Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook: A Celebration of Food, Family, and Traditions

Husband-and-wife team Chris and Idie showcase the best offerings of their Birmingham, Ala.–based restaurant, the Hot and Hot Fish Club. More than a cookbook, this is a personal tribute to seasonal offerings and the hardworking, dedicated purveyors who supply the restaurant with the freshest ingredients. The authors focus on honest, unassuming dishes with a Southern flair that highlight rather than bury the natural flavors of the ingredients. Organized by month and availability, recipes include rabbit tamales with black bean salsa, the unusual hot and hot tomato salad, which is topped by a crispy bacon strip, seared foie gras with brioche bread and wild persimmon jam, and pomegranate sorbet. Their dishes are not unfamiliar yet are distinctive, such as their devil's food cake, which includes grated red beets. Dispersed throughout are sidebars on cleaning soft-shell crabs, roasting whole pigs and wading for watercress along with family stories that convey the Hastings passion for and connection with food. They include a useful section on basic recipes, including not only the standard stocks, sauces and vinaigrettes, but also crème fraîche, risotto and hush puppies. (Oct.)