The Pollan Family Table

September 15, 2014
The women of the Pollan family collaborate in this collection of 100 recipes, offering three generations of kitchen wisdom and strategies for the return of the family table. Michael Pollan’s mother, Corky, and sisters, Lori, Tracy, and Dana, have assembled an “empowering book” and practical guide for home cooks struggling to make healthy and fulfilling sit-down family meals. Showcasing the very best Pollan family recipes, these fresh ideas help families achieve the “Common Pot”—a ideal dynamic marked by communal cooking, eating, and laughing together around the family table. Recipes are kid- and adult-friendly, made with easy-to-find store ingredients, require little experience, and are time-savers. Along with culinary terms, sage advice, and sections on home-made condiments, there are lists of essential utensils and pantry basics. They favor ingredients, such as simple grains and vegetables and common-sense cooking low in fat and processed foods. Meat, poultry, and seafood recipes abound, along with comforting soups and chiles, and meatless Monday dishes include dressed-up pasta and salads. Current Pollan kid-favorite desserts are featured, too. Each recipe page has market and pantry lists for cell-phone snapshots cooks take shopping. From dishes prepared by their mother to Grandpa Max’s love of fresh-grown ingredients and their continued family table tradition, the Pollans find inspiration devising a new routine for the family sit-down meal.

October 1, 2014
This cookbook doesn't scream celebrity, yet it's been compiled by a family well used to fame, whose members include actor Tracy Pollan; her husband, actor Michael Fox; and food journalist Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, 2006). That modesty serves this culinary collection well. It's packed with more than 110 healthy recipes, with the underlying philosophy that family dining reigns, or as journalist Pollan says, Eating the same meal puts everyone on the same emotional page. Don't expect fancy presentations, but be ready for pragmatic dishes, with advice peppered throughout. The three sisters and mother Corky introduce the essential pantry, utensils, vocabulary, and advice ranging from reading the recipe thoroughly to removing corn silk by wiping the ear with a damp towel. Tips showcase nutritional properties of foodstuffs (for instance, different colored peppers have different antioxidants and benefits) and address such techniques as presalting an entire chicken. Not surprisingly, recipes are infused with health-conscious ingredients and often represent a twist on traditional dishes. Sure to rank among the favorites are Parmesan-crusted chicken fontina, shaved Brussels sprouts salad with pecorino cheese, hearty lentil soup, and Sam's applesauce spice cookies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)