My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness [Hardcover]

Gwyneth Paltrow (Author), Mario Batali (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2011

The Academy-Award winning actress and avid foodie shares a sumptuous collection of recipes and gorgeous photographs celebrating the joy of preparing food for loved ones, a passion she learned from her beloved father.

As an actress, author, trendsetter, creator of goop.com, and host of the popular PBS series, Spain: On the Road Again, Gwyneth Paltrow is an icon of style and good taste around the world. As a young girl eating and cooking with her father, Bruce Paltrow, she developed a passion for food that has shaped how she lives today and strengthened her belief that time with family is a priority. Now in My Father's Daughter, Paltrow shares her favorite family recipes along with personal stories of growing up with her father, Bruce Paltrow. She discusses how he has influenced her in the food she loves, how she involves her kids in cooking, and how she balances healthy food with homemade treats. And, for the first time, Paltrow offers a glimpse into her life as daughter, mother and wife, sharing her thoughts on the importance of family and togetherness.

Complete with 150 delicious ideas for breakfast, sandwiches and burgers, soups, salads, main dishes, sides, and desserts, this beautifully illustrated book includes full-color photos throughout, many featuring Paltrow at home with her family and friends. My Father's Daughter is a luscious collection that will inspire readers to cook great food with the people who mean the most to them.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Academy-Award winning actress and avid foodie shares a sumptuous collection of recipes and gorgeous photographs celebrating the joy of preparing food for loved ones, a passion she learned from her beloved father.

As an actress, author, trendsetter, creator of goop.com, and host of the popular PBS series, Spain: On the Road Again, Gwyneth Paltrow is an icon of style and good taste around the world. As a young girl eating and cooking with her father, Bruce Paltrow, she developed a passion for food that has shaped how she lives today and strengthened her belief that time with family is a priority. Now in MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER, Paltrow shares her favorite family recipes along with personal stories of growing up with her father, Bruce Paltrow. She discusses how he has influenced her in the food she loves, how she involves her kids in cooking, and how she balances healthy food with homemade treats. And, for the first time, Paltrow offers a glimpse into her life as daughter, mother and wife, sharing her thoughts on the importance of family and togetherness.

Complete with 150 delicious ideas for breakfast, sandwiches and burgers, soups, salads, main dishes, sides, and desserts, this beautifully illustrated book includes full-color photos throughout, many featuring Paltrow at home with her family and friends. MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER is a luscious collection that will inspire readers to cook great food with the people who mean the most to them.

Recipe Excerpts from My Father's Daughter

Blueberry Pavlova	Bruce's Dip	Chicken & Dumplings

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From Publishers Weekly

Award-winning actress and mother of two, Paltrow pays posthumous tribute to her much-adored father who passed along to her a deep love and appreciation for good food. From an early age, she was his eager eating companion and developed a diverse palate that relished everything from egg creams to oysters to blue cheese. Their dining ventures morphed into joint cooking get-togethers where dad instilled the notion that a meal made for one's family is an expression of love. This is evident in the simple and mostly healthy recipes she shares, as prepared for family and friends, in this warm and inviting collection. Paltrow showcases a wealth of dishes, from soups to pastas to main courses and more. Highlights include fried rice with kale and scallions, sole à la grenobloise, and her mother's blueberry muffins. A helpful pantry section includes recipes for basics such as slow-roasted tomatoes and numerous types of stocks. While many recipes are vegetarian, Paltrow does include meat dishes, including cheesy stuffed burgers and cassoulet. Her chapter on side dishes is superb and appealing enough to take center stage, especially her sautéed greens with onions and soy sauce, maple-Dijon roasted winter vegetables, and crispy potato and garlic cakes. Filled with charming personal anecdotes, this book convinces that healthy food can be delicious as well as good for you—and that a father's passion can endure. (Apr.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Life & Style; 1St Edition edition (April 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446557315
• ISBN-13: 978-0446557313
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 1 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Occasions
  • #19 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Gastronomy
  • #28 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > U.S. Regional

More About the Author

Gwyneth Paltrow is an Oscar-winning actress, founder of GOOP.com, co-author with Mario Batali of "Spain... A Culinary Road Trip," and mother of two. She splits her time between London and New York.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

156 of 163 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I didn't want to like it as much as I did June 30, 2011

By Lisa Boggs

Format:Hardcover

I had read negative reviews on different blogs about the book. They were annoyed by her seemingly arrogant suggestion that we should all get wood burning ovens built in our backyards to make home made pizza. They laughed at her ingredients insinuating that no one could possibly buy those fancy ingredients at a normal grocery store. They also complained that unless you are an intermediate or advanced cook - you can't use this book. So when I read the book myself - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I really liked the recipes and I found that I could relate to her as a mother and as a daughter from her anecdotes. I didn't find her ingredients to be so fancy that I couldn't find them at my local farmers market or the grocery store. Most grocery stores have "HEALTH" sections now. I also know a family that are not rich at all - and they have a wood burning oven in their backyard because they saved up and wanted one. It would be the same thing if a family wanted to go to Disney World for vacation - they save up and go. You don't necessarily have to be rich or famous. I have been cooking for a few years and I do find it easier to whip up a dinner from a recipe more so than when I was a beginner - but the book was not that complicated. I'm just a home cook - not a chef - and I could figure it all out. I made her veggie burgers the other day. It was simple and the kids gobbled them up. I made extra to freeze. I have a food saver that vacuum seals my leftovers for the freezer - and I'm not rich or famous - can you believe it? I didn't want to like this book for some stupid reason. Gwyneth just seems so perfect with her fame and wealth and beauty and blah blah blah. But then I came to my senses. She's great and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a good book.

192 of 229 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, delicious, simple, and healthy family recipes with heart-warming anecdotes April 1, 2011

By Fresh Lychee

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

While I usually enjoy looking at cookbooks more than I actually wind up using them, I was enticed by the low number of ingredients listed in several recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow's blog GOOP, and every one that I tried was a hit with family and friends. When I read Jeffrey Steingarten's Vogue feature on Gwyneth and her forthcoming cookbook a few months back, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this book, and it doesn't disappoint. First of all, do yourself a favor and incorporate her "Standby Vinaigrette" into your salad recipes; it is featured on page 69. The maple syrup-tinged Dijon dressing was featured with minced shallots on her GOOP site awhile back, and even my 3-year old loves this dressing which is simple to whip up in a few minutes; when I don't have time to make a more elaborate salad, I simply toss the dressing with some butter lettuce and serve with her roast chicken (I wish the recipe featured on GOOP was incorporated in the cookbook!). Everyone who has tasted the dressing has asked me for the recipe. I just tried her balsamic lime vinaigrette recipe last evening sans lime since I didn't have any, tossed with arugula, and it was delicious. The honey toned down the acidity of the vinegar perfectly. Her dressing recipes are unbelievably easy (4-5 standard kitchen ingredients) and have turned me off bottled dressings forever.

Her simple recipe for slow-roasted tomatoes was a revelation; slice a batch of vine-ripened tomatoes horizontally in half (cut into thirds to cut down on cooking time), place seed side up in the oven on a baking sheet, add a bit of olive oil and a tiny pinch of salt on each slice, stick it in the oven at 275 degrees for 3-5 hours, and voila--the most flavorful roasted tomatoes that beat jarred sun-dried tomatoes any day. I used them in her recipe for the arugula salad with crostini melted with smoked mozzarella and it was the easiest meal ever. I used some of the tomatoes today with melted smoked mozzarella on a baguette with butter lettuce sprinkled with the balsamic dressing, and it made for an incredibly delicious and quick lunch that my husband loved.

I had made some chicken stock using the frame of a leftover roast chicken and incorporated her easy recipe for chicken dumplings (flour, baking powder, and half and half), tossing spoonfuls of the mix into the broth, and it was delicious. Page 44 includes a handy matrix that provides common equivalents for some of the more health-oriented ingredients she uses that you can use to substitute if you can't get your hands on agave nectar, Vegenaise, spelt flour, etc. The recipes are flexible so that you can make them as traditional or healthy as you want, and she is very quick to accommodate both audiences with helpful tips within the recipes. Aside from a few recipes that require more prep work like her roast duck, most of the recipes are family friendly and easy to prepare with a short ingredient list for most. The cookbook is also liberally sprinkled with poignant vignettes and photos from Gwyneth's childhood reflecting the impact of her father on her life and includes beloved recipes passed down from her family members. In the process I also gleaned some great tips on how to incorporate your children in the cooking process; she offers quick tips on how she modifies condiments/ingredients in recipes to accommodate her children's palates. As a mother of two girls under the age of 7 who like things very "simple," I appreciated that perspective tremendously. Beautiful photos, fun reading, great recipes that you can actually use for the modern family and can whip up in a pinch...in short, a great cookbook.

1/15/2012 UPDATE
Be sure to try the Caramelized Brussels Sprouts recipe; this was one I had avoided since I've never cooked Brussels Sprouts before, and the recipe seemed too simple to be tasty. My relative encouraged me to try this, and it is UNBELIEVABLY good. The sprouts come out nutty and rich; be sure to use plenty of kosher salt and lemon juice. I've used a package from Trader Joe's and microwaved the bag for 3 minutes in lieu of steaming, and it worked out fine. I've made this about nine times now...still loving this.

224 of 276 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars If you can, look through this book before buying it April 16, 2011

By PamelaC

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I ordered this book and Cheryl Crow's If it Makes you Healthy cookbook together. If I'd picked them both up at my local Borders and thumbed through, I definitely would NOT have bought this one.

I read this one first and although there's some cute anecdotes and a few recipes that look interesting, if you have more than very basic cooking skills, you'll find yourself shaking your head a bit as you flip the pages here. Many of her 'recipes' are variations of a very simple and basic recipe and many are so basic that you really don't need a recipe at all. As an example, there's a recipe for a turkey blt...that offers nothing new and surprising, just common sense how to assemble the sandwich. So when I finished this book I was left with the overall feeling that there's not much here that isn't already obvious to most people who like to cook.

Fortunately, the opposite was true of the Cheryl Crow book, which blew me away. Page after page of creative, and mouth-watering recipes from her personal chef, that are also healthy. There's so many I can't wait to make and tonight am starting with a slow-cooked braised chicken taco recipe that is easy, healthy and looks delicious.