Cooking at Home (Williams-Sonoma) [Hardcover]

Chuck Williams (Author), Kristine Kidd (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 25, 2010 | Series: Williams-Sonoma

With over 1000 recipes from the archives of Williams-Sonoma, hundreds of informative side notes, and dozens of charts and other reference material, this book contains everything you need to know—and nothing you don’t—about how to cook what you want to eat today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This upscale cookbook is a visual and tactile treat containing a comprehensive array of eclectic cooking and prep tips (two per page) presented with a sophisticated aesthetic that works right into a chef's approach to total presentation. The author, W-S founder and passionate cook Williams partners with Kidd (Thanksgiving), longtime Bon Appetit food editor, for a vast collection of recipes. A range of truly fascinating tips teach readers to fix cracks in dough or shape a meat patty (thinner in the middle), advise that "custards should wiggle" when they come out of the oven, and inform that zakushi means "little bite" in Russian. Excellent graphics clearly depict cuts of meat, and a comprehensive section on vinaigrettes and advisory asides ("all about capers" for instance) will aid the budding chef. Many cooks will find some of the 1,000 recipes here familiar, but each is meticulously crafted to bring the finished product to perfection. The more esoteric offerings (of which there are many) arrive with comments on ingredients and methods. This is a book for everyone, a beautiful gift, and a practical long-term tool for the coziest room in the house. (Nov.)
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Review

"For over fifty years, Chuck Williams has had a profound impact on American cuisine. By introducing everything from the basic to the most sophisticated kitchen equipment for the home, he has elevated the knowledge and repertoire of cooks everywhere. Williams-Sonoma Cooking at Home is a compilation of his favorite recipes spanning decades. These dishes are classics in their own right." --Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

"Cooking at Home fits in perfectly with Chuck Williams' lifelong mission of encouraging people to explore the world of cooking. It is a painstakingly thorough aid that has something to offer everyone, from the culinary novice to the seasoned home cook." --Tom Colicchio, chef/owner Colicchio & Sons and Craft Restaurants

"Williams-Sonoma Cooking at Home, a collaboration between the store's founder, Chuck Williams, and Kristine Kidd, the former Bon Appetit food editor, should be taken seriously." --San Francisco Chronicle

"If I was being exiled to a remote island and could only take one cookbook with me, this Williams-Sonoma collection would be my pick. It's that comprehensive and that essential." --The Tucson Citizen

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Weldon Owen (October 25, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740899776
• ISBN-13: 978-1740899772
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars My new Go-To Cookbook November 2, 2010

By A. Burnett

Format:Hardcover

No doubt about it. This book is fantastic. My Grandmother used "The Joy of Cooking", my mom uses the" Silver Palate", my sister uses "How to Cook Everything" and now I have "Cooking at Home". This is my new go-to cooking reference. I heard it took Chuck Williams almost 20 years to write this book and you can tell. It is so thoughtfully laid out and designed. I love that it has the recipes directly next to the ingredient lists. And even though I also enjoy all the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks that have beautiful 4 color photos, I don't miss them at all in this book. It's a different type of book. I think the tables, techniques, tips and charts are perfect. The recipes that they chose for this book are classic and timeless. It's fantastic and a great addition to my kitchen bookshelf. It would make a great gift.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing One-Stop Kitchen Resource November 27, 2010

By John Shade

Format:Hardcover

As a long-time cookbook collector with limited space, I insist that any new cookbook must pass several tests to earn a spot on my shelves. It should offer a broad range of reliable, dare I say, fool-proof recipes, it should represent as authentic a version of the cuisine(s) as possible, relying on genuine ingredients rather than supermarket short-cuts, and above all it should read as if a master cook is standing at my shoulder guiding me through the trickier parts of a recipe and telling me the full range of why, when, where, how that helps make me an intuitive, and ultimately recipe-independent, cook (so that yes, the best cookbooks teach you so much that you no longer need to refer to them quite so often!).

With this all in mind, Cooking at Home is now on my shelf alongside Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking, Mark Bittman's How to Cook, and Nick Malgieri's How To Bake, to name the handful of books that have answered my questions and nurtured my home cooking skills time and again. It's all here: the American and international classics, the comfort foods, the desserts and appetizers, the roasts and braises and stews, the immediately appealing variations (the sweet potatoes Anna is to die for); you name it and it's very likely to be covered. I should note that when it says 1000 recipes, it means it...there isn't a bit of filler in here. Buy yourself a copy of this one and pick up a couple to pass along. It's a true gem.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You've done it again... November 16, 2010

By Leslie Brown

Format:Hardcover

This encyclopedia of wonderful, easy recipes is my new go to cookbook. The recipes are absolutely delish and even though there are no pictures, the recipes themselves conjure up fabulous images. They are very well categorized and easy to follow and the results are just spectacular. A winner!!