Customer Reviews

Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California

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During my nine years of living in Rome, I discovered that the best dishes were based on simple recipes that could be prepared with infinite variations. In her latest book, celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis demonstrates this proposition, presenting us with what in Italy is called cucina casareccia--and in California, home cooking.

Among her most mouth-watering concoctions are the antipasti: prosciutto-wrapped dates stuffed with blended mascarpone and goat cheese; smoked salmon and apple carpaccio; and fried cheese-stuffed zucchini blossoms (I was particularly grateful for her suggestion for testing the heat of the oil: toss a cube of bread into the olive oil--medium heat; when the bread browns, the oil is ready.). Similarly, her salads--"easy to throw together"--are truly inviting: an example is her green-bean salad, seasoned with fresh rosemary, parsley, chopped garlic, drizzled with olive oil (Her advice on choosing the best olive oil is especially enlightening.). Her lentil salad--mixed with grapes and cucumbers, among other ingredients, including hazelnuts--tickles one's tastebuds. And her recipe for Involtini--rolled-up beefsteaks filled with a mixture of various ingredients including garlic and basil--recalled forgotten memories of my father's putting me to work as a child, chopping parsely, garlic, together with something he called "fatback," which I imagine was lard, but which has now been substituted by olive oil. The strings with which he used to tie the involtini together have also been replaced by easier-to-use 4-inch skewers. Merely reading the recipe causes me to remember the aroma of involtini simmering in marinara sauce.

The beauty of these recipes is that they invite one to be adventurous, as the author suggests in combining the best of Italy with the best of California. Are lobster tails too expensive when preparing her divine brown butter risotto? Substitute shrimp. Too much sugar for you in her imaginative strawberry and rosemary scones? Use half the amount! The amazing thing about Italian cooking is that, as the author remarks, it is always "evolving."

Although "Giada at Home" contains some shortcuts, such as her tempting lemon-chicken soup, which calls for "low-sodium chicken broth" and " diced rotisserie chicken" [My father would turn over in his grave if he caught me following her suggestion to break the spaghetti into two-inch pieces!], many of her recipes, such as those which call for slicing, dicing, beating, and grating, require one to spend considerable time in the kitchen.

If you have the patience and enjoy cooking, I am certain that the results will be worth the trouble.

Buon' appetito!

When my younger sister first got me into The Food Network a few years ago, Giada's Everyday Italian become a quick favorite. From the very beginning, I felt like I had a connection with Giada. I was enamored by her tasty modern twists on Italian classics and simpler, more everyday approach to traditionally complex dishes -it also didn't hurt that I'm a big fan of Italian food and I my boyfriend has strong Italian heritage, so he's always happy to try out the recipes I get from Giada.

It didn't take long for my sister and I to introduce Giada to our parents, who also quickly become fans, and we started welcoming Giada into our kitchen regularly in the form of what we called "Giada dishes." Particularly after my sister and I gave my mother Everyday Pasta for Mother's Day last year, making Giada dishes become a big event that brought the family together. When I had the opportunity to check out Giada's latest cookbook, Giada at Home, I was more than excited and couldn't wait to see what tasty treats she had in store.

Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California builds on the already fabulous library of Giada recipes that put a twist on Italian dishes. This cookbook includes tasty appetizers like stuffed baby peppers (which can easily be turned into a main dish) and beef skewers; a great selection of soups and sandwiches such as white bean and chicken chili and mini Italian pub burgers (a great twist on silders); mouth-watering pastas such as rigatoni with creamy mushroom sauce and penne with treviso and goat cheese; meat selections, such as a succulent turkey meatloaf with feta and sun-dried tomatoes; lovely salads that could become meals on there own; some Italian twists on desserts and, in a unique addition, a selection of Italian-style brunch foods, such as baked provolone and sausage frittata, campanelle pasta salad and even an Italian version of steak and eggs! I particularly liked the blend of more traditional Italian dishes and more modern dishes with a Californian flair. The collision between classic and modern really gave the recipes here some dimension and variety.

Giada at Home follows the standard of gorgeous food photography set forth in previous Giada cookbooks. Along with photos of mouthwatering Italian treats, there are also several photos of Giada and her family, particularly her young daughter, Jade.

My only tiny criticism of this cookbook is that I felt like Giada lost a little bit of her "everyday" aspect here. Some of the recipes got a little too complex or called for ingredients that are a little more difficult to find and have a much stronger appeal to "foodies." While I personally still loved the recipes here, some would have trouble with wide-spread appeal.

Overall though, another fabulous cookbook from Giada!

Giada's show is the only cooking show I watch on a regular basis, because the pleasure she takes in the preparation and eating of a great meal is infectious, but never overboard. The recipes in this book offer the same fresh, almost joyful attitude towards food.

I have only tried three of the recipes--for one thing, they are seasonal and locally oriented, so I can't get any zuchinni blossoms or seasonal squash in February. But the white bean and chicken chili was a delightful winter meal (I made it with ground turkey). The rigatoni with creamy mushroom sauce was also delicious...and a great vegetarian option, as she pointed out in her notes. But the best of all was the pasta ponza. I love the concentrated flavor of roasted tomatoes, and with the addition of bread crumbs, this was a real treat.

I have many more recipes to try, and look forward to it.

I have all her cookboks and this one, her latest (Giada at Home) is the best so far. If you're new to Giada and thinking about buying one of her cookboks, I would strongly recommend to start with this one. And of course, if you own her previous ones, I'm sure you will love this one as well.

I own tons of cookbooks, I simply have a passion for cookboks. But most of the time I don't cook more than one or two recipes from each book, they tend to spend most of their time on the shelf. Giada's books are the exception to that rule. Her books (and especially this one# are my to go to books. I love that most recipes in this book are easy,fast and uncomplicated everyday kind of meals/recipes, at the same time as they are so delicious, festive and special that they work more than well for special occasions and parties.

I've already tried several recipes from this book and been more than happy with the results. New favorites are the smoked mozzarella meatballs, pasta ponza, gorgonzola stuffed tomatoes and pea crostini. And there are many many more recipes in the book that I'm looking forward to try. Every Sunday, I plan the meals for the upcoming week #a real timesaver for our busy schedule). Every week I always have at least one Giada recipe on the menu, an old favorite or a new one. Like I said, she is the to go to girl when it comes to delicious everyday as well as weekend food.

Yes, there are some heavy and caloric recipes, but I always think that Giada tries to make her recipes a bit lighter. A splash of lemon here and there, small things like that really make her dishes feel lighter and perfect for my taste buds.

Giada has always been good about striking a balance between interesting dishes that impress and with realistic kitchen skills of the average cook. Her dishes are easy enough for a beginner to pull off and interesting enough to impress friends and family. Everytime I buy one of Giadas cookbooks I end up cooking and trying something totally new that I have never tried before. I have yet to be unable to cook a dish correctly and I have always enjoyed her recipes.

Giada at home focuses on family and recipes she loves for family meals. It has great pictures of her with her family, and the dishes are photographed with wonderful detail.

The sections included, along with some top picks are:
Appetizers- Stuffed Baby Peppers, Beef Skewers with cherry tomatoes and parsley sauce, bruchettas and crostinis.

Soups and Sandwiches- Zucchini and Olive pizza, Chicken Burgers with Garlic-Rosemary Mayonnaise, Mini Italian Pub burgers and Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti.

Pasta and Grains- Gorgonzola and Porcini Mushroom Risotto, Fusilli with Spicy Pesto, Cheesy Baked Faro and Brown Butter Risotto with Lobster.

Meat, Poultry and Fish- Honey Balsamic Lamb Chops, Grilled Salmon with Citrus Salsa Verde, Grilled Tuscan Steak with Fried Egg and Goat Cheese and Chicken Milanese with Tomato and Fennel Sauce.

Vegetables and Salads- Grilled Asparagus and Melon Salad, Vegetable Parmesan, Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs, and Skewered Greek Salad.

Desserts- Espresso Caramel Bars, Lemon Hazelnut Tiramisu, Pomegranate and Mint Sorbet and Chocolate Honey Almond Tart.

Brunch- Ginger Tea Lemonade with Basil, Citrus Salad, Egg White Frittata with Lox and Arugula, and Crispy Parmesan Biscuits.

Those are just a few of the recipes featured in each section.

This is an excellent recipe book that you will find yourself pulling out on a weekly basis.

Giada at Home / 978-0-30745-101-9

Part cookbook, but with biographical elements that provide interesting insight and reading into the featured chef's adjustment from Italian cuisine to American cuisine, and her fusion attempts with both, this book is an interesting read with several mouth-watering recipes. Many of the recipes feature full-page finished photos, and most of the Italian cuisine dialect is carefully explained to the reader (finally, I now know the difference between prosciutto and pancetta).

It's worth remembering, when considering the purchase of this book, that the recipes here may be challenging for some American palates. Although Giada has tastefully combined American cuisine with her Italian childhood memories, the Italian flavors shine through heavily. Many of the recipes call for ingredients that may not be found outside of the nearest specialty market, almost none of the recipes utilize beef (and even the chicken and pork recipes are fairly sparing on the meat content), and there is a noticeable reliance on salty flavors in the meat and cheese dishes.

Of course, none of this makes the cookbook less worthy of purchase, but like all specialty cookbooks, I would recommend flipping through a few recipes before purchase. Having said that, this is a very nice specialty cookbook - the flavor and variety are appreciated, the writing style is quite engaging, the pictures are beautiful, and the assembly instructions are adequate (although I would prefer pictorial assembly instructions where applicable, but I suppose that's a bit much to ask from a specialty book).

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through Amazon Vine.

~ Ana Mardoll

I really enjoyed this cookbook and it's gotten a spot on my 'referred to' cookbook shelf. I tried a couple of dishes and they turned out great. While some use more exotic ingredients, most don't and you could whip them up without a lot of trouble.

Also, I'm a 'mostly vegetarian' and I found myself dog-earing a ton of recipes that look good and will please both me and my meat-eater husband.

The little stories from Giada actually are informative (often I feel the author is just indulging themself with these little bits) and interesting. Though I saw a pre-pub edition so the pics were all kinda blurry and in black and white, it looks like there WILL be a photo included for almost (or possibly all) every recipe.

GIADA AT HOME: FAMILY RECIPES FROM ITALY AND CALIFORNIA is a wonderful cookbook. With anecdotes and pictures of Giada's family and friends it brings to mind the importance loved ones have on everyday cooking.

GIADA AT HOME is easily divided into easy to read sections broken down according to the course to be cooked as well as according to the ingredient to be used and the occasion. My favorite recipes of Giada De Laurentiis include her recipes for supper time. The easier the better and GIADA AT HOME is simply outstanding at bringing out the gourmet Italian chef in all of us -- including me, a sad excuse for an Italian who uses ragu for spaghetti sauce. Although, I have to say that Ms. De Laurentiis' recipe for Antipasti is something that I am dying to experience over and over.

GIADA AT HOME is worth every single penny you will pay for it. And more. Easy recipes, great pictures, simple to find ingredients. I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Natalie S. for Amazon Vine

I made 4 recipes out of this cookbook in 1 week for different people (friends, family, etc) and ALL FOUR recipes were a complete HIT! I got so many compliments on the food it was crazy. SO good. I recommend this book OVER AND OVER! LOVE IT!

Those who follow Giada De Laurentiis on her Emmy Award winning TV program (and there are jillions of you) know just how delicious, healthful, and beautifully presented her dishes are. Her four previous cookbooks have all topped bestseller lists, however, for this Giada fan GIADA AT HOME is something very special because not only are there a multitude of tasty recipes, but it is also a warm affectionate look at family, friends, and her adopted state of California.

I cannot remember seeing a cook who took so much pleasure in the preparation of food - perhaps it is because she's preparing for those she loves. Whatever the case, the recipes included in this book are family recipes form Italy and California. Some are generations old recipes (identified by being set in orange type), while others are new family recipes (set in green type). Readers will find that Giada has been happily influenced by what she finds at her local farmer's market - beautiful seasonal fruits and vegetables. Thus, she prepares dishes that spotlight these flavors. Delightful offerings!

GIADA AT HOME begins with Appetizers followed by Soups & Sandwiches, Pasta & Grains, Meat, Poultry & Fish, Vegetables & Salads, Desserts, and Brunch.

Photographs of the dishes by Jonelle Weaver are so real that one is tempted to take a bite. Relaxed candid shots of family and friends allow readers glimpses of the happiness engendered when loved ones gather to share a meal.

For this reader Brunch is one of my favorite chapters, especially as described: "In Italy weekends are all about the leisurely lunch, a meal that can start any time after one-thirty in the afternoon and might well stretch on into the early evening." It is the day's "main event."

It's so much more than a main event, it's a dreamed of libation if it begins with Limoncello and Blueberry Cooler and includes Mozzarella, Raspberry, and Brown Sugar Panini plus a Strawberry and Rosemary Scone or two.

Enjoy - I know you will!

- Gail Cooke