Customer Reviews

It's About Time: Great Recipes for Everyday Life

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am not an experienced cook. But I have purchased many cookbooks and shared others with family and friends. It's About Time is at the very top of my list. It is really a book. Chef Schlow has managed to write a story that you want to finish reading, and at the same time make it a cookbook. To me a cookbook is a book that teaches you to cook and allows you to cook the receipes. That is exactly what Chef Schlow does while telling you a family story. The pictures are beautiful, but at the same time informative. I have tried several of the recipies and were able to plate them just as shown (well maybe not exactly) but at least very close to what I see. The pictures give you the added incentive to make the recipe. The recipes work. That is what is so amazing about the book. Also, although Chef Schlow provides professional advise to his readers, he also really teaches the beginner how to cook the recipe and maybe more important he teaches you how to "cook" not only his recipes, but also in a general sense. After reading this book you will have a far greater comprehension of product, technique and style that will improve your general ability to cook. Or at least that is what I found to be true. This is the best cookbook of the year. One other thing, the size is perfect. It is not a coffee table size book, but it is a little bigger than an ordinary reading book. The size allows you to keep the book in your book case, but a the same time gives you that little added size while using it. Five stars and thank you to Chef Schlow.

This is my favorite cookbook for several reasons....it's well written and funny, the recipes are clear and easy to follow and the pictures are gorgeous -check out the photo of the Schlow burger. I've made several of the recipes and Schlow has transformed my approach to cooking to slow roasting. Truthfully the best tasting salmon recipe and the key is to turn the oven down. This book is a must for any cook.

I am an avid home cook and have an extensive cookbook collection. I bought Chef Schlow's book about 2 weeks ago and have been cooking from it nightly. I am incredibly impressed with it's recipes, menus, cocktails and techniques. Everything I have made has turned out beautifully even the more intricate Radius section was made easy! It's about time speaks not only to those that can cook but also the beginner, my husband tried it last night and WOW (he usually burns toast)! I am looking forward to many more wonderful meals.

Well done Chef Schlow! I highly recommend this book for both beginners and advanced cooks, and it's perfect for anyone who is short on time. Many of the recipies can be prepared in about an hour, and the anecdotes throughout the book make it a welcome addition to any collection.....

`It's About Time', the first book by award winning Boston restaurateur, Michael Schlow cuts across all my criteria for evaluating a restaurant chef's book in that it both violates some of my most important criteria while strongly fulfilling others. The author's credentials are good enough so that it brings into question some of those very criteria, and leads me to high recommendation for the book in spite of myself.

For starters, the book does not follow through on its major promise as signaled by the title. The title and introduction suggest that this book will give us a totally new point of view on time and cooking, in somewhat the same way Alton Brown looked at all cooking methods as different ways of applying heat. Time is an only casually applied theme in that some of the chapters focus on dishes, which can be done either very quickly (within the familiar 30 minutes), or which take a very long time. In the absence of strongly positive qualities in other areas, failing to follow through on your major stated premise is usually a sure demotion from five to four stars.

As luck would have it, recently crowned best chef in the country (James Beard Awards, 2005) saves the day in his foreword when he points out the truly distinctive and unusual aspect of Schlow's cooking. Unlike restaurants around the world, including Mario's hot spots, Schlow uses a low heat oven, with 300 degrees Fahrenheit as his norm rather than the more usual home temperature of 350 degrees or the blistering inferno found in restaurant kitchens. I have often questioned Mario's love of blisteringly hot saute pans for many dishes especially for inexperienced cooks who can have the saute ingredients go from hot to charcoal in a heartbeat if you are not paying close attention to what you are doing. And, if you are inexperienced, you don't always know to what to pay attention! Thus, I am enthusiastic to see another well-credentialed advocate (along with Tom Colicchio) of moderate temperatures for various cooking techniques. Schlow does often use high saute temperatures and I agree that there are many cases where this is important, but with the promise of high success comes high risk. Happily, Schlow comes to the rescue near the end of the book when he says that you will simply not get dishes right the first time all the time. Something may always go wrong. But keep at it and learn from your mistakes.

Another area where Schlow violated one of my key criteria is in his very long cooking stock recipes. On the one hand, I have seen good books on home cooking techniques create very good stocks with about three (3) hours of cooking. I have also seen restaurant chefs call for ten to twelve hours of stock cooking. For home cooking, I definitely prefer the shorter times, but in this case, I will bow to chef Schlow's opinion, with reservations.

The thing that sells me on Schlow's recipes in general is the fact that they are exceptionally well written. I have found more good new cooking tips in this book than I have in the last several dozen I have reviewed. And this is without a single mistake that I can find. As I became more and more impressed at the care and level of detail applied to the cooking methods, without resorting to very many exotic ingredients, I discovered Schlow's inspiration to be the collaboration of Patricia Wells and Joel Robuchon on the book `Simply French', which I reviewed and found to be a true paradigm of a good restaurant cookbook. And, my reasons were the same as those cited by Schlow, in that Robuchon's attention to detail is better than any I have seen, with the possible exception of Thomas Keller.

The single best recommendation for this book for novice cooks is the same thing I like about Jamie Oliver's books. Both authors have a truly infectious enthusiasm for cooking and both are able to make that enthusiasm jump off the printed page and into your psyche. And, Schlow and his team have been able to do this without some of Oliver's misdirected typographical pyrotechnics on his printed pages. In fact, Schlow has had his photography done by Shimon & Tammar, the leading culinary photographic team in the business.

The very high quality of the recipe writing and the infectious enthusiasm are more than enough to overcome any objections to this book and its somewhat high price per recipe. This is really a super book for beginners. I would suggest this volume immediately after reading a good introductory text such as the Alton Brown opus cited above `I'm Just Here for the Food' or Anne Willan's `The Good Cook'.

If the recipes in this book were not of such a high quality or if I found some factual errors in this book, the organization of the chapters would annoy me, as they are organized by occasion rather than by major ingredient or course. In fact, this organization is the one aspect of the book which is consistent with the title and theme of time, in that the first chapter (`Time to Eat and Now') is about fast cooking and the last chapter is about spending the day in the kitchen (`Time to Celebrate'). But, if you need something to spark your creative cooking juices, this book will provide the inspiration.

The book also provides one last thing I expect in a professional chef's writing, which is some insight into professional cooking practice or the inspiration that brought the author to cooking. The book provides a little of both, with a glimpse at the kind of networking between leading chefs which makes the culinary world go around.

On a par with Colicchio and Stitt and Kinkead and O'Connell. Almost as good as Keller and Robuchon.

I am a chef and this is hands down one of the best cookbooks I have in my collection. Very versatile and different approaches to cooking the "sme old things". Every recipe has come out better than imagined. GET THIS ONE TODAY!

We have thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook! I was amazed at how easy it was to find the ingredients and following the recipes. The author has placed excellent suggestions within the chapters. If you are an expert in the kitchen or a beginner you will find the selection and the abilities well within your reach! Enjoy!

I ordered this book based on one recipe that he did on morning television. I liked his style and personality and when I tried the recipe, it was wonderful! I read other reviews and they were all good. Some made mention about the stories he wrote to accompany each recipe. They were right, the stories were very funny and informative.

I have picked quite a few recipes that I will try. The original one I tried was red wine braised brisket. I am going to cook it for my Mom on Mother's Day. If you like Italian food, you should add this to your cookbook collection!

I am one of those nine to fivers but when I am home I become a chef. At least that is my fantasy while my family shovels down things I would have never dreamed of when I was a child growing up in the same town as MSchlow. Mike is right on the money. And I am not just blowing smoke up his (*^%%. I have a ton of great books, great cook ware and I've been "doin it". This book helps those "want to believe they are chefs" like myself jump up a level and feel proud of their creations. Whether you go strictly by the book or you use some of the fantastic tips from Michael, you will keep this book on the top of the stack! Bravo!!

The book is Fantastic. I have really enjoyed reading it. The recipes are wonderful.
Chef Schlow's restaurant in Boston, Radius, is one of our favorite places to eat. We have wonderful memories.
Chef's recipes are delicious and simple to prepare.
Thank you Chef.