Try This at Home: Recipes from My Head to Your Plate
Southern cooking isn’t what it used to be. Although the cuisine of the American South has become fashionable all across the nation, its evolution in the past several decades has taken it a good distance from its roots. At his Spence restaurant in Atlanta, celebrity chef Blais combines tradition with postmodern technique for spectacular results, and now he offers his recipes for home kitchens. The first hint that the cookbook’s title imperative may prove no small challenge comes right up front in Blais’ equipment inventory, a list calling for a siphon, a sous-vide cooker, and a smoking gun. Since few home kitchens have access to such tools, Blais’ fans may need to consider the book’s more accessible recipes, such as quail potpie, pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe, and lamb shanks braised in root beer. The spiky-coiffed chef also shares his formula for his remarkable hair gel: duck fat and liquid nitrogen. --Mark Knoblauch