Big City Cooking: Recipes for a Fast-Paced World [Paperback]

Matthew Kenney (Author), Joan Schwartz (Author), William Meppem (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

"You know why this cookbook is such a kick? Because if you want restaurant food you should eat it in a restaurant. Why put Matthew Kenney out of work? What Kenney thinks makes more sense, however, is to show you how you can cook deliciously and smart for the life you lead, in the city you live in, in that kitchen you hate, with the little time you have, using the best stuff from the market down the block. If you already know all this, we'll all be over tonight at about 7:30."
--Hal Rubenstein,
New York Magazine
Matthew Kenney is a shining star at his big city restaurants. He's also a big city home cook. This fabulous cookbook is as stylish as it is practical, and it's the perfect solution for anyone who's ever tried to rustle up dinner for eight in a small apartment kitchen or attempted to barbecue on a 3-inch balcony. But the best thing about cooking in the big city is that the world's produce markets and delicious gourmet ingredients are right at your doorstep. Using simple, efficient techniques like grilling, searing, roasting, and stewing, these recipes have plenty of downtown clout-without uptown fuss. There's advice on stocking the pantry, buying just the right pans for a limited workspace, and plenty of menus to make entertaining easy. Plus, the eye-catching PVC cover is a cinch to wipe clean. Big City Cooking is sure to keep busy city slickers at home on the range.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Named one of the "10 Best New Chefs in America" by Food & Wine magazine, Kenney (Matthew Kenney's Mediterranean Cooking) is known for innovative cuisine at his four restaurants-Mezze, Monzu, Canteen and Commune. Bringing the same principles that govern his work in these restaurants to this latest volume, he produces simple yet effective recipes that take the best foods from the growing markets and specialty stores in today's big cities to produce dishes suitable for the home cook. He emphasizes that the "quality of the ingredients is everything in cooking." While starting with a chapter on setting up and stocking the kitchen (which contains a complete ingredient source list), he then divides and categorizes the subsequent dishes by cooking method rather than the customary major ingredients, resulting in such sections as "Simply Raw to Barely Cooked" and "Simmering Stews and Hot Pots." Interspersed with mouth-watering photographs, the dishes are lovingly described and fully explained to help achieve delectable results whether it's the simple yet effective Raw Mushroom Salad with Fennel and Parmesan or the fresh, clean-tasting Halibut Baked in Parchment with Tomatoes, Lime and Cilantro. Many recipes are well within the capabilities of even the most kitchen-phobic cook-Braised and Caramelized Fennel, for example, and the Seared Tuna with Ginger Glaze-allowing them impressive results and encouraging them into further forays into the kitchen.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...a resource for those on the go who still like to eat well..." -- Metropolitan Home, April 15, 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 1st ed edition (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811832228
• ISBN-13: 978-0811832229
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Wow" Food Wthout a Huge Time Investment, July 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Big City Cooking: Recipes for a Fast-Paced World (Paperback)

Are you looking for looking for some delicous, creative food without spending hours in the kitchen? Are you looking for something a little different but not totally "out there"?

This is the book for you.

The "bacon-wrapped shrimp over avocado, served with tomato jam" and the "sugar cured salmon over brioche" are worth the price of the book itself. And the "carmelized mango with blueberries" is a nice change of pace from the usually heavy, fatty desserts you normally see. I can't wait to try the "proscuitto-pear-blue cheese-basil panini" and several other dishes.

While you'll likely need to go to the grocery store or gourmet food shop to get a few ingredients, most recipes come together easily. In fact, one of his chapters is food that basically requires no cooking.

This book is not for everyone. If you're you're looking for more basic steak, pot roast, or "whip something up after work" recipes, this won't be you're book. You certainly can make most the dishes after work, but probably not without some previous planning and shopping.

Well, we're off to buy his first book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slick restaurant cooking for hip home meals, April 10, 2003

By 

Jennifer Barger (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big City Cooking: Recipes for a Fast-Paced World (Paperback)

My mother in law, who likes steak and potatoes, would hate this book. But I love it, because it provides relatively easy recipes for mega-sophisticated meals...think pomegranite-glazed duck, unusual fruit desserts like grilled mango (much,much better than it sounds) and a to-die-for spin on grilled vegetables with orange-blossom honey. Just the thing to inspire a cool dinner party!

My one caveat: the ingredients are a bit high-falutin'---fennel pollen? But for foodies, a book like this is a godsend because it refuses to talk down to readers. One section explains the book's unusual ingredient and gives internet sources for them, which is quite helpful.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flashy, innovative, TASTY cuisine, April 7, 2003

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big City Cooking: Recipes for a Fast-Paced World (Paperback)

From the glitzy cover encased in Mylar, to the gorgeous photographs as composed as still life paintings, to the demanding quality of the ingredients (hand-harvested diver scallops for the seviche), to the splashy flavors of the food -Moroccan Spiced Shrimp with Artichokes and Pomegranate, Arugula with Manchego, Roasted Almonds and Quince Dressing, Parmigiano-Reggiano Pudding, Spiced Fruit Soup with Ginger and Toasted Almond Ice Cream - this book is designed for readers as well as cooks.

New York chef Kenney's (he grew up in Maine) Mediterranean cooking focuses on top-quality ingredients (the first chapter includes online food sources and shopping techniques), fresh, bold flavors and kitchen efficiency. Organized by cooking technique - "Simply Raw to Barely Cooked," "Roasting Fast and Slow," "Simmering Stews and Hot Pots," Kenney plans for a small kitchen, minimizing mess and chaos whatever the space. Though ingredient lists are sometimes long, assembly is usually quick and presentation is spectacular: Seared Tuna with Ginger Dressing, for instance, or Maple-Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops with Pecans and Ginger. This is a book for fun, for inspiration, for wowing guests with food that looks flashier than it is.