As I set out to cook my own meals, I was looking for a cookbook that would both instruct me on the nuances of baking a chicken and coach me in making some of the froufrou European and Asian peasant foods that have become my guilty pleasures. And her recipe for green enchiladas competes favorably with the best enchiladas I've ever had served to me from the choicest kitchens in Guadalajara and Mexico City. The simplicity of the recipes and the implicit confidence La Place and Kleiman show in their readers were a great confidence booster. It's real praise to say La Place and Kleiman know how to keep it simple. Though the book doesn't presume to impose meal plans, each chapter includes appetizers and entrees, and usually soups and sweets.
Nobody seems to complain.
I'm guessing the folks at Moosewood wouldn't mind either. But once I moved in with my spouse, a guy who actually knew the proper way to season a chicken and how long to boil a potato, I felt the need to get up to speed. Mostly, however, they're brown. Depending on what section of the book I'm perusing, the brown may be a light, basalmic vinegar hazel, a deep soy sauce auburn, a creamy biscuit gravy chestnut or an unmistakable dark chocolate mahogany. Even the parts of the book that aren't stained have the weather-beaten look of pages that have sopped up more than their share of milk, water, white wine and chicken broth.