5 April 2009

Gale Gand's Brunch
















Stephanie from the The Happy Sorceress and her friend Cath of A Blithe Palate are co-hosting a new edition of Cookbook Spotlight on April 17 with Gale Gand’s new book, Gale Gand’s Brunch!

If you are familiar with this event you may remember from the last few Cookbook Spotlights that food bloggers select recipes from the same cookbook, make the dish, and blog about it. They follow with a round up of everyone's choices and photos. Stephanie contacted me and offered me and a few others a copy of the cookbook. How lucky am I!!!!! This is Gale Gand and this is a new cookbook to try...how could I refuse!!!



"Every weekend is worth celebrating when you can relax over a good brunch," says Gale. She has long made brunch a part of her life because it's the easiest way to gather around the table with family and friends. Gale Gand is a James Bread Award-winning pastry chef and co-owner of the Chicago restaurant Tru. She is the host of "Sweet Dreams" on the American Food Network.

Her new cookbook Gale Gand's Brunch starts with an enticing assortment of drinks such as White Hot Chocolate, Thai Iced Coffee and a Three-Alarm Bloody Mary. In subsequent chapters, Gale hits the sweet and savory high points, from pancakes and doughnuts to onion tarts and cheddar grits. She amps up classics like French toast by using sliced almonds and ciabatta bread and transforms others, so that a bacon-scallion scone, for instance, comes out light and flavorful rather than resembling the usual floury hockey puck. She also mixes things up with less common items such as pretzels, pot stickers and a lemony wheat berry salad. For those who think cooking brunch is a chore you will find this cookbook to be inspiring.

It was hard to choose just one recipe from the book. Sorry but we are not able to reveal the recipe we have chosen. But if recipes such as Torta Rustica, Caramelized Apple Crepes, Goat Cheese Cake with Slow-Cooked Quince, Blackberry Bread Pudding, Ginger Scones with Peaches & Cream, Pear Streusel Coffee Cake, Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts, Panini Finger Sandwiches, Potstickers with Soy Dipping Sauce, Poached Salmon with Cucumber Yogurt, Gooey Camembert in a Box with Cranberry-Black Pepper Compote, Goat Cheese & Chive Hash Browns or Heirloom Tomato Bisque have you salivating you must add Gale's cookbook to your collection.

I chose to make Spiced Apple-Raisin Turnovers which is a combination of sweet and spicy apple butter, applesauce, apples and raisins encased in puff pastry and drizzled with glaze. According to Gale, "Fragrant, spicy apple butter, which you can usually find at the farmers market, farm stands or at gourmet grocery stores year-round, is a quick and easy spiced apple filling for homemade turnovers. Kids can help make these. They will especially enjoy drizzling the icing at the end."

I highly recommend this diverse cookbook the latest in Gale Gands collection.

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author/owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison.
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24 comments:

  1. These turnovers look sooo good! A real temptation

    cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. I am loving this book too, such fun to concentrate on Brunch. Your turnovers look lovely! I guess I should post my baked eggs soon.

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  3. These turnovers look amazing! I just love a good turnover and the cookbook sounds wonderful.

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  4. It's a fabulous book!
    Your turnovers are beautiful!

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  5. Thanks for the review. I love your turnovers. Yum!

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  6. Those turnovers look like flakey perfection. I'm such a cheater when it comes to puff pastry - I always use the premade store stuff.

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  7. Oh yum. Where did this day go? I'm ready for brunch and it's already 8pm!

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  8. When I first looked at the picture I thought the post was going to be about a fabulous bakery you went to and brought these home. You made these???? For someone who professes not to be a grandiose baker, these look pretty darned fine to me.

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  9. I am sure they tasted great. Anything with puff pastry sounds great.

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  10. "...sweet and spicy apple butter, applesauce, apples and raisins encased in puff pastry and drizzled with glaze..."

    you've just described heaven on earth. :)

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  11. The turnovers look great! I'll have to keep an eye out for the book!

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  12. I am on my way it looks great. Yummy

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  13. Apple butter! We love apple butter. This would be great for a brunch.

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  14. wow yummy! i love gale!

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  15. You're always invited to my house for meals- we'll take turns cooking- bring some of these 'kay?
    xoxo

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  16. I am going to dream about those turnovers tonight. Oh my goodness they look amazing!

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  17. These turnovers do look SO good Val and I will have to look this book up :0)

    Rosie x

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  18. I am dying over those turnovers!

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  19. These look so flaky and so fabulous! I love Gale Gand, so I may just have to add this book to my collection.

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  20. WOW!! Just look at your gorgeous turnovers!! Absolutely perfect!! I am entranced...

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  21. That turnover looks like it came from a bakery Val, GREAT JOB!! I need this book!!

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  22. I'm loving the idea of spiced apple and raisin turnovers!

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  23. Gale Gand is great. I ate at TRU a couple years ago and it was amazing.
    LL

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  24. I saw the PB and J Turnovers and they look great! My husband even asked if I had made them. Thanks for trying out my latest book and recipes.

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Welcome to my home. Thank you for choosing to stay a while and for sharing our lives through food. I appreciate all your support, comments, suggestions, and daily encouragement.

Val

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