Pies and Tarts for Dinner and Dessert

French cooking expert Reynaud (French Feasts) returns with over 75 comfort food recipes in this toothsome collection. Skipping pleasantries and the usual instruction on key tools and ingredients, Reynaud assumes a level of familiarity and competence by opening with recipes for the three key pastry doughs he'll be using: P%C3%A2te Bris%C3%A9e, the sweet P%C3%A2te Sable%C3%A9 and the flaky, buttery P%C3%A2te Feuillett%C3%A9e. A quick overview of basic pie and tart crust construction is provided before he's on to the recipes. First up are vegetables, including a rustic Herb and Hazelnut Pie that incorporates eggplants, peppers and zucchini, before moving on to poultry (a terrine-like Chicken-Chorizo Pie, Duck Confit %C3%82 L'Orange Pies) and other meats (P%C3%A2at%C3%A9 en Cro%C3%BBte, Veal Kidney Pie) as well as seafood (Smoked Salmon Spring Roll, Eel and Fennel Pie) and cheese pies (Blue Cheese and Walnut, and Rouergue, a sinful combination of cream, bacon, Rocquefort, and a cow's milk cheese) before reaching what many Americans might be expecting: the superb desserts. Basic cherry benefits from a shot of kirsch, and the Maple Syrup Pie, composed of hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts and raisins in addition to the titular syrup, is the perfect cold weather dessert. Reynaud's European approach has something for all skill levels and tastes. Topped off with eminently useful indexes that allow bakers to select recipes based on key ingredients, recipe name or pastry dough, this is a terrific addition to the canon. (Nov.)