Leo Batali - The Batali Brothers Cookbook

This book is dedicated to our dad on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday contents We would like to thank all the people below for their support and for making this book possible: Daddywe love you so much. If it werent for your inspiring aura we would never be doing thiswe would probably not even be here today. Mommywe also love you a lot. You were a key piece in making this book possible and you take some really great pictures. Lisa, our favorite and loving cousin, who first made this book an actual bookyou are always there to help us. And last but not least, the Conger and Jameson families, who helped us eat these delicious mealswithout you guys, our table would have been so lonely.

Every year for the last ten years my wife, Susi; our two boys, Benno and Leo; and I have spent the month of August happily lazing through the waning days of summer at our home on Lake Michigan. In 2010, I had to head back to New York City early to put the finishing touches on Eataly for a September 1st open, so I was not around. I would get a call almost daily from one of the boys with a question about a recipe, an ingredient, or a cooking time, and I thought nothing of it, assuming they were simply taking over the kitchen responsibilities in my absence. On my fiftieth birthday they presented me with a book of those recipes. Of course Id expected to see my children blossom into fine young men, but it is an indescribable joy to witness this actually taking place. And they continue to exceed Susis and my expectations daily.

When I first opened my surprise gift of recipes I was (and I still am) overcome by the magnificent joy of being a dad. The Batali Brothers Cookbook is a labor of love and also of responsibility, totally about our family fascination with hospitality and the pleasure of giving. Ive included some of my own favorite recipes that I prepared for my family when the boys were growing upwhich perhaps influenced and set the stage for the book you now hold in your hands. But aside from those recipesappended at the end of this collectionthe dishes and the text within are completely the boys own and represent cooking on a basic yet thoughtful level. I am extremely happy to eat when my boys cook and will happily wash the dishes in exchange for a seat at the table when they do. Its hard not to get sentimental when I think about my boys in the kitchen and their badass coolness, so Im stopping here.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Mario Batali For our dads fiftieth birthday we wanted to do something very special, something that would show him that we had paid attention during our times in the kitchen together. We decided to make a cookbook. This cookbook represents what he taught us about food and how to handle it from beginning to end. Since we were little we have spent a lot of time in the kitchen with our dad. He has taught us to be confident and to try different things.

We remember the first time we made scrambled eggs on our ownhe was so happy and proud. Sometimes he gets really impatient and yells; other times he can be welcoming and charming. No matter which mood hes in, we always have fun in the end and have a great meal. Our dad is really special to us. We humor him, love him, and we will never let him down. He is our role model and we always look up to him.

He has inspired us so much that we want to follow in his footsteps and be great chefs. This book is basically a thank-you for all he has done for us and all the time he has spent with us. HE IS THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD. SO, DAD... HAPPY 50 TH BIRTHDAY! WE LOVE YOU. xxx Benno & Leo This is our favorite breakfast dish to eat on the weekend because it reminds us that we should be relaxing and doing what we want.

When we were younger we used to eat it every weekend but now we only have it on special occasions, so it is a real treat for us. Makes 10 slices of French toast 3 eggs 1 cup whole milk 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons vanilla extract teaspoon ground nutmeg 10 slices cinnamon bread 4 tablespoons ( stick) unsalted butter, plus more as needed Maple syrup and butter, for serving In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. Set a cast-iron or nonstick saut pan over medium heat. Put a couple of slices of bread in the mix. Coat each side of the bread and let it sit for half a minute to soak up the egg. Put 1 tablespoon of the butter in the pan and let it melt.

Put the bread into the pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned and cooked to your liking. Cook the rest of the bread the same way, adding butter to the pan each time. Serve hot, with maple syrup and butter. Brown sugar pancakes are a new recipe that we just tried out, and they turned out AMAZING. Put these pancakes on your breakfast table and the crowd will go wild. Serves 6 people (makes 12 to 14 medium pancakes) 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 pinch salt 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 cups whole milk teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus unmelted butter for the pan 3 tablespoons light brown sugar Maple syrup and butter, for serving Put a nonstick or cast-iron frying pan on the stove over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar together. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. Add the vanilla extract and the melted butter, then whisk some more. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in thirds, and whisk. Make sure to get all the lumps out of the batter. When you are done whisking the batter, crumble 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar on top and then stir them in.

Take some unmelted butter and heat it in the pan so it melts and bubbles. Then cook in batches: Pour the batter onto the pan (not all of it, just a ladleful at a timewe like a 2- or 3-ounce ladle) so you form good round circles. Flip the pancakes when bubbles form on the top, and cook them till they are ready. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar over the top and serve hot, with maple syrup and butter. Scrambled eggs was the first dish we ever learned how to make. It is simple, delicious, and fun to experiment with.

This dish is easy to master and great to teach to your kids. Serves 4 people 8 eggs 4 tablespoons half-and-half 1 big pinch salt 1 twist cracked black pepper 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Set a nonstick frying pan on medium heat. Crack all the eggs into a bowl. Take a fork and beat the eggs until theyre completely mixed together. Then add the half-and-half, salt, and pepper and beat some more. Add the oil to the pan and swirl it around.

Pour the eggs into the pan and let them sit until you see a crust of cooked egg around the outside edge. When you see that crust, take a rubber spatula and push the cooked egg across the pan. Keep doing that until all of the liquid egg has been cooked. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes. Put the egg onto plates and serve.