MIAMI - Maybe the best thing about Govind Armstrong's new cookbook is that he gives you permission "not" to be Govind Armstrong, big-name chef and co-owner of Table 8 in Los Angeles and Miami Beach.
It lets you off the hook if you can't find Santa Barbara spot prawns - supermarket shrimp will work. If you're making Crisp Goat Cheese with Lavender Honey and Pumpkin Seed Oil, "There's no need to purchase the finest chevre at market; an inexpensive goat cheese log will do just fine."
The philosophy behind "Small Bites, Big Nights" (Clarkson Potter, $30) is that hosts should enjoy the party as much as their guests. Big flavor with not too much fuss - unless you really do want to challenge yourself. Armstrong gives you that option, too.
Bottom line: "I want you to get this book dirty," he said in a telephone interview. "I want people to use it."
Taking a page from Mediterranean tapas and mezzes, Armstrong, 36, is a proponent of the "small plate."
"I much prefer a melange of textures, tastes and products when dining rather than being limited to one main plate," he writes.
Created and tested over nine months in the kitchen of his small, Spanish-style home in Los Angeles, the recipes are simple, elegant and approachable. That said, this is no cookbook for dummies, though Armstrong finds a teachable moment in just about everything.
TANGERINE SCREAM
Armstrong said that this is his more-intense version of an orange juice-rum Shark Bite.
Juice of 3 medium tangerines (or 2 small oranges)
2 ounces rum
½ ounce Triple Sec
Splash of sweet-and-sour mix
Tangerine segments for garnish
Pour the tangerine juice, rum, Triple Sec and sweet-and sour mix into a cocktail shaker; shake. Strain into a tumbler with crushed ice. Garnish with skewered tangerine segments. Makes 1 serving.
Source: "Small Bites, Big Nights" by Govind Armstrong (Clarkson Potter, $30).
GRILLED ENDIVE,SERRANO HAM, AND AGED SHERRY CABRALES
Cabrales is a piquant blue-veined cheese from Asturias, Spain. If you can't find baby endives, cut larger ones in half lengthwise, then cut each half into three wedges.
4 baby Belgian endives, quartered
2 ounces Cabrales cheese
8 slices Serrano ham, cut in half lengthwise
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 tablespoons aged sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon diced shallot
Salt and cracked black pepper
2 heads frisee, cleaned
4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
Prepare a gas or charcoal grill.
For each endive quarter, lift half the leaves and stuff with the cheese, then wrap with a Serrano slice. Set them aside until you're ready to grill. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil into the vinegar. Add the shallots and season with salt and pepper.
Brush the Serrano-wrapped endives with olive oil and place on the hot grill, stuffed side down first. Cook until the ham becomes crisp and the endives are cooked through. The leaves should be slightly golden and wilted, the core easily pierced with a paring knife.
Toss the frisee and parsley leaves with some of the olive oil mixture and season with salt and pepper. Arrange 8 plates with 2 wrapped endives on each and garnish with the salad. Makes 8 servings.
Source: "Small Bites, Big Nights" by Govind Armstrong (Clarkson Potter, $30).
