Modern Spanish Cooking

Modern Spanish Cooking introduces the fantastic variety of contemporary Spanish cuisine with its emphasis on fresh ingredients and enticing flavour combinations. The recipes range from sensational tapas-style dishes to traditional Spanish recipes described and presented in an original fresh way by Sam and Eddie Hart, owners of Fino, one of London’s most exciting restaurants. Their simple philosophy is to source the finest-quality Spanish ingredients and apply Spanish styles of cooking to create superb-tasting dishes. With over 120 irresistible recipes for tapas, rice, beans, pasta and egg dishes, fish and shellfish, meat vegetables and salads, and delectable desserts, Sam and Eddie have created a perfect blend of modern and traditional. Throughout the book, fascinating features on Spanish food culture, special cooking methods and Spanish ingredients are interwoven to encourage readers to embrace the Spanish way of eating and drinking. Spectacular photographs brilliantly capture the colour and flavour of Spanish food and make it easy for the reader to present the dishes authentically at home.

Modern Greek

Amazon.com
Andy Harris’s Modern Greek presents 170 easy, contemporary Greek recipes for this light and delicious food. Ideally suited to readers’ health- and time-conscious lifestyles, the book covers Greek cuisine from the traditional appetizers called mezes to pastry desserts, with stops for fresh salads like the tomato, feta, and red onion Horiakai Salad; and pastas, including savory Meat and Pasta Pie, and Pasta with Spinach, Parsley, and Yogurt. Vegetables are at the heart of Greek cooking and dishes including Baked Eggplant, Zucchini, and Potatoes, and a delicious stew of artichokes and peas offer a rich example of the direct Greek approach to cooking. Seafood, also basic to the Greek table, receives its due with the likes of Pan-Fried Squids with Onions and Lemon Juice, and Marinated Sardines with Onion Salad; desserts, including Sweet Cheese Pastries and an easy-to-do baklava, bring the book to a happy close. With a useful glossary, and illustrated with color photos throughout, the book offers tasty, unpretentious food that works for everyday and special-occasion dining alike. –Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
Harris (A Taste of the Aegean) returns to the Greek cuisine he loves in this beautifully designed and photographed book. Using customary Greek ingredients Feta and Kefalotiri cheeses, zucchini, eggplant, filo pastry he offers both new and traditional dishes, from Tiganopsomo (Fried Cheese Pastries) and Zucchini Moussaka to the classic Horiatiki Salad (Greek Salad) and Spanakopita. The rustic theme so often apparent in Greek food is also given weight, as with the warming Chicken with Zucchini, Green Olives and Green Garlic with its rich juices so ideal for sopping up with a country loaf, and the flavorful and colorful Bourdetto (Spicy Fish Stew). From simple grills and kebabs to the slightly more complicated desserts, Harris provides well-written instructions which put the recipes within most cooks’ skill range, from the enthusiastic beginner to those who wish to add the cuisine of a well-loved tourist destination to their repertoire. With this in mind, he ends the volume with a full guide to the Greek cupboard, demystifying the range of cheeses, olives and spices that populate Greek fare. The resulting book is a fresh, inviting look at an increasingly popular cuisine.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Catalan Cuisine

From Library Journal
Much more than a cookbook, this impressive work is a guide to the history, culture, and cuisine of Spain’s Catalonia. Background information is followed by sections on the sauces basic to Catalan cooking, raw ingredients, and recipes. Catalan cuisine is a mix of French and Spanish influences, the cooking of the seacoast and of the mountains; rustic and individualistic, it will be new to most. Strongly recommended. JS
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Philadelphia Weely Review
320 pages of superb food writing, lush with history and anecdote and unique recipes.

From inmamaskitchen.com:
“I came to Catalan cuisine as a novice, an outsider – and immediately fell in love with it,” writes author Colman Andrews in the introduction to this classic and wonderful work. “I was taken by its freshness and vitality, haunted by its resonances of the past, thrilled by its forthright, vivid flavors. But what fascinated me most…was precisely its unexpectedness, its surprising way of doing unfamiliar things with familiar raw materials.”

Cooking with Daniel Boulud

From Publishers Weekly
The demand by home cooks for healthy and interesting meals has led any number of chefs to pass on their cooking advice and recipes. Boulud now joins them with an excellent book. Formerly the head chef at Le Cirque in New York, and now running his own restaurant, Daniel Boulud has brought together recipes which reflect his training in classic French cuisine and the influence of American ingredients and regional cooking on such cuisine. He firmly believes in using fresh seasonal ingredients, and provides a “market list” with advice on how to select and use fruits and vegetables at their peaks. A dish like peppered tuna and shoestring potatoes is a prime example of Boulud’s skill in matching compatible yet contrasting tastes and textures. The recipes are well-written, with clear, concise steps and do-ahead tips. Although the author has worked to adapt restaurant recipes to the average kitchen, this is no book for amateurs. Boulud presumes a certain level of competence. If you don’t know how to sweat an onion or shape an artichoke leaf, or aren’t willing to make your own stocks, you will be lost. Some of the dishes are fairly labor-intensive and are not for those looking to put together a quick meal when they get home from work. But for experienced home cooks who want to add something special to their repertoire, this is a superb book to consult. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Boulud, long-time chef of New York City’s famed four-star restaurant Le Cirque, recently opened his own restaurant, Daniel. Here he presents more than 250 of his recipes, including signature dishes from Le Cirque, more recent creations now on the menu at Daniel, and simpler dishes he cooks for his family. His French background and training define his cooking style, but his experience in American kitchens and the influence of other ethnic cuisines are also evident in recipes as diverse as Corn Soup with Nutmeg and Gratin of Plums with Lime Zabaglione. Most of the recipes are not simple, but while they assume some culinary knowledge, they are clearly written and illustrated with hundreds of photographs, many in color. For most collections.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Simple French Cookery

From Publishers Weekly
This volume operates much like an afternoon at a Parisian cooking school, offering a limited selection of French culinary classics accompanied by photograph-by-photograph lessons on how to prepare them. Although Potato Puree, for instance, requires little more than whipping boiled potatoes with butter and milk, the author holds the reader’s hand through the process, providing thorough instruction on simmering the water, straining the potatoes and adding salt and pepper. More complicated dishes like Pan Fried Fillet of Sea Bream with Ratatouille and Tomato Coulis receive similar treatment; as a result, they seem as straightforward as those pureed potatoes. After an hour or two with this book, kitchen neophytes will soon be turning out sophisticated suppers like Provencal Rack of Lamb with Crushed Peas and Duck Leg Confit with Flageolet Beans. However, anyone with an interest in the more exotic reaches of French cooking will be disappointed; the most daring ingredient in this collection is a hunk of calf’s liver. Further, because this book was originally published in England and certain Britishisms were never translated, recipes call for “courgettes” instead of zucchini and “groundnut” oil instead of “peanut.” But these flaws don’t detract from the book’s mission: to democratize French food by encouraging novice cooks to make it at home.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Review Annex
“After an hour or two with this book, kitchen neophytes will soon be turning out sophisticated suppers.”

Beef: And Other Bovine Matters

John Torode is widely known as co-presenter and judge on the BBC’s “MasterChef” and for his hugely popular and established restaurant, Smiths of Smithfield, at the heart of London’s Smithfield meat market. What some may not know is that this Australian chef has a passion for one of the greatest British ingredients – beef. In this meaty book, John not only gives us every which way to cook with beef, but also gives the history and importance of great and rare breeds, butcher’s recommended cuts and true head-to-tail eating. With his passion for the subject, the recipes are straight from the heart – down-to-earth, tasty, easy to make and gathered from around the world. They include classics such as pies, roasts, steaks and hamburgers as well as contemporary Italian, French and Thai specialities. “John Torode’s Beef” tells it how it is and is sure to become a trusty stalwart in the kitchen. It includes a fold-out poster showing cuts of meat and a gatefold visual of how to cook Beef for 100!

Cooking in Provence

From Publishers Weekly
A joint venture of photographer Knab and chef Mackay, this beautiful, coffee-table quality cookbook celebrates the team’s partnership in the cooking school Le Baou d’Infer in Provence. Reminiscent of Richard Olney’s Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook and Patricia Wells at Home in Provence, the volume will satisfy both armchair travelers and armchair chefs. Each section begins with a charming, personal introduction to a particular aspect of classic Provençal cooking: fresh produce, local seafood, daubes and bouillabaises, wild foods such as game and mushrooms, fruit-filled desserts and pantry standards such as pâtés, purées, confit and confiture (jam). These chapter introductions and the recipe head notes are also peppered with Mackey’s amusing insights on the region’s customs and idiosyncrasies. Near the beginning of the volume, for example, he describes the legendary mistral wind, which can be so irritating that “if it lasts for more than 5 days, a husband has a legal right to kill his wife” (or so the rumor goes). The design of the book has a restrained elegance; Knab’s photographs of the food, the French and the environs are vivid enough to inspire envy in those who do not live in Provence. Since the volume focuses on classic recipes for traditional dishes like Petite Friture (Deep-Fried Whitebait) and Salade Niçoise, there are few new tastes in this cookbook. But there are variations: in addition to a clear and simple recipe for the classic Beignet de Courgettes et Ses Fleurs (Courgette Fritters), Mackay offers an alternate way of preparing these ephemeral short-season squash blossoms: Fleurs de Courgettes Farcies aux Tomates (Stuffed Courgette Flowers with Tomatoes). This lovely cookbook will surely tantalize the inexhaustible interest of Provence fans.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook

TV’s dragon slayer Levi Roots brings carnival to the kitchen with his hot’n’spicy debut cookbook. After winning over the business minds of The Dragon’s Den with little more than a song and a smile, entrepreneur Levi Roots has since sold more than one million bottles of his delicious Reggae Reggae Sauce. Building on this success and his ever-growing popularity as a food hero, Levi Roots now has his very own cookbook! Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook brings the excitement and vitality of Caribbean flavours to your own cooking. An eclectic and colourful range of recipes from simple dishes for students to fantastic feasts for friends are all accompanied by heart-warming anecdotes in Levi’s incomparable tell-it-like-it-is style. This bright and colourful book brings together influences as diverse as Jamaican folk tales, Notting Hill Carnival and the music of Bob Marley to create family-friendly food with that famous jerk kick. Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook will surely add a funky beat to what you eat!Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook features more than 80 simple and exciting recipes such as Mash-Up Eggs, Salmon St Jago de la Vega , Guinness Punch, Rum Cake and Sweet Potato Pudding.

Levi also offers a diverse range of vegetarian dishes and puts a Caribbean twist on classic European favourites such as pizza and pasta. Contents include: Everyday Caribbean Rise and Shine Reggae Flavours Carnival Sweet Satisfaction Reggae Extras

Fantastico!: Modern Italian Food

Gino D’Acampo is passionate about Italian food. He is equally passionate about how to cook, but also believes that you don’t need hundreds of ingredients and complicated haute cuisine techniques to achieve fantastic food. His maxim is minimum effort, maximum food, and if you cook the 100 recipes in his book, following his tips, NOT breaking his 10 rules – such as not mixing onion and garlic – and joining in his enthusiasm and humour, you will soon learn how to make great Italian food. This is a cookbook filled with modern Italian food, infused with Gino’s style and encompassing the myriad influences that have pervaded the country’s cuisine.

CHINESE FOOD MADE EASY: 100 simple, healthy recipes from easy-to-find ingredients

Synopsis
Ching-He Huang is one of the brightest stars in modern Chinese cooking in the UK. Each week in her new BBC2 series she re-invents the nation’s favourite Chinese dishes, modernising them with fresh, easy to buy ingredients, and offering simple practical tips and techniques. These are brought together in this beautiful book to accompany the series. Drawing on the experiences of top chefs, her family and friends, growers and producers and celebrity enthusiasts Ching sets out to discover the best Chinese cooking in the UK today, introducing easy-to-make Chinese food to sometimes resistant Brits, and painting a picture of modern Anglo-Chinese life in the UK as she goes. Chinese Food Made Easy begins with some of the most familiar dishes from a Chinese takeaway menu – Sweet & Sour Prawns, Chicken with Cashew Nuts, Chop Suey and Cantonese Vegetable Stir Fry, each with Ching’s special and imaginative twist. Later we explore spicy Szechuan food: Noodles, Dumplings and Dim sum; Seafood; Fast Food; Desserts and finally Celebratory Food, where Ching presents a complete banquet of dishes to celebrate the Chinese New Year.Ching’s knowledge, charm and enthusiasm shine through as she shares the ‘basic principles’ of Chinese cooking including some of the simple techniques and tips taught by her Grandparents for tasty results.

Using ingredients from high-street supermarkets and some imaginative suggestions for alternative ingredients, these classic Chinese dishes are updated, fresh and healthily prepared so that anyone can make and enjoy them.

Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite

Product Description
What you are is what you eat—and everyone wants to be healthy and look their best. Gordon Ramsay—super-fit chef, marathon runner and high-energy television personality—is a great advertisement for eating well and staying in the peak of good health. He has put together over one hundred dishes that are completely in tune with the way we want to eat today packed with fresh, vital ingredients cooked in the most healthy way to achieve maximum flavour. Geared around our daily lives he gives ideas and recipes for healthy breakfasts, lunches, barbecues, suppers, desserts, kids and entertaining, demonstrates healthy cooking methods that guarantee optimum flavour, and tells us which are his favourite healthy ingredients. Recipes include Mango and Smoked Chicken Salad, Griddle Squid with Roasted Peppers and Cannellini Beans, Wild Mushroom Risotto with baked Courgettes and Roasted Peaches with Vanilla and Spices. With its fresh, colourful photographs and clean modern design, this is a worthy follow-up to his hugely successful books.

El Bulli 2003-2004

Ferran Adria is widely considered to be the most innovative, most influential, and indeed the greatest chef in the world today. Culinary giants like Thomas Keller venerate him. El Bulli, the restaurant where he creates his masterpieces, has become a pilgrimage site of sorts; food connoisseurs from around the world journey down a dizzying coastal road to Roses, Spain to experience his unconventional tasting menu — often consisting of 25 or more courses. But if you want a reservation, get in line.

The River Cafe Cook Book

By B. Marold

`The River Cafe Cook Book’ authors Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers are two English chefs who carry a lot of weight in the community of writers on Italian Cuisine. They are one of the first employers of Jamie Oliver and were, I suspect, a strong influence on his style and choice of cuisine. Gray and Roger owe nothing to Oliver’s current celebrity. Their reputation is firmly based on doing good Italian food before Jamie came to the limelight.

This is their first and most highly acclaimed book, and the last of their three readily available volumes that I am to review. The book can be viewed on at least three different levels, depending on the reader’s level of knowledge of Italian cuisine.

The reader who is innocent of any Italian cuisine outside what they may have seen in the local American Italian restaurant will be quite surprised by the absence of the Italian-American classics such as spaghetti and meatballs, veal Parmesan, lasagna, and chicken Marsala. The better informed reader who has read Lydia Bastianich and watched `Molto Mario’ will recognize many true Italian standards such as Panzanella salad, osso bucco, slow-cooked lamb shanks, artichokes alla Giudea, and lots and lots of risotto and polenta recipes. This reader may feel slightly disoriented in that there are very few hints and reminders and pointers about how to complete the various recipes. A perfect example is the Roman recipe for `Carciofi alla Giudea’ (Fried artichokes, Jewish style). The recipe in David Downie’s authoritative `Cooking the Roman Way’ covers three pages while Rogers and Gray take three short paragraphs, occupying a quarter of a page to give the recipe with almost exactly the same ingredients. Part of the difference is that Downie’s recipe includes detailed instructions on dealing with and cleaning an artichoke and details on techniques for frying with olive oil. Rogers and Gray dispatch this task in four sentences. In dealing with this book, a second paradigm shift is needed to move from the view of culinary newbie to experienced user of Italian recipes.

Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast

This is the first time that we’ve ever launched a cookbook alongside a brand new show. Nigella’s ratings are through the roof, and she was recently featured in I style. . The cookbook is all of the delicious foods Nigella is known for but the emphasis is on fast really fast! This is for everyone who loves good food, but just doesn’t have time or patience at the end of the day for a long, drawn-out cooking session. The reigning ladies of the Food Network are the Barefoot Contessa, Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, and Giada. Now here comes Nigella as their new star and with a book that will be huge. More than 130 recipes

Annotation:
British food star Nigella Lawson’s “express” cookbook features delicious meals with everyday ease, good writing, and beautiful photographs. With her signature panache, recipes included are Quick Chili, Red Prawn and Mango Curry, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Nigella Bites

Nigella Bites–the title is taken from Nigella Lawson’s Style Network cooking show of the same name–is the third book from British Vogue food editor and New York Times food columnist Nigella Lawson, a force of nature all her own. Her other books include How to Eat and How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Fans of the TV show will find all these easy-to-follow recipes familiar, and the book is even designed with pages for note taking at the end of each section.

Nigella Bites is divided into chapters that include “All-Day Breakfast,” “Comfort Food,” “TV Dinners,” “Party Girl,” “Rainy Days,” “Trashy,” “Legacy,” “Suppertime,” “Slow-Cooked Weekend,” and “Templefood.” “Templefood” refers to the “body as a temple,” and Lawson shares what she calls “restorative” recipes, like the raw egg and brandy hangover cure called Prairie Oyster. Hot and Sour Soup and Gingery Hot Duck Salad are also present and accounted for.

It’s all self-referential. Lawson (her chapter introductions are printed in 26-point type for the hard of seeing) holds nothing back about what she likes, how she overindulges, how she works her lifestyle into the kitchen and onto the table. It’s encouragement by example, with a practical twist. You aren’t going to spend hours in the kitchen midweek. That’s a reward you save for the weekend. But there’s plenty of deliciousness to be had midweek as well, and Lawson’s there to help you along your way. –Schuyler Ingle

New York Times
“. . . helping you understand not only what you are after, but also the pleasure of the journey.”

A Return to Real Cooking

Galton Blackiston

In this my latest book, you will find over 100 great recipes that all reflect my passion for using fresh, seasonal produce to create simple, yet hopefully stunning dishes. From Savoury Muffins to Parsley and Bacon soup, a simple yet delicious Fillet of Plaice, Braised Shoulder of Lamb with Gravy and Apple Sauce, and mouth-watering puddings such as Baked Vanilla Cheesecake with Poached Blueberries (Delia tried this one the other week and came back for seconds and thirds!!).

An important aspect of the book is that I am confident the recipes will work at home. Preparing food in a commercial environment and in the kitchen at home are hugely different experiences, which is why every one of these recipes has been tested by friends and family (with huge enthusiasm!) in their own homes. Many of the recipes can be prepared partly or wholly in advance which is a bonus for hassle-free entertaining.

Each copy is signed by me, You’ll also find fantastic photography, not just of the recipes, but also of the beautiful scenery that surrounds us here in North Norfolk.

The Hairy Bikers Ride Again

Dave and Si are back carving up the roads of the world on their motorbikes in search of adventurous food and foodie adventures. Their first book was a top-five bestseller and their second delivers more of the same: more laid-back, interesting food, more travel tales and fascinating stories, more humour and lots more fun. Their infectious enthusiasm and natural charm makes them a joy to watch and their delicious, relaxed food is a pleasure to cook and eat. The Hairy Bikers are hungry for more…

‘The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook is not so much a breath of fresh air as who left the bleeding door open…’ Guardian

Cardamom chicken; spiced pears in honey; aloo gobi; banana, cardamom and vanilla lassi; lamb chop pakoras; chicken in chorizo and brandy sauce; dulche de leche cheesecake; steak frites; mussels; pork chops with cider and apples; Belgian chocolate mousse; chicken tagine with lemons and olives; prawns with paprika and honey; chilli con carne; pomegranate and chickpea salad…

Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home

From Publishers Weekly
It takes a kind of genius—or obsessive personality—to open five successful restaurants, host two Food Network shows and write three cookbooks, and Batali’s manic energy comes alive on every page of this fourth book devoted to dishes for the home cook. With over 300 recipes, the volume is an overstuffed celebration of the rustic local fare Batali loves, organized by course (antipasto, soup, pasta, fish, etc.). Fans will find repeat renditions of signature Batali dishes found in his earlier volumes, such as Bucatini all’Amatriciana, but can also discover tantalizing new ones, such as Malloredus with Fennel, Game Hen with Pomegranate, and Lamb Shanks with Orange and Olive. Batali excels when he translates complex traditional dishes for the modern kitchen, such as Pork Loin in the Style of Porchetta. But in his desire to keep things “simple,” he sometimes goes astray, as in the case of homemade sausage, which is reduced to two not-very-simple steps of instructions. Such compression threatens to undermine Batali’s true passion for teaching Americans to savor the intense flavors of local ingredients simply prepared. All in all, the book tries to pack in too much; the two pasta sections would make a book in themselves. What the home cook really needs is more Mario, fewer recipes. Photos, drawings. (May)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

“The trick to cooking is that there is no trick.” ––Mario Batali

The only mandatory Italian cookbook for the home cook, Mario Batali’s MOLTO ITALIANO is rich in local lore, with Batali’s humorous and enthusiastic voice, familiar to those who have come to know him on his popular Food Network programs, larded through about 220 recipes of simple, healthy, seasonal Italian cooking for the American audience.

Easy to use and simple to read, some of these recipes will be those “as seen” on TV in the eight years of “Molto Mario” programs on the Food Network, including those from “Mediterranean Mario,” “Mario Eats Italy,” and the all–new “Ciao America with Mario Batali.” Batali’s distinctive voice will provide a historical and cultural perspective with a humorous bent to demystify even the more elaborate dishes as well as showing ways to shorten or simplify everything from the purchasing of good ingredients to pre–production and countdown schedules of holiday meals. Informative head notes will include bits about the provenance of the recipes and the odd historical fact.

Mario Batali’s MOLTO ITALIANO will feature ten soups, thirty antipasti (many vegetarian or vegetable based), forty pasta dishes representing many of the twenty–one regions of Italy, twenty fish and shellfish dishes, twenty chicken dishes, twenty pork or lamb dishes and twenty side dishes, each of which can be served as a light meal. Add twenty desserts and a foundation of basic formation recipes and this book will be the only Italian cooking book needed in the home cook’s library.

Italian Grill

From Mario Batali, superstar chef and author of Molto Italiano, comes the ultimate handbook on Italian grilling, which will become an instant must-have cookbook for home grillers.

Easy to use and filled with simple recipes, Mario Batali’s new grilling handbook takes the mystery out of making tasty, simple, smoky Italian food. In addition to the eighty recipes and the sixty full-color photographs, Italian Grill includes helpful information on different heat-source options, grilling techniques, and essential equipment. As in Molto Italiano, Batali’s distinctive voice provides a historical and cultural perspective as well.

Italian Grill features appetizers; pizza and flatbreads; fish and shellfish; poultry; meat; and vegetables. The delicious recipes include Fennel with Sambuca and Grapefruit; Guinea Hen Breasts with Rosemary and Pesto; Baby Octopus with Gigante Beans and Olive-Orange Vinaigrette; and Rosticciana, Italian-Style Ribs.

Happy Days with the Naked Chef

Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef is in the same mold as his bestselling cookbooks, The Naked Chef and The Naked Chef Takes Off: recipes for simple, comforting food. This time, however, he has some interesting additions from his travels to Australia, New Zealand, America, and Japan. There are three new ideas in Happy Days with the Naked Chef. Oliver has included a chapter on “Comfort Food”–the kind of cooking Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson specialize in. There are recipes for British favorites like Toad in the Hole, Fish Finger Buttie, and Sticky Sausage Bap with Melted Cheese and Brown Sauce. In his “Quick Fixes” chapter, Oliver has selected dishes where saving time and minimal washing up are the key ingredients. These include a Steak Sarnie and Chicken Breast Baked in a Bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White Wine, and Thyme. He has also included a “Kids Club” chapter, which offers inspiration for parents trying to get their children excited about food. The new additions don’t dominate the book as the remaining two-thirds contain Oliver’s standard Italian-style fare: simple salads, fish, meat, vegetables, breads, and desserts. Don’t miss the excellent recipe for Medallions of Beef with Morels and Marsala and Crème Fraîche Sauce. Oliver has also been traveling and you’ll find recipes with bok choy, soy sauce, and ginger popping up here and there–delicious! –Elizabeth Murgatroyd, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly
Big-energy, high-profile Food Network celebrity Oliver (The Naked Chef) says this book addresses what the average person wants to cook at home; and perhaps never has a personality cookbook ranged so far across high and not-so-high cuisine. Oliver proposes the best way to eat store-bought fish sticks (broil them and serve on a white roll with ketchup) and devises easy dishes he calls Quick Fixes, such as Chicken Breast Baked in a Bag with Cannellini Beans, Leeks, Cream and Marjora. He suggests how to get kids involved (make Chocolate Cookies with Soft Chocolate Centers) and then proceeds to mouth-watering adult fare: Pot-Roasted Pork in White Wine with Garlic, Fennel and Rosemary]; Lovely Pan-Baked Plaice with Spinach, Olives and Tomatoes; and Medallions of Beef with Morels and Marsala and CrŠme Fraiche Sauce. Oliver’s impulse to wow an audience is reflected in such recipes as Whole Roasted Salmon Wrapped in Herbs and Newspaper, to be cooked on a camp fire or over a barbecue, and Flour and Water Crust Chicken, in which a whole bird is enclosed, baked and brought to the table in a pastry covering. Chocolate and Whole Orange Pudding is actually baked with a pre-boiled orange in the center. A small quibble, but home cooks should pay attention when assembling ingredients because they are not always presented in simple lists. The 11 components in Japanese Rolled Pork with Plums, Cilantro, Soy Sauce and Spring Onions, for example, are given in only six lines. Oliver concludes with some of his favorite beverages, which include Easy Peasy Ginger Beer and the Margarita. (Oct.)Forecast: Oliver’s previous two entries from Hyperion have been very successful, and this will follow the pattern. The last week in October, he’ll tour seven cities, conduct cooking shows in bookstores and throw in some drumming as well, a musical talent he practices in his spare time.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Naked Chef Takes Off

Affable Essex boy Jamie Oliver continues the British culinary invasion with The Naked Chef Takes Off, the smashing follow-up to his bestselling The Naked Chef. For Oliver, the young Food Network import, food is all about “passing the potatoes around the table, ripping up some bread, licking my fingers, getting tipsy, and enjoying the company of good friends and family,” and cooking up “what real people at home really want.” The thing is, “real people” picking up cookbooks are often seeking easy-to-follow recipes. But that’s not Oliver’s bag. The layout of many of his recipes may frustrate traditional-cookbook readers–instructions often appear as one big chunk of conversational text with nary an ingredient or measurement in clear view–but that’s part of the charm of Oliver’s cookbooks. His commentary, tips, and cooking steps come across in a very approachable, colloquial style and leave plenty of room for individual flair or improvisation. Oliver’s enthusiasm for cooking is infectious; the recipes and chapter introductions spill out like a best mate who just can’t stop talking about food and how much fun–and simple–it can be to whip up these spectacular dishes.

Oliver kicks things off by stocking your pantry with best-quality ingredients, and he’s an apostle for fresh herbs, raving on about growing and drying your own at home. “Morning Glory” is a chapter full of dishes like Midnight Pan-Cooked Breakfast (bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausages, and eggs brought together in the “biggest nonstick pan available” and sopped up with buttered toast–a rustic one-dish cure for any oncoming hangover). “Tapas, Munchies, and Snacks” brings Slow-Cooked and Stuffed Baby Cherry Chili Peppers to the table (when you’re done snacking on the chilies, you’re left with a jar of terrific flavored oil, perfect for salads or pasta). There’s Squashed Cherry Tomato and Smashed Olive Salad, and a Fragrant Thai Broth, infused with lemongrass, ginger, and lime leaves. Once you’ve mastered his basic risotto recipe you can turn out Shrimp and Peas Risotto with Basil and Mint, and likewise his basic bread recipe is the foundation for Chocolate Twister Bread. “Easy peasy” dessert ideas like Strawberries Marinated in Balsamic Vinegar or Malted Milk Balls and Ice Cream (bash a big bag of Whoppers into bits and sprinkle over quality vanilla ice cream) are a refreshing end to any meal. Now, be a “right little tiger” and get cooking–Seared Scallops and Crispy Prosciutto with Roasted Tomatoes and Smashed White Beans and other fabulous dishes await. –Brad Thomas Parsons –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
The young, hip Londoner (The Naked Chef) again brings his big personality to bear on cuisine that isn’t “cheffy food, it’s for normal people who want shortcuts and tips….” However, normal people may be put off by instructions as vague as the “2 good handfuls of arugula, 1 small handful of capers and 1 handful of anchovies” specified in the Slow-Cooked and Stuffed Baby Cherry Chilli Peppers. Also, simple recipes such as Crunchy Thai Salad are presented in descriptive text alone; ingredient quantities are left unspecified. Yet Oliver wields an adventurous hand in combining flavors, as with Monkfish Wrapped in Banana Leaves with Ginger, Cilantro, Chilli and Coconut Milk. Playful ideas also abound, such as Squashed Cherry Tomato and Smashed Olive Salad, in which the tomatoes are squashed by hand. On a more sophisticated note, there’s Seared Scallops and Crispy Prosciutto with Roasted Tomatoes and Smashed White Beans. Oliver’s Basic Bread recipe is adaptable enough for Chocolate Twister Bread, Pizzas and Chickpea Moroccan Flatbread. Desserts include Two-Nuts Chocolate Torte with almonds and walnuts and CrŠme Br–l‚e The Way I Like It, which is only an inch thick with a thin layer of crisp caramel. Venting his youthful spirits, he even tells how to spike a watermelon with vodka to intoxicate your “mates.” Agent, Borra Garson. (Sept.)Forecast: Already a popular Food Network host, Oliver airs new episodes this year in conjunction with the book. Naked Chef has 100,000 copies in print, and for its sequel, Hyperion plans a $100,000 marketing campaign, including a five-city tour and confirmed appearances on Rosie O’Donnell, Late Night with David Letterman and Entertainment Tonight. Last year, the author made People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” list. Sales should be brisk.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The Naked Chef, (Paperback)

There are a few British television chefs, such as Delia Smith and Nigel Slater, who know exactly what viewers want. They cook food that is simple to prepare but looks and tastes delicious. That’s probably the reason why the BBC appointed Jamie Oliver as the presenter of its series The Naked Chef (which airs on the Television Food Network in the U.S.). A working chef at London’s celebrated River Café, Oliver cooks simpler versions of the fare you would find on the restaurant’s menu. It’s basically modern Italian food using ingredients that can be found by almost anyone who is reasonably interested in food shopping. Like the television show, the book is titled The Naked Chef. In Oliver’s words, this sums up the idea: “It’s basically stripping back to the bare essentials.” He applies this to all his recipes–from salads to roasts, desserts to pastas. He doesn’t use culinary jargon or time-consuming processes. In the book you’ll find suggestions for ingredients to keep in your larder (pantry) and herbs to grow on your windowsill. Recipes include Warm Salad of Radicchio; Gem and Pancetta; and Beetroot Tagliatelle with Pesto, Mussels, and White Wine. There are also tips on how to cook live lobsters, how to make gravy, preparing dry beans for cooking, and how to make the perfect roast chicken. Several photographs accompany some of the recipes, with step-by-step instructions. Oliver’s recipes for bread are particularly good–a tribute to his training at Carluccio’s, the Covent Garden deli. This is the perfect book for anyone who doesn’t want to spend much more than a half-hour preparing meals and is not willing to compromise on innovation or taste. –Dale Kneen, Amazon.co.uk –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
With charming finesse, 24-year-old British chef and BBC television cooking show host Oliver argues a convincing case for “getting naked” in the kitchen. His home-cooking philosophy advocates “stripping down those [restaurant] recipes to something quite basic, and adapting them to what I had in cupboard, pantry, refrigerator or garden.” The 120 recipes are organized into 12 chaptersDherbs and spices, soups, salads and dressings, pasta, seafood, meats, vegetables, legumes, risotto and couscous, bread, dessertsDwith a concluding section on stocks and sauces. Oliver’s suggested list of ingredient staplesDEnglish mustard, durum semolina, couscous, sea salt, soy sauce and capers, among othersDreflects today’s global pantry. His culinary approach synthesizes top-quality, fresh ingredients with fundamental culinary concepts (e.g., composed salads, soups from stock) upon which readers can build. Oliver dispenses helpful tips and advice with boyish enthusiasm: “the perfect risotto should slowly ooze across the plateDthe fact that it isn’t moving tells you that it’s too dry. Yuck!” Succinct, user-friendly recipes range from traditional English home-cooking favorites, like Pot-roasted Rabbit with Rosemary, Thyme, Sage and Lemon, to international comfort foods, such as Fragrant Green Chicken Curry. A stellar pasta chapter showcases photogenic renditions of Beet Tagliatelle with Pesto, Mussels and White Wine, and Ravioli of Borage, Stinging Nettles, Marjoram and Fresh Ricotta. This is functional home cooking at its grooviest: Oliver delivers a hip classic that will appeal to a new generation of modern epicureans who face the challenge of cooking within the confines of tiny urban kitchens on time-pressed schedules.

Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Keeping It Simple

Despite his reputation for intricate and impressive restaurant cooking, Gary Rhodes believes that the best way to something is often the most simple. In his latest book, he strips out complicated techniques and fiddly instructions, in search of the very easiest way to get maximum flavour out of familiar ingredients from chicken to squid and beetroot to rhubarb. In over 200 simple recipes, he demonstrates the fundamentals of cooking and explains how to get stunning results by doing as little as possible. But this is not just a brilliant cookbook for beginners and an essential bible for busy people, it is also a tribute to simplicity and flavour and an invaluable book of simply delicious ideas for cooks of every level.

More books by Gary Rhodes

Gennaro’s Italian Year

As much a celebration of Italy as its food, Gennaro’s Italian Year brings this beautiful country vibrantly to life. From feast days to festivals, Christmas delicacies to summertime delights, chef Gennaro Contaldo expertly guides us through the Italian culinary year. Combining 120 seasonal recipes with stories from his childhood, he reveals which Italian fare is best and when. Told with irresistible passion and charm, Gennaro shows us how each season brings a tantalizing array of deliciously different dishes, like Chestnut Gnocchi with Sausage and Rosemary, Parsnip and Apple Soup, Fresh Fava Bean and Pecorino Cheese Salad, and Mixed Berry Sorbet. Sumptuously illustrated with 100 color photographs, this is a classic Italian lifestyle cookbook.

Passione: Gennaro Contaldo’s Italian Cookbook

It is almost certain that this book was written and published because Gennaro Contaldo is a mentor and close friend to the very celebrated chef Jamie Oliver. While the connection with Oliver and with Gennaro’s own UK / Italian mentor, Antonio Carluccio adds interest to the book and while it is unlikely that I would have bought the book without these connections, I can with complete honesty say that this book stands on its own two feet as a good Italian cookbook and a superior evocation of life growing up in an Italian family where raising, growing, fishing, and hunting animals and plants for food was the whole family’s primary avocation.

The stories of Gennaro’s childhood, especially those directly related to hunting, fishing, and animal husbandry succeed in painting a picture of life along the Amalfi coast which succeeds much better than several culinary memoirs of Italy which I have recently read and reviewed. Mr. Contaldo is not a strong writer and I suspect he received a considerable amount of literary help in transcribing his oral memories of life in Southern Italy to paper. But, the stories are so vivid and so heart-felt that I can almost smell the blood and the sea and the mushrooms that are the subject of so many stories.

From the vantage point of an American who has read many stories of the romance northern Europeans feel for Italy, it is truly surprising to see a reverse of this scenario. Gennaro had a great desire to live and work in England as he was growing up in Italy. Once in the UK, he worked with several restaurants, including a stint in one of Antonio Carluccio’s restaurants. When he was head chef at one London restaurant, he trained the young Jamie Oliver, who treats him as his London dad.

Gordon Ramsay: A Chef for all Seasons

Do we need another by-the-seasons cookbook? Yes, emphatically, if it’s Gordon Ramsay’s A Chef for All Seasons. Ramsay, a rugby player turned U.K. superchef, has done a rare thing: he’s created a chef’s cookbook of impeccable yet unfussy food that’s truly approachable. A quick look at the recipes–Corn and Green Onion Risotto, Asparagus Soup with Fresh Cheese Croûtes, Monkfish with Creamy Curried Mussels–reveals not only Ramsay’s cognizant palate but also his singularly direct approach. Though many of the dishes aren’t meant for weeknight cooking, a sufficient number, including Spring Pea Soup and Roasted Cod with Garlic Pomme Purée, are easy to put together and would make impressive fare for relaxed entertaining. Most cooks, and all food lovers, will delight in Ramsay’s book.

The chapters, each devoted to a season, begin with illuminating explorations of relevant ingredients. Spring’s curly parsley, for example, is ideally blanched, puréed, and mixed with mashed potatoes. Recipes follow, each illustrated with color photos. The winter selection is particularly satisfying and includes Quick Casserole of Squab and Loin of Pork with Choucroute and Mustard Cream Sauce. Desserts aren’t neglected; such sweets as Roasted Autumn Fruits, Panna Cotta with Raspberries, and Mille Feuille with Lavender will surely please those who try them. With an extended section on basic, step-illustrated techniques and core recipes (Ramsay’s Peach Chutney is almost worth the price of admission by itself), the book is a truly welcome addition to the seasonal–and everyday–cooking canon. –Arthur Boehm –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
Known for his irresistible dishes and volatile public persona, Gordon Ramsay is London ’s most talked-about chef, an international sensation whose eponymous restaurant boasts three coveted Michelin stars. Now, Gordon is becoming a household name across the Atlantic, with the U.S. premiere of his hit reality show, Hell ’s Kitchen. In this new paperback edition of his seminal cookbook A CHEF FOR ALL SEASONS, he shares 100 recipes that embody his commitment to working with ingredients in their prime. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the four seasons, with detailed descriptions of key ingredients and recipes that utilize them in delicious, often unexpected combinations. Accompanied by lush color photography, Gordon ’s expert culinary advice and seasonal musings will enlighten and seduce the senses year round.

Recipe

Summery Quails in a Tomato and Tarragon Dressing