New cookbook celebrates Las Vegas steakhouse Golden Steer

In true Las Vegas fashion, writer James O. Fraioli found out about the Golden Steer Steakhouse from a rather colorful character.

It was a few years ago, and somebody with whom Fraioli had worked was giving him a tour of the city. The longtime Las Vegan with a checkered past asked if Fraioli had ever dined at the landmark on Sahara Avenue just west of the Strip.

“I said, ‘I didn’t even know it was here,’ ” Fraioli recalls. “He said, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is the best steakhouse in town.” The veteran local went on to tell Fraioli it hadn’t changed much since its 1958 launch, and about all of the famed performers who had eaten there, including members of the Rat Pack, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

Fraioli made a reservation that evening, and discovered what makes the Golden Steer unique.

“It’s one of those restaurants that don’t really exist any more,” he said. “It was a step back in time, which is what makes it so successful. And they serve prime meat, they cut their own meat — quality touches like that.”

Fraioli also was impressed with the restaurant’s “enormous” wine glasses, so much so that when he returned to Seattle, he called and asked where they got them. The friendly, helpful attitude he encountered also stayed with him.

The veteran cookbook writer — he’s published 27 — knew a prospective project when he saw one.

“You have the perfect restaurant for a cookbook,” Fraioli told them. “The stories, the food, your exposure in Vegas. One thing led to another and it’s like, ‘Let’s do this book.’ ”

The result is a 215-page volume with about 80 recipes ranging from cocktails and appetizers through desserts, with beef and chops, seafood and Italian specialties. There are lots of large photos, color and black and white, suggested wine pairings, anecdotes and such novelties as the favorite menu of the man who’s arguably the Golden Steer’s most famous customer, Frank Sinatra: three fingers of Jack Daniel’s served with two ice cubes, Narragansett Bay Clams Casino, a medium-rare, 16-ounce New York strip with pizzaiola sauce and Bananas Foster.

Michael Signorelli, who bought the Golden Steer in 2001 and is only its second proprietor, said he knows the book will bring greater attention to his restaurant.

“I felt we had something to provide different than most restaurants with cookbooks,” he said, “because ours had a reputation of not just good food, but it’s associated with different people around the world.”

And those ties to the famous help tremendously, he said.

“We provide good service, quality food and price point, but we’re in a location where there are 150-plus steakhouses,” he said. “We’re sort of like a museum with a restaurant inside.”

Fraioli doesn’t require any convincing. He finds himself repeatedly making the twice-baked potato, prepared Cherries Jubilee for Thanksgiving and learned the secret of putting a little beef jus on a finished steak, but he’s most impressed by the restaurant’s air of congeniality.

“The big takeaway,” he said, “is the Golden Steer, through the entire process, they definitely treat you like family. I’ve done dozens of cookbooks, but his one stood out because it just felt like I was doing a book with a family member. That’s something that’s very memorable.”

“A Grandfather’s Lessons: In the Kitchen With Shorey,” by Jacques Pepin (Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $30, hardcover)

This is a most unusual cookbook, a sort of love letter from the eminent, 81-year-old chef Jacques Pepin to his granddaughter, Shorey. In the introduction, Pepin writes, “I wanted to cook things with Shorey, dishes that she likes,” but he also admits another motive, a lesson that “spending time together in the kitchen can enhance your life as well as your relationship.” The 208-page book has nearly 75 recipes that include such French classics as hot pate in puff pastry and the all-American Curly Dogs with Pickle Relish (but homemade pickle relish). All are simply stated and straightforward, with quotes from Shorey, suitable for young cooks with perhaps a little supervision.

■ “Cooking at Home With Bridget and Julia” (America’s Test Kitchen; $35, hardcover)

From Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison, hosts of “America’s Test Kitchen,” reportedly the most-watched show on public television, with more than 2 million viewers during an average minute. This 291-page book aims to “pull back the curtain on their lives at home.” It contains 150 test-kitchen recipes with large color photos that include some shot inside the women’s homes, plus personal narratives, anecdotes and recipe notes. Recipes are divided according to their likely use: weekend breakfasts, home-style dinners, casual entertaining and holiday celebrations, and there’s a section on conversions and equivalents.

■ “The Home Cook: Recipes to Know by Heart” by Alex Guarnaschelli (Clarkson Potter; $35, hardcover)

The publisher promises this 368-page book from the Food Network star is a “go-to resource” for “the new generation of home cooks who were raised on vibrant, international flavors and supermarkets stocked with miso paste, harissa and other bold condiments and ingredients.” It’s separated into sections such as “Soups to Start,” “Soups for Dinner,” “Supermarket Mushrooms Made Sexy,” “The Onion Family,” cakes, quick breads, cocktails and Italian-American cookies, a nod to the author’s heritage. Not all recipes are illustrated.

■ “Kristen Kish Cooking” by Kristen Kish with Meredith Erickson (Clarkson Potter; $40, hardcover)

The “Top Chef” winner has been heralded as one of the best up-and-coming chefs in the country and earns laurels with the recipes in this 288-page book. Kish was born in Korea, adopted by a family in Michigan, and has occasionally worked as a model. The book reflects her Midwestern roots; one of her earliest food memories was her first taste of kimchi, which she wanted to pile on a Quarter-Pounder in a budding-chef urge to cut richness with acid. She compares one recipe to mozzarella sticks but it’s so much more: burrata coated in nigella seeds, wrapped in katifi (shredded phyllo dough), browned in oil and served with freshly made date syrup and a radish salad. “At home I’ll eat this as a snack,” she writes. The 80 recipes are arranged into sections such as snacks, beginnings, pasta and grains and meat, with photographs of nearly all of them.

■ “Martha Stewart’s Newlywed Kitchen” (Clarkson Potter; $40, hardcover)

From the staffs of Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings, this guide-like 304-page book is designed to be “the ultimate handbook for the modern couple,” with practical advice on setting up a kitchen, learning to cook together and separately, sharing food and drink with others, choosing cookware and tableware and party planning. Definitely not your mother’s household guide — it has chapters on setting up a banh mi buffet and paella party — it doesn’t eschew the homey appeal of a fondue dinner and holiday cocktails. Lots of large color photos, illustrating more than 100 recipes.

■ “Milk Street: The New Home Cooking” by Christopher Kimball (Little, Brown and Company; $40, hardcover)

From the former head of Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen, this 336-page book is drawn from Kimball’s magazine and public television show of the same name, which take a more global approach than his old roles. The more than 125 recipes include a new way to scramble eggs (with olive oil) and the book urges readers to “toss your nonstick skillet,” employ a pantry list that includes lard as well as coconut oil and verjus and has sections such as eggs, soups, vegetables, suppers and dinners. There’s a color photo for every recipe, the latter of which include homey choices such as baked herb dressing and the more exotic, such as Vietnamese caramel fish.

NARRAGANSETT BAY CLAMS CASINO

5 large fresh clams

Clam mixture (recipe follows)

Crumbled cooked bacon

Lettuce for garnish

Lemon wedges for garnish

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Shuck each clam to loosen the clam meat. Keep the meat in the shell and detach and discard the other half of the shell. Pack half-shell with 1 or 2 tablespoons of clam mixture, depending on its size. The mixture should be rounded off on top. Add some crumbled bacon to the top of the mixture, pressing slightly so the bacon doesn’t fall off. Arrange the clams on a baking sheet.

Place the sheet of clams in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serves 1 or 2.

CLAM MIXTURE

½ red bell pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ yellow onion, peeled and diced

½ teaspoon minced garlic

2 pinches dried oregano

2 pinches white pepper

1 pinch salt

1 tablespoon salted butter

¼ cup white wine

1 cup chopped clams

½ cup clam juice

½ cup bread crumbs

Roast pepper by placing it under the broiler or on a hot outdoor grill, turning often to blister all sides. When the skin is charred and soft, remove from the heat and immediately place in a paper bag, foil or sealed container to trap the steam. Keep sealed for about 10 minutes. Slice the roasted pepper, removing the stem, seeds and loose skin, and dice.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the diced pepper, onion, garlic, oregano, pepper, salt and butter. Let it cook for about 2 minutes. Add the wine and reduce the heat to low, letting the mixture simmer for about 3 minutes. Add the chopped clams and clam juice and simmer for another 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the bread crumbs to thicken the mixture. Remove from heat and let cool.

Makes enough for 12 clams.

NEW YORK STRIP WITH PIZZAIOLA SAUCE

½ tablespoon canola oil

½ beefsteak tomato, coarsely chopped

½ teaspoon minced garlic

1 pinch salt

1 pinch white pepper

½ tablespoon salted butter

1 tablespoon marinara sauce

½ tablespoon white wine

1 pinch oregano

½ teaspoon roux (recipe follows)

½ teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 16-ounce prime New York strip steak

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

To make sauce, heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the tomato, garlic, salt, pepper and butter. Toss well to combine and cook for 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce, wine and oregano, and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the roux to reduce the water in the pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the tomato is soft and the liquid is the consistency of a thin sauce. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with parsley and serve atop the steak.

Serves 1.

To make roux: combine 1 part olive oil and 1 part flour in a saute pan over low heat; mix well. Cook, stirring frequently, until it reaches the consistency of a smooth paste. Remove from heat and reserve until ready to serve.

BANANAS FOSTER

1 tablespoon salted butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon creme de banana

½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest

1 teaspoon orange zest and 1 tablespoon juice from 1 orange

1 large ripe banana, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices

1 splash Bacardi 151 rum

2 to 3 dashes ground cinnamon (optional)

2 to 3 scoops vanilla ice cream

Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, creme de banana, lemon zest, orange zest and orange juice. Stir frequently and reduce the mixture until it’s caramelized; don’t allow it to burn. Add the banana slices in an even layer, coating them with the sauce. Add a splash of rum and continue to cook for about 1½ minutes. Add the dashes of cinnamon, if desired (the cinnamon, when ignited, creates a dazzling array of sparks). Carefully light the mixture and once flames subside, remove from heat and serve immediately atop vanilla ice cream in a chilled bowl.

Serves 1 or 2.

Recipes adapted from “Golden Steer Steakhouse Las Vegas: Recipes, Tales & Celebrations from the Legendary Las Vegas Restaurant”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.