Workin' More Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter

Building on flavor themes with the precision of an architect or musician, Trotter is back with his second book of""Kitchen Sessions,"" after the resounding success of his first, which won a James Beard Book Award in 2000. Recipes combine the exotic with the ordinary (Beef and Barley Soup with Roasted Red Kuri Squash) or the exotic with the extraordinary (Salmon Roe-Potato Blini with Tobiko Wasabi Creme Fraiche and Osetra Caviar)--but all of them are quite amazing. Trotter organizes his recipes by the foundation layers that form each dish's base flavor and main ingredient (onions, potatoes, fennel, corn, etc.). Some dishes, like Halibut with Red Wine-Corn Sauce and Yellow Corn Grits, fit into this structure successfully. Others, like Garlic Confit and Morel Ravioli with Red Wine-Olive Sauce, could easily fit into several sections. But even with the occasional recipe misfit, the book's organization encourages cooks to think conceptually about food and flavors, a goal that few cookbooks achieve. The recipes are long and complex, often with five or more parts that are assembled on the plate: this is restaurant food, not ordinary home cooking. (Though Trotter gives an occasional substitution suggestion, he never explains exactly how to prepare the alternatives, nor does he make any suggestions on how to streamline dishes for home use.) A few techniques, like poaching salmon and tomatoes in olive oil, will delight advanced home cooks. And Jason Smith's wine notes, included at the end of each recipe, are spot-on. All in all, Trotter has put together a difficult but alluring cookbook, one which fans of his restaurants (including a New York location scheduled to open in spring 2005) and his television show will relish.