Nicole Routhier's Fruit Cookbook

This 1996 book has more tasty, easy to moderate to make recipes than many newer cookbooks. Nicole Routhier writes as she would talk to you if she were by your side, with plenty of VERY helpful hints, not found in many recipe books. (To use very ripe or slightly over ripe fruit in muffins..) Yes, there's a difference, and a great improvement of a good cookbook over a recipe book...it "fleshes out" the recipes with hints and common sense that appply to more than just the recipe at hand, and that knowledge, or that technique, becomes part of a good cook's "bag of tricks", that sets him/her apart, with food that REALLY tastes fresh and great. First things first...the Index is wonderful! It's easy to find recipes by name or by ingredient, unlike many other cookbooks. If I've a fresh fruit, it's easy to find a corresponding recipe, and make substitutions pretty easily, as needed. As a Floridian, I was happy to see a Cherimoya custard, with substitutions already in place for using mango or pear. Thoughtful. Even a soft shell crab recipe with citrus vinaigrette, although flour, salt and pepper are all I use. The book progresses from Appetizers to Soups, Pastas and Grains, Seafood, Wine and Foods, Poultry, Meats, Side dishes, Breads, Breakfasts, Smoothies and Spirits, Sorbet and Ice Creams, to Desserts. What's nice is that many recipes "perk up" the main item with a well chosen fruit, rather than having the fruits constantly as the "central characters". She has a good sense of balancing wines with fish, meats and of course the fruits, and has generally sound recommendations. While she avoids serving reds with fish, on the basis of tannins, I have personally used lighter red wines with fish that have "stronger" sauces or ingredients, and have had no complaints...If ion doubt, ask you local lwine merchant for recommendations, and don't be trapped by old fashioned red=meat, white=fish. Now for spicier Thai style, she prefers beer, and so do I...I've yet to find a wine that balances as well as some select beers. Milder Asian foods go well with some Zins and other, try a Cab with a spicier Asian dish, and mayble it'll be right for you! I like to do a "Fennel test" on a cookbook, and this passes, having 4 recipes for this often neglected sumer-fall favorite. With 14 mango recipes, this does not disappoint! So much for what may be "exotic" for some appetites or supermarkets, there are plenty of recipes with tomatoes, strawberries, lemon, various berries, apples, grapes, etc. There's great ideas for thirst quenchers, from all around the world, using coconut water, pomegranate, , fresh grapes, rum, and in various shakes and smoothies. This is a book useful to diets from meat eaters to vegans, there are plenty of recipes for both.

With nearly 500 pages of sweet and savory international recipes, with shopping and storing advice, descriptions of more exotic fruits, numerous tips for taste combinations, and a chart showing months of availability and peak seasons, this is a valuable volume for any fruit lover.Author of the award-winning "The Foods of Vietnam," Routhier organizes this imaginative book by course. Starters include Raspberry-glazed Chicken Wings and Tex Mex Mussels with pineapple, tomato, cilantro salsa. The soups will interest more adventurous cooks (Mexican Lime; Clam Chowder made with pineapple juice and coconut milk). First course and main dish salads include Smoked Trout and Pear, two kinds of carrot salad, Scallops with Cantaloupe and Cucumber.The Pasta & Grains chapter features Couscous with Dried Fruit and a kugel with apples and raisins. For sides try Baked Acorn Squash with Peach Butter, or Braised Red Cabbage with apples and raspberry vinegar.For main courses there are Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Peaches or Grilled Chicken with Nectarine-Tomato Salsa, Orange-Glazed Flank Steaks or Braised Cranberry Pork Chops. There are desserts, of course, Raspberry Rhubarb Pie; Peach Cobbler, Three-Fruit Terrine with Banana Sauce.Routhier also includes chapters of drinks and smoothies: (Raspberry Cooler, Strawberry Iced Tea), sorbets and ice creams, breakfasts (Sausage and Orange Marmalade Omelets, Cranberry Apple Corncakes, toast spreads like raspberry butter and blueberry-walnut spread) breads (Blueberry Banana Muffins, Strawberry Lemon Bread) and pantry items (Cherry Jam, Spiced Apricot Chutney, Fresh Plum Sauce, Blueberry Vinegar).This is a comprehensive, informative guide to using fruits the year round and should be a must for any cook's well-stocked bookshelf.

A friend of mine was buying this particular book for another friend as a Christmas gift. He was asking my advice, since I do far more around the kitchen than he; was it a good enough book for a fellow kitchen-dweller? Well, after a brief examination and a flip-through, I gave him the okay and snuck off to buy a copy for myself! What an incredible book!For those of you who are visually inclined, the bad news is, there are no pictures in this book. However, that is greatly outweighed by the sheer amount of recipes, tips, and useful information. There are notes about fruits (obviously) and many more about non-fruit foods (not quite so obvious). For example, in the meats section, there is a great tip on cooking and preparing pork products.The recipes range from original and well-found, to the similar and familiar, to the exotic and delightful, and of course the stand-by fruit recipes that are so essential (i.e. jams, jellies, spreads, and the like).If you are a kitchen-dweller, too, or know someone who loves to cook, with or without fruit, this is a must-have. Oh, let's be serious, this book is a must-have for any kitchen. Make no mistake, this book is loaded with facts and incredible recipes, some that will do in a pinch for quick dinners, some that can assist in preparing that Sunday feast. A superior buy and a necessary addition to any kitchen library!

I fell in love with Nicole Routhier's book about three years ago, and I've been cooking from it ever since. I really enjoy using fruit in main dish recipes, and had never before been exposed to some of the ideas she presents. Some of my tried-and-true favorites are Curried Chicken Salad with Rice, Roasted Pork Chops with Grape Sauce (unbelievable!), Cracked Wheat Salad with Grapes and Pecans, Banana Muffins, Coconut Chicken, and Scallop Curry with Thai Flavors--the best ever!!--in which I followed her suggestion for substituting chicken. That's the thing; sometimes she does incorporate hard-to-find fruit (and other ingredients) in her recipes, but she always suggests substitutions that are totally accessible, like apples, bananas, and lime zest instead of Kaffir lime leaves, which I have yet to find in Arkansas. I highly recommend this book if you're into slightly sweetened entrees, and if you're trying to increase your three to five servings a day. Oh, and check out the chapter devoted to ice creams and sorbets. I bought a new ice cream maker because of it.

This book is an excellent reference on different recipes using fruits of different types and especially the "regulars" with which many of you are familiar! Many of the recipes use fruits in different settings than compotes, pies, or cobblers... Although she has some very GOOD recipes there as well! A must-have for any cook's collection! -ed-