David Burke's New American Classics

One of America’s most innovative and accomplished chefs gives us a book full of deliciously original recipes both for everyday meals and for memorable entertaining.

Over the course of a brilliant career, David Burke has created imaginative and irresistible updates of classic American cuisine. Now he makes it easy for the home cook to master a classic dish and then add innovative touches to make it even more tempting, in what he calls contemporary classics. In addition, he includes “Second Day Dishes,” a new and magical approach to leftovers.

Here is how it works: classic Eggs Benedict with Hash Brown Potatoes and Oven-Dried Tomatoes leads to Canadian Bacon and Onion Potato Cake with Poached Eggs and Spicy Tomato Salsa, which in turn leads to Bacon, Potato, and Eggs Strudel on the second day. Traditional Broiled Shrimp with Scampi Butter and Tomato-Rice Pilaf is transformed into Sautéed Shrimp with Spinach-Lasagna Roll and Crisp Spinach, and then into Shrimp Fried Rice and Sausage the next day.

A Classic Chef’s Salad Bowl can be turned into Carpaccio of Chef’s Salad, and then Chef’s Salad Bruschetta. Roast Chicken “Farmhouse Style” with Potatoes, Mushrooms, Bacon, Onions, and Apple Cider Gravy is reconceived as Seawater-Soaked Chicken with Thyme and Poppy Seed Gnocchi, and a day later can become Chicken-Potato Pancakes with Apple Sour Cream Sauce. New York Cheesecake becomes Grand Marnier Cheesecake Soufflés, changed on the next day into Coconut Cheesecake Beignets with Red Fruit Sorbet and Berries.

From appetizers to desserts, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—117 delectable recipes (including Titanic French Toast with Three Jams; Oh, My Cod!; Chocolate Chip UFOs; and many more of Burke’s signature whimsical creations)—a fabulous cookbook.

Publishers Weekly

In this original and challenging cookbook, meatloaf is a starting point rather than a destination. Having introduced the world to smoked salmon pastrami and goat cheese lollipops, the executive chef and co-owner of davidburke & donatella is known for his quirky, often humorous sensibility in the kitchen. Here, he turns his attention to American comfort food. The guiding principal is that once a cook masters a classic recipe, he or she can transform it into haute cuisine-and then use the leftovers to create something else entirely. Eggs benedict is transformed into a Canadian Bacon and Onion Potato Cake with Poached Eggs and Spicy Tomato Salsa; the following day it becomes Bacon, Potato, and Eggs Strudel. It's in these second-day dishes that Burke displays his whimsy. Few cooks, after all, make Oatmeal Gougeres, Barbecued Chicken Sticky Buns, and Coconut Cheesecake Beignets with Red Fruit Sorbet and Berries at home. These are convenient, creative solutions, but they are not shortcuts; even the "classics" go a few steps beyond basic and require considerable skill and time. The results, however, are almost always worth the effort. 16 pages of color photos. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

David Burke is the coauthor, with Carmel Berman Reingold, of Cooking with David Burke. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, was trained in France, and was the first American to be awarded the prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Diplome d’Honneur. His other awards include Japan’s Nippon Award of Excellence, the Robert Mondavi Award of Excellence, and the Culinary Institute’s August Escoffier Award. He is the executive chef and co-owner of davidburke & donatella, and executive chef and sole owner of David Burke at Bloomingdale’s, both in New York City. He lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey.