Customer Reviews

Ciao Yall: Recipes from the PBS Series Cucina Amore (Ciao Series)

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

 

 

An expansion of Carrabba's Italian Restaurant opened in New Hampshire about six months ago. Sitting down for dinner, I was struck by the authenticity of the food. Thick, spicy sausages were served with strips of colorful peppers and onions, flavored richly with a good, pressed olive oil. I knew that I couldn'g go wrong with the cookbook written by Johnny and Damian Mandola.

This book is accented with full-color photographs. The recipes are organized by course: Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Side Dishes, Entrees, Pasta & Pizza, and Desserts. The book also includes a Foreward, Introduction, Basics, and Techniques.

The recipes are not limited to Italian Cuisine. While you will (of coruse) find recipes for Sicilain-Style Tomatoes, you will also find recipes for Cornbread and even a Trio-Layer Cake.

Each recipe includes a number of servings, ingredients list, step-by-step procedures on how to prepare the recipes, serving suggesions, and quotes from the authors about the origins and tastes of the recipes.

I gave this cookbook to my husband for Christmas and he loves it. We visited Mandola's Winery just south of Austin, TX, and were so impressed we had dinner at Mandola's restuarant in Austin that evening on our way back home. Both are delightful and are fully reflected in the cookbook showing how you can mesh 2 totally different cultures (Italian and Southern American) in food and have a very tasty mix.

I have to confess to a huge crush on Damian Mandola, but after making his gumbo, I may be in love. I followed the recipe exactly except for the crab (too much $, so I used 8 oz. of packaged crabment) and I added andouille sausage because my cooking's biggest fan loves it. The time it takes to make the dark roux he says to use is worth it. The recipe is fabulous. I haven't made anything else in the cookbook yet, but the directions are beautifully thorough; the photographs and quotations from the guys are delightful.

I generally buy my books for the dessert recipes. This was no exception. It has some dolci that I find interesting and unique. I started with the Lemon Rosemary Pound Cake and it was fabulous. It has a fluffy moist tender crumb that we swooned over. Well worth the price of the book.

I also tried a couple of other dishes and was not impressed...but still know there is a lot of great cooking to do from this book.

If you like Carrabba's restaurant food, and you like to cook, you will like this book. Like Carrabba's food, it's well done, lots of good recipes, and well worth the low price.

I love to eat at Carrabba's restaurants, they are some of the best in the USA. love Johnny's cookbook, too, even tho I do not believe his recipe is the exact same, just have to cont.eating in his restaurants.
the cookbook is delightful esp. when he and his partner add their own sayings about their early lives and eating with their grands....everyone should get to share this book and also eat in a Carrabba's rest. they are the best in this country, for Italian cooking. thanks Johnny.