new cookbook, written with his wife Felicity Blunt (sister of actress Emily Blunt). And I did!Tucci combines his love of classic French food (which I was enjoying for the first time that month) with the bounty of food available in North America (especially in larger cities) to present a fresh take on the food that has enchanted generations of eaters.4 stars
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stanley Tucci is an actor, known for his roles in The Devil Wears Prada and Julie & Julia. In 1996, Tucci co-wrote and starred in a movie called Big Night, about two brothers who have one night to save their Italian restaurant. The movie has achieved cult status, earning many fans for Tucci and his costar Anthony Shaloub.Tucci has always loved to cook, and follows his successful 2012 The Tucci Cookbook with a new cookbook, The Tucci Table, filled with recipes from himself, his family and even some famous friends, written with his wife Felicity Blunt, sister of actress Emily Blunt.From his late friend actress Natasha Richardson, whom he said was "an extraordinary cook who threw some of the best dinner parties I have ever attended', he shares her Pissaladiere, topped with anchovies, onions and olives.His son Nico's Pasta with Proscuitto, Onions, Peas and Pancetta looks like a winning dish to me, and I appreciated the detailed instructions on the carbonara finish to the dish.He also tells some funny stories, like the time he asked Felicity what she wanted to cook for a dinner party the following weekend. She decided on a suckling pig, which was problematic since neither had ever cooked one before. They got a whole pig from the butcher, but it was too long to fit on their barbeque spit. So they got out the hacksaw and tried to cut off the pig's head, when their children came home from school to see the carnage.The book is heavy on Italian food, naturally, and I am tempted to try his Polenta Fries, which Tucci calls a great alternative to French fries. They look delicious.Tucci formatted the book so that the directions come first, then the ingredients, which may confuse some people. This is a book for confident cooks, more casual cooks who like to go more by instinct than exact measurements. (See glug of olive oil, above)Reading The Tucci Table is like sitting in Tucci's kitchen, and you can hear his voice as you read his stories about how his mother-in-law makes it this way, and he got this recipe on location in Atlanta for The Hunger Games.
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The Tucci Table - Stanley Tucci
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The Tucci Table, by Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt, Gallery BooksTo my family, ever growing, ever hungry . . .
contents
Introduction
Our Essential Equipment
Soups and Salads
Tuscan Tomato Soup
Pea and Ham Hock Soup
Emily’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Sunchoke Soup with Crispy Speck Shards
Potato and Leek Soup with Fried Parsley
Bistro Green Salad with Simple Vinaigrette
Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Celery Salad
Cucumber Salad
Quinoa Salad with Feta, Pomegranate, and Pistachio
Roasted Potato Salad
Cannellini Bean and Tuna Salad with Red Onion
Haricots Verts with Shallots and Cherry Tomatoes
Zucchini Ribbon Salad
Ryan’s Kale and Amino Acid Salad
Puntarella Salad with Anchovy Dressing
Cicchetti
Frittata
Sausage Rolls
Risotto Cakes
Tony Shalhoub’s Stuffed Grape Leaves
Fried Calamari
Grilled Cheese with Pesto and Prosciutto
Pissaladière
Pasta, Rice, and Grains
Spaghetti Vongole
Pasta with Fresh Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
Nico’s Pasta with Prosciutto, Onions, Peas, and Pancetta
Pasta with Mushrooms
Bolognese
Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Anchovies
Uova Da Raviolo
Trofiette with Pesto Genovese, String Beans, and Potatoes
Pasta Al Forno
Gnocchi with Sage Butter
Basic Risotto
Israeli Couscous with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and Caramelized Onions
Seafood Paella
Paella
Fish and Seafood
Camilla Toniolo’s Whole Baked Fish with Sliced Potatoes
Baked Salmon
Steamed Trout with Court Bouillon Sauce
Roasted Sea Bass
Cod Baked with Tomatoes and Olives
Grilled Sardines with Salsa Verde
Fish Stew
Fish and Chips
Steamed Mussels
Seared Scallops with Pea Puree
Shrimp with Garlic, Chile, and Parsley
Meat and Fowl
Standing Rib of Beef
Beef Wellington
Carbonnade De Boeuf
Steak with Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary
Pork Chops with Onions and Mustard
Roasted Pork Belly
Baked Ham with Mostarda Di Frutta
Seared Lamb Chops
Shepherd’s Pie
Pan-Seared Loin of Venison with Red Wine, Juniper, and Quince
Rabbit with Cipollini Onions and Tomato
Sauteéd Rabbit Liver
Roast Chicken
Cornish Game Hens with Sage and Pancetta
Chicken Wings with Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Joan’s Chicken Wings
Sides
Asparagus with Lemon Butter
Mashed Potatoes
Tangled Greens
Grilled Spring Onions
Fried Green Tomatoes
Lentils
Baked Beans
Sautéed Mushrooms
Polenta
Polenta Frites
Vegetable Parmigiana
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks
English Roast Potatoes
Roasted Root Vegetables with Thyme
Yorkshire Pudding
Roasted Tomatoes
Fred’s Applesauce
Onion Rings
Desserts
Blueberry Pie
Kay’s Tart Tatin
Blondies
Camilla’s Raspberry Ripple Lemon Cake
Carrot Cake
Joanna’s Chocolate Refrigerator Cake
Nanna’s Scones
Crêpes
Meringues
Isabel’s New York Cheesecake Ice Cream
Spagliato
Granita
Poached Pears in Red Wine
Strawberries in Prosecco
Basics
Basic Stocks
Chicken Stock
Veal or Beef Stock
Fish Stock
Quick Shrimp Stock
Pasta Dough
Pizza Dough
Pesto Sauce
Marinara Sauce
Béchamel Sauce
Basic Mayonnaise
Acknowledgments
About Stanley Tucci
Index
introduction
My life has been sustained by food beyond mere nourishment. The relationships forged by the acts of cooking and eating with others have had a profound effect on me and have more and more significance with every passing year. When I think of the moments that have brought me the most pleasure, the most joy, they are almost always framed within the context of food and the table. It is for this reason that this book exists.
A number of years ago, I helped put together a book for my culinary-loving parents and my friend Chef Gianni Scappin. Originally titled Cucina e Famiglia and later revised and reissued as The Tucci Cookbook, it was written to celebrate and safeguard the culinary history of our families—and this book does very much the same thing. I feel that so much of what shapes and binds a family is ephemeral. By this I mean that, besides photographs and home movies, families rely primarily on their oral histories of significant personal or familial events and experiences. Few families bother to write them down or even film a relative recounting them (although we all have reams of footage of the family pet doing something inane), and when it comes to recipes the same often holds true. We cook these familiar dishes the way we always have, without much thought because we know them well. But if they are never written down, tomorrow those recipes and the memories they fill us with will be gone forever.
My late wife, Kate, was a wonderful and generous cook. Our children—Isabel, Nicolo, and Camilla—and I have done our best to re-create many of her dishes because regretfully, save a couple, they were never written down. Making them now keeps her ever present in our lives, and, although they were delicious, what made them truly special was that they were of her and that she made them for us.
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Felicity at her sister Emily’s wedding. Whenever we chatted during that weekend the conversation inevitably turned to food; what dishes we loved, where we had eaten, and ultimately, by the end of the wedding, where we would eat together. When that fateful meal did transpire I bore witness to a passion and appetite for food and wine that rivaled my own (and perhaps those of Henry VIII and Bacchus combined). I have never seen so slender a person enjoy her food so much. I was rapt.
As we neared the end of our sybaritic repast and I was so stuffed I could barely breathe, I heard the woman who would one day be my wife innocently utter this query to a passing waiter: Can we order a cheese plate?
I was agog. So was the waiter. She then turned her attention back to me and asked, Where do you want to eat tomorrow?
I was in love.
In both the Tucci and the Blunt families, the act of eating together has always played a vital part. This book pays homage to our respective culinary traditions (mine from my grandparents and parents, Felicity’s from her maternal grandmother), and expresses the new culinary traditions we are in the process of creating for the next generation. The following recipes are interpretations of dishes Felicity and I have enjoyed in restaurants, at friends’ houses, or that we have created together over the last few years. They are an amalgam of our British and Italo-American palates, and they are dishes we think are worthy enough to put to paper and pass on to people and families who love to cook and eat as much as we do. With the guidance of our dear friend Kay Plunkett-Hogge and her extraordinary culinary knowledge, talent, literary skills, patience, humor, and fervent imagination, we have been able to write the book we’d wanted.
Both Felicity and I have a profound belief in the family meal, something that in our overscheduled lives is all but disappearing. The act of eating together, no matter how modest the meal, is an act of communion and celebration demonstrating that we matter to one another. For us this also pertains to our wider family of friends and colleagues who have celebrated at the table with us over the years, some of whom have kindly shared their recipes and stories in this book.
The dinner table is the anvil upon which we forge our relationships. Be they ties of family, of friendship, of new love or of old, it is a place where we share the events of our day, our feelings, our stories, our memories, and our hopes and promises for the future.
Our family hopes that you and your family will find as much joy in these recipes as we do.
Stanley Tucci
London 2014
our essential equipment
The following things will make implementing the recipes in this book a little easier:
• TONGS
A very simple implement, but tongs are the one thing that I find indispensable.
• POTS AND PANS
I prefer good, heavy-bottomed copper or metal pots and pans. I also find a cast-iron skillet invaluable. In terms of sizes, simply put, small, medium, and large. An additional extra-large pot for making 2 pounds of pasta or stock and a 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven.
I don’t care for nonstick pans. If I use a nonstick pan, I opt for a ceramic nonstick surface as opposed to Teflon. Green Pan and Bialetti make good ones.
• HEAT DIFFUSER
These stove top diffusers spread the heat evenly across the bottom of your pan and are essential for keeping a sauce on a really low simmer.
• MICROPLANE GRATER
You can use this for grating Parmigiano-Reggiano or nutmeg and for zesting citrus.
• MANDOLINE
Not a necessity, but very helpful for achieving consistently thin slices.
• METAL COLANDERS
Large enough to hold up to 2 pounds of pasta, and a couple of smaller ones for draining peas and other vegetables.
• SIEVES
One medium and one small sieve for sifting flour and draining rice, etc.
• METAL AND SILICONE SPATULAS, WOODEN SPOONS
One long metal spatula for turning fish to prevent it from breaking. A silicone spatula and wooden spoons for nonstick cookware (to avoid scratches) and for stirring risotto, as it’s more gentle on the rice.
• KNIVES
A 5-inch chef’s knife with a good weight, a paring knife, and a large 8-inch chopping knife. If you invest in three good quality knives, they should last for life. I prefer carbon steel or high-carbon steel—Suisin is a great brand.
• MORTAR AND PESTLE
Great for crushing garlic, herbs, etc.
• SMALL APPLIANCES
A food processor, an immersion blender, and a mini chopper will all come in handy for the recipes that follow.
OUR KITCHEN PANTRY ESSENTIALS
It goes without saying that we should all do our best to buy organic and local produce. However, this is not always possible for geographical, seasonal, or financial reasons. Unfortunately, buying organic can be quite expensive, but choosing the best quality ingredients available to you on your budget is essential to making the most of your meal.
THREE ESSENTIAL COOKING OILS
• Great extra virgin olive oil: Invest well and you will be repaid. Use this for dressings and seasonings. Much like wine, there is a variety of flavors and prices, so find what suits your palate best. I also like to keep a less expensive extra virgin olive oil on hand to add a little more flavor when needed.
• Regular olive oil: For sautéing.
• Vegetable oil: For deep-frying.
CANNED TUNA IN OLIVE OIL
• The best quality you can afford; I recommend Genoa or Pastene.
SAN MARZANO CANNED TOMATOES
• Best if they are whole, peeled—not crushed or pureed.
PASTA
• Brands we recommend: De Cecco, and if you are gluten intolerant as I am, Barilla and Le Veneziana—it tastes as close to the real thing as possible.
ONIONS, SHALLOTS, GARLIC, FRESH TOMATOES, AND LEMONS
• None of these ingredients needs to be kept in the fridge.
HERBS AND SPICES
• Coarse or kosher salt, black and green whole peppercorns, fresh rosemary, parsley, thyme, basil, bay leaves (dried or fresh), and good quality dried oregano.
WINE
• A good bottle of both red