Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen: Bold Cooking from Seattle's Anchovies & Olives, How to Cook a Wolf, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, and Tavolata   [ETHAN STOWELLS NEW ITALIAN KIT] [Hardcover]

Welcome to Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen--not so much a place as a philosophy. Here food isn't formal or fussy, just focused, with recipes that honor Italian tradition while celebrating the best ingredients the Pacific Northwest has to offer. We're talking about a generous bowl of steaming handmade pasta--served with two forks for you and a friend. Or perhaps an impeccably fresh crudo, crunchy cucumber and tangy radish accenting impossibly sweet spot prawns. Next up are the jewel tones of a beet salad with lush, homemade ricotta, or maybe a tangle of white beans and clams spiked with Goat Horn pepper--finished off with a whole roasted fish that begs to be sucked off the bones. Oh, some cheese, a gooseberry compote complementing your Robiola, or the bittersweet surprise of Campari sorbet. This layered approach is a hallmark of Ethan's restaurants, and in his New Italian Kitchen, he offers home cooks a tantalizing roadmap for re-creating this style of eating. Prepare a feast simply by combining the lighter dishes found in "Nibbles and Bits"-from Sardine Crudo with Celery Hearts, Pine Nuts, and Lemon to Crispy Young Favas with Green Garlic Mayonnaise-or adding recipes with complex flavors for a more sophisticated meal. Try the luscious Corn and Chanterelle Soup from "The Measure of a Cook;" or the Cavatelli with Cuttlefish, Spring Onion, and Lemon from "Wheat's Highest Calling." Up the ante with a stunning Duck Leg Farrotto with Pearl Onions and Bloomsdale Spinach from "Starches to Grow On," or choose one of the "Beasties of the Land," like Skillet-Roasted Rabbit with Pancetta-Basted Fingerlings. Each combination will nudge you and your guests in new, unexpected, and unforgettable directions.