Essential Emeril: Favorite Recipes and Hard-Won Wisdom from My Life in the Kitchen

Chef, restaurateur, and TV personality Lagasse (Emeril’s Cooking with Power) has spent decades behind a stove and in front of a camera, educating diners and viewers on a litany of cooking techniques and cuisines. This volume attempts to distill that experience into 130 recipes that exemplify his career to date. Readers expecting dishes that can be whipped up in a matter of minutes are in for a surprise, beginning with the book’s opening recipe: Gruyère gougères, infused with either a marsala/mortadella mousse or one spiked with cognac and chicken liver. It’s a rich appetizer that requires some work but yields impressive results, setting the tone for the rest of the book. Other recipes that require a fair amount of prep include house-smoked salmon cheesecake with Parmesan panko crust and chive crème fraîche; roasted duck pho; and a chocolate genoise cake with chocolate buttercream and raspberry filling. However, novices will find well within their reach such popular dishes as a corn bisque with shrimp, tomato and avocado salad, and a cheddar, bacon, apple, and pecan spoon bread. Lagasse pays tribute to Charlie Trotter and Julia Child and celebrates his career in New Orleans (with a Louisiana-style cassoulet that calls for roux, pork butt, and smoked sausage) as well as his Portuguese heritage (with Portuguese custard tartlets). This is a fitting summation of Lagasse’s impressive career and his influence on American food culture. (Oct.)