A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes by David Tanis

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    • Categories: Salads; Appetizers / starters
    • Ingredients: fava beans; fennel; scallions; mint; prosciutto; arugula
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    • Categories: Dips, spreads & salsas; Appetizers / starters; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: fava beans; cumin seeds; garlic bread
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    • Categories: Main course
    • Ingredients: veal; garlic; rosemary; thyme; pancetta; morel mushrooms; shallots; chicken stock; crème fraîche; carrots; saffron
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    • Categories: Stocks
    • Ingredients: whole chicken; carrots; celery; thyme; bay leaves; tomato paste
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    • Categories: Side dish; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: carrots; saffron
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    • Categories: Side dish; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: potatoes; saffron; carrots; crème fraîche
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    • Categories: Cakes, large; Dessert
    • Ingredients: hazelnuts; granulated sugar; eggs; cake flour
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    • Categories: Salads; Appetizers / starters; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: spinach; leeks; nutmeg; eggs; ground cayenne pepper; Parmesan cheese; arugula; lettuce; Belgian endive; chervil; parsley; basil; mint; tarragon; celery; shallots; olive oil
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    • Categories: Salads; Appetizers / starters; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: arugula; lettuce; Belgian endive; chervil; parsley; basil; mint; tarragon; celery; shallots; olive oil
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    • Categories: Main course
    • Ingredients: rabbit; Dijon mustard; mustard seeds; crème fraîche; garlic; bacon; bay leaves; thyme; sage
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    • Categories: Mousses, trifles, custards & creams
    • Ingredients: heavy cream; yogurt
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    • Categories: Main course
    • Ingredients: rabbit; rosemary; thyme; sage; olives; parsley
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    • Categories: Main course; Greek
    • Ingredients: rabbit; coriander seeds; ground allspice; bay leaves; ground cloves; fennel seeds; ground cinnamon; tomatoes; thyme; marjoram; rosemary
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    • Categories: Side dish; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: parsnips
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    • Categories: Pies, tarts & pastries; Dessert
    • Ingredients: store-cupboard ingredients; apples
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    • Categories: Appetizers / starters
    • Ingredients: oysters
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    • Categories: Salads; Appetizers / starters
    • Ingredients: anchovies; Champagne vinegar; radicchio; escarole; curly endive; Belgian endive; dandelion greens; lemons
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    • Categories: Rice dishes; Main course
    • Ingredients: onions; Arborio rice; saffron; bay leaves; chicken broth; cooked lobster meat; parsley; thyme; chives; mayonnaise; ground cayenne pepper
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    • Categories: Stocks
    • Ingredients: whole lobsters; carrots; leeks; onions
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    • Categories: Sauces, general
    • Ingredients: eggs; olive oil; red wine vinegar; ground cayenne pepper; whole lobsters; carrots; leeks; onions
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    • Categories: Sauces, general
    • Ingredients: eggs; olive oil; peanut oil
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    • Categories: Rice dishes; Main course
    • Ingredients: onions; Arborio rice; saffron; bay leaves; chicken broth; cooked lobster meat; parsley; thyme; chives
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    • Categories: Dessert
    • Ingredients: grapefruits; navel oranges; blood oranges; canned pineapple; kumquats; sweetened shredded coconut
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    • Categories: Appetizers / starters; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: asparagus; shallots; red wine vinegar; olive oil
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    • Categories: Main course
    • Ingredients: flageolet beans; bay leaves; thyme; lamb shoulder; rosemary; parsley; olives; Niçoise olives; capers; anchovies; ground cayenne pepper; lemons
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Notes about this book

  • Tish Johns on March 05, 2010

    I love this cookbook, Ive made the lobster risotto (several times) and the chicken tangine (tho I used lamb). Cooking each recipe is a passionate lovely experience and the food is sublime!

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Orecchiette al forno

    • Cheri on January 20, 2011

      Makes quite a bit. A little dry. Broccoli Rabe comes thru very bitter. I liked this, but I don't believe that Richard did. Only made 1/2 of recipe, which filled 9x13 pan. A little grated fontina might be nice mixed in.

    • Cheri on January 22, 2011

      Should probably parboil the broccoli rabe, as suggested. Skipped that step and it would have mellowed the bitterness, I think.

    • Breadcrumbs on December 04, 2011

      p. 260 - A baked pasta dish, enough to feed an army if made in quantity suggested. I agree w Cheri in that the dish is fairly dry using only 8 oz of ricotta for 2 lbs of pasta. I halved the recipe and after a quick taste-test I ended up stirring in additional ricotta to moisten the pasta a little. Thanks Cheri for your note. I didn't make my own sausage, just added some additional fennel seed to the dry pan prior to cooking my fave store bought . Mr bc, a rapini-hater, was not a fan of this dish. When I served leftovers I spooned tomato sauce over top and this brightened the dish and, moistened it. I wouldn't make this again. So many other recipes to try!

  • Lobster risotto

    • Tish Johns on March 05, 2010

      Smells delicious and soooo good. Refined and elegant but still lusty.

  • Chicken tagine with pumpkin and chickpeas

    • Tish Johns on March 05, 2010

      This tangine I made with lamb and not chicken but it was still delicious and multi-layered from the garbanzos prepared with cinnamon sticks and onion with parsleyed-cinnamon butter tossed in, to the lamb

  • Vietnamese cucumbers

    • Laura on January 15, 2011

      Pg. 78. Good, but not exceptional.

  • Grilled halibut with Indian spices and yellow tomatoes

    • Laura on October 04, 2012

      Pg. 124. Due to circumstances I was not able to grill the halibut, so ended up broiling them and they came out perfectly cooked after 6 minutes. I would say that the spice rub was a bit too intense, but the flavors were nice. The yogurt sauce 'raita' was not to our liking. Don't expect anything that looks like the photo on pg. 117 where the raita is thick -- this was a very runny sauce and the flavors just didn't work. The minced mint saved the day. This recipe also calls for yellow tomatoes cut into small wedges and served raw. I chose to cut the tomatoes into halves and broiled them with a bit of olive oil drizzled.

    • blintz on August 17, 2017

      This is our favorite recipe for Halibut --especially when we can get the Atlantic version. Last night we added fresh yellow peppers to the cherry tomatoes. We love the spice rub and there's usually enough left over to use again. We have a Greek deli for tzadiki and use that instead of Tanis's raita, so it's plenty thick. And we have cooked this on the grill, in a cast iron pan , and under the broiler. All work fine if you are careful not to overcook the fish!

  • Herb salad

    • Laura on January 15, 2011

      Pg. 37. Lovely.

  • Roast pork loin porchetta-style

    • Laura on March 01, 2010

      Pg. 134, I had high hopes for this, yet it yielded average results. I've made pork loin roasts with other recipes that were far better.

  • Cherry-almond clafoutis

    • RosieB on January 15, 2016

      This was delicious. I made individual clafoutis in small Spanish ceramic dishes. The recipe made 8. The brown sugar made the batter very rich and caramely. I had beautiful fresh local cherries. I did not include the almonds. Served with a simple vanilla bean icecream.

    • AmyR on May 21, 2011

      Quick & easy rustic dessert, I make this in a cast iron skillet and also use this as a base recipe for improvising other fruit and extract combinations. I've also made this with almond milk and gluten free flour and it came out great.

    • Jojobuch on July 12, 2016

      I like the addition of the almonds - a nice crunch. However, the brown sugar makes the batter a bit unattractive, given Clafouti typically has a nice yellow colour from the yolks.

    • Lsblackburn1 on July 22, 2018

      I used almond slivers in this and I really liked that element. Overall this is a bit too sweet - and I have a sweet- tooth. Have a feeling it’ll be better chilled.

  • Green chile stew

    • TrishaCP on March 17, 2014

      Follow DT's advice about tasting the broth for spiciness. It needs to really have a kick when you taste it...I think I was assuming some more heat would develop as the stew cooked down but my mild Hatch chiles ended up totally lost with the other ingredients. It didn't taste bad, but wasn't what I was expecting or hoping for from green chile stew.

  • Cherry tomato crostini with ricotta

    • Astrid5555 on September 03, 2017

      Excellent! Used the sweetest cherry tomatoes from the garden with some ricotta cheese from Italy. Simple yet impressive. Will definitely make again!

  • Italian plum cake

    • Astrid5555 on September 08, 2018

      Super quick and easy to make, delicious!

  • Harira soup

    • AmyR on May 21, 2011

      Delicious & hearty. Serve with lemon slices. I frequently sub dried chickpeas soaked overnight for the fava beans and have also omitted the lamb to make it vegetarian.

  • Parsnips epiphany-style

    • AmyR on May 21, 2011

      More of a technique than a recipe, nonetheless even skeptical friends loved these crispy caramelized parsnip sticks.

  • Mustard rabbit in the oven

    • bwehner on June 21, 2013

      Excellent, simple & very easy. Make sure you have good herbs & good, preferably homemade, creme fraiche.

  • Fresh shell beans with sage and garlic

    • Wlow on September 09, 2018

      Very well flavored, especially leftover. Aesthetically a bit dull.

  • Mashed potatoes with carrots and saffron

    • peaceoutdesign on June 23, 2022

      Creme fraiche is a must but with or without the saffron and lemon zest.

  • Wild salmon with Vietnamese cucumbers

    • peaceoutdesign on May 20, 2023

      Tasty. I cooked only 10 minutes and it was done. A nice summertime dish.

  • Apple tart

    • jennyed on October 31, 2013

      Excellent apple tart recipe that I've made several times. Useful to do when entertaining as the prepared (but unbaked) tart can sit in the fridge for up to 8 hours.

    • ellwell on June 22, 2023

      Even though my honey crips apples never really “browned”, the tart turned out good. The glaze really makes it. The glaze is very hard to spread and even harder to clean out of your sieve (after straining) and the bowl and pastry brush. I cooked my for at least an hour, added the glaze, then cooked an additional 5 minutes. We were surprised by how good it was.

  • Fried egg soup

    • Compass on March 15, 2022

      p 72 Love the idea of this ...especially since I have so much chicken broth and broth the provincial with sage sounds great. Even though it's fried it's Sunny side up in the picture

  • Saffron carrots

    • ellwell on June 22, 2023

      These were a good preparation for carrots. I made ahead and reheated. Will make again.

  • Spinach cake with herb salad

    • ellwell on June 22, 2023

      Despite salting this out the wazoo, the flavor of the cake was bland and eggy. The salad was good but didnt save it. Tanis recommends serving it room temp, but I think it would be improved with a little warmth. It was a lot of work for little reward.

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  • ISBN 10 1579653464
  • ISBN 13 9781579653460
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Oct 31 2008
  • Format Hardcover
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Workman Publishing
  • Imprint Artisan

Publishers Text

"There are many chefs in America more famous than David Tanis, but there are few, if any, who are more gifted."--Michael Pollan

Forget about getting back to the land, David Tanis just wants you to get back to the kitchen.

For six months a year, David Tanis is the head chef at Chez Panisse, the Berkeley, California, restaurant where he has worked alongside Alice Waters since the 1980s in creating a revolution in sustainable American cuisine. The other six months, Tanis lives in Paris in a seventeenth-century apartment, where he hosts intimate dinners for friends and paying guests, and prepares the food in a small kitchen equipped with nothing more than an old stove, a little counter space, and a handful of well used pots and pans.

This is the book for anyone who wants to gather and feed friends around a table and nurture their conversation. It's not about showing off with complicated techniques and obscure ingredients. Worlds away from the showy Food Network personalities, Tanis believes that the most satisfying meals - for both the cook and the guest - are invariably the simplest.

Home cooks can easily re-create any of his 24 seasonal, market-driven menus, from spring's Supper of the Lamb (Warm Asparagus Vinaigrette; Shoulder of Spring Lamb with Flageolet Beans and Olive Relish; Rum Baba with Cardamom) to winter's North African Comfort Food (Carrot and Coriander Salad; Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin and Chickpeas). Best of all, Tanis is an engaging guide with a genuine gift for words, whose soulful approach to food will make any kitchen, big or small, a warm and compelling place to spend time.



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