Local Love: Toronto Cooks

My husband is a pretty awesome gift giver. Mostly I tell him a few things I want, but he always comes up with a surprise. This year's surprise was the cookbook Toronto Cooks. When I opened it he said, "You don't actually have to make the recipes. We can just pick the ones that look good and go try them at the restaurants." Which does sound fun for date night, but I'm determined to try and make some of the recipes in here :)

Toronto Cooks is a collection of 100 recipes from 50 different Toronto chefs. I've lived in Toronto about 10 years now, and have fully fallen in love with this city. Especially the amazing restaurants we have here.

Globe and Mail describes Toronto Cooks like this:

"If the past 12 months of Toronto’s culinary scene were to be encapsulated in a school yearbook, Amy Rosen’s new cookbook Toronto Cooks, a collection of 103 recipes from 48 restaurants across the city, would fit the bill. The freshmen class would be Drake One Fifty and Geraldine, which opened last year; New York-based Café Boulud and Momofuku Milk Bar would be the exchange students; and the decades-old restaurants, such as Allen’s and 360 at the CN Tower, would be the faculty."

Read their full review here.

So far I've tried 3 recipes from Toronto Cooks. The first one I tried was the Muscovy Duck Breast with Whiskey Blackcurrant Sauce from Allen's. Then I tried the Arcadian Court Chicken Pot Pie from Bannock.

Most recently, I made the Confetti Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar for my book club last weekend.

Warning - these are not quick, after work recipes. They've each taken me quite awhile to prepare. And I've had to go buy ingredients I've never even heard of. But it has been fun trying new things from Toronto's top restaurants. Although, I'm sad Globe Bistro wasn't included. Rob and I think Globe is one of the best restaurants in the city.

Anyways, if you need a gift idea for a die-hard Torontonian, this would be a great idea. My cousin has been talking about the idea of using her favourite cookbooks as coffee table books, and after receiving this one, I'd have to agree!

xo
Jenn