From the IACP Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Twelve Recipes comes a charming vegetable-focused cookbook with recipes that add depths of flavor using three key ingredients: almonds, anchovies, and pancetta.
Cal Peternell’s food harks back to the ways people have eaten for generations—using vegetables as the center of the plate, seasoned with a little bit of meat or fish to create a delicious and satisfying meal. Across the world, people love how a smoky ham hock can transform pots of beans and skillets of greens into a savory feast; how rice absorbs the flavors of chicken stock when simmered over low heat; how shavings of bonito brine broths. Like our ancestors, Cal knows that you don’t need a slab of steak, pork, chicken, or fish to eat well; a little of the right kind of meat goes a long way.
While the revered chef’s method of cooking emphasizes flavor, it’s about so much more. Taking savory little bites of vegetables is inarguably better than big meaty mouthfuls. It’s healthy, more sustainable, and economical. And it allows us to truly savor that occasion piece of grilled steak, roasted chicken, or fried fish fillet when we indulge. In Almonds, Anchovies, and Pancetta, Cal centers on three distinctive flavors that boost any dish, allowing even the most discriminating palates to enjoy healthful, nutritious meals that taste sublime. Cal includes sixty recipes for main meals, including pastas, salads, and appetizers, as well as "side" dishes that can be featured alongside fish or meat, or put together with a few others to make a meal, including:
Almonds
Snap Peas Amandine
Baked, Stuffed Vegetables with Almonds, Currants, Saffron, and Breadcrumbs
Steamed Clams with Almond and Parsley Butter
Almond Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks
Anchovies
Roasted Sweet Pepper and Egg Salad with Anchovies, Olives, and Capers
Artichokes and New Onions Baked with Anchovies and Breadcrumbs
Penne alla Tuna-nesca
Grilled, Anchoïade-soaked Bread with Egg and Herbs
Pancetta
Bacon-wrapped Potato Gratin
Salsa Rustica with Egg and Pancetta
Arugula and Fennel Salad with Mint, White Beans, and Crisped Prosciutto
Creamy White Beans with Pancetta and Rosemary
With Almonds, Anchovies, and Pancetta you can eat your vegetables—and savor them as never before!
About the Author
Cal Peternell grew up on a small farm in New Jersey where his family tended vegetable gardens and raised an assortment of livestock. Convivial family dinners were a focal point of every day, when homegrown seasonal produce, eggs, and meats were enjoyed, opinions and stories shared. After graduating with a BFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Cal and his wife, artist Kathleen Henderson, moved to Lucca, Italy, to pursue their art careers.
While in Italy, the pervasive culture of food and wine was so seductive that, upon his return to the States, Cal embarked on a cooking career that started at Bix in San Francisco
Industry Reviews
"A pretty little illustrated book of dishes that are 'vegetable-focused,' inspiring and spiked with intensely flavored ingredients...If you have an appetite for dad jokes and cannabis references along with egg-herb-anchovy toasts and eggplant al mattone...this is the fall cookbook for you." - New York Times
"What makes this book special-...Combine the rambling prose with Peternell's practical advice and delicious flavor combinations and cooking through the recipes feels like having a personal cooking lesson-and a long chat-with the chef himself." - Bon Appetit (November Cookbook Club Pick)
"Reading chef Cal Peternell's cookbooks is like having a conversation with the Chez Panisse alum and Cooking By Ear podcaster. He's a wickedly funny, Mediterranean food expert and father of two who tells great stories." - The Mercury News (6 Sensational New Cookbooks for Fall)
"Cal Peternell's cooking is very traditional, drawing on how people have eaten for generations, using vegetables as the center of the plate... The revered chef's method is all about emphasizing the flavor of food, but it's so much more." - Brooklyn Digest
Fall 2018 Cookbook Preview: All the new cookbooks we're excited to buy, read, and cook from this season. - Epicurious
"An extremely good read, with recipes that have a charmingly loose-limbed sophistication. . . . Peternell explodes the formulaic recipe format, speaking directly and affectionately to his readers to help them use every sense-and every last anchovy-to become better, more instinctive cooks." - New York Times Book Review
"Almonds, Anchovies, and Pancetta focuses on three ingredients, yet they impart so much flavor that they satisfy the soul." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution