Don't Try This At Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs

Don't Try This At Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs
Average customer rating:

Really, Don't Do It

What not to do in the kitchen

Fun read!

This just makes the rest of us feel better...

Mixed Plate

Don't Try This At Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs

Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Essays | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1596910704
Release Date: 2005-09-15

Book Description

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
Culinary Catastrophes from the World’s Greatest Chefs

A hilarious and heartening collection of kitchen disasters.

In this raucous new collection, over forty of the world’s greatest chefs relate outrageous true tales from their kitchens. From hiring a blind line cook to flooding the room with meringue to being terrorized by a French owl, these behind-the-scenes accounts are as wildly entertaining as they are revealing. A delicious reminder that even the chefs we most admire aren’t always perfect, Don't Try This at Home is a must-have for anyone who loves food or is fascinated by those who masterfully prepare it.

Ferrán Adrià on when lobsters go bad
José Andrés on asking for help
Dan Barber on talking to your fish
Mario Batali on the perfect risotto
Michelle Bernstein on the many uses of chocolate
Heston Blumenthal on the angriest maître d’ in England
Daniel Boulud on one thousand bowls of soup
Anthony Bourdain on beating up the customers
Jimmy Bradley on drinking games
Scott Bryan on too many salamanders
David Burke on hiding the laundry
Samuel Clark on cooking for royalty
Tom Colicchio on sneaking through customs
Scott Conant on the persistence of eels
Tamasin Day-Lewis on how not to store a pheasant
Tom Douglas on the strange destiny of snowstorms
Wylie Dufresne on birds of prey
Jonathan Eismann on the healing powers of electricity
Claudia Fleming on runaway meringue
Gabrielle Hamilton on second sight
Fergus Henderson on the far from ordinary
Paul Kahan on caller ID
Hubert Keller on tempting fate
Giorgio Locatelli on the art of the French ambush
Michael Lomonaco on feeding Pavarotti
Pino Luongo on summer school in the Hamptons
Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger on getting away with it
Sara Moulton on how to destroy a food processor
Tamara Murphy on the misuses of foie gras
Cindy Pawlcyn on eating at home
Neil Perry on unexpected showers
Michel Richard on how to rescue a wayward cake
Eric Ripert on getting to the kitchen
Alain Sailhac on salty coffee and solitary confinement
Marcus Samuelsson on the languages of gelatin
Bill Telepan on the Fish Guys versus the Meat Guys
Laurent Tourondel on rib-eye rush hour
Tom Valenti on the grounds for revenge
Norman Van Aken on Key West hi-jinks
Geoffrey Zakarian on a license to eat dangerously

Customer Reviews:

Really, Don't Do It.......2007-06-27

This book was so funny for we culinary types. I really enjoyed reading it, and learning new and funny things about some of my favorite chefs.

What not to do in the kitchen.......2007-02-13

This is one of the funniest books, I have read. I have lent it to many friends and we have had a good laugh at many of the stories. It's nice to see that professional chefs can also have disasters in the kitchen.

Fun read!.......2006-12-14

This book will make you chuckle!

This book is broken down into short chapters, --- each chapter written by a famous Chef and his/her experiences in kitchen mishaps.

Fun read!

This just makes the rest of us feel better..........2006-10-12

This is a must have for home cooks, would-be chefs, and people who just love the kitchen. In this humorous collection of stories, many chefs that have no reached the pinnacle of their careers share tales and snippets of life that include moments they were less than perfect. How many of us have ruined a dish by putting too much salt in the pot, or burned a turkey (or served one raw)? Turns out those sins are mild compared to some of the things these gods of food have done.

So many of the stories are just funny, you'll find yourself laughing out loud.

Sometimes when you watch cooking shows, or eat at a 5 star restaurant, it's easy to be intimidated by Chefs that seem to have perfected this craft. But this book will remind you that they have their off days as well, and that the gods of cuisine are just as human as the rest of us.

Highly recommended for everyone. Even if you don't cook, or aren't a foodie, this book is just funny.

Mixed Plate.......2006-09-21

Some of the pieces in this book are really funny, such as a tale of what happened when a hollandaise delivery met up with LA rush hour traffic. Many remind the reader than even the greatest of chefs is still human. Some of the pieces will amaze you with chefs' creativity in the face of diaster (one chef, for example, stuck with a ruined wedding cake, calls in the dogs). Unfortunately, some of the pieces are just plain boring. In one, for example, the "disaster" is that the narrator gets yelled at for throwing away some onions. I'm sure it was painful to him, but it's just not that much fun to read. In total, I'm not sure the good parts of the book make it worth shelling out money for. I borrowed mine from the library.

How to Start a Home-Based Personal Chef Business (Home-Based Business Series)

Average customer rating:

textbook for high school level Home ECK!
A Wonderful Resource for the Aspiring Personal Chef
Great Book!
OK, but the Candy Wallace book is better
A Great Introduction

How to Start a Home-Based Personal Chef Business (Home-Based Business Series)
Denise Vivaldo
Manufacturer: Globe Pequot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0762741546

Book Description

You don't have to go to culinary school to become a personal chef -- a passion for cooking and good business skills are all you need to get started right away. This book provides all the business savvy for the successful launch of a personal chef business.

Customer Reviews:

textbook for high school level Home ECK!.......2007-08-16

Basic common sense followed by recipes and some sources all available on internet or in cookbooks trying to sell you the
$$$ website!

A Wonderful Resource for the Aspiring Personal Chef.......2007-07-20

Not only does Ms. Vivaldi provide a concise & detailed outline for anyone contemplating a career as a personal chef, she offers fresh perspectives and new ideas for seasoned pc's. I highly recommend this book.
Gretchen Ohar
Proprietor/chef: dinner by gretchen

Great Book!.......2007-07-19

I'm a personal chef and I recently was at The Personal Chefs Network convention and got to hear Denise give an unbelievable energetic presentation. She really knows her stuff and gets you moving! I purchased this book along with How to Start a Catering Business that she wrote. They are both great books even though I've been a personal chef for a few years now. There is never too much learning to do as a business owner or chef. I wish I had it when I started!

OK, but the Candy Wallace book is better.......2007-07-01

Yes, this book is less expensive (much) than the Candy Wallace book, but it only goes so far. Get the other or get both, but don't rely on this alone.

A Great Introduction.......2007-05-27

Denise Vivaldo was a guest speaker at our recent Personal Chefs Network Annual Convention. She is not only a dynamic speaker, she is a clear and precise writer. I highly recommend this book to anyone considering this great profession. It contains lists and tips and charts and examples that will help you throughout your career. It is not a substitute for professional affiliation, but it is a wonderful starting place.

Great Kitchens: Design Ideas from America's Top Chefs

Average customer rating:

Great Kitchens: At Home With America's Top Chefs
Style Meets Functionality
What do you really want in your new kitchen?
My favorite kitchen book
Great book about great kitchens!

Great Kitchens: Design Ideas from America's Top Chefs
Ellen Whitaker , Ellen Whitaker , and Wendy A. Jordan
Manufacturer: Taunton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1561585343
Release Date: 2001-10-01

Amazon.com

If envy is an issue with which you struggle daily, you may want to avoid Great Kitchens, a lavishly illustrated walk-through of 26 fabulous kitchens in the homes of some of America's best chefs. This is a Taunton Press publication--the same people who bring us Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding, and Wooden Boat, among others--so rest assured the production values are high enough to raise the stakes for everyone else in the business.

The one thing all of these kitchens have in common is that they didn't start out this way. There are kitchens put into Victorian houses, 1920s farm houses, swim schools (no kidding: Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill in Los Angeles, and her architect husband, Josh Schweitzer, bought a small swim school and put home and kitchen where locker rooms and showers could once be found), old bars, upscale apartments, ancient stone houses. These are kitchens, then, that have been thought about by people who work with food, and know what they want at home.

Built-in wood-burning ovens and hearths seem to be a big deal. So, too, are custom wok stoves. Seattle chef Tom Douglas put his enormous prep island on industrial casters. He also put his herbs and spices into cans that attach to bar magnets on what would be wasted wall space. He chose the domestic version of an industrial stove because it is better insulated and doesn't heat up the kitchen. And like several chefs in the book, he swears by his commercial Hobart dishwasher with its 90-second cycle.

Great Kitchens is a multifunction book. You can leave it open on a coffee table as a piece of publishing art. You can use it to launch your daydreams. But most of all, you can use it to learn from the mistakes and successes of others, and gain insight from a lot of very practical information.

Most over-the-top built-in appliance? Terrance Brennan's bread-warming drawer. But in this book, it makes perfect sense. --Schuyler Ingle

Customer Reviews:

Great Kitchens: At Home With America's Top Chefs.......2007-04-05

The color photographs in Great Kitchens are beautiful, with great detail. The book maps out each kitchen as well, and gives the reader remarkable ideas for first-rate kitchen design, fixtures, appliances, storage , cabinets, ect. from each Chefs personal home kitchen.
I only would have been a bit more inspired to see Kitchens of Chefs Bobby Flay, Or Giada DeLaurentiis,Emeril Lagasse, some TV personalities as well. Although, Mary Sue Milliken and Rick Bayless are in this book and show really creative kitchens.

Style Meets Functionality.......2007-04-04

Design a kitchen that not only looks good, but contributes to your own personal style of cooking.

What do you really want in your new kitchen?.......2007-02-15

After reading this book, I realized that part of me wanted a kitchen that would impress others. That aim partly conflicted with my personal aesthetic preferences and the way I like to live and cook. What inspired me the most in this book was seeing kitchens for cooks I revere. The diversity of kitchens is refreshing because many of the design magazines these days are focused on particular "looks." The pictures in the book are very good. Paul Bertolli's kitchen is interesting in that it doesn't have upper cabinets. I never considered not having upper cabinets, but it made the space feel much brighter and larger. The author also presents a floor plan for each kitchen and I found this really helpful for understanding kitchen dynamics.

My favorite kitchen book.......2005-06-03

I'm a coffee-book junkie if they're about house design. Most new books I order each month are tired re-treads and get a little stir of interest and then are donated to the local library. I won't part with this one. I took it to read on vacation, and it was gold for 800 miles of a long car trip. My husband was entertained by excerpts I read to him and fab photos I flashed him on boring stretches of desert highway. He's not into kitchen design (probably because he's done so many real projects) and even he found it interesting. The photos are top rate. The bottom line is that every kitchen is personal, and this book brings that message home better than any other kitchen book I've seen.

Great book about great kitchens!.......2005-03-29

Architect and author Colleen Mahoney hit a grand slam with this book! We just finished remodeling our own kitchen and this book was indispensible. The only thing missing was Colleen's expertise. We highly recommend visiting her website before you begin your project.

The Chef's Art: Secrets of Four-Star Cooking at Home

Average customer rating:

Excellent Introduction to Professional Haute Cuisine.
Chef's Best Helper
Chef's Best Helper
Solid Reference Book & Solid Author

The Chef's Art: Secrets of Four-Star Cooking at Home
Wayne Gisslen
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Explains how cooking works and how to organize your steps in order to prepare elegant meals quickly and less effortlessly to obtain the exact results you want. Presents gourmet recipes for serving 4 or 16 delicous repasts. Basic procedures are illustrated with 200 step-by-step photographs. Features 16 pages of color photos showing various presentations of finished dishes. Over 600 recipes for all kinds of menu items serve as practical examples of the food types and cooking methods discussed. Also includes an appendix of recipes for basic sauces and other recipe ingredients.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Introduction to Professional Haute Cuisine........2005-05-17

`The Chef's Art' by Wayne Gisslen is a textbook on modern French technique, as interpreted by American chefs and American cooking schools. Two of the few problems with the book are when the author tries to represent this book as an embassy from professional cooking to the home cook and as a manual of American cooking.

This is through and through a book of professional techniques. One of the very few concessions Gisslen makes to the home cook is to begin with a chapter of material that a freshman at the Culinary Institute of America would already know. One of the most impractical assumptions the author makes is that by reading this book, the home cook will buy a good kitchen scale for weighing ingredients to the gram or to the quarter of an ounce. Yeah, right! There is no question the minds of anyone who knows anything about baking that weighing flour carefully is clearly a good thing. But, TV chef / educators such as Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, Giada De Laurentiis, and Jamie Oliver would simply not be as popular as they are if they did not liberate the home cook from careful measurements when doing savory dishes in a saute, braise, stew, grill, roast, or bake. This doesn't mean that this ad libbing style of cooking doesn't need a fair amount of experience so that you can have a pretty keen sense of how much a tablespoon of olive oil looks like. This is why I like metric quantities so much, since I spent ten years as a professional chemist and can tell the difference between 5 ml and 15 ml a lot easier than I can between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, until I memorized the fact that a teaspoon was 5 ml and a tablespoon was three times the size of a teaspoon.

I say all this because this is really an excellent book. It's just that if you believe the glosses on the cover and think you are getting recipes for home cooking, you would be very disappointed. You would be much better off spending your money on a copy of `The Joy of Cooking', because what you are getting is much closer to Escoffier than it is to Irma Rombauer or even to Julia Child, for that matter. Child taught us French home cooking. Gisslen's book is `haute cuisine' straight down the middle.

On the other side of the coin, Gisslen's book is really great for conveying general techniques, especially the great techniques of French stocks, sauces, braises, gratins, soups, salads, and vegetable cookery. While this is new breed Escoffier, there are many classic French dishes and techniques that are not here. There is not a hint of a souffle, a crepe, an omelet, or a pastry. Not even any savory tarts. But for those techniques he does cover, Gisslen is very, very good. He may even be as good as Jacques Pepin for explaining techniques, although I think the photographs in Pepin's `Complete Techniques' are better (not as dark and with better focus and more of them) and for a complete treatise on sauces, James Peterson's classic on `Sauces' is better. But, this is still a very good book for covering the important bases of French technique.

One application for which I have found very few good cookbooks is in cooking for a crowd, as you may do for a large potluck gathering or a church social, or even for school cafeterias, where you need soup by the dozens of servings and stock by the tens of gallons. For cooks with such needs, this book may be a godsend, as long as what you want to make is in Gisslen's Franco-American lexicon. Gisslen accomplishes this by giving the quantities for all his recipes in four different measurements. Two columns of units are in standard U.S. units giving four or 16 servings and two columns in metric measurements for the same two serving counts. And, I encourage you to use the Metric unit columns, as I believe it is as easy or easier to measure out 60 ml than it is to measure 2 oz.

Since there are no omelet recipes, I loose one of my favorite means of evaluating a cookbook, but there are still plenty of recipes for stocks for me to ponder. And, I am humbled, because Gisslen is quoting Escoffier and other French culinary authorities chapter and verse in calling for very long simmer times for stock making. While I am certain Gisslen's stock recipes will produce excellent results, this is a bit much for the casual home cook and may even strain the avid foodie's patience. And, I would not suggest you leave 8 quarts of hot water sitting on a live burner unattended for more than a few minutes. Especially if this is your first time at major league stock making.

If this book interests you, I strongly recommend you read the first several chapters from front to back, at least through the chapters on sauces, stocks, and soups. From there, skim over the recipes, but read all the general information from cover to cover. The placement of the stock and other utility recipes at the end of the book is a bit annoying, but you can live with it, as this is a very, very nice book to become familiar with professional doctrines and techniques. It may not be quite as good as Pepin on technique or quite as authentic or complete as Escoffier, but it is a worthy book if you need to cook it right and in large quantities.

Chef's Best Helper.......2003-03-13

Great book for the beginner and experience alike. Worth the buy.

Chef's Best Helper.......2003-03-13

Grat book for the beginner and experience alike. Worth the buy.

Solid Reference Book & Solid Author.......2000-04-03

You can't go wrong with Wayne Gisslen's books. After being introduced to his books in Culinary School (CHIC), he is still my point of reference for recipes & techniques. Anyone who wants to cook & present like a pro - can with this book's help. The book is wonderful!

If culinary schools use him as their reference - why shouldn't you?

Off Duty: The World's Greatest Chefs Cook at Home
Average customer rating:

World Class Contributors and Excellent Organization.

Great Book, Great Cause

A decent cook book and a good read

Off Duty: The World's Greatest Chefs Cook at Home
David Nicholls
Manufacturer: Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060841478
Release Date: 2006-02-07

Customer Reviews:

World Class Contributors and Excellent Organization........2006-06-03

`Off Duty, The World's Greatest Chefs Cook at Home' is compiled from contributions of 47 extraordinary chefs and one superior culinary journalist, by prominent UK chef, David Nicholls in order to raise funds for `The Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation', created to support research following chef Nicholls' son's paralyzing spinal injury about three years ago.

For starters, the subtitle is not exaggerating the claim of representing `the world's greatest chefs'. Not only is every single contributor a major culinary star, some such as Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, Alain Ducasse, Daniel Boulud, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten are certifiably among the very best chefs in the world, even more prominent if you are limited to the English speaking world. And, in spite of the self-interest of the target charity, I offer the notion that this is truly a better than typically deserving charity, as one of it's primary objectives may be support for stem cell research to treat spinal injuries, which can be done in the UK with no reservations, yet cannot be pursued unshackled by Government strictures in the United States. I'm particularly moved by the fact that American Thomas Keller and Englishman Gordon Ramsay both did heartfelt forewords to the book.

Each chef's recipes are prefaced by the same mini-interview, and when you take the 47 sets of answers together, you get a really insightful look into the psyche and profile of `the world class chef'. I was particularly tickled by the number of chefs who cite the mortar and pestle as their favorite kitchen tool. Watching two or three episodes of Jamie Oliver's TV shows should be enough to convince you that this tool is a seriously overlooked item in the average American kitchen. This part of the book alone is a world better than the similar squibs from the 11 culinary stars profiled in the similar `Food Network Favorites'.

Another major improvement over the Food Network volume is the fact that each chef offers three dishes that together comprise a very nice menu. My only caveat here is that I have strong suspicions that people like Keller, Trotter, and Boulud do NOT cook these dishes at home, except possibly to do some fancy entertaining. One clue is the prominence of high-end ingredients such as truffles, caviar, and foie gras in many of the recipes. And, I have seen some excellent `cooking at home' recipe books from the likes of Charlie Trotter and Wolfgang Puck, and they are a lot simpler (except for Jamie Oliver and Rodgers and Gray) than the dishes in this book.

Overall, I believe the recipes are quite good. Regardless of whether the chef is British or American, all units are given in both Imperial (spoons and cups and ounces and inches) and metric (liters and grams) units. The only caveat I could find with the recipes is the fact that the picture of the dish did not entirely fit the preparation, although the differences were small.

If what you want is true home cooking recipes, Melissa Clark's similar effort, `Chef, Interrupted' may be just a bit better; however, the great personal insights and the high level of contributor is not there.

This is not my favorite kind of cookbook, but of its type, it certainly sets the standard for others to follow.

Great Book, Great Cause.......2006-05-25

The "author", if you want to call him that I guess he would be more of a compiler, of this book created this book in order to help out his son. His I believe 19 year old son was injured in a swimming accident in Australia and is paralyzed David Nicholls created a non profit research organization to help find a cure so his son can walk again. I personally will be buying approximately 4-5 copies and mailing them to friends just to help the cause. Great recipies from some of the greatest chefs all over the world and a good reason, as if the recipies weren't enough, to buy the book.

A decent cook book and a good read.......2006-04-03

Most products designed to raise fund for a particular cause have little `real' value. These products are, at the most, tokens of appreciation for the supporters of the cause. So when I bought Off Duty, The World Greatest Chefs Cook at Home in support of the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation, I didn't expect much out of it. It was going to be just another title in my cook book collection. To my pleasant surprise, this is a handsome book to look at with tons of color photographs - 201 photographs to be exact - most of which are of the finished dish, the rest are of the chefs themselves. This is an interesting read for those of you who are, besides your love of cooking, curious to what each chefs has to say, for it includes a short history and / or interview for everyone of the chefs featured in the book. But the best thing that this book has to offer is the many doable recipes for the home cook like myself. The book has 288 pages with roughly 150 recipes organized by chefs. I thoroughly enjoy this book, a decent cook book and a very good read. And one last thing, for those of you who still believe that British cuisine is nothing to talk about; this volume will change your mind. Highly recommended.

Culinary Biographies: A Dictionary of the World's Great Historic Chefs, Cookbook Authors and Collectors, Farmers, Gourmets, Home Economists, Nutritionists, Restaurateurs, Philosophers, Physicians, Scientists, Writers, and Others Who Influenced the Way We Eat Today

Average customer rating:

Packed with insights
A Beautiful Book -- Of Food History

Culinary Biographies: A Dictionary of the World's Great Historic Chefs, Cookbook Authors and Collectors, Farmers, Gourmets, Home Economists, Nutritionists, Restaurateurs, Philosophers, Physicians, Scientists, Writers, and Others Who Influenced the Way We Eat Today
Alice Arndt (Editor)
Manufacturer: Yes Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0971832218

Product Description

Illustrated biographical dictionary of historic culinarians, from all places and periods except the immediate present.

Customer Reviews:

Packed with insights.......2006-12-12

Plenty of books cover culinary history and within these usually are scattered references to cooks who have influenced the genre over the decades - but nowhere else will you find a collection devoted entirely to culinary biographies, and nowhere else will the combined scholarship of over eighty culinary scholars achieve this result. Here are all the pro names you'd expect to read about, from Betty Crocker to Fannie Farmer, plus those from other countries lesser known (but no less important) such as Erna Horn or Kenneth Lo. From cookbook authors to farmers, restauranteurs, scientists and food writers, CULINARY BIOGRAPHIES is packed with insights, with each biography including not just a survey of the culinary figure's life, but an overview of contributions and influences, providing a good bit of period history in the process.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A Beautiful Book -- Of Food History.......2006-06-06

If you get a look at it in person, you can easily see why editor Alice Arndt wanted to self-publish. The book is beautiful: cover, paper, illustrations, typesetting. Of course, you'd also get it for the contents.

Culinary Biographies is an encyclopedia of hundreds of people who had a major influence on the history of food. Mostly chefs and cookbook writers, but also some major patrons, nutritionist and doctors.

Why I was thrilled to get the book -- and why I corresponded with Alice before it was published -- is that it contains the most material I've ever seen on the influential people of Asian cuisine. This is information I've been unable to find elsewhere (see some earlier posts on this board).

So, if you are into food history, you need this book. Better, if you have a friend who's into food and history, it would make a great gift.

Jill Prescott's Ecole De Cuisine: Professional Cooking for the Home Chef

Average customer rating:

Lucky Find!
A Great Source for Classics your Guests will Gush Over
What works for TV, may not work in print.
Jill Prescott's Ecole de Cuisine
Jill Prescott's Ecole de Cuisine

Jill Prescott's Ecole De Cuisine: Professional Cooking for the Home Chef
Jill Prescott
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Professional | Professional Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Book Description

For the past 12 years, aspiring home chefs from all over the country have flocked to Jill Prescott's Wisconsin-based school to discover the techniques and secrets of a classically trained chef. Countless others tune into her public-television cooking show, eager to add another of Jill's master recipes to their repertoire. Now, Jill brings her school into your home kitchen in her debut book, JILL PRESCOTT'S ECOLE DE CUISINE. Each chapter is a class unto itself, starting with equipment and ingredient basics, then moving through stocks, sauces, meats, seafood, pasta, vegetables, and desserts. In Jill's kitchen, classic French cuisine meets Midwestern straightforwardness, and the resulting recipes are both delicious and doable. Under her watchful eye, your aiolis will emulsify, your sauces will reduce, and your souffles will rise.

Customer Reviews:

Lucky Find!.......2004-09-14

Wow! What an awesome cookbook. I'm a collector who actually uses my cookbooks, and I have to say this is one of my most used cookbooks by far! I found this in a bargain store and I have to say it is definitely worth buying even at full price! The chicken breasts stuffed w/pine nuts and spinach was awesome, and is the favorite of my childrens meals including the pickest child of all! I used the filling as an appetizer in pie crusts that I made into cresents..also very good (served w/a mustard dipping sauce)!
The Pork chops w/carmalized apples, calvados, cider and cream..mmmmmmm! I tried w/apple brandy to make sure we liked it before splurging on the imported Calvados,..MY SUGGESTION..go ahead and splurge the first time around, you won't be disapointed! My kids liked the reduction better before adding the cream, but both were delicious!
There are so many fun and delicious recipes in this book that are so easy you will impress your friends and family with these recipes! I can't wait for Jill Prescott's next cookbook. She also has a website you can check out! :) If I lived closer I would be taking her cooking classes.

A Great Source for Classics your Guests will Gush Over.......2004-05-25

A great book, nicely illustrated, and very "doable" receipies with recommedations on complementary dishes.

We always receive complements on the dishes, and sell many additional books once the dinner guests find out!

Jill is opening her new Cooking School May 22nd in Chicago. Located in the Merchandise Mart, it is a fabulous location with many more classes. Check out www.jillprescott.com

What works for TV, may not work in print........2002-10-29

Jill Prescott's Ecole De Cuisine is primarily a book for her fans: those who've seen her on tv and have seen enough of her to interpret her "wit" as indeed, wit, and not blatent food snobbery. Those who have not yet matched voice, expression and personality to the text, will likely be left out in the cold. Even having watched the show a couple times, I found myself having to set aside my irritation with her tone to get ahead to the recipes.

Jill does indeed know what she's been taught, does it well, and teaches it well. Her book is well put together, the organization great, presentation lovely... sturdy, reliable French Technique, the recipes solid. However, those who are fans of Julia Child and Jacques Pepin will find it redundant and lacking the earthy "come into my kitchen and make yourself at home" hospitality of their writing. You are clearly on one side of the table with Jill and you are there to learn, not contribute.

A word to the wise: if you're dieting or on a cholesterol or any other special needs diet, this is not the book for you. It is not designed to work around any dietary needs, but to present French Cooking in it's traditional (and best) form: rich & without skimping on the fat.

Jill Prescott's Ecole de Cuisine.......2002-10-21

I recently purchased this book after watching Jill Prescott on PBS in Fort Meyers. I LOVE the book as much as the show. The directions are clear and easy to follow. I am making sauces with stellar results. I have had so many failures due to bad instructions. I feel that this book is well written by an expert that has a solid knowledge of her craft. She even wrote back to me after I emailed her on her website with a question that I had about something she did on a show. This is one of my favorite books. EVERYTHING turns out! It's packed with good information. Jill doesn't talk above the novice but makes it easy for us to learn.

Jill Prescott's Ecole de Cuisine.......2002-04-04

I bought the book after watching Jill Prescott's PBS series. The recipes are just as good as the show. Everything is clear and well written. I have great success with all the recipes. I like her straightforward approach to the classics. This is one of my favorite books. She is a superb teacher both on TV and in her book!

Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton at Home: Two Chefs Cook for Family & Friends

Average customer rating:

Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton at Home: Two Chefs Cook for Family & Friends
Mark Peel , Nancy Silverton , and Edon Waycott
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Culinary Arts & Techniques | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Quick & Easy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Food of Campanile: Recipes from the Famed Los Angeles restaurant
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ASIN: 0446517364

Jean-Georges: Cooking At Home with a Four-Star Chef

Average customer rating:

One of my favorites
my favorite cooking book
a winner
Cooking at home
Easy Cuisine at home

Jean-Georges: Cooking At Home with a Four-Star Chef
Jean Georges Vongerichten
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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Ducasse Flavors of France

ASIN: 076790155X
Release Date: 1998-09-08

Amazon.com

Interested in terrific food? Good. The first thing to do is buy this book. Then clear your calendar for the next 150 days. At a recipe a day, that's how long it will take to go from cover to cover. Your old life? Buy this book and kiss your old life goodbye. You won't regret it.

Most recipes that come out of high-end restaurant kitchens either aren't feasible in a home kitchen with home cooking skills, or they produce the kind of contrived food you wouldn't think to serve--the kind of food you go out to a restaurant to have served to you.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten, on the other hand, has moved in the direction of ultimate, minimal simplicity with heightened, surprising flavors as the payoff. His Steak with Red Wine Reduction and Carrot Purée, a popular restaurant dish, simply asks that the cook reduce a bottle of red wine to a single cup, stir in carrot purée, and use this as a sauce on a grilled steak. If that sounds like a gimmick, consider that his Manhattan restaurants--Jean-Georges, Vong, JoJo--receive lavish, stunning reviews. And it's all about the food. It's all about finding flavors and textures in your mouth that have never been there before.

In his life and career, Jean-Georges Vongerichten has moved from the foods of his home in France, across Asia, and finally to New York. When the food media was first beginning to talk about "fusion" cuisine, that all-too-often forced marriage of classic French and Asian cooking techniques and ingredients, Jean-Georges had already blown on by into a realm of his own making.

The results of his insight and energy are in this book. This is easy, elegant, flavorful food: Cold Tomato Soup with Cucumber and Cantaloupe, for example, or Salmon in a Cardamom Broth. You won't cook, eat, or taste anything the same old way once you tuck this book and this food experience under your wing. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

The cooking of Jean-Georges Vongerichten--sophisticated yet startlingly uncomplicated, hinting at French and Asian influences yet entirely original--has earned endless raves and accolades from every quarter. Why? Because Vongerichten has invented a culinary style that is highly creative and intensely flavorful but uses few ingredients and is remarkably simple.

Now, Jean-Georges, with award-winning coauthor Mark Bittman, brings this extraordinary cuisine to the home kitchen. There are no mile-long lists of instructions, the recipes use readily available ingredients, and many can be prepared in thirty minutes or less. Some of the recipes are taken directly from the kitchens of Vongerichten's three restaurants--Jean Georges, Vong, and JoJo. They not only sound simple but are simple--and irresistible. Fennel and Apple Salad with Juniper. 10-minute Green Gazpacho. Sautéed Chicken with Green Olives and Cilantro. Warm, Soft Chocolate Cake.

Jean-Georges's signature dishes are all here and made easy for the home cook. Scallops and Cauliflower with Caper-Raisin Sauce. Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk and Lemongrass. Salmon and Potato Crisps. Looking for simple, midweek fare? Try the quickly-put-together Savoy Slaw with Citrus, Ginger, and Mustard and the Dill-Stuffed Shrimp with Baked Lemon. For weekend entertaining, start with Beet and Ginger Salad, move on to the Gently Cooked Salmon with Mashed Potatoes, and dazzle your guests with the spectacular Apple Confit.

This long-awaited cookbook makes it easy to turn your kitchen into a four-star restaurant. All it takes is the inspired recipes and innovative techniques of Jean-Georges.

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorites.......2007-01-12

This is one of my all time favorite cookbooks. Jean-Georges Vongerichten has an amazing palate. Some of his cooking techniques and flavor combinations may be somewhat unusual but they are spot on. I've had this book for a number of years and have made many of the recipes. They are delicious.

my favorite cooking book.......2006-10-27

French native,I have a LOT of cooking book! , but this one is my favorite! You'll discover a lot a new "saveur"... Easy and fast recipes...

a winner.......2005-09-25

This is a terrific book of simply prepared sophisticated food. What prompted me to write was the review below concerning the apple confit. The recipe works. It's a ton of work, but if you follow directions (with adjustments, perhaps, for your own kitchen equipment) you get a desert that will impress any crowd. Most of the other recipes work just as well. When dealing with sophisticated food like this one needs to understand how to balance flavors and adjust technique. Probably not a book for beginners.

Cooking at home.......2005-08-26

Good cook book

For a home cook book I would have liked to have seen pmore photos of the finished product as most people are visual readers when it comes to cookbooks. We get excited about creating beutiful food like in the "picture"

recipes are great and really stretch the home refrigerator
be prepared to go out and grab a few things from the grocery store

Easy Cuisine at home.......2005-08-13

This book totally exceeded my expectations. I loved the fact that it makes French cuisine affordable for any cook, no matter what the level of practise you have had. The section on salads is particularly good, as it mixes very different ingredients, it even has some recipes inspired by Jean Georges experience of living in Asia so many years. So, what this book basically does is, simplify French cuisine in a really straightforward manner. The recipe for the warm melted chocolate cake is the best I have tried yet, totally foolproof. Buy this book if only for this recipe alone.

Average customer rating:

Scrummy
Xmas gift
Michael Smith...a true chef at home...
inspiring for a not usual chef at home
Making me a better chef at home

Chef at Home
Michael Smith
Manufacturer: Whitecap Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Canadian | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1552857166

Book Description

TV's Chef Michael Smith shows how cooking without recipes makes for stress-free kitchen adventures.

Chef at Home Chef Michael Smith welcomes readers into his home kitchen where he encourages home chefs to cook with -- and without -- a recipe. Packed with simple and delicious meals, this cookbook offers kitchen insight and a culinary adventure on every page.

Chef Michael Smith has cooked professionally for more than 20 years. In Chef at Home, the companion cookbook to his hit Food Network series, Smith emphasizes simple, stress-free cooking. In his house, every meal is an opportunity to have fun and experiment with flavors.

Aspiring home cooks will learn from Smith's professional cooking secrets. Experienced home cooks will appreciate his open, creative approach. Everyone will love the book's simple, healthy flavors and the tips on personalizing each dish. Recipes include:

Country Inn Pancakes
Maritime Clam Chowder
Rosemary Vanilla Chicken
Mac and Cheese with Lobster.

This book is meant to be ripped, oil-stained, accidentally burnt, and deliberately written on. It works best in the kitchen -- not on the coffee table.

Customer Reviews:

Scrummy.......2007-01-10

I originally saw Michael Smith on TV while on vacation in South Africa. I could not wait to get the book and I have not been disappointed. I love the way he helps you through recipes and encourages you to add your own touches to make the dish your own.

Xmas gift.......2007-01-09

Too early to evaluate at this time. First reading indicates that I am satisfied with the purchase.

Michael Smith...a true chef at home..........2006-08-17

From the very first day I saw "Chef at Home" I was immmediately addicted...this is a book highly recommended for the "can't cook, won't cook" folks like myself, as well as the seasoned pros. Don't leave this book on a coffee table!!!

Every recipe (most of which I have seen created on the show) is easy to follow (there are some ingredients I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, like mushrooms), and the stories behind them are fascinating. I especially enjoyed the personal tidbits Michael included along the way, and the marvelous photos of him with Rachel and Gabe - wish I had that little boy's palate when I was his age!

Thanks Michael for sharing your life and vision on cooking with your fans.

inspiring for a not usual chef at home.......2006-07-27

I really thought that cooking shows were mainly blase' affairs; that is, until I saw the Chef at Home show featuring Michael Smith. This in turn caused me to purchase his cookbook or cooking reference by the same name! Now, I can easily read his comments and follow up on dishes I think I would like which were featured in the show by looking at this book.

If you need cooking inspiration, something to make it fun, then this book is for you!!!

Making me a better chef at home.......2005-12-12

This is first class teaching at it's best. Michael Smith is a relaxed host and guide to building your own culinary skills using a few simple, tried and true ideas to provide nutritious and delicious meals for your family or to offer suggestions for creating excellent,easy and very flavorful dishes for your favorite dinner guests.

It's based on his Chef At Home TV series on Food Network Canada, or, for those of us south of the border, Discovery Channel's series, in which he cooks, instructs, encourages and offers endless hints, tips and advice for creating your own wonderful family dinners.

The book succeeds on all levels in translating his warmth, enthusiasm and respect for home chefs and encourages us to take a chance and have fun in our kitchens.

I've enjoyed this so much that I've ordered two more copies as gifts to friend and family home chefs.

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