Super Tuscan

August 1, 2017

This second cookbook from the husband-and-wife team behind the Cooking Channel's popular series Extra Virgin celebrates "super Tuscan" foods and beverages that meld Italian traditions with American influences. Easily replicated recipes such as marinated lentils and burrata, brined pork chops with sage-almond pesto, Italian carrot cake, and the Bitter Southerner (amaro and bourbon cocktail) will delight cooks who wish to create a luxurious meal without expending too much effort. Apart from the easiest pastas and brunch dishes, all of these recipes, especially the roasts and antipasti, are impressive enough for holidays and special occasions. VERDICT Corcos and Mazar's earlier work, Extra Virgin, was wildly popular; expect demand for its successor.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 2, 2017
Tuscan native Corcos and Brooklyn-born actress Mazar own a casual Italian spot in Brooklyn called Tuscan Gun and cohost the Cooking Channel’s Extra Virgin (also the title of their first book). In this second effort, Tuscan classics such as fettunta (toast with olive oil and topped with sautéed vegetables) abound, but dishes that combine Italian methods with American ingredients really shine. These include a mussel chowder with diced pancetta, as well as eggplant rolls with ham and cheese, inspired by a trip through Tennessee that sparked a culinary epiphany for the authors about Southern country ham. A chapter of breakfast dishes includes a polenta coffee cake and savory scones studded with cubes of pancetta. The narrative is genuine and unpretentious, whether in Mazar’s descriptions of a cookbook titled Joys of Jell-O and her grandmother’s “towering, quivering desserts and salads” or Corcos’s reminiscences about baking eggs in fireplace ash back on a farm in Tuscany. Recipes include suggested wines (and occasionally beers). The authors include personal touches, such as photos of the couple’s home (where a stack of cookbooks stands where you might expect to find a couch in the living room). Many Italian cookbooks aim to convey a homey vibe; this one succeeds with charm to spare.