Book Description
The DietMinder is a deluxe food diary with plenty of room to record quantities and food counts (calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc.) of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. A special area for daily totals makes it easy to see at a glance how you are doing. Each "day" consists of two pages with space for exercise details, too. There are other helpful sections in the book such as the Favorite Foods listing which provides food counts on over 100 common foods and has space to add your own favorite food information. The Goals section of the DietMinder is also important. Here you can list your starting statistics, state your goals, and even paste a "before" picture. This is a great way to stay motivated! The DietMinder can be used with virtually any food or fitness program. It has been proven that keeping a food journal helps people focus and stay more committed to improving their eating habits. It really works!
Customer Reviews:
DietMinder.......2007-10-11
This is a fantastic tool to really think about what you put in your mouth every day. I recommend this for anyone interested in tracking daily calories or if you're trying to lose weight or track certain nutrients.
Keep track to succeed!.......2007-09-29
I got this little gem for my wife who is trying to lose a few pounds. She's been struggling to lose those last few pounds and with the help of this book, writing things down made her much more aware of exactly what she was eating and guess what? It did the trick! Also recommend The Sixty-Second Motivator if you have trouble sticking to a diet or exercise program.
Journal.......2007-09-27
Not enough room for exercise and working out. Mostly just for tracking what you eat. I was disappointed.
BEV THE RD.......2007-09-10
Excellent diet diary tool. I am encouraging all my patients to purchase it. Price was good too!
Great for managing weight loss and diabetes.......2007-09-09
I was surprised by some of the reviews that were kind of negative. This is an excellent product for managing food, which I have to do both for weight loss/maintenance and for my diabetes. I do need to write down every piece of food, and many of the smaller books do not give me sufficient space for that. This does the trick. It also provides room in the back to add foods that I eat regularly, and it provides charts for progress. If there is any complaint that I have, it is that the charts could have more room and that the records for eating regularly be removable, for when I move from one journal to the next. That would save me from having to transfer all of the information.
Book Description
Of the 20-plus cookbooks Jacques Pépin has written, Chez Jacques is his most personal and engaging. Now starring in his tenth PBS series, Pépin ranks among America's most beloved cooking teachers, and this book shows us why.
The book's 100 recipes—for soups and appetizers, main courses, side dishes, and desserts—are Pépin's own favorites among the thousands he has created over a lifetime of cooking. Using readily available ingredients and relying upon familiar techniques, these are the dishes he makes when preparing food at his Connecticut home. But Chez Jacques is more than a collection of well-liked recipes; it's also a captivating sentimental journey. Each dish is introduced by a recollection—of picking dandelion greens for a spring salad, of buying fresh eggs from the local farmer—that invites readers to share in the traditions and rituals of Pépin's most intimate circle.
This treasury of great food, lore, and memory is exquisitely illustrated with a sampling of Pépin's paintings, as well as hundreds of color photographs of the finished dishes and of Pépin in all his “natural habitats”—pitching boules with a group of friends, savoring a glass of chilled rosé in the afternoon sun, painting landscapes, designing menus, and, of course, working in his kitchen.
Customer Reviews:
Chez Jacques.......2007-09-14
Wonderful, uncomplicated recipes beautiful photographs of dishes. Gorgeous photos of his artwork and graphics. Overall a lovely volume that you will find yourself using again and again.
Haute Cuisine made simple.......2007-08-23
A beautiful illustrated cookbook for a very decent price. Jacques Pepin effectively merges French cooking with American cuisine. His recipes are easy to follow and their success is grounded in the simplicity Pepin uses in his cooking.
"Chez Jacques" is one of our favorite cookbooks. If you like Gordon Ramsey and Emeril, this is a book you should have a peek at.
Try the tortilla pizza! Heavenly!
A. Fontaine, PA
excellent value.......2007-07-28
Great book at a REAL savings. The price at a local bookstore was $15 higher for the identical book.
A lovely coffee table book, but..........2007-06-20
Lots of pretty photos and some pleasant chit chat from Pepin, but not a great cookbook. The recipes are pretty basic and I'm guessing you've seen them elsewhere. This book is really geared towards fans.
Pepin is great and he deserves all the praise he gets but I regret buying this particular book.
Like a conversation with Monsieur Pepin.......2007-05-25
Leafing through this book is like sitting down and having a long conversation with Monsieur Pepin. His knowledge and charm are in every delightful story about how and why he loves a particular dish, from fried chicken to escargot, and the photography by Tom Hopkins is superb. Together they have created a coffee table book that you will want to have on your lap more than on your table... preferably with a glass of rose on the side. I highly, highly recommend this book.
Average customer rating:
- Missing Julia
- Great Read
- French Food as Accessible Art Form Thanks to Julia
- A must-read for any foodie
- It's a Wonderful Life in France!
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My Life in France
Julia Child , and
Alex Prud'Homme
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1400043468
Release Date: 2006-04-04 |
Book Description
In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling.’
From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the USIS, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who didn’t speak a word of French and knew nothing about the country, was steeped in the language, chatting with purveyors in the local markets, and enrolled in the Cordon Bleu.
After managing to get her degree despite the machinations of the disagreeable directrice of the school, Julia started teaching cooking classes herself, then teamed up with two fellow gourmettes, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to help them with a book they were trying to write on French cooking for Americans. Throwing herself heart and soul into making it a unique and thorough teaching book, only to suffer several rounds of painful rejection, is part of the behind-the-scenes drama that Julia reveals with her inimitable gusto and disarming honesty.
Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.
Le voici. Et bon appétit!
Download Description
Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California. She was graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II in Ceylon and China, where she met Paul Child. After they married they lived in Paris, where she studied at the Cordon Bleu and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston’s WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made her a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Missing Julia.......2007-08-05
I just finished this book, and I am unashamed to say I have shed tears for the loss of this great woman. I am discovering the art of cooking later in life, as Julia did, and she has helped give me the courage I am needing to change careers and attend culinary arts training this spring. What a marvelous book, I felt that I was there with her in her "la belle France" and wish that I could have had the opportunity to spend time in the kitchen with her. You will not be disappointed in this fantastic read.
Great Read.......2007-07-27
This book was so enjoyable to read! I was fascinated by this look into post-war France, and into Julia's world there. It made me wish I would have know her and understand why it seems that everyone who knew her, loved her.
One thing I thought was fun was her encyclopedic recall of various meals they enjoyed, including the wine vintage.
You'll also love hearing how she came to write her first cookbook and become a host of her own show on PBS. For those of us who are over 40, it's also great to note that the most interesting parts of her life didn't even begin until then.
French Food as Accessible Art Form Thanks to Julia.......2007-07-20
My Life in France gives the reader a glimpse into the extraordinary and elegant life of Julia Child. The memoir adds another dimension to Julia the TV persona and looks beyond the lighthearted image. Indeed, beyond Julia's fun spirit was an unbelievable level of meticulous research and above all, fearlessness and stamina. My Life in France is a delight to read for anyone who wishes to understand the origin of Julia's passion for French cooking and her ability to transform one's vision of and taste for fine food. My Life in France
A must-read for any foodie.......2007-07-15
This has risen to the top of my favorite books list. It's so well written, with plenty of imagery and descriptive language that I felt I was in Julia's kitchen with her. I learned quite a bit about her relationship with her husband and both their careers. The best was reading about how the recipes and the books were written.
If you are planning to write a cook book or are very interested in cooking and chefs, you should definitely buy this book.
It's a Wonderful Life in France!.......2007-07-04
'My Life in France' is a superb book that effuses with that wonderful endearing quality we have all come to know and love in Julia Child. The book focuses mainly on the early years of developing her first cookbooks and television show.
The book begins when she and her husband, Paul, make their first trip to France because of his new job assignment. You feel her giddy excitement upon landing on the shores of a place she had for so long desired to go. We hear in minute detail the look, smell and taste of her first French meal, and from there we are introduced to "La Belle France". Before I began the book, I wondered for how long I could sustain reading each night about a person's breakfast, lunch or dinner meal that had been eaten 50 years prior, but Julia has such an adorable way of speaking, and her sometimes child-like observations of life and people around her are so heartwarming, you just wish you had been there. As the book progresses, she speaks about her collaboration with two women for her first book, and sometimes the claws come out. You're thinking, "Julia!" But, as with all friendships, there are things that agree with us and things that don't. Without some of these tidbits, the book may have been too trite, or frankly boring. Subsequently, it was interesting to hear of the minor squabbles that occurred between the women and the simple controversies concerning her husband and his role as a "diplomat". Paul and Julia Child made many friends overseas, whom they adored and loved. The majority of these people stayed in her inner circle until the end of their lives. For me, night after night, I couldn't wait to sit down and read about so many dinner parties with simmering meats and side dishes, lovely conversations, and eccentric friends. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that it ended too quickly, and I found myself missing the evenings with Julia.
Average customer rating:
- Create a new lifestyle!
- I love this book!
- No comparison to her first book!
- this one!
- enjoyable!
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French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure
Mireille Guiliano
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0307265234
Release Date: 2006-10-31 |
Amazon.com
Mireille Guiliano, author of the immensely popular French Women Don't Get Fat returns with another book revealing secrets to living the good life. Branching off of her first book that dispelled the notion that you have to avoid everything wonderful in order to lose weight, with French Women for All Seasons, Guiliano suggests that the trick to living life to the fullest is to stay attuned to the "rhythms of the year" (that, and remembering that moderation is the key). Her new book offers new ideas for seasonal entertaining, shopping, cooking, and exercising. Want to know more? Watch our exclusive video message from Guiliano below. Want to know more about yourself? Take our "How French Are You?" quiz and discover your inner Frenchwoman. --Daphne Durham
Watch the video (high bandwith)
Watch the video (low bandwith) |
The Mireille Guiliano Quiz: How French Are You?
In French Women Don't Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano laid out a general program for reaching the weight at which you can feel bien dans ta peau (comfortable in your own skin). Now, in French Women for All Seasons, she teaches you peu à peu (little by little), how to make over your whole life for maximum pleasure. Here you will find, not only more specific advice on preparing for the bikini season (with dozens of new slimming tricks and delicious recipes), but also Mireille's secrets to looking and feeling great throughout each season of the year. But before learning to become a French woman for all seasons, take this short quiz to find out how much of one you already are. Your inner French Woman--we all have one!--may already be more developed than you suspect! Find out now how close your daily habits are to bringing you optimum pleasure.
1. Your idea of the ultimate chocolate fix is?
a. A chocolate Entenmann's donut.
b. A Hershey bar.
c. Godiva truffles.
d. One or two pieces of high-quality dark chocolate.
2. How do you take your coffee?
a. I don't drink coffee.
b. Can't stand it without cream and three sugars.
c. I add Equal and skim milk for low-cal pleasure.
d. A small cup of freshly brewed coffee needs no lightening or sweetening.
3. What should the salespeople at the mall know about you?
a. I don't wear prêt à porter!
b. I'm a sucker for the latest trends for the season--I love being in fashion.
c. I'll buy an amazing pair of shoes before I pay my rent.
d. I find a few items to accompany the best pieces in my closet--I just want to refresh my wardrobe.
4. You're throwing a party in a couple of weeks. What's your plan of action?
a. I obsess about the menu, wonder how I'll ever find the time even to plan, and when the big day comes I spend the entire time in the kitchen while my guests (usually) drink too much.
b. I call a caterer, of course. What do I know about such things, and why should I care?
c. I set out a bag of chips and a bag of pretzels and ask everyone to bring a bottle.
d. I choose a few favorite food items to serve, some store-bought delicacies, some easy to prepare but impressive treats, add some personal serving touches, sit back and relax while the guests ooh and ahh.
5. Which of the following drinks will you serve at the party?
a. Whatever the guests bring.
b. Margaritas (Frozen--is there another kind?).
c. Wine, vodka, beer… hospitality is variety.
d. A thoughtfully chosen wine and mineral water—keep it simple and always give guests water with their alcohol.
6. You've just gone to the market and found wonderful fresh basil, but you got so excited about it that you bought too much. What do you do?
a. What would I be doing at the market? What's basil again?
b. I chop some in my pasta, but eventually have to throw the rest away.
c. I have a pesto pack-down that night!
d. I try to invent a new dish for using it while it's fresh (substituting it for another herb I might otherwise use); the rest I make into pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays (one cube is perfect for a single pasta serving).
7. Au restaurant, you're most likely to order:
a. A cheeseburger with fries.
b. A large salad with ranch dressing.
c. Vegetable lasagna.
d. Grilled hangar steak with wine sauce.
8. When the waiter comes to your table to take your drink order, you:
a. Order up Grey Goose.
b. Let someone else advise--wine lists are intimidating.
c. Remember the rule that white goes with fish and red goes with meat.
d. Choose Champagne--it goes with just about anything.
9. How much wine do you typically drink with dinner?
a. None--alcohol is fattening.
b. Keep 'em coming--I've read wine is heart smart!
c. A few glasses--I know my limits.
d. Usually one, but if I want more, I'll have another half glass.
10. You're traveling and a sumptuous breakfast buffet is included in the cost of your hotel room. What do you do?
a. I load up on eggs, bacon, muffins, and pancakes, but make sure to hit hotel gym later.
b. I load up on eggs, bacon, muffins, and pancakes to get me through the day--it's free, and I don't eat that way at home, so what's the harm?
c. I can't be trusted around any all-you-can-eat spread; I skip breakfast.
d. I choose one day to indulge at the buffet (compensating with lighter lunch and dinner), but order room service for the rest of my trip to avoid overdoing it.
11. What is your ideal workout?
a. Does channel surfing count?
b. An hour at the gym, wailing on the Cybex.
c. I eat healthfully so I can spend less time exercising.
d. I walk everywhere, and enjoy some Yoga a couple of times a week.
12. Mireille Guiliano says in French Women Don't Get Fat that her "secret weapon" is plain yogurt. If you want to sweeten it, what do you add?
a. Sweet 'n Low or Equal.
b. Sugar.
c. Spoonful of maple syrup or honey.
d. Fresh fruit.
13. You have an after-hours party to attend for work. Pick an outfit that will take you most elegantly from day to night.
a. A short suit skirt with a tank top and a jacket that you'll be able to take off later--if you've got it, flaunt it!
b. Designer jeans with a top you saw in Vogue.
c. Your trusty black dress, but you'll dress it up with trendy baubles for evening.
d. A trimly cut dress paired with simple jewelry or a scarf.
14. In the fall, you eat:
a. Strawberries.
b. Asparagus.
c. Peaches.
d. Apples.
15. Le dessert is served! You choose to have:
a. A big piece of cake--you only live once.
b. A small slice (or two) of apple tart--an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
c. A piece of pie or cake, but you'll share it with a friend.
d. Nothing overly sweet--instead you go for a piece of seasonal fruit or cheese.
Results:
Allow 1 point for "a" answers, 2 points for "b" answers, 3 points for "c" answers, and 4 points for "d" answers. Add up your total points and find out how French you are based on the scale below.
Not Very French At All (15-25 points)
You are a true American woman. You're busy and don't always have time to entertain or cook. Your treats are sweet or salty. But Mireille says in French Women for All Seasons, "When foods are bursting with natural taste--as opposed to being artificially flavored, laden with fat and salt, or just plain tasteless--the experience of eating them is more satisfying, and we can content ourselves with less." Start reading to find out how you can change your approach to eating, and how all of Mireille's secrets about fashion, entertaining, wine--and more--can change your life.
Potentially French (26-36 points)
You're already aware of your indulgences, and realize you have great potential for improvement. You just need a little coaching on how to maximize style, taste and pleasure without sacrificing your waistline or sanity. "The key," Mireille says in French Women for All Seasons "is to cultivate your own intuition of your offenders and pleasures and adjust each accordingly by degrees that suit you." Start reading to find out how you can change not only your relationship with food, but how Mireille's secrets about fashion, entertaining, wine--and more--can change your life.
You're Almost French! (37-47 points)
You value quality over quantity. But we've all been known to stress out about a party or get weak in the knees in front of a chocolate donut. In French Women for All Seasons, Mireille says, "French women don't get fat because they know the secret of pleasure. But the secret to pleasure is cultivation: a life of ongoing exploration, experimentation, practiced enjoyment, and--most important--self discovery." Check out French Women for All Seasons for tips about how to entertain and dress, new recipes, and most importantly, how to remain bien dans sa peau.
Une Vraie Française (48-60 points)
You may have already read French Women Don't Get Fat and taken it to heart or you simply have an inner French woman. Either way, you've unlocked the secret of pleasure--it's the most important part of life. But again as Mireille says in French Women for All Seasons, "the secret to pleasure is cultivation: a life of ongoing exploration, experimentation, practiced enjoyment, and--most important--self discovery." Read the book to find out how to keep this process going throughout the winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Book Description
By letter, e-mail, and in person, readers of Mireille Guiliano’s phenomenal best seller, French Women Don’t Get Fat, have inundated her with requests for more of her cunning but simple secrets to living the good life, the ways French women manage to enjoy wine, chocolate, and many other seductive pleasures without gaining weight. Mireille’s answer? This buoyant book brimming with fresh advice and seasonal stories—on food bien sûr (more than 100 delicious new recipes) but also on many other aspects of living that should bring us pleasure, such as picking a wine, dressing well, even arranging flowers.
French women not only stay slim while relishing life to the fullest, they also have the longest life expectancy in the Western world. And now Mireille shows us how they attune themselves to the rhythms of the year. Together with a bounty of new dining ideas and menus, she offers us a treasury of tips on style, grooming, and entertaining, all designed to focus the mind on sensory pleasure for maximum enjoyment. Here are four seasons’ worth of strategies for shopping, cooking, and exercising, as well as some pointers for looking effortlessly chic. Whether your aim is finding two scoopfuls of pleasure in one of crème brûlée or entertaining beautifully when time is short and expectations are high, the inspiration you need is here. Taking us from her childhood in Alsace-Lorraine to her summers in Provence and her busy life in New York and Paris, this book of scrumptious Gallic wisdom and wit shows how anyone anywhere can develop a healthy, holistic lifestyle.
In the voice that entranced more than a million honorary French women, Mireille demonstrates that there is indeed an art to joyful living, and that equilibrium—being bien dans sa peau and true to one’s individual nature—is the key to a long and healthy life. Full of sage, irresistible advice on everything from decanting to detoxing, from yogurt to yoga, French Women for All Seasons is an essential guide to savoring all life’s moments—in moderation, in season, and, above all, with pleasure.
Customer Reviews:
Create a new lifestyle!.......2007-09-14
I had noticed on numerous trips to Europe that the women (and men for that matter) were not prone to obesity, even though they ate cheese, chocolate, breads, and drank alcohol with lunch and dinner. I wondered why? Then, at a meeting in San Francisco last fall, I listened as a diverse group of European women enthusiastically discussed a new book. It was titled "French Women Don't Get Fat". They highly recommended it to me because it accurately discribed the European way of eating and enjoying life. I searched for 5 months before finding it in print in America. IT IS A GREAT READ AND FULL OF TRUTHS FOR A HEALTY EATING LIFESTYLE. I have dropped 30lbs. so far and eat anything I want (in moderation of course!). I even have a piece of dark chocolate twice a day. WOW!
I love this book!.......2007-08-21
The book is not a diet book. This is a feel good about yourself and live life kind of book. I retreat to bed earlier than I normally do at night so I can have some alone time to read this book. It really lifts my spirits and I cherish this small slice of time when I get to relax and enjoy Mireille's wisdom and candor. I enjoy hearing about her culinary and travel experiences since I am also a fellow traveler. Her recipes are wonderful and I can't wait to try some of them. Buy this book if you are looking for some hints on how to live a healthier life style and enjoy her recommendations. Don't be too hard on yourself if you do not follow all of them, it is, after all, not the destination but the journey so do you have some fun along the way and enjoy the food!
No comparison to her first book!.......2007-08-17
Started to read the book and just couldn't get into it like the first book. Not what I thought it would be!
this one!.......2007-06-17
The first one is a carry over to the second one. (this is the one with the cake in it) Her summer soup page 115 is very good. Someone with braces can eat it well. It has feta in it, but with a squeeze of a lemon and it is mostly favorful! This one I keep in my kitchen. I am just on summer right now. She gives an outline on what to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner and how much. Now people, you chew this very slowly and *trust me* you get full. THAT is where the weight drops. Along with drinking water and getting some kind of small workout. I adore this book.
enjoyable!.......2007-05-24
This sequel to "French Women don't get Fat" is a great insight to the bounty each season has in store for all.
Amazon.com
The message of this book could be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. There is no hard science, no clearly-defined plan, and no lists of food to have or have not; instead, you'll find simple tricks that boil down to eating carefully prepared seasonal food, exercising more and refusing to think of food as something that inspires guilt. It's both a practical message and far easier said than done in today's "no pain, no gain" culture.
Author Mireille Guiliano is CEO of Veuve Clicquot, and French Women Don't Get Fat offers a concept of sensible pleasures: If you have a chocolate croissant for breakfast, have a vegetable-based lunch--or take an extra walk and pass on the bread basket at dinner. Guiliano's insistence on simple measures slowly creating substantial improvements are reassuring, and her suggestion to ignore the scale and learn to live by the "zipper test" could work wonders for those who get wrapped up in tiny details of diet. She sympathizes that deprivation can lead straight to overindulgence when it comes to favorite foods, but then, in a most French manner, treats them as a pleasure that needs to be sated, rather than a battle to be fought.
A number of recipes are included, from a weight-loss enhancing leek soup to a lush chocolate mousse; they read more like what you'd find in a French cookbook rather than an American diet book. Most appealingly, these are guidelines and tricks that could be easily sustainable over a lifetime. If you agree that food is meant to be appreciated--but no more so than having a trim waist--these charmingly French recommendations could set you on the path to a future filled with both croissants and high fashion. --Jill Lightner
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Stuffed Cornish Hens
Serves 4
When I grew up, the holidays always meant lots of visitors and a series of requisite celebratory meals, mostly at lunchtime. This easy dish was always on one of the menus. Mamie was usually busy (what else during late December?) and would make the stuffing in advance so lunch could be ready in less than an hour. The recipe serves a family of four for lunch in style, but double the ingredient portions and obviously you are ready for a full table with guests.
Ingredients:
2 Cornish hens (or poussins)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons chicken stock
Stuffing:
2 cups water
2/3 cup brown rice
1/2 cup mixed nuts (pine nuts, walnut pieces, whole hazelnuts)
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon parsley, freshly minced
1 teaspoon dry herbs (chervil and savory or rosemary and thyme)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. For stuffing: Bring water to a boil. Add rice and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and mix well with remaining ingredients. Season to taste and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Rinse Cornish hens, dry the inside with paper towels, and season. Add stuffing loosely and truss hens. Reserve remaining stuffing in aluminum foil.
3. Put hens in baking dish and brush them with melted butter and other seasonings. Put in oven and baste 10 minutes later with chicken stock. Continue basting every 10 minutes. After the hens have cooked for 20 minutes reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and put the remaining stuffing in a small ovenproof dish. Roast the hens for another 20 minutes. Serve (half a hen per person) immediately with a tablespoon of stuffing on each side of the hen as garnish.
N.B. For a wonderful tête-à-tête romantic dinner, serve one hen each with a vegetable then dessert. I have prepared it successfully to my husband on Valentine's Day. While the hens are in the oven, you have time to concoct a little dessert, et voilà, you can pop a cork of bubbly, sit for candlelight dinner and have your husband serve dessert.
Hot Chocolate Soufflé
Serves 6
During the season of overindulgences—Christmas, New Year and all the festivities in between—there is in our home a succession of store-brought, traditional goodies: Bûche de Noël (yule log), marrons glacés (glazed chestnuts), the 13 desserts of Christmas in Provence. This is not to say that the holidays don't bring out the baker in all of us, but whether it is to give as gifts or to maintain tradition, people do load up with holiday sweets from pastry shops (as I can attest from seeing from the window of our Paris apartment the annual long lines of people outside the pastry shop across the street). When I grew up, however, come New Year's Day, and there was a home-cooked chocolate ritual. Our big festive meal was on New Year's Eve, which left New Year's Day as a quiet, family "recovery" day. (I appreciate some reverse the big meal day… or have one both days.) Anyway, for us, breakfast was well… late (especially for those of us who went partying after dinner), and limited to a piece of toast and a cup or two of coffee. Lunch was mid afternoon and usually made up of leftovers or an omelet, but the first dinner of the year was marked with a special dessert. The simple meal at the end of a week of overindulgences consisted of a light consommé, some greens, cheese, and the chocolate treat. There were no guests, plenty of time, and Mamie was ready for the flourless soufflé. She is a chocoholic and it would be unthinkable to start the year off without chocolate. So, what better way to end the first day of the New Year than with one of her favorite chocolate desserts as both a reward and I'm sure good-luck charm?
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 1-quart soufflé mold by lightly buttering it, dusting the insides with sugar and tapping out the excess. Place mold in refrigerator.
2. Pour the milk, cocoa powder and sugar into a heavy saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over moderate heat while stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and cook while stirring until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). Transfer to a bowl and cool slightly.
3. Separate the eggs and stir the egg yolks into the warm chocolate mixture. Stir in the butter.
4. Beat the egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Add the salt and beat until stiff. Whisk half of the egg whites mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whites gently with a spatula. Pour the mixture in the soufflé mold and smooth the top.
5. Bake in the lower-middle shelf of the oven until puff and brown for about 18 minutes which will give you a soft center. Serve at once with softly whipped cream.
Red Mullet with Spinach en Papillote
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
8 fillets of red mullet, about 2 ounces each
1 lb. spinach, washed and dried in a salad spinner
4 teaspoons shallots, peeled and sliced
8 slices of lime
4 tablespoons of crème fraîche
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper (or aluminum foil) into squares large enough to cover each fillet and leave a 2-inch border all around. Lightly brush the squares with olive oil. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Put the spinach in the center of each square and top it with a tablespoon of crème fraîche. Top with two fillets and add one teaspoon of shallots, two slices of lime. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Fold up the edges to form packets. Put the papillotes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve at once by setting each papillote on a plate.
N.B. You can use sole or snapper instead of red mullet
Pappardelle with Spring Veggies
Serves 4
Ingredients:
12 ounces pappardelle
1 lb. green asparagus
2 cups fresh peas, shelled
2 tablespoons of shallots, peeled and minced
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of pine nuts, toasted
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 cup roughly chopped parsley
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Cut off end of asparagus and blanch in salted water until just tender (about 5 minutes). Blanch peas separately for about 1 minute.
2. In a heavy saucepan, gently sauté the shallots in olive oil until they begin to turn gold. Add peas and asparagus and cook for a few minutes.
3. Cook the pappardelle in boiling water, drain and pour into saucepan. Add pine nuts, parmesan and parsley and season to taste. Serve immediately.
Croque aux Poires
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 slices of brioche
2 ripe pears
2 tablespoons of sliced almonds
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon butter
1. Peel the pears and cut into small cubes. Melt butter in a saucepan and sauté the pear cubes for 2-3 minutes.
2. Arrange pear cubes on brioche slices. Cover with honey and almonds. Put under broiler for two minutes watching carefully. Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche.
A yummy dessert also wonderful for a weekend breakfast or brunch.
Book Description
Stylish, convincing, wise, funny–and just in time: the ultimate non-diet book, which could radically change the way you think and live.
French women don’t get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals. In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this “French paradox”–how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Hers is a charming, sensible, and powerfully life-affirming view of health and eating for our times.
As a typically slender French girl, Mireille (Meer-ray) went to America as an exchange student and came back fat. That shock sent her into an adolescent tailspin, until her kindly family physician, “Dr. Miracle,” came to the rescue. Reintroducing her to classic principles of French gastronomy plus time-honored secrets of the local women, he helped her restore her shape and gave her a whole new understanding of food, drink, and life. The key? Not guilt or deprivation but learning to get the most from the things you most enjoy. Following her own version of this traditional wisdom, she has ever since relished a life of indulgence without bulge, satisfying yen without yo-yo on three meals a day.
Now in simple but potent strategies and dozens of recipes you’d swear were fattening, Mireille reveals the ingredients for a lifetime of weight control–from the emergency weekend remedy of Magical Leek Soup to everyday tricks like fooling yourself into contentment and painless new physical exertions to save you from the StairMaster. Emphasizing the virtues of freshness, variety, balance, and always pleasure, Mireille shows how virtually anyone can learn to eat, drink, and move like a French woman.
A natural raconteur, Mireille illustrates her philosophy through the experiences that have shaped her life–a six-year-old’s first taste of Champagne, treks in search of tiny blueberries (called myrtilles) in the woods near her grandmother’s house, a near-spiritual rendezvous with oysters at a seaside restaurant in Brittany, to name but a few. She also shows us other women discovering the wonders of “French in action,” drawing examples from dozens of friends and associates she has advised over the years to eat and drink smarter and more joyfully.
Here are a culture’s most cherished and time-honored secrets recast for the twenty-first century. For anyone who has slipped out of her zone, missed the flight to South Beach, or accidentally let a carb pass her lips, here is a buoyant, positive way to stay trim. A life of wine, bread–even chocolate–without girth or guilt? Pourquoi pas?
Download Description
“Part Proustian memoir, part guide to living well, part recipe for Miracle Leek Soup, this book announces its distance from the Zone, the Atkins and all the rest on the very first page . . . Even the most skeptical and envious woman will find it hard to hold out against the charms of a beautifully written book that features both chocolate and love as key ingredients in a balanced diet.”–Allison Pearson, The Daily Telegraph (London)
“Mireille Guiliano's book is slender, elegant, well-spoken, sensible, and unembarrassed by the frank embrace of stratagems–just like the French women whom she holds up to the reader to admire and, if we can, to emulate.” –Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon
“I recognized things from my own French background and discovered quite a bit more. An important and fascinating book for all those people out there who’ve ridden the vicious diet roller coaster to failure.” —Nicole Miller
“Not only delicious, but a true story from one of the greatest ladies in the world.” —Chef Emeril Lagasse
“French Women Don’t Get Fat is not only charming and witty, but useful. It made me want to run out and buy a pound of leeks and a bottle of Champagne!” —Sharon Boorstin, author of Cooking for Love and Let Us Eat Cake
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Made staying slim for life seem not so daunting after all (really 3.5).......2007-10-11
I started this book before I went to bed one night (I always have to read something before I go to sleep to unwind, though this one kept me up) and finished it upon waking the next morning. It is not worth the new price tag, but definitely worth the read. It's not much of a recipe book (though I found a few worth trying), but more of a pep talk, and a very good one, too, because I am inspired to cut my portions in half (though sans on the champagne--too expensive, not to mention totally unnecessary, but then I don't like the taste of alcohol anyway), eat more fruit, etc. Though recasting is just another word for fasting, it is something I will do the day before I begin my lifestyle change (to clean out my system so that I may start fresh), but my recasting menu will vary somewhat, maybe include several of those new Sunsweet Ones prunes, some fresh watermelon juice perhaps (oh, wait, it's out of season), etc. It's not that I don't like leeks, I've never had them, but I want to start with more familiar foods, foods I know I'll like, or else it'll feel like a diet.
I was expecting, from some of the reviews I read, that Mrs. Guiliano would come across as a snob, but I actually didn't get that from her. She's just right about the way most Americans are, and it's hard to say how lazy they are without sounding insulting. Hey, I work in a grocery store and some customers will take something out of the freezer, but instead of putting it back if they decide they don't want it, they'll just leave it out. How hard is it to open a door? I am American, and I am disgusted by the fatness, laziness and rudeness (not to mention stupidity, but then, that's just stems from laziness sometimes because they'll ask me where something is when all they have to do is look) of some of the American population; I am even more disgusted when I see an obese child drinking a can of soda in the store and when they pass the doughnuts, ask their parents if they can get some and they say yes. I mean, can't they see how fat their kid(s) is(are)? What kills me is that their parents will say it's hereditary because they're fat, too, but then, they shovel all that junk into their bodies as well. I am not saying genetics don't pre-disposition you to a certain extent, but I believe that much more often than not, it's an excuse, because some people are just lucky and others have to work at it.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I felt like I was taking an imaginary trip to France. I found Mrs. Guiliano's opinion on gyms interesting. I, too, think gyms are a waste of time and money because you can exercise for free and many of those same people who pay for a gym membership are the very ones who drive around for ten minutes trying to squeeze into the closest parking space. I only park close when I'm on a time crunch or if it's late at night and I'm alone. I will admit I'll park close if a slot's available, but, after reading this book, I am going to make more of an effort. I have in the past, I just got lazy.
But, I was thinking about how I dreaded going to the gym because it was so mind-numbingly boring and you have to get dressed, drive there, etc., when I could just jump on the trampoline at home or skip rope or do the hula hoop (which is GREAT for the abs). The Skip-It toy is also fun and really works the calves. If I lived in a two-story house, I would be going up and down the stairs all day (I feel silly on a machine) and if I knew how to ride a bicycle without training wheels, I would ride around the neighborhood (again, it's just not the same in a smelly, stuffy gym as it is outdoors, with the sunshine on my face and the breeze blowing through my hair). I do have a pair of roller-skates though. There's dancing, tennis, water aerobics, etc., etc. There are just so many more fun things to do than work out on a bunch of machines. We do not need special food (i.e. Slimfast, etc.) or fancy, expensive machines to be fit and healthy, not to mention eliminating entire food groups. Eat to live, but live a little. One ounce of real chocolate can provide as much pleasure as a Snickers bar, if we savor it. Just like it's better to consume one tablespoon of real butter than three of the fake stuff. We've become such an artificial society. We're meant to eat fat and work it off, not eat any and be sedentary.
I think it was Mrs. Guiliano's enthusiasm for everything French and her great faith in her Parisian gospel she was sharing that really inspired me. I do, however, still think that for some peoples with slow metabolism, they need to do more than opt to take the stairs or walk across the parking lot whenever possible, even if they are eating French-style.
Though the majority of France is trim, that doesn't necessarily mean they are strong or healthy (I don't know how many of those slender people could run a mile without gasping for breath afterwards), so I take that consideration into account. I am reminded of those women in those Nutra-System (I think those are the ones) commercials who act like the only reason they wanted to lose weight was so they could wear a bikini
. I want to be trim not just because I want to look good, but I want to feel good, too.
So...this book was well worth the six bucks (and hardback edition, too) to me, and worth keeping in my library, too, forsaking any trade-in credit I may get back for it. It was an experience.
MNReview.......2007-10-02
Super to have the author read the book (loved her accent). Sounded like a friend talking to you.
Everyone should read it.......2007-09-27
I loved reading this book. It's not just a diet book, or a weight loss book; it's a healthy lifestyle conversion book. Mireille Guiliano keeps you interested with her humor, personal experiences and tasty recipes. This book is not going to give you a quick fix to your weight issues, but will open your eyes to why you (and the American population) are overweight. It is a source of inspriation and helpful hints to make lifestyle changes. I highly recommend it as a fresh weight loss remedy and cultural read.
Love this book.......2007-09-11
Its refreshingly different perspective from Cosmo and other women's magazines! You will not drop 10 pounds in 10 hours, its about balance and enjoying your life.
Great recipes, well written, simply lovely.
I gave this book to a friend for her birthday, I don't think she knew what to make of it. Give it a shot, you will like it!
A little condescending but very interesting and PRACTICLE.......2007-09-10
"French Women..." have many common threads with Can We Live 150 Years? by another European author, Mr. Tombak. French Women reads more like a novel, and it is also very appealing visually. Sometimes, however, it feels a little condescending... On the contrary, I don't actually like the cover of Can We Live", but it is much more comprehensive and detailed in respect to giving you advice for a healthy life style. The common ideas in both books are:
1. eating only fresh ingredients, drinking a lot of water
2. enjoying the process of eating, chewing well (Tombak), celebrating each meal (Guiliano)
3. eating all kind of foods, not following any fad diets
4. eating a lot of vegetables and fruits
5. using your muscles, exercising
6. focusing on pleasure of foods and life in general
7. changing your diet according to the season
8. eating in small potions, not overindulging ...
The list goes on. Most importantly: LOVING YOUR MEALS WHILE USING COMMON SENSE AT THE SAME TIME. I like "French Women..." for the pleasure of reading but I prefer "Can We Live 150..." for the comprehensive, detailed approach to nutrition, longevity and healthy life style.
Book Description
From the publisher of Under the Tuscan Sun comes another extraordinary memoir of a woman embarking on a new life this time in the South of France. Thirty years ago, James Beard Award-winning author Georgeanne Brennan set out to realize the dream of a peaceful, rural existence en Provence. She and her husband, with their young daughter in tow, bought a small farmhouse with a little land, and a few goats and pigs and so began a life-affirming journey. Filled with delicious recipes and local color, this evocative and passionate memoir describes her life cooking and living in the Proven al tradition an entrancing tale that will whet the appetite and the spirit perfect for foodies, Francophiles, or anyone who's dreamed of packing their bags and buying a ticket to the good life.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful culinary journey.......2007-04-07
What an interesting, informative, and lovely culinary memoir! Georgeanne Brennan was a true trailblazer by going off to Provence with her family in the early 70's, at the height of the Vietnam War. This wasn't mere escapism--it was an attempt to get back to the land and learn what culinary traditions are all about (since most of those traditions in the U.S. were getting lost in the post-WWII industrialization of food production). Reading about the seasonal celebrations and ceremonies that are embedded in Provencal history is truly fascinating through the eyes of an American. Add to that a classic recipe at the end of each chapter that pertains to what you've just read preceeding it, and you have the perfect summer travel lit read!
Amazon.com
In Glorious French Food, James Peterson argues that once you understand a recipe's "logic and context," and the techniques required to follow it, you actually have something much more valuable than the recipe itself--you have the knowledge to create variations, make simplifications, and cook with spontaneity. Although French cuisine is often accused of being fussy and time-consuming, Peterson's clear instructions demystify many traditionally finicky recipes, and in the process, teach us how to cook anything.
The hundreds of recipes presented here are a pleasure to peruse; kitchen novices can work their way through this hefty volume and come out the other end accomplished cooks. Peterson details necessary equipment, techniques, and ingredients for each recipe so that by the time you start making it, you're fearless. Some of his dishes are remarkably simple, like the beautifully fresh, ready-in-minutes Shaved Fennel Salad, or the richly aromatic French Onion Soup. Others are more complicated, but all teach a lesson: In the Roast Chicken chapter, learn to roast without a thermometer, truss without a needle, make gravy, and then succeed at Roast Chicken Stuffed Under the Skin with Spinach and Ricotta. Learn to make pasta dough, and then re-present leftover Provençal Lamb Stew (if there's any of this heavenly, melt-in-your-mouth tender, orange-scented stew left) as Meat-Filled Ravioli. Perfect for fans of French cuisine, this is also a remarkably handy reference guide for any kitchen. --Leora Y. Bloom
Book Description
From the James Beard award--winning author of Sauces-a new classic on French cuisine for today's cook
His award-winning books have won the praise of The New York Times and Gourmet magazine as well as such culinary luminaries as chefs Daniel Boulud, Jeremiah Tower, and Alice Waters. Now James Peterson brings his tremendous stores of culinary knowledge, energy, and imagination to this fresh and inspiring look at the classic dishes of French cuisine. With a refreshing, broadminded approach that embraces different French cooking styles-from fine dining to bistro-style cooking, from hearty regional fare to nouvelle cuisine-Peterson uses fifty "foundation" French dishes as the springboard to preparing a variety of related dishes. In his inventive hands, the classic Moules à la marinière inspires the delightful Miniature Servings of Mussels with Sea Urchin Sauce and Mussel Soup with Garlic Puree and Saffron, while the timeless Duck à l'orange gives rise to the subtle Salad of Sautéed or Grilled Duck Breasts and Sautéed Duck Breasts with Classic Orange Sauce. Through these recipes, Peterson reveals the underlying principles and connections in French cooking that liberate readers to devise and prepare new dishes on their own. With hundreds recipes and dazzling color photography throughout, Glorious French Food gives everyone who enjoys cooking access to essential French cooking traditions and techniques and helps them give free reign to the intuition and spontaneity that lie in the heart-and stomach-of every good cook. It will take its place on the shelf right next to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Customer Reviews:
If you can only own one French cookbook, this may be it.......2007-09-29
French cuisine, despite predictions of its demise by food writers admist inroads of other Western cuisines including Italian and Spanish cuisines, is still going strong. Many people will, have heard classic/haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine, bourgeois/bistro cuisine, and regional cuisine that form the four important strands of French cuisine, and this book has touched on all four of these cuisines.
One important difference between this book and others is it uses 50 dishes as the starting point and teach 4 to 10 more dishes that share either the principal ingredients or are related by techniques. It is, as Peterson himself mentions in the preface, aiming to teach you to how to cook on your own and understanding cooking is not just a mechanical follow-one-recipe process: it is a little like how you learned mathematics in electrical engineering and apply the central methodology into diverse areas like power load flow analysis, calculating a circuit's small signal behaviours, using signal processing in protection relays.
Bear in mind that this book is geared towards big city or middle-sized suburban-area American homes. Duck a l'orange, for instance, is in the American adaptation version. This makes the book a little tricky to be used if you live in Auckland, Sydney, or in London, where the ingredients available will likely be different from what's available in US. For those armchair chefs who want to buy a book that tells how French food is actually prepared in France itself, another book, such as the Konemann publications, will likely be more useful.
By all means this book is not meant to be an exhaustive coverage of France's cookery. , but most books on French cooking tend to cover very small specialized subject areas (Provence's bistros) or are just a thin compendium of recipes (eg 100 recipe in a 200 page cookbook showcased as "Cuisine of France"). If you are interested to build a library of French cookbooks, I recommend the more exhaustive publications of Jacques Pepin, Alain Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine (currently with 2 titles in English, but there are a few more published in the original French), and the ever reliable Larousse Gastronomique, in addition to this book. Otherwise for a tight bookshelf, this book on its own may be what you want for French cooking.
Almost perfect for me. .......2007-01-09
I am a big fan of his books after receiving copies of Sauce and Splendid Soups. He brings a fresh approach to the subject and it is written in a style more suited to my learning. I have always been slighly intimidated with the Classic side of French cooking. I hope by the end of the book I will be better aquainted, better versed and better versed.
Bon Appititte.
Glorious French Food.......2005-10-18
I absolutely love this cookbook. As a culinary student, I wish they had issued this book out instead of my $150 doller culinary workbook. This book is such a wealth of information. "Glorious French Food" is big, but Peterson's writing is so interesting and entertaining that I've taken it to the beach with me many times. I've always felt dishes are tastier when one learns the history behind the creations. As for the recipes, they are excellent. I test them on my boyfriend, who by chance is French and a culinary graduate. He feels the recipes are very accurate and will sometimes admit that some of them are better then his family's dishes. I highly recommond this book, for both fun and serious cooks out there. It's a great gift to give.
A very Novel Cookbook. Buy it to read!!!.......2005-09-07
`Glorious French Food' by leading culinary educator, James Peterson may be a true lost classic, in the cookbook world similar to `The Thirteenth Warrior' in the movies or the novels of Thomas Berger, including `Little Big Man'. I noticed a copy on the bargain stacks a few days ago and immediately felt regret for not having done a review of it to help, in some very small way to raise the reputation of this excellent culinary pedagogical text.
I have a very `love / hate' relationship with James Peterson's books. Peterson has a very well deserved reputation as the author of the classic reference, `Sauces', now in a second edition (rare for cookbooks) and his Jacques Pepin homage, `Essentials of Cooking' (for those of you who need your culinary show and tell in full color). He has also done several excellent texts on special subjects such as Vegetables, Salmon, Duck, and Soups. I have reviewed each and every one of these books favorably, yet my experience when doing specific Peterson recipes (except those in `Sauces') is mixed. I am not entirely surprised at this, as I sometimes find his individual recipe descriptions just a bit mixed up, as if his copy editor was taking a coffee break as they were editing that recipe.
Peterson may in this book offer a great explanation for this paradox. He says that his greatest ambition would be to write a cookbook with no recipes. This is not as easy as it sounds, since I reviewed Pam Anderson's book `How to Cook Without a Book' and I found it wanting in several regards. Peterson also says that his greatest compliment is when a reader says they made one of his recipes, but changed it a bit, and it came out very well. All this means is that Peterson is a relatively unconventional cookbook author who is best approached differently than you may approach `The Joy of Cooking' or `Mastering the Art of French Cooking'.
This book, even for its great size (almost 750 pages) is, like Madeleine Kamman's `The New Making of a Cook', a book meant to be read from front to back in an easy chair with no electronic distractions nearby. The first and most important reason for reading this book like a novel is its novel organization. Instead of chapters on Salads, Soups and Stocks, Meat, Poultry, Starches, Vegetables, and Desserts, there are a very neat 50 chapters on fifty of the most famous dishes from the French culinary canon. As you may guess from the size of the book, there is a lot more here than 50 recipes which, with a typical treatment, may take not much more than 100 pages to dispatch. Rather, most of the chapters are really about a family of dishes.
The very first chapter takes twelve (12) pages to cover `Assorted Vegetable Salads', all falling under the rubric of the French word, `Crudites' which, roughly translated, means raw vegetables. In this chapter are nine (9) dish recipes for Celeriac Remoulade, Grated Carrots, Red Cabbage Salad, Cold Cucumbers, Marinated Mushrooms, Baby Artichokes with Walnuts, Shaved Fennel Salad, Tomato Salad, and Parisian-Style Potato Salad. There are also two `pantry' recipes for Basic Mayonnaise and Crème Fraiche. Like the very liberal Chris Schlesinger (`The Thrill of the Grill', `How to Cook Meat', etc) and unlike the very traditional Madeleine Kamman, Peterson is extremely liberating with his advice. He tells us how to improvise crème fraiche and he tells us all the reasons why some substitutes, such as American sour cream, will just not work as well in some recipes. He does not tell us not to improvise. He also follows the party line on the right potato for the right dish, but he also says that you can probably get away with using any kind of potato for any kind of dish, which fits my experience in using a russet for both mashed potatoes (with a good potato ricer) and potato salad, two recipes for which russets are supposed to be inferior to waxy or `all purpose' varieties.
Part of what makes many great cookbooks such a pleasure to read is the extent to which the author introduces their own informed opinion into the writing. Both `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' and `The New Making of a Cook' would be great cookbooks without the lively opinions of Julia Child and Madeleine Kamman, but they are much better at getting their subject across than a dry presentation of quantities and procedures. If you think this is unimportant, take a quick look at a few recipes in `The Joy of Cooking' and you will see an ample amount of humor in even this encyclopedic collection of recipes.
One thing I especially enjoyed in this book was the affirmation of the doctrine in Ms. Kamman's book that in spite of all the butter, pork fat, goose fat, or olive oil in popular recipes, French cooking is NOT about high fat content. Peterson is especially good on fats in general and butter in particular, as he hits all the right notes about cooking with butter. For one thing, he discounts the common practice so popular with TV culinary personalities of mixing butter and oil to raise the burn point of butter solids. He says it simply does not keep the butter solids from going black. He also clearly differentiates plain clarified butter from the Indian staple, ghee, where the butterfat is taken to a darker brown than is done by simple clarification.
I even found something new on my favorite cookbook subject, omelets. Peterson gives two different techniques and clearly differentiates both the method and the cultural differences in French cooking between the omelet and scrambled eggs.
The bad news is that if this book may be in danger of loosing its market, and it may go out of print. The good news is that you should be able to get a copy from our beloved Amazon.com for cheap.
A Glorious Book!.......2005-06-19
This book has ample recipes for advanced beginners, with most for intermediate experience level home cooks. Yes, some recipes are for advanced cooks, or moderately persistent intermediate cooks! The meals are well worth the preparation.
These recipes are not rocket science; Peterson guides one well through the more unfamiliar techniques as needed. These are generally extremely well written recipes, often with a commentary on a dish's history or general context, and gives many lessons in technique, without "lecturing". Best of all, the few recipes I've tried have been very tasty!
Do read "Read this first", the first 30 pages, before progressing to individual recipes, to get a broad idea of what it to be presented, and needed as backgroundl Curiously, he recommends not to saute or cook at higher heat in a mixture of butter and oil. That's his choice, however I've seen this mixture as the saute norm, rather than an exception, in French kitchens in the USA and in France. He is an American cook, not a Classically trained French master chef.
Some recipe topics include: Various salads, assorted cooked vegetables, pates and terrines, omelettes, souffles, cheese fondues, vichyssoise (not truly French in origin, but actually American), oxtail soup and stews, vegetable and fish soups, mussels, scallops, soles and lobster dishes, with easily 5 dishes within each of the named categories. It goes on with chicken, duck, veal, rabbit, and many beef dishes. Desserts include tarts, mousse, custards, crepes, cakes, and preserves. Almost encyclopedic in coverage, more than enough to keep you busy for years, cooking classic French dishes.
Even if you do not get around to cook one recipe from this book, you will enjoy reading these tantalizing recipes, and with Peterson's writing style, savor the varied selections of French dishes, learning many techniques and "secrets" from a great chef, these techniques carry over into cooking with all sorts of ingredients available at your local grocery store!
Average customer rating:
- Cooking for Health
- GREAT INFORMATION - PRACTICAL RECIPES - A LIFESAVER !
- MY FAVORITE HEALTHY COOKBOOK!
- Best Available for Treating Lifestyle Diseases
- healthy vegan fare
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Weimar Institute's NEWSTART® Lifestyle Cookbook: More Than 260 Heart-Healthy Recipes Featuring Whole Plant Foods
Frances Piper de Vries , and
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ASIN: 0785271406 |
Book Description
Newstart stands for the eight elements that give you health, vigor, and healing: Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest, and Trust in Divine Power. Full of delicious and nutritious recipes that can make a meaningful difference in your life, the Newstart Lifestyle Cookbook is more than a diet plan--it is a new way to live.
Customer Reviews:
Cooking for Health.......2007-03-04
adhealthandwellness recommended this as one of the books that was essential for life. Piper de Vries is deep.
GREAT INFORMATION - PRACTICAL RECIPES - A LIFESAVER !.......2002-09-24
This book contains recipes that nutitionally conscious people will love -- while using commonly available ingredients. As exciting as the recipes are, the nutritional information makes this a MUST READ cookbook. LOVE IT !! By incorporating these recipes or ideas into my diet (we still eat meat) and beginning moderate exercise (1hour 3xweek) I have cut my diabetes oral medication by half in less than one month !! Doc says 6mo - 1 year to be medicine free !! (after 3 years of gradually worsening diabetes) This cookbook could save your life !
MY FAVORITE HEALTHY COOKBOOK!.......2002-08-31
Wonderfully Healthy Recipes...... use it all the time!
Best Available for Treating Lifestyle Diseases.......2002-01-19
The recipes in this book are some of the best available if you are serious about eating a healthy diet. They are not only vegetarian but they eliminate the refined oils and sugars which are such a major factor in causing diseases like atherosclerosis, heart disease, adult onset diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. They are the recipes used at the Newstart lifestyle program where they get excellent results with just diet and exercise. The recipes are delicious; we use them in our home all the time. I highly recommend this cookbook to my patients.
healthy vegan fare.......2000-01-05
a solid good cookbook for those aspiring to the vegan diet. the only drawbacks being that some recipies require hard-to-locate ingredients such as vegan gelatin and smoked yeast. Other than that a very worthwhile purchase for those wishing to eat healthy, etc.
Amazon.com
Ina Garten's much loved cookbooks, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, and Barefoot Contessa Family Style, offer relaxed yet stylish dishes that don't tax the cook. Her food works wonderfully for entertaining but shouldn't be limited to such times. Barefoot in Paris finds Garten (almost inevitably) in France, "translating" native dishes for the American home cook. The result is rewarding, and should get those reluctant to "cook French" to do just that. Covered are classics like Celery Root Rémoulade, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic, but also "newer" dishes like Zucchini Vichyssoise and Avocado and Grapefruit Salad. If Garten ranges wide from typical Parisian fare--in, for example, recipes like Rosemary Cashews, Tomato Rice Pilaf, and a distinctly American Brownie Tart--these nonetheless embody the French approach. Her sweets, including the likes of Peaches in Sauternes, Plum Cake "Tatin," and an exemplary Crème Brûlée, are particularly tempting. Included also are asides like "About French Table Settings," and "If You're Going," a resource guide, that, practicality apart, give readers a sense of French culinary life. With color photos, this is winning addition to the Barefoot collection. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
Hearty boeuf Bourguignon served in deep bowls over a garlic-rubbed slice of baguette toast; decadently rich croque monsieur, eggy and oozing with cheese; gossamer crème brulee, its sweetness offset by a brittle burnt-sugar topping. Whether shared in a cozy French bistro or in your own home, the romance and enduring appeal of French country cooking is irrefutable. Here is the book that helps you bring that spirit, those evocative dishes, into your own home.
What Ina Garten is known for—on her Food Network show and in her three previous bestselling books—is adding a special twist to familiar dishes, while also streamlining the recipes so you spend less time in the kitchen but still emerge with perfection. And that’s exactly what she offers in Barefoot in Paris. Ina’s kir royale includes the unique addition of raspberry liqueur—a refreshing alternative to the traditional crème de cassis. Her vichyssoise is brightened with the addition of zucchini, and her chocolate mousse is deeply flavored with the essence of orange. All of these dishes are true to their Parisian roots, but all offer something special—and are thoroughly delicious, completely accessible, and the perfect fare for friends and family.
Barefoot in Paris is suffused with Ina’s love of the city, of the bustling outdoor markets and alluring little shops, of the bakeries and fromageries and charcuteries—of the wonderful celebration of food that you find on every street corner, in every neighborhood. So take a trip to Paris with the perfect guide—the Barefoot Contessa herself—in her most personal book yet.
Customer Reviews:
A Fan From Australia.......2007-08-20
I have had this book less than a month and have tried eight recipes already, all have been great. My family (husband and two boys aged 6 and 4 yrs old) have loved the meals I have made. I really like the informal style and layed-back recipes in this book. They are easy to follow and give great results. French food always seemed a bit fussy and formal until I read this book. The Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic and Creme Brulee recipes were winners!
Great Easy French Inspired Foods.......2007-07-28
I love this cookbook, but probably not for the right reasons. I love it because it again possess' Ina Garten's warmth, wit and passion. Most of all though, it is about Paris and French food. Simple, great food that you can prepare at home without having to attend a culinary institute. The problem is, I have used it very little, which means that alot of the recipes are not as suitable for families as her other titles.
At this stage in my life, I am still cooking nightly for a husband and three hungry children which means they are less inclined to try something new. So this is a cookbook for great easy french inspired meals but not necessarily for the average weeknight fare I have raved about in Barefoot Family Style and Barefoot at Home. At any rate, it is still a definite for your collection and bon appetite!
One of my favorites........2007-07-19
I have to admit, I am a bit Ina obsessed. This cookbook is great. There are lots of wonderful, easy and extremely delicious recipes in here. I have yet to try a recipe by Mrs. Garten that wasnt absolutely delicious. Paris here I come, well at least in my kitchen! :o) Wonderful cookbook!
Barefoot in Paris/Cookbook/Barefoot Contessa.......2007-07-09
This has become one of my favorite books. If someone wants to do a little simple - but outstanding french cooking, this is your book. It has all the essentials and is "easy" (compared to other "french" cookbooks). Ina writes cookbooks just as she speaks - very easy to understand. ANYONE can cook very, very good french food with this cookbook.
a Francophile opinion...................2007-06-22
There is not much that I can add to the reviews already written, but as an admitted Francophile, I wanted to put my 2 cents in. As all have stated, this is an incredible book, not just of French cooking, but a slight peek into the French way of living and thinking. Obviously, Ina loves Paris, and all that is French, and you get that feeling as she deviates from strictly recipes, and goes into the various nuances of French life.
Those nuances are scattered throughout the book and peppered (no pun intended) in the introductions to her recipes. The photography and food styling is excellent as usual, and as long as you aren't expecting a Jacque Pepin or Julia Child style of French cooking, then you will enjoy Ina's more simple, peasant-style fare. She talks about the visual preparation of the French table and all the ways that you can make your dining experience as simple, fresh, and carefree as the dishes. And for those who are fellow "Parisians", she guides you through the streets and markets of Paris and gives you a tour of sorts, of that magical city.
INTRODUCTION
TO START:
All about French wines
Raspberry Royale
Kir
Cassisa l'Eau
Cheese Straws
Blioni with Smoked Salmon
Cheese Puffs (Gougeres....ummmmmmmm!!!)
Rosemary Cashews
Radishes with Salt and Herbed Butter
Potato Chips
LUNCH:
French Table Settings
Croque Monsieur
Blue Cheese Souffle
Salad with Warm Goat Cheese
Eggplant Gratin
Pissaladiere (a French pizza of sorts)
Goat Cheese Tart
Scrambled Eggs with Truffles
Herbed Baked Eggs
Spinach in Pastry Puff
Mussels in White Wine
Seafood Platter (with mustard sauce, cocktail sauce, mignonette sauce)
SOUP and SALAD:
All about French flowers
Winter Squash Soup
Provencal Veggie Soup (and homemade chicken stock, and pistou)
Zucchini Vichyssoise
Seafood Stew (and seafood stock)
Lentil Sausage Soup
Brioche Loaves
Celery Root Remoulade
Endive, Pear, and Roquefort Salad
Avocado and Grapefruit Salad
Fennel Salad
Warm Mushroom Salad
Green Salad Vinaigrette
DINNER:
All about French cookware (this was a blast; will make you want to visit!)
Lemon Chicken with Coutons
Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic (this was very mild in flavor)
Roast Duck
Chicken with Morels
Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns
Boeuf Bourguignon
Filet of Beef au Poivre
Steak with Bearnaise Sauce
Veal Chops with Roquefort Butter
Roast Lamb with White Beans
Rack of Lamb Persillade
Roasted Striped Bass
Scallops Provencal
Salmon with Lentils
VEGETABLES:
About French cooking classes
Asparagus with Hollandaise
Vegetable Tian
Zucchini Gratin
Tomato Rice Pilaf
Roasted Beets
Matchstick Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts Lardons
Cauliflower Gratin
Morocccan Couscous
French String Beans
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms
Potato Celery Root Puree
Carmelized Shallots
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Herbed New Potatoes
DESSERTS:
About French cheese
Meringues Chantilly
Plum Raspberry Crumble
Ile Flottante
Lemon Meringue Tart (and lemon filling)
Pear Clafouti
Coeur a la Creme with Raspberries
Raspberry Sauce
Creme Amglaise
Baba au Rhum (rum-soaked doughy pastries with shipped cream; sooo good!)
Elephant Ears (very light, flaky, and delicate)
Mango Sorbet
Ice Cream Bombe
Plum Cake Tatin
Chocolate Orange Mousse
Brownie Tart
Pain Perdu
Peaches in Sauternes
Coconut Madeleines (dip the ends in chocolate!)
Strawberry Tarts
Pastry Cream
Profiteroles (the ultimate elegant French dessert!)
Chocolate Truffles
Creme Brulee
RESOURCES:
French ingredients to try
French cookware you'll want to have
Going to Paris? Then here's your guide with every place you'll want to visit to make your journey magical and complete (the best part, Ina!!!)
Credits and Index
Conversion Chart
Merci Ina!!
Average customer rating:
- Excellent Condition!
- An Essential reference for all nutrition students
- Great source of information, very comprehensive, informative
|
Nutrition Concepts and Controversies With Infotrac
Frances Sizer Webb , and
Eleanor Noss Whitney
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0534577997 |
Book Description
This non-majors introductory text provides basic nutrition information and controversial topics. The new edition emphasizes the food pyramid vs. the exchange system as a tool for diet planning and includes the latest food labeling information. Over 300 new foods are added to the Table of Food Composition, including ethnic foods, fast foods, low/no-fat foods and new brands.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Condition!.......2005-10-01
The book came in excellent condition.It also arrived earlier than expected.It was in great condition,with no damage to any of the pages.Overall.extremely pleased!
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