Customer Reviews

Food & Wine Quick from Scratch Chicken

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

 

 

"Food and Wine's Quick from Scratch Chicken" (with its amusing title pun) is one of those rare cookbooks--you know, the ones which contain way more recipes you want to try than not and recipes which become family favorites.

And that's just the cover recipe. Oh, I'm sorry, if you have the book cover with the drumsticks and corn on the cob, then you don't have my cover with Chicken Chasseur. Eh? Don't know that term? I didn't either. "Chasseur" means "hunter's chicken" and "harks back to a time when game birds and mushrooms from the woods were a natural autumn combination." My cover recipe is grounded in crushed tomatoes and mushrooms. Your cover recipe is Grilled Tandoori Chicken, grounded in yogurt and spices. Big differences but both appeal to various tastes and quite delectably.

My method for choosing a cookbook is this: Pick it up and flip through it. First, there must be many photos so I will know if my dish looks the way it should. I found this cookbook at my school's book fair where I heard a mother telling a friend that she didn't buy cookbooks without a picture of each final dish because she just HAD to know how it was supposed to look! I agree! If the cookbook is "cheaply" made, the photos make the dishes look so bland. This is a beautiful cookbook with full-page, full-color photos which show details of the food.

OK, I've flipped and see my required photos showing delectable recipes. Further--I find only a couple of recipes that do not look like something I would want to eat. I repeat: only a couple! I knew then I would buy this cookbook. A book with so many recipes to try!

Here's the first one I prepared (with one variation in choice of ingredients):
Spinach Salad with Smoked Chicken, Apple (I substituted Fresh Pear), Walnuts, and Bacon. Very nice!

After going to Tunisia and eating North African cuisine, I am always delighted to find recipes for that particular ethnic food. The same with Thai food. This cookbook has many "ethnic" recipes-- for I'm not sure we can label food ethnic any more because so many types have become almost "native." This is a recipe you will want to try, too: Moroccan Chicken and Potato Salad with Olives. This one is also heavy on the spices with ginger at the helm. Absolutely delish!

Sample "ethnic" recipes:
Chicken Burritos with Black Bean Salsa and Pepper Jack
Chicken and Feta Tostadas (Greek or Mexican? Both? Interesting, yes?)
Spicy Pita Pockets with Chicken, Lentils, and Tahini Sauce (Greek? Middle Eastern? Again both?)

Chicken Livers with Caramelized Onions and Madeira--(so? French? American? Spanish? See what I mean? Our food, once bland, has become rich and flavorful, all because of our immigrant inheritance with a syncreticism of flavors taking place. (I know chicken livers are unhealthy, but from NutritionData website--"The good: This food is low in Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Zinc, Copper and Manganese, and a very good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Phosphorus and Selenium.
The bad: This food is very high in Cholesterol." So, it's a trade-off, but chicken livers once or twice a year surely would be beneficial.

Then there are standard American recipes with added ingredients which step up the flavors. For example, Grilled Chicken but add Spicy Brazilian Tomato and Coconut Sauce for that exotic flavor! Or Sauteed Chicken Breast with Fennel and Rosemary--a little Greek, a little Italian!

Try Risotto with Smoked Turkey, Leeks, and Mascarpone. Oh, pounds stay away!
Here's another North African recipe: Chicken and Zucchini Couscous which also includes chickpeas and a cumin-spiced tomato broth, making the final product resemble a vegetable stew (with chicken).

Can you tell that a flip of pages reveals another must-try recipe? Another: Chicken Goulash redolent with Hungarian paprika. Or a continental African dish: Groundnut Stew full of peanut and okra flavors and texture. Add a tomato base and chicken and the result is an intensely flavorful dish to serve over rice or noodles.

Another wonderful bonus is the wine recommendation with every recipe. With the Groundnut Stew (peanuts from peanut butter) a "simple, fruity red wine such as a Beaujolais" is suggested.

Another addition is the chapter of preparation tips: definition of terms, description of essential ingredients, tips about handling and cooking chicken, as well as what a well-stocked pantry contains.

I love this cookbook, as will you (I'm pretty sure)!

We love this book! I received this book as a gift and I LOVE it! I have subscribed to Food and Wine for years and if you are a fan of the magazine you will love this book. The recipes really are quick and use fresh ingredients. Many of the recipes are healthy and all of the recipes are good, but most of them are great.

I like that the book includes conversion information for using one type of chicken versus another (for example, if you prefer chicken breasts and the recipe calls for thighs this section tells you how much to sub). I have made more recipes from this quick cooking book than from any other quick cooking book I own.

Another plus of this book is the wine pairing, we only use this info when entertaining, and I love that this is a quick cooking book and we can entertain with a lot of the recipes. Some of our favorites are the Chicken Chasseur (which is on the cover of my book) and the Arroz con Pollo. The only recipe we tried that we won't make again is the chicken wings. The sauce just didn't stick and they were just okay. I highly recommend this book!

I saw this at my grandchild's book sale and bought another copy for my son. Some really easy and different chicken recipes. I cooked 5 or 6 things out of this already -- all have been good -- about half have been really good.

I've been cooking for almost 40 years and I've been buying cookbooks for nearly as long. I've got a shelf-full of chicken cookbooks, but this one, and the other Food and Wine chicken cookbook "The Chicken Collection" are my favorites for chicken. I wish they had been my first choices when I was looking for a cookbook specifically about chicken and other birds.

Why? While this is a very "American" cookbook, the recipes are diverse, with many ingredient combinations, and with many world cuisines represented--Russian, Moroccan, Mexican, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai--just to name a few. I can use a recipe "as is", or use it for inspiration. Ingredients are to be found in regular grocery stores. Ingredients are not extravagant or overly expensive. Ingredient lists are not excessively long. Instructions are not complex--they are concise and correct and the cook is not left with questions. The pictures match the recipes (that is, the title and ingredients say sweet potatoes, but the picture shows carrots....).

And, if it's important to you, the photos are large, full color and very pretty. (This is the case for the entire line of Food & Wine cookbooks.) And, being a Food & Wine cookbook, the index is cataloged by main ingredients AND wine pairings (which I find especially worthwhile and interesting). Contents are grouped by cooking methods: Sautes, stir-fries, roasted, baked, grilled, braised, soups, stews, pasta, grains, salads and sandwiches.

I especially recommend this cookbook for younger cooks just starting out in their first kitchens, in college or going gung-ho in their first jobs. The recipes come together quickly, ingredients are not hard to find, instructions are to-the-point--all things that would appeal to those on the go with hardly a moment to spare, but still wanting to present a beautiful dish for oneself and friends after a long day. Actually, I suggest that you take a look at the entire line of Food & Wine "Quick From Scratch" cookbooks--all those I've seen are worthwhile. They make fine gifts, too. And assembling a collection of the "Quick From Scratch" cookbooks would make a fine and thoughtful shower or wedding gift.

My daughter--still in college and in a tiny efficiency apartment finds these recipes easy to prepare. She especially likes a chart that is included at the beginning of the book that lists substitutions for chicken parts and other birds. Cooking methods and times are incorporated into that list.

A final note: Food & Wine has published this collection for years. If you have or see one with a different cover page, it's got a different publication date. I've found that most of the recipes are the same, but each publication is updated. Sometimes the older books are very inexpensive, so it boils down to a decision between the latest information and updates and how much you want to spend on the book.

And a final, final note: Advice from a lady who raises chickens (for eggs only--our chickens are named....), chicken "scratch" is ok for a little diversity in feed, but is not a proper diet for healthy chickens. Don't buy the eggs of chickens whose only feed is "scratch".

This cookbook is great. It has many great flavors for the taste buds..We eat great amounts of chicken,and this cookbook has helped a great deal for variety of flavors..I have found this book to be of great help in choosing a recipe. You can get bored with your own recipes sometimes, so this has help a great deal..