Cindy Pawlcyn's Mustards Grill has been a pioneer restaurant in small plate dining. A popular trend today, small-plate dining is a relaxed and convivial way to share a meal with friends. Similar to sharing Mexican antojitos, Spanish tapas or Middle Eastern mezze, in small-plate dining friends pass around small plates of food, nibbling at each dish without filling to satiety. Small plates encourage sharing, allow for a reach across the table without concern for manners, and provide the best topic of conversation - food.
In Big Small Plates, Cindy Pawlcyn shares her recipes and those of her chefs, Pablo Jacinto and Erasto Jacinto. The recipes are called 'big' small plates because they can be substantial enough to make a meal, but they are also big on taste, each recipe an extravaganza. This is a wonderful book to shape an evening with friends.
The chapter headings alert the reader to fun ahead. Though she follows standard food divisions, Pawlcyn has fun with the concept of nibbling. She has one chapter called "Sticks, Picks, and with Fingers" for tasting finger foods, another called "On a Raft" for foods that sail to the mouth on Crostini, Bruschetta, Biscuits, and other vehicles of transport. There is "Dressed, Not Naked" for the salad lover, "Bowls and Spoons" and "Knife and Fork" for the more substantial part of a meal. Desserts follow with a chapter on sweets.
The recipes reflect Pawlcyn's zeal for imaginative dishes inspired by global tastes. Who would not want to start an evening sampling Miso-Glazed Beef in Lettuce Cups or go far south of the border for Gaucho Empanadas. Who could resist an elegant Tuna Tartare with Cucumber Salad and Avocado or a nibble of Seared or Grilled Asparagus with Two Sauces. If you want something substantial take a hint from the Spanish and make a Sea bass with Piquillo Pepper Sauce and Garden Greens, or Japanese Crab and Shrimp "Pizzas." Dessert might be Double Trouble Chocolate Mousse Torte, a festival on its own. If you fear being too full, it might be a simpler fruit dessert to cleanse the palate after all that tasting, a light dessert such as Yummy Sherried Figs or Oranges and Smashed Cherries.
Not all these recipes are simple as most rely on sauces and dressings of unique flavor. But there is balance through the choices you can make and Pawlcyn's writing is comfortable and homey, as if Mom were giving instructions. This is a book for entertaining, for creating a party mood at home. An alternative to conventional, varietyless main-course cooking, Cindy’s small plate recipes deliver the inspiration and reliability that make this new way of eating—and entertaining—practical at home.
There are more than 150 recipes from Mustards Grill, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, as well as Pawlcyn’s home repertoire. There are
beautiful photos of food, ingredients, and on-the-spot preparation by Laurie Smith.
About the Authors: Cindy Pawlcyn opened Mustards Grill in 1983. It was the first of more than a dozen restaurants. She is the author of Fog City Diner and Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook and has been nominated twice for a James Beard foundation Award for Best Chef: California.
Pablo Jacinto and Erasto Jacinto are brothers. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, they now live in Napa. Pablo is chef and co-owner of Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, and Erasto is chef and co-owner of Mustards Grill. Mustards won the James Beard award for Best American Cookbook in 2002 and was nominated for the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award.
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