Customer Reviews

Italian, My Way: More Than 150 Simple and Inspired Recipes That Breathe New Life into Italian Classics

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

 

 

This is an excellent book -- right up there with the River Cafe cookbooks (but the recipes are a LOT easier). I've made several of the recipes over the weekend and the instructions and timing were spot on. A range of interesting recipes are given with precise instructions. Some unique ingredients are specified, but alternates may be substituted. I found the author's tone humble and practical, which was a bit surprising for a celebrity chef. There seem to be a fair number of poncey American chefs cooking Italian cuisine. This isn't one of them (although apparently a lot of them are his friends).

I will buy another copy as a gift for an Italian friend who passionately loves to cook and is a superb cook. There are fun twists in this book and I'm sure she will like Waxman's approach as much as I do.

I am a big fan of Chef Waxman's restaurant, so I looked forward to this book, especially given the enthusiastic press before it came out. Coincidence being what it is, asparagus came into season just as the book came out, and the first recipe is his wonderful raw asparagus salad. This recipe may be worth the price of the book itself. Simple? Yes. Elegant? Yes. There is a recipe for "JW roast chicken," and while it's not as good as the one in the restaurant (how could it be? Who has a wood oven at home?), it's up there with Zuni Cafe' chicken.
Unfortunately, the book has some inconsistensies that can lead to disasters. For example, the biscotti recipe calls for 11 cups of ingredients, for "one dozen" cookies. I suspect that restaurant service quantities were provided, and not broken down. There is also a recipe for a 7 hour roast leg of lamb. That, in and of itself, is fine, but the instructions call for roasting at 350. If you roast for 7 hours at 350, you will get charcoal. Guaranteed.
Experienced cooks will know how to fix these things as they find them, but if you're picking it up thinking "I like simple, Chef Waxman is the King of Simple," with no "chops" in the kitchen, you're going to run into a roadblock or two. If something doesn't sound quite right, ask someone. The recipes are basically good, but they need massaging.

I had read other reviews of this cookbook and hesitated to buy it, but then went to a dining event where Chef Waxman was signing copies, and it sort of felt rude not to line up and take a copy home. Thank heavens I did! I've cooked a nice variety of the recipes in this book by now, and every single dish has been spot on. It's true they aren't intensely flavored in a garlic/spice sense (and I do like strong flavors) but they are delicious and stay true to the Italian ideal of letting the natural flavors of great quality ingredients shine. Me, my husband, and an only slightly adventurous teenager have loved the raw asparagus salad, the milanese preparation (I used chicken instead of pork, and yes, it was perfect), the mushrooms over polenta, the crab angel hair, etc.

The cooking techniques are simple and straightforward, the ingredients are not impossible to find, and (so far) nothing requires a huge amount of prep time. Will I start making my own pasta as highlighted in several recipes? Not at all likely, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out a way to use store-bought fresh pasta and enjoy the food just as much. A great addition to my cookbook repertoire.

I loved JW from his Top Chef Masters seasons and learned about his place in the culinary world after watching that show and was really hoping to like this cookbook but unfortunately, this one was beyond disappointing. I understand his MO is local, in-season food, but the large majority of the recipes call for salt, pepper and olive oil and nothing else. I mean, will that be good? Sure, but for $32 and the acclaim of being a world renowned chef I feel extremely ripped off. Seems to me like there's a fine line between 'simple' and a lack of creativity. I also think some of the ingredients called for are completely impractical to the majority of the readers. A few readers have griped about the measurements and cooking times as well, so I'd avoid this cookbook altogether or at least look this one over at a bookstore or library before purchasing.

Jonathan Waxman presents his chosen cuisine, Italian, as it really is - a simple mixing of a few wonderful ingredients to make fantastic food. All of the recipes in the book are simple enough for the average home cook to make. The taste, though, are wonderful. I just made the Linguine agli scampi (shrimp scampi), and it was such a delight. The flavors are light without leaving the pasta bland. Plus, it took me about 20 minutes to make. Not too shabby for a weeknight meal! (I should note, I used pre-peeled and deveined shrimp that were not cooked. If you peel and devein your own, it will of course take longer). I definitely plan on making more of Waxman's recipes. Can't wait!

I like this celebrity Chef. So, I have that bias. I've also only read the cookbook for a half an hour. The book just came out yesterday.
The recipes are detailed and contain antedotes on how he found the recipe and give some intriguing stories. The book contains not one color photo but more than a few black and white ones. The recipes are mostly nothing new. It's in the execution that the book helps with. He explains little things like how long to keep pizza dough fermenting or how to make fresh pasta. My other favorite part of the book is the section where he recommends cooking utensils, pans, juicers, processors, ect. Not many Chefs recommend items without being sponsored (***which he very well may be but I didn't see any disclaimer). Overall, I think this paints an American Chef in a more Italian light and explains some great simple recipes to help people learn some good Italian cooking.

My wife is a pastry chef and we are both accomplished home cooks, and even we cannot make the recipes in this book work without extraordinary effort. The first dish we tried was the Gnocchi with Spring Vegetables and Basil (which was also featured in the NYT review of this book) and the result was inedible -- this, despite the fact that we use two other gnocchi recipes on a regular basis in our house, always with excellent results. The gnocchi result was especially disheartening, since it was a recipe that took ALL DAY to make -- steam potatoes for 30 minutes, cool for 2 hours, rice the potatoes, make a dough , rest dough, make gnocchi, freeze dough for at least an hour, then use in recipe... I think that in Jonathan's quest to make the recipes simple, he forgot to make them useable -- for instance (again with the gnocchi recipe), instead of saying to use 2 pounds potatoes, he simply says "3 large Russetts." Well, just how big ARE "3 Russetts?" The Cook's Illustrated fan in me was initially disturbed by the lack of specificity in the recipe, but I had hoped everything would turn out OK anyway. It never did. I am going to check right now to see if I can return this book. It does not deserve a place on our book shelf, which makes me sad, because I think Jonathan Waxman is the Obi Wan of Italian classics...

I've read and cooked from Jonathan's "A Great American Cook", and I am equally thrilled with the recipes I've been making from his second book, "Italian My Way". The recipes are easy & brilliantly simple. Chef Waxman has taught me that I don't need 100s of ingredients and have recipes that span over several pages to create delicious dishes. My family and guests are loving the dishes I've been making from this book!

A few of our favorites so far: rigatoni and spicy duck ragu; grilled or roasted prosciutto wrapped figs with Gorgonzola
and the yummiest chocolate torte with ground pine nuts: Torta al cioccolata con pignoli.

I like Mr. Waxman too-and would eat at his restaurant. This is a good read but the recipes require too many ingredients not readily available. and, by the way, zuppa inglese is not a vanilla custard sauce but a cake of many layers with custard in between--like an english trifle.