Lydia Scott - Holiday Dinners with Bradley Ogden: 150 Festive Recipes for Bringing Family and Friends Together

I T WAS IN THE 1980S WHEN I WAS WORKING WITH THE LATE JAMES BEARD that I first heard of Bradley Ogden. Each year Beard went to San Francisco to conduct a series of classes and always stayed at Campton Place. Without fail, he came back quite impressed with the quality of Bradleys ingredients, his use of inspired flavors, and his exquisite execution of the food. Bradleys upbringing in Michigan unknowingly prepared him for his culinary journey where fresh trout, just-hatched chicken eggs, and his grandmothers homemade pies were taken for granted. Food from scratch would come to form the backbone of his approach to cooking for others.

He trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and had come to California via The American Restaurant in Kansas City, which was one of the foremost restaurants of its time in the Midwest. In Kansas City, Bradley had utilized local farm purveyors and farmers and brought that same sensibility with him to the West Coast.

When Bradley was arriving on the scene, there were other chefs on the same American fresh food bandwagon, each with an individual style. Their menus were driven by the bounty of the season (still a novelty in some areas today) with great importance given to the provenance of the produce. It was only a matter of time before this concept began to make an impact around the country. At Beards house, where the James Beard Foundation is now located, on West 12th Street in New York City, I witnessed a pilgrimage of visiting chefs who would drop by to receive the masters blessing; Bradley was among them.

A fewyears ago, Bradley started conceptualizing this book. He envisioned one that celebrated holidays throughout the year. It is clear why it covers Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years with a slight nod to summer celebrations. The end-of-the-year holidays are our most cherished ones, and this book allows more concentration and dedication to these holidays. Its in this spirit he shares an abundance of good food, which connects us to loving friends and family in the kitchen and around a festive table.

Holiday Dinners with Bradley Ogden is a comprehensive reference to our three most important holidays of the year. While paying homage to our traditional holiday menus, Bradley has brought the old into the new with added life and sparkle. He teases us with some non-traditional recipes like his wonderful signature dish, Twice-Baked Blue Cheese Souffls. This book offers a simplistic approach to timely recipes for you to create for the holidays. It makes holiday cooking even more pleasurable.

CAROLINE STUART,

Cofounder James Beard Foundation and cookbook author