Carne is the fifth in the series of cookbooks documenting the renowned
farm-to-table meals served by the Rome Sustainable Food Project, founded
by Alice Waters, at the American Academy in Rome. Following volumes on
biscotti, vegetables, pastas, and soups, this cookbook focuses on
Executive Chef Christopher Behr's favorite subject, meat: beef, lamb,
pork, rabbit, and poultry.
Chef Behr also offers more than a dozen recipes for side dishes, or
contorni, that he serves alongside meat entrées: salads (including
Radicchio Salad with Green Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette with Walnuts and
Grilled Cucumber Salad with Yogurt), bean dishes, Sweet and Sour Squash,
Pickled Green Tomatoes with Garlic, Hot Pepper and Mint (a dish that
sold out within hours when he offered it at BKLYN Larder), and his
legendary roasted potatoes that are crisp and golden on the outside with
the
creamy consistency of mashed potatoes on the inside.
The Italian food of the Jersey shore is near and dear to Chef Behr's
heart, and when he's homesick he cooks those iconic dishes, from meat
loaf to short ribs, although his versions reflect his experiences in
California, New York, and Rome--they're lighter than the classic version
but nonetheless deliver all their robust satisfaction.