I have some special books to tell you about today — The Dirty Apron Cookbook (recipes from Vancouver’s Dirty Apron Cooking School) and Toronto Cooks: 100 Signature Recipes from the City’s Best Restaurants are both beautiful books with fantastic recipes.
First up we have The Dirty Apron Cookbook recipes from Vancouver’s acclaimed Dirty Apron Cooking School. There are many things I love about this book — from it’s appeal to both the beginner to more experienced cook. The book contains over eighty of the cooking school’s recipes which have stood the test of time.
One of the first recipes that stood out to me was a basic scone recipe – with then adaptions for a fruit scone and a spicy cheese scone. I’ve always been a scone fan and love to bring unique flavors to the family and friends. The method for poached eggs is the same method I use so I know it is successful. My friend, Blaise, used the method and was finally able to poach an egg. The lemon basil crepes and prosciutto and taleggio brioche both sounds wonderful for a brunch celebration. (I have the brioche on my Easter menu this year and will update the post with my photos at that time.)
Other recipes that were intriguing were poached eggs on herb potato rosti, kale Caesar salad, caramelized fennel and goat cheese salad with pancetta crisps and confit cherry tomatoes, arugula and goat cheese ravioli with walnut and sage butter sauce, perogies with dill sour cream, herb ricotta gnocchi with Chanterelle cream sauce, flatbreads with tomato-walnut salsa, maple seared scallops with warm chorizo and kalamata olive ragout and pea coulis, crab cannelloni with vine tomato butter sauce and so many more.
This book is perfect for the beginner or advanced cook – a perfect gift for a new wife, college student or any cooking enthusiast.
Toronto Cooks, another stunner from Figure.1, serves up 100 recipes from Toronto’s best restaurants. I particularly enjoy the profile of each chef before their featured recipes. Some of the recipes I have tagged to try are bigoli with lobster, octopus, semolina, apple and peanut, lentil soup with pita croutons and lemon, linguini with wild Canadian mushrooms and crumbled blue ermite cheese, salt cod ravioli with zucchini mint puree, Bangkok-style pad thai, braised short ribs with horseradish gremolata, sticky bison short ribs with Waldorf slaw and gaufrette potatoes, and mushroom and goat cheese quiche with baby arugula salad and black truffle dressing . The chocolate pecan buttercream cake from Dufflet is on the agenda for my husband’s birthday next month. Glory Hole Doughnuts’ lemon, olive oil, sesame seed yogurt cake with basil lemon glaze and a basil Chantilly cream sounds incredible. The recipes from Jelly Modern Doughnuts for peach shortcake doughnuts and maple bacon doughnuts – oh my! Bonus — the trademarked Crack Pie recipe from Monofuku Milk Bar is included in the book.
Both books are a great mix of exotic and doable and simple and challenging.
GIVEAWAY: My friends at Figure.1 publishing are offering one of my readers a chance to win both books. Yes, both of these beautiful books. This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents. Please leave a comment on this post telling me which recipe mentioned here sounds the best to you. A random winner will be chosen on April 7th. Good luck!
Random Number Generator picked #65 — Cassia! Congratulations!
Canadian friends check out other titles from Figure.1 including Calgary Cooks and White Spot Cafe — both great books.
The Crack Pie recipe!
the herb ricotta gnocchi with chanterelle cream sauce is calling my name.
Wow! The lemon basil crepes, and the lemon, olive oil, sesame seed yogurt cake with basil lemon glaze both sound fabulous and intriguing!!j
Maple bacon doughnuts!! ….mmmmm
Thank you for the giveaway opportunity. The books look like great ones. 4 words caught my attention immediately…Chocolate Pecan Buttercream Cake. Each of those ingredients are favorites for my wife and I, so I can imagine how great this cake would be.
I’d go for the chocolate pecan buttercream cake in a heartbeat. Oh yeah!
Poached eggs on potato Rosti sounds good for any meal of the day.
I need to know more about the Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quiche with Baby Arugula Salad.
Interesting looking cookbooks.
peach shortcake donuts…Yes.
Peach shortcake doughnuts sound good!
The scones
Glory Hole’s Yogurt cake sounds delightful & intriguing.
The Chocolate Pecan Buttercream Cake sounds great.
the scones. I keep saying i’ll give them a try and never do. I heard sometimes, if not careful, they come out too dry.
Oh my gosh so many wonderful recipes to choose from..I would say the braised short ribs with gremolata or the bankok pad Thai…or….or…or…
In addition to being a cookbook junkie…I’m, also, a scone junkie. In fact, I’m eating an orange scone as I type this.
Forget which recipe, I just want to mention that Toronto is my favorite city, where I dined the night before my wedding, home of some of my favorite relatives and a mere hour or so away (depending on the bridge and QEW traffic. If only it weren’t filled with so many Canadians.
The short ribs sound like something I’d try, especially with the horseradish gremolata.
Spicy Cheese Scones
I would have to try the Lemon Basil Crepes in Dirty Apron and Bangkok-style Pad Thai from Toronto Cooks. Great reviews, Jenny!
How can you NOT want to make Glory Hole Doughnuts?
The chocolate pecan butter cake for sure!
lemon basil crepes and scones!
Oh, the braised short ribs.!
Arugula and goat cheese ravioli sound fantastic. That’s one of my favorite salad combos.
The lemon olive oil cake!
Lemon olive oil cake
You had me at short ribs with horseradish gremolata, but the chocolate pecan buttercream cake threw me over the edge! Thanks for the chance to own these two wonderful books.
Lemon basil crepes are making my mouth water.
I would try them all! The herb ricotta gnocchi with chanterelles sounds so good!
The scones and the chocoalte pecan buttercream frosting cake!
I would love the basic scone recipe from The Dirty Apron and the sticky bison short ribs recipe from Toronto Cooks.
All the recipes sound amazing in the dirty apron and Toronto cooks cookbooks!
Braised shortens with horseradish gremolata. Thank you for including Canadians in this draw!
I meant braised short ribs! Lol, silly autocorrect
I used to live in Vancouver and loved the dirty apron! I would love the recipe to the lake crease salad because it was one of my favorite salads among with their salmon sandwich. Hope that recipe is in the book!
I mean Kale Ceaser salad
Everything! But the first thing would be the Bangkok pad thai. Been wanting to make pad thai for a long time!
i would love to try the prosciutto and taleggio brioche!
These sound so good!
Perogies with dill sour cream!! Our Easter tradition is perogies and kielbasa. Would love trying these.
Hard to choose one but I’d pick the chocolate pecan buttercream cake.
Wow, that chocolate pecan buttercream cake from Toronto Cooks sounds to die for!
Short ribs!!
BACON?!?!? OOOOO!!! MAPLE BACON DOUGHNUTS!!! MUST.MAKE!!
Glory Hole Doughnuts’ lemon, olive oil, sesame seed yogurt cake with basil lemon glaze and a basil Chantilly cream
Waldorf Coleslaw sounds good. Thank you for the opportunity to win from Canada!
Crab cannelloni sounds wonderful. Thank you
Crab cannelloni. Thank you
The sound of arugula and goat cheese ravioli with walnut and sage butter sauce made me drool.
The maple seared scallops caught my eye! Interesting combo – maple scallops and sausage.
The peach shortcake donuts
Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quiche!!!!
I want to try making the arugula and goat cheese ravioli with walnut and sage butter sauce.
Everything sounds amazing. I love the sound of the maple seared scallops with warm chorizo and kalamata olive ragout and pea coulis. Yummy special dish!
you had me at “poached eggs on herbed potato Rosti!
Dufflet’s cake recipe. Her cakes are da bomb! Perfect for Easter
The braised short ribs with horseradish gremolata sounds outrageously delicious. Even though I think I’m a decent cook, I’ve never tried making short ribs before because I find it kind of daunting. A foolproof restaurant recipe would be just the ticket for making short ribs for the first time. (Plus I have a horseradish plant growing in my backyard that would like to be used)
The crab cannelloni with vine tomato butter sauce and scones (always scones) are the ones that caught my eye.
These two!
salt cod ravioli with zucchini mint puree
lemon, olive oil, sesame seed yogurt cake with basil lemon glaze and a basil Chantilly cream
Yum!!
Braised short ribs with horseradish gremolata!! Perfect for Passover!!
The Bangkok Style Pad thai!
Chocolate Pecan Buttercream Cake is a recipe I would definitely try!
I really need this book, Jenny. Going to Toronto in 2 months for a visit!
Love fennel, so it has to be the caramelized fennel and goat cheese salad.
Crack Pie & Scones would be at the top of my list. Thank you for the continuing chances to win new cookbooks.
Too hard to pick so I threw a dart: mushroom and goat cheese quiche with baby arugula salad and black truffle dressing .
I’d head straight to the maple seared scallops.
Id love to try the salt cod ravioli with zucchini mint puree. mmmm
Maple seared scallops for me!
Short ribs!
bangkok style pad thai!
I love poached eggs so have to go with Poached Egg on Herb Potato Rosti!
Crab cannelloni sounds fabulous.
The brioche sounds wonderful to me, I’d love that recipe.
luv scones ,any kind
crossing fingers n toes.
The chocolate pecan buttercream cake from Dufflet sounds like a win, win!! I have 3 pecan trees, so I am always on the lookout for new recipes to use them up.
The braised short ribs sounds like a keeper.
caramelized fennel and goat cheese salad with pancetta crisps and confit cherry tomatoes
Yes Please!
Caramelized fennel and goat cheese salad with pancetta crisps and confit cherry tomatoes.
Yes Please!
Lemon Basil Crepes sound great to me!