Customer Reviews

American Brasserie: 180 Simple, Robust Recipes Inspired by the Rustic Foods of France, Italy, and America

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unquestionably the best new cookbook around. I've cooked a few dishes from the book and they all came out perfect and incredibly tasty. I must praise the two talented chefs who created the book for choosing simple and convenient recipes especially for home chefs. Most of cookbooks by star chefs are impossible to use in home kitchens due to their complex and restaurant-style recipes. But American Brasserie is exceptional. How can you resist Sicilian Tuna with Braised Fennel, Tomatoes & Capers, The Best Banana Cream Pie, Cassoulet, Vegetable Minestrone, Lemon-Sage Roast Chicken with Sausage-Mushroom-Potato Stuffing, Pear and Roquefort Salad with Grapes and Spiced Pecans, and even Root Beer Float to name a few? You won't be disappointed!!!!

A lucid text, edible photos, and luscious recipes make this a keeper. In fact, I borrowed it first from the library and hated to give it back so I bought my own copy!

Several of Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto's recipes earned me rave reviews from friends and coworkers. Do you want people to think you're a culinary star? Try this book. You can't miss. And if you don't think you can cook, try this book anyway. The pictures will hook you. The directions in the recipes are very clear.

Take, for instance the Pear and Roquefort Salad with Grapes and Spiced Pecans. There's a picture in the book, one of those edible pictures. You buy a few simple ingredients and there you are! How hard can it be to wash a few grapes? Or slice a couple pears? Or to crumble some cheese? Or - and this is the really good part - to throw a few things in a blender to come up with the Apple Vinaigrette dressing that goes on the salad? If you want to know the really hard part about this recipe, it's the spiced pecans. They are so good I kept eating them before the salad was finished. I think I'll bring them as a gift the next time I visit someone. Ya gotta try `em.

And if that's not enough, try the Roasted Fruits with Cinnamon-Red Wine Glaze and Toasted Almonds. It's a cinch (as it ought to be since it graduated from a pretty hot restaurant!). If you were short on friends, your problems are over. Okay, you get the idea.

This book will not just sit on my shelf. I expect it will regularly hop off your shelf, too.

Brasserie T is a wonderful restaurant and Gale and Rick have taken the best of the menu plus for a fabulous book. The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients readily available. I am enjoying working my way through it. Some favorites are the lamb shank, escarole and bean stew and all of the desserts.

I've for long time been a fan of Gale's, but only recently discovered her partner, Rick through his amazing new book, "Amuse-Bouche."

So wanted to check out more of his culinary wizardry, and found it to be of same high, creative quality.

This is quite a collection of hearty, flavorful food, meant to stand up to beer brewery atmosphere. Yet it is all very stylistic and well prepared.

To date few dishes prepared are winners, e.g. Roasted Vegetable-White Bean Chili; Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Polenta Cakes, Mesclun, and Balsamic Sauce; Roquefort and Pear Salad with Grapes and Spiced Pecans; Provencal Lamb Shanks with Roasted Vegetables, Roasted Garlic, and Tapenade.

This is fun food to serve during winter and those fire in the hearth nights when a hearty meal and drink hits the spot.

Just an unusual, well-done, useful work from cover to cover. Don't forget the great desserts by Gale!

If you need more inspiration to cook typical pub fare, you'll find the recipes in American Brasserie well laid out. It presents one recipe per page, with the ingredient deck in bold toward the margin and clear instructions down the center. There are about 20 illustrations organized in groups so you'll need to go search for these presentation suggestions. Comments at the end suggest good wines to pair with each recipe.

American Brasserie includes 180 recipes, most for good, hearty foods. Lots of these duplicate recipes I've seen in other places. About a dozen of the desserts were worth further attention.

This was an excellent book that gave me the basics and stretched my cooking skills to make dishes better. Easy to use and understand.

Casual home style cooking of the great cusines for the American cook! Insipired by the other great casual French dining style and reinforced by Italy and even America. Ideas come flooding to me every time I open the book.

I have gotten so many great meals out of this book. I recommend it completely without reservation.

Some of my favorites include the lamb ragu, the pear salad, and sweet ptotato- apple puree.

I have used it some much t he binding has broken and I need a new copy.

The only other books that come close in use are the Hugh Carpenter books.

First, let me explain that I absolutely adore Gale Gand's show Sweet Dreams and I love her Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs cookbook. I've made a lot of her recipes and they always come out great. But, this book has too many ingredients that are hard to find, unusual, time-consuming, (you get the picture). Also, it doesn't help matters that our home is totally alcohol-free. I consistently read & collect cookbooks and I felt I needed to cast an opinion to keep the reviews "fair and balanced."