Chef Laurent Gras - My Provence (eBook)

I was sent an email asking if I would like to review Chef Laurent Gras' new eCookbook Laurent Gras - My Provence. and of course I said yes.  I mean who would say no to recipes from Provence. And let me say that if this were a paper book, I'd have just about ever page bookmarked! But I had my reservations.
Since Laurent Gras is an award winning French chef, I assumed (and you know what they say about assuming things....) that many of the dishes would be complex, if not downright complicated and I wasn't really sure they would "translate" to the home cook. And while some of the recipes have many steps, none of them are complicated.  The photography is exceptionally stunning - each photo has me drooling and gives me wonderful ideas for plating.

I tried three recipes and loved all three, and what I loved about them was that I could easily adapt them and ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.   First let me share the recipes I chose....

Chickpea, Fennel and Goat Cheese Salad which I made my own by using arugula and feta instead of the heavenly sounding Saint-Maure smokey goat cheese and the frisee that I couldn't find.  Suffice to say it was brilliant!  Crisp and tangy.

Then I chose another "starter" dish of Cannelloni with Spinach & Swiss Chard made with won ton wrappers.  The truth is, this one is a little messy to prepare and while I was putting the "cannelloni" together, I was thinking that I probably wouldn't make it again... that is until I tasted it.  One word...Heaven!

And because it's blueberry season here and I just happened to have some in the fridge, I decided to make a Custardy Blueberry Clafouti.  It was a breeze to put together and tasted almost like creme caramel (my favorite dessert) - another huge hit around here and equally delicious the next day.

So... three recipes tried.... three recipes that totally floored us!   But that's not the best part of the eBook, although each of the 45 recipes look fantastic... and there are an additional 16 recipes for "basics" like pistou, aioli, fish & chicken stocks, pasta dough and more.  It's the incredible add-ons:

• techniques - included are videos and/or photo step-by-step directions
• stunning photos to showoff the best presentations
• a list of the equipment needed for each recipe - and include everything - even "clean dish towels" for the cannelloni
• and my personal favorite feature - a place for readers to add their own comments and photos of the dish to share with each other - what an incredible feature.

This eBook would be a bargain at three times the price!  But at $9.99 for 90 days it's a steal!   The only downside is that in fact, the subscription is for ONLY 90 days unless you renew.