Not Afraid of Flavor: Recipes from Magnolia Grill

I'm a recent transplant from New York and have been spoiled rotten by its hundreds of cutting-edge restaurants and innovative chefs. But I have to tell you, the Barkers and Magnolia Grill are right up there. As a rule, I find chef cookbooks beyond the capabilities of the average-- or even the advanced-- home cook. NOT AFRAID OF FLAVOR is the exception. Not only are its recipes inviting, they're approachable. Moreover the story of the Barkers and their Durham, NC restaurant is warm and appealing. Thanks to the Barkers (not to mention several other local chefs they've mentored), this red-clay country is no gastromic wasteland. Even my New York City friends are impressed. I've given NOT AFRAID OF FLAVOR to half a dozen of them and they're as impressed by the cookbook as they are by the cooking they sampled at Magnolia Grill. From a huge Barker fan.

I got this book because Magnolia Grill is a favorite restaurant. It's a gorgeous book with incredible photographs, but after seeing the authors of the Food Network the other night I am inspired to get it dirty in the kitchen. The recipes they cooked on the air were not terribly complicated and they looked yummy. I particularly like the Barkers' advice to break the rules and adapt the recipes to your own tastes and to what fresh ingredients are available.

What a beautiful cookbook. Ben and Karen Barker's wonderful cuisine looks as artful on the page as it does in person. Although I'm not exactly a gourmet chef myself, I've found their recipes to be understandable and clear. And delicious!

Many chef/restaurant cookbooks suffer from recipes that simply don't work; ripped from the context of professional kitchens by busy chefs, the recipes are often poorly written or simply wrong. NOT IN THIS CASE. This is the lovely exception, signature dishes from a great restaurant that are replicable by competent home cooks. And, these are clever, inventive dishes that make the most out of their combination of ingredients. Underneath it all is the soul of farmstead cooking overlaid with imagination and professionalism. The best chef cookbook I've seen in a long time.

Two of the finest chefs in the Southeast give up their secrets in this book. With the holidays looming - try their 150 cloves of garlic turkey, it was a smash hit at my house. And Karen isn't called "The Queen of Ice Cream" for nothing- try the bourbon vanilla ice cream! She gives tips on how to make your own pie crust which I must admit was a "lost" art for me. The beauty of this book is that it contains the real recipies, with the real secrets behind their signature dishes and make the results attainable for the average weekend chef.