Reference Books - Page 34

Chez Panisse Cooking

Paul Bertolli

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Extraordinary," "poetic," and "inspired" are only a few words that have been used to describe the food at Chez Panisse. Since the first meal served there in 1971, Alice Waters's Berkeley, California, restaurant has revolutionized American cooking, earning its place among the truly great restaurants of the world. Renowned for the brilliant innovations of its ever-changing menu, Chez Panisse has also come to represent a culinary philosophy inspired by nature -- dedicated to the common interest of environment and consumer in the use of gloriously fresh organic ingredients.

In Chez Panisse Cooking, chef Paul Bertolli -- one of the most talented chefs ever to work with Alice Waters -- presents the Chez Panisse kitchen's explorations and reexaminations of earlier triumphs. Expanding upon -- and sometimes simplifying -- the concepts that have made Chez Panisse legendary, Bertolli provides reflections, recipes, and menus that lead the cook to a critical and intuitive understanding of food itself, of its purest organic sources and most sublime uses. Perhaps best described by Richard Olney, "Paul Bertolli's cuisine is what 'health food' should be and never is: a celebration of purity. The food is imaginative but never complicated; it is art."

Enhanced by Gail Skoff's breathtaking hand-colored photographs, Paul Bertolli's recipes remind us of the simple and passionate joys in cooking and of the inspiration to be drawn from each season's freshest foods: glistening local salmon creates a wildly colorful springtime carpaccio or is grilled later in the season with tomatoes and basil vinaigrette; autumn's fresh white truffles are sliced into an extraordinarily textured salad of pastel hues with fennel, mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese; figs left on the tree until they grow heavy and sweet appear in a fall fruit salad with warm goat cheese and herb toast. Season by season, Chez Panisse Cooking will captivate the senses and imagination of the cook with such entrancing recipes as Sugar Snap Peas with Brown Butter and Sage; Buckwheat Cakes with Smoked Salmon, Creme Fraiche, and Capers; Grilled Fish Wrapped in Fig Leaves with Red Wine Sauce; Lamb Salad with Garden Lettuces, Straw Potatoes, and Garlic Sauce; Marinated Veal Chops Grilled over an Oak Fire; or Seckel Pears Poached in Red Wine with Burnt Caramel. Here, some of the restaurant's most remarkable recent menus for special occasions are recreated, from a White Truffle Dinner to the Chez Panisse Tenth Annual Garlic Festival, to a supper for poet Vikram Seth that began. with "The Season's song, a summer ballad/Tomatoes, basil, flowers, beans/In unison dance, Lobster Salad..."

Many of these recipes reflect Paul Bertolli's love of northern Italian food; for other dishes, the inspiration is French; in all, there is a keen awareness of the abundance of uncompromisingly pure, seasonal ingredients to be found in America.

Above all, the Chez Panisse recipes are meant to inspire the cook to create his or her own version; to awaken the senses to the nuances of taste, texture, and color in cooking; to "discover the ecstatic moments when the intuition, skill, and accumulated experience of the cook merge with the taste and composition of the food." Since its original publication in 1988, this classic cookbook has proved to be indispensable to the shelf of every serious cook and every serious cookbook reader.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Five in Ten Cookbook

Paula Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Now Dinnertime is as Easy as 1-2-3-4-5!

The 5 in 10 Cookbook makes -- and keeps -- an extraordinary promise: quick and easy recipes that use 5 ingredients (or fewer) and cook in 10 minutes or less.

If you're like Paula Hamilton, tired of fast-food meals and determined to serve your family a delicious, nourishing dinner even if you've just come home from work, The 5 in 10 Cookbook is just what you need. Meals in minutes are guaranteed by limiting the recipes to 5 ingredients and 10 minutes of cooking time. Now your family can sit down to a home-cooked meal together every night.

The 5 in 10 Cookbook encourages healthier eating and saves money too. Why waste one of the 5 ingredients on fat when herbs and spices contribute more pizzaz and flavor? And by limiting the number of ingredients purchased and cooking in rather than carrying out, you will save a fortune on food bills.

For speed and convenience, these 170 recipes for everything from appetizers and soups to main courses and desserts rely on readily available ingredients and high-quality packaged foods.

Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook: Home Collection

France) Cordon Bleu (School : Paris, Editors of Thunder Bay Press

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Outstanding & inspiring -- my favorite French cookbook! 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 25 people found this review helpful.

...Top reasons why I turn to this cookbook more than any other:

* The recipes WORK! And they are GREAT! Some recipes I've tried: Shrimp Bisque (amazingly, in comparison to a recipe I tried from Cook's Illustrated, the one here is a bit simpler AND tasted better!), Apple and Parsnip Soup (great Thanksgiving soup!), Duck Salad with Plum Dressing (if cooking this for appetizer, I would use a lot less duck breast than asked for in this recipe--7 oz per person is too much), Duck a l'orange (awesome! My guests loved it!), Cider Apple Chicken with Mushroom Sauce (delicious--I substituted regular brandy for Calvados, a French apple brandy which I couldn't find), Roast Pork with Prunes and Armagnac (truly a hit when I cooked it as the entree for Christmas), Pears Poached in Red Wine (better than a recipe I got from a class).

* Each and every recipe is beautifully illustrated with a picture of the dish. For me, the "occasional but serious home chef", the pictures inspire me and quickly give me an idea of what to create for the finished product. None of the other books have such beautiful pictures for every recipe.

* Each recipe comes with an estimate of Preparation Time and Total Cooking Time. This gives me a quick idea of how complicated the dish is gonna be. A word of caution though: the given times are for pros! When I first started cooking French, I found that I had to DOUBLE the times given in this book; now I add an extra 50%! However, on a relative scale, this feature is still helpful.

* It's mostly adjusted for ingredients available in USA (at least in Northern California) and terminology is mostly American.

Like Linda�s review below, I think Adriana�s review below is unfair--the book does state that it is a collection of Le Cordon Bleu�s best recipes�-that�s one of the reasons I wanted it and do not have an issue with it being a �copycat�. Ultimately, I am grateful for this book because it has helped me create many successful menus and dinner parties. So much so that it compelled me to write my first review on Amazon.com! Bon Appetit!

Editorial Review:

From the worlds most famous cooking school comes a comprehensive collection of fresh, modern recipes for any occasion. From simple dishes for home cooking to impressive dinner party fare, Le Cordon Bleu shares the secrets of their famous kitchens with an invaluable collection of recipes, all beautifully photographed, and offers inspiration for the successful home chef.

The Book of Whole Meals: A Seasonal Guide to Assembling Balanced Vegetarian Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners

Annemarie Colbin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Whole Foods Meals Made The Smart Way 5 out of 5 stars.
42 of 42 people found this review helpful.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in macrobiotics, vegetarianism, and general healthy living. The book begins with the theories on why it is important that we eat organic, locally grown, natural foods. It explains how to choose your meals, what those "wierd" natural foods are that were unfamiliar to me before I read this book, and even how to set up your kitchen. The recipes make up the second half of the book. It is divided into winter, spring, summer, and fall with seven complete meal plans for each season. These meals are something you could actually make. Leftovers from dinner are combined or changed into something completely different for lunch and breakfast the next day. In the sidebars of each page are directions for how to prepare the complete meal in the proper order. For example, it might say 1. Cook rice. Go on to soup. 2. Chop vegetables. Go on to tofu. 3. Marinade tofu. Go on to etc. Then the complete recipes are listed on the main part of the page. All the recipes in this book are easily adaptable to your particular tastes. The only thing I don't like about it is there are a few recipes involving fish or eggs. I am a vegan, so I don't use either of these.

Editorial Review:

"It is difficult to imagine a better course for practicing, would-be, or even part-time vegetarians," said The New York Times of Annemarie Colbin's cooking classes. And, in this book, the founder of the successful Natural Gourmet Cookery School in New York City offers a whole year's worth of her popular classes.

The Book Of Whole Meals
-- Provides a sound holistic nutritional philosophy on which to base your food choices
-- Gives thorough instructions on how to set up a kitchen and a well-stocked pantry
-- Offers varied menus for each season: dozens of whole breakfasts, lunches; and dinners, using the fruits and vegetables of the season
-- Shows how to make quick meals with leftovers, without sacrificing taste or nutrition
-- Teaches you how to maximize efficiency and grace in the kitchen with time-saving hints for organizing every step of food preparation...and more!

Voted one of ten best cookbooks by New Age Journal readers.

Slow Cooker Favorites Made Healthy (Better Homes & Gardens)

Better Homes and Gardens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Misleading title 1 out of 5 stars.
43 of 45 people found this review helpful.

Not only are the recipes completely unoriginal (dried onion soup mix pot roast, coke pot roast, dump a can of something on a pot roast), I was quite disappointed to find that most of them call for heavily processed ingredients like the aforementioned cans of condensed soup or packages of dried soup mix. Nor is there any particular effort to present nutritionally balanced meals or menus.

I guess they thought that including the nutritional breakdown for each recipe qualifies them for the 'healthy' title, but I heartily disagree. This one's getting tossed or donated.

Editorial Review:

More than 225 delicious, wholesome, family-friendly slow cooker meals that even kids will love.

Mouthwatering—yet guilt-free—main dishes, sides, soups, appetizers, and desserts are lighter in calories, saturated fats, and sodium.

Complete nutrition information, including diabetic exchanges, with every recipe.

Helpful at-a-glance chart of calorie counts for common foods.

Bonus chapter with recipes for 11³2-quart slow cookers—perfect for serving two.

The Sauce Bible: Guide to the Saucier's Craft

David Paul Larousse

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent Professional text and reference. Buy it if you make sauces! 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 23 people found this review helpful.

`The Sauce Bible' by culinary educator, David Paul Larousse is one of those very few books you find which are specifically written for culinary professional. The first clue is the high list price of $54.95. The second is that textbook specialist, John Wiley and Sons publish it. The third is the fact that the book began as an essay on sauce painting, which the average foodie will admire, but, to my knowledge, will virtually never try to reproduce. The fourth clue is that the quantities for many of the recipes are a lot larger than one would need for a dish for four or six. The fifth clue is the large amount of narrative and graphics devoted to explaining the relationships between members of the various sauce families, based on the famous French `mother sauces'.

That is not to say the average cooking enthusiast couldn't get something from this book. The biggest question is whether this book is better than the standard modern work in English, James Peterson's `Sauces'. The very first comparison I did was on the two books' treatments of `beurre blanc' or white butter sauce commonly used for fish and often used as an exemplar of `nouvelle cuisine' cooking, although the recipe is much older than the 1970's. I think the treatment of this by the two different books is a good indication of the books' relative strengths and weaknesses. While Larousse has, by a very rough count, 480 recipes to Peterson's 350, Peterson gives more details on the techniques used for each individual recipe, while Larousse spends more time on general material. Peterson's recipe, with introduction and variations, takes up over three pages, including tips on saving the sauce for later use. Larousse' recipe for basic `beurre blanc' takes about half a page, although later recipes such as Bercy and Chambertin are variations. Oddly, Peterson includes in the basic recipe a step to strain the solids, primarily the shallot, out of the final product, while Larousse give no such instruction until we get to the recipe for the Chambertin sauce.

So, for the amateur chef, Peterson may really be the better book, since he is more detailed in his recipes for very common sauces, even if he is a bit fussy for the amateur. But, I really think that a dedicated foodie will want both books. While Peterson is probably the better quick reference, Larousse is better in understanding the relations between all members of the sauce families. And, he certainly covers more different classically named sauces. Peterson, for example, gives no mention or recipe for Chambertin sauce, at least it is neither in his list of recipes or in his index. And, you will certainly want Larousse if you wish to understand sauce painting the way they do it a fancy restaurants and on the `Iron Chef America'.

I have seen at least two less expensive trade paperback books on sauces and while I believe both are decent, I strongly recommend one of these two books for the dedicated foodie in preference to a shorter book. I am especially respectful of Larousse's tutorial on the making of stocks. His recipes and techniques are certainly useable by the home cook, although they would meet no one's notion of quick cooking, as the longer ones take from eight to twelve hours for optimum results. The only thing I missed in this volume was the concept so artfully stated by Deborah Madison where she proclaims that stocks should be crafted to meet their specific uses.

Highly recommended for the professional and the dedicated foodie.

Editorial Review:

A complete contemporary reference on the subject of stocks and sauces, including complete instructions for creating ``arabesques'' of sauce paintings. Features anecdotes, miniature biographies regarding several major and minor contributors to modern cooking techniques as well as historical and linguistic references to specific dishes. Numerous sauces and accompaniments created by other culinary professionals are also included.

Homebrew Favorites: A Coast-to-Coast Collection of More Than 240 Beer and Ale Recipes

Karl F. Lutzen, Mark Stevens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An excellent book from extract to all grain! 5 out of 5 stars.
39 of 39 people found this review helpful.

Karl presents a comprehensive collection of ale and lager recipes. The recipes include both extract and all grain recipes at about a 50/50 porportion.

I enjoyed the book immensely as I was departing from kits and following recipes. All the recipes I made came out fantastic and I still make some of them today.

Some of the things I exceptionally, liked are:

Several recipes come from competitions. I had found these recipes came out exceptionally well.

Although one would think that the recipes from competitions would be more complex, but in fact they were not.

I used the book for extract recipes only, so I cannot comment on the all grain recipes. However speaking for the extract recipes, it is certainly a book I have read time and time again as I select what type of beer I am going to make next.

Editorial Review:

Lutzen and Stevens solicited thousands of homebrewers' favorite recipes throughout North America. Homebrew clubs, brewing suppliers, and homebrewers everywhere took up the call to create Homebrew Favorites, one of the largest recipe collections available today. Features directions and advice for brewing at home. Line drawings.

Larousse Gastronomique Recipe Collection

Librarie Larousse

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since its original publication in 1938, Larousse Gastronomique has withstood the test of time and trend to remain the world’s most authoritative culinary reference book.

Generations of serious cooks have turned to it for guidance that encompasses every fashion and taste, making its comprehensive collection of 2,500 classic recipes an indispensable resource. Recently updated, every one of these recipes has now been organized into four compact volumes to create a convenient and essential addition to every cook’s library.
The Larousse Gastronomique Recipe Collection includes:

•Classic meat, poultry, and game recipes, from Boeuf Bourguignon and Osso Bucco à la Milanaise to Glazed Spare Ribs and Chicken Jambalaya

•Quintessential fish and seafood dishes, including Lobster Thermidor, Salmon Koulibiac, Pike Quenelles Mousseline, and Grilled Shad with Sorrel

•Landmark vegetable and salad recipes, such as Asparagus Mousse, Gratin Dauphinois, Mushroom Duxelles, and Corn Fritters

•Timeless desserts, cakes, and pastries, from Charlotte à la Chantilly and Black Forest Gâteau to Passion Fruit Sorbet and Danish Cherry Flan

Each volume of the Larousse Gastronomique Recipe Collection also includes recipes for basic pastries, condiments, garnishes, sauces, and more, turning this collection into a complete course in kitchen classics.

The Medieval Cookbook

Maggie Black

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very Good History and Illustrations. Weaker on Recipes. 4 out of 5 stars.
29 of 30 people found this review helpful.

`The Medieval Cookbook' by Maggie Black is very similar to the slightly older book, `Pleyn Delit' by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington, and Sharon Butler. It even cites this book and other works by these authors as references. Aside from the fact that the two books deal with almost exactly the same subject, English and French recipes from the late Middle Ages, and both are serious, scholarly works, there are two important differences.

The positive differences in Ms. Black's book is that it is organized by source and that it has many more pictures, both black and white and color photographs of scenes from medieval sources, and line drawings or etchings of food plants and other botanicals. `Pleyn Delit' has virtually no pictures.

The two books share several major sources. Dominating the sources and background of both books is Geoffrey Chaucer's `Canterbury Tales'. While this work contains no recipes itself, if has numerous references to food and beverages, and Ms. Black devotes an entire chapter to recipes cited in this great literary work. The second major work cited in Ms. Black's volume is a pedagogical volume by an upper middle class member of the gentry identified as `The Goodman of Paris'. The narrative identifies him as probably a civil servant, with houses in both the city and the country. After chapters on proper moral deportment, the author gives both menus and recipes for the training of his staff of servants. The book also gives several directions to wife and staff on proper kitchen economics and the care of domestic and captured animals. The third primary source is documents associated with the very sybaritic court of the English king Richard II, whose death started the War of the Roses. I am green with envy at my image of the author's working on this book among the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library and at the British Museum, two shrines of English language scholarship for sure. I have seen both as a tourist and my most persistent fantasy career is one of a scholar.

The pictures in the book are very well chosen to illustrate the literary sources. Pictures of medieval life are taken largely from tapestries such as the famous Bayeux tapestry and similar sources. They are very well selected and, unlike so many other incidental pictures in books on cookery, they are actually given meaningful captions.

Ms. Black and the authors of `Pleyn Delit' take almost exactly the same approach to translating their recipes from old English and identifying the sources of the original text. The recipe translations are equally fine in both books while the scholarly method of citing sources is equally dismal. I simply do not understand these authors use of a plainly obscure method for connecting source in the bibliography to the text in the main part of the book. I am certain these Brits and Canadians use the same scholarly conventions as we Yanks as codified in things like the `Chicago Manual of Style'. This little quibble is for the scholars among us.

The most serious lapse in Ms. Black's book compared to `Pleyn Delit' is in the fact that the latter book has a much more interesting collection of recipes that a modern amateur cook would really find interesting. The very first recipe in `The Medieval Cookbook' is for Frumenty, a simple porridge of cracked wheat, water, stock, and salt with an optional addition of eggs and saffron. The second is Girdle `Breads' which is an unleavened, saffron coloured biscuit of flower, lard, and salt with no leavening. The third recipe is for grilled steaks brushed with either verjuice (an ur-vinegar made from specially grown grapes) or juice from Seville oranges. The fourth recipe is for rabbit. While these four recipes, taking up seven pages of the book are all very interesting from an historical point of view, it makes the book less valuable as a source for modern cooks who may want a good source for a medieval theme menu. To be sure, there are recipes in this book that are worth making today, but `Pleyn Delit' is a better source for actual cooking.

I am very happy to see that the two books agree almost exactly on the use of ingredients and techniques. If you have an interest in history in general and culinary scholarship in particular, get both books. If you are only interested in a source for recipes, get `Pleyn Delit'. It is authentic and a richer source of interesting recipes.

Cooking with Children: 15 Lessons for Children, Age 7 and Up, Who Really Want to Learn to Cook

Marion Cunningham

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent teaching tool, Helping Parents getting started! 5 out of 5 stars.
88 of 89 people found this review helpful.

As I looked through many children's cookbooks, this is the only one that gives you a curriculum on where to start. Giving you basic recipes Children will need for their entire life. Having 4 Children of ages between 8-10, we found the recipes very clear, simple to make, and to the taste buds of young people. After one week of classes, the children had developed good habits and had a good understanding of basic cookery.

Cooking with Kids 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 26 people found this review helpful.

My son has always loved to cook and make his own concoctions (pickles, yoghurt and raw red peppers for a snack!). This is a great book to use with kids. Other suggestions are CLUELESS IN THE KITCHEN, great for teens. And for a fun look at Fannnie Farmer, who was so influential in American cooking, try FANNIE IN THE KITCHEN, a charming picture book about a young girl who learns to cook with Fannie Farmer. Delicious illustrations!

Editorial Review:

On the basis of her own experience teaching young children to cook, Marion Cunningham, the Fannie Farmer of today, shows boys and girls how to master essential techniques and to produce, all on their own, 35 favorite recipes, from vegetable soup to a birthday cake. in color.