Customer Reviews

The Fearless Chef: Innovative Recipes from the Edge of American Cuisine

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I absolutely love this cookbook. I think Andy is a genius. Four recipes come to mind immediately as EXCEPTIONAL:
* Basil-encrusted pork with corn relish
* Fried-chicken with green onion gravy
* Kung Pao shrimp
* Margarita cake

OK, now I'm hugry. That said, I wouldn't recommend this for the more casual chefs. Andy has some unique flavor combinations which are much harder adjusting if you don't have everything you need, or if you want to fit them to your taste.

I recently got my copy of The Fearless Chef and am systematically working my way through the recipes. I'm still in appetizers (well, I'm in appetizers and in drinks, because I'm working my way through from both the front and the back of the book). Husbands makes the ordinary new again. Like devilled eggs? You'll flip for the these fearless ones--they're nothing like my grandmother used to make. The chopped salads bring salad flavor quotients to an entirely new level--these things are amazing. So far the nosh and salad dishes are riffs on something familiar but with new flavor combinations and juxtapositions. The tastes and textures are bold and subtle--there's always more going on than you'd expect. So far the recipes have been very accessible and the ingredients available; they're heavy on fresh herbs and freshly toasted whole spices. The writing style is humorous and easy to read and filled with useful background information on ingredients and techniques (who knew that the secret to really good southern style biscuits is a flour called Lily White (or is it While Lily?)? It's one of those cookbooks that's not only good to cook from, but is fun to read because the voice comes through so brightly (you get the clear sense that Husbands and Yonan have had interesting lives and have been focused on food for a long time). The one drawback that I've found so far is that the typeface and positioning for the names of recipes is a little hard to get used to. But then soon enough my pages will be so splatted with the fruits of these recipes that it won't really matter. A great cookbook all around.

I've been a patron of Andy's restaurants for close to a decade. Now that I have a few of his secrets, I can share them with guests who don't live in the area. The recipes in this book are fantastic! The smells, textures and creativity within the pages will have your mouth watering the moment you open the book. Be fearless and explore Andy's world of cuisine!

This book is a gorgeous and delicious collection of wild flavors! I'm excited to add it to my cookbook collection. I want to go visit the chef's restaurants and see for myself how funky and yummy his food really is. In the meantime, I'd like to get started learning how to make those cocktails!

We have been patrons of Andy's restaurants for years and have been anxiously awaiting this masterpiece. Andy and Joe have written a cookbbook that is not only fun to read, but easy to use. It offers new twists on old favorites as well as bold and flavorful originals. Some favorites to date include his wacky interpretation of Deviled Eggs (Delpha'd Eggs), his wicked spicy Kung Pao Shrimp with Cashews and Mangoes (a real crowd pleaser), Chicken Chicharrones with Limed Sour Cream, and Barbecued Shrimp with Hominy.

Fear not this is no ordinary cookbook. Andy continues to deliver the same adventurous American cuisine that has made his restaurants so popular. It is sure to please not only the cook, but also any family and friends who are lucky enough to be invited over when it is being used.

My husband and I love to cook, but we've had little spare time lately. When we have managed to cook, it's been mostly simple stuff. This year we took a four-day weekend to celebrate our anniversary, and we decided to cook up a true feast on Monday. This seemed the perfect opportunity to test out Andy Husbands and Joe Yonan's "The Fearless Chef: Innovative Recipes from the Edge of American Cuisine." Reading through the recipes, they looked like exactly our kind of food; we couldn't wait to try them out.

One of the recipes turned out absoluteley spectacularly--a soy glaze that we put over noodles. Other recipes were good but not great; a mango and cabbage salad and some beans both tasted a bit unbalanced in flavor. In particular, the beans tasted overwhelmingly of the beer that went into them (I'm sure some would see that as a plus!).

Dessert is where the excitement came in. We made a bananas Foster-like recipe that involved a full cup of rum (I had to triple-check the amount because I found it so hard to believe). When we opened the oven at the end of the baking time I heard a whooshing sound and the slam of the oven door. Then I smelled burnt hair. I whipped around, and when my husband turned to face me all I could say was, "umm, you should look in a mirror." His eyebrows and eyelashes, and the front row of his hair, had all been burned partially off. A gout of flame had apparently shot straight out of the oven when he opened it up.

Nothing like that has ever happened to us before.

Dessert was still edible, believe it or not, but once again, just like the beans, the taste of alcohol was so overwhelming that I almost couldn't taste anything else. And no matter how much I love that soy glaze, I can't quite get past that fireball.

I bought this book so I could learn how to make some of the stuff that are in the resturants that Andy set up. FOr the most part they ended up tasting fairly similar to the stuff at the resturant. Some of the stuff is hard to make, but over all the book is filled with lots of delicious interesting unique recipies. Highly reccommended, not to mention the book is a very easy fun read

by the Meatloaf, Blueberry Bread Pudding and Fontina Tater recipes found within this book. My reputation for Sunday dinner in our family has been spotty at best. The instructions made everything so simple and while I was able to knock it out in no time at all, the results suggested I had been cooking all day.Also, I mixed a few of the rubs for later use-the bbq one is particulary versatile and I've used it on a dozen or so grilled produce/meat. Fantastic cookbook you will refer to often_and a portion of profits go to great cause-what's not to love.

I am so glad to get a taste of New England here in my home state of Texas. The recipes are exciting and different, and the encouragement Joe and Andy offer provide the much needed push to get creative in the kitchen. From the fried pork chops with maple/red pepper sauce to the nectarine and lamb kabobs, I'm thrilled w/ the spice of life this book provides.

One of my favorite books of the year. Andy Husbands has created a book that brings the flavor and personality of his great Boston and Providence restaurants to print and makes them very accessible to the home cook. From the Chicarrones (which I personally wrap in lettuce leaves rather than tortillas to save on carbs and add crunch) to the Lamb Tagine which has flavors I haven't tasted since I last visited Africa, every recipe explodes with flavor yet incorporates easy to find ingredients and simple techniques. And to top it all off, the book is filled with personal stories that kept me up reading all night. I love this book and countless friends will be getting it as a holiday gift this year.