Customer Reviews

The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Kitchen Series with Charlie Trotter is an inspirational book. The photos are glossy, beautiful, textural, and alluring. The recipes are innovative and they work.

I made one of the more elaborate recipes (Chicken Dumplings with a Stir-Fry of Shiitake Mushrooms, Water Chestnuts, and Mung Bean Sprouts in a Ginger-Soy-Hijiki Sauce) for a group of eight. It took a lot of time to prepare, but the reward came when my guests practically fainted from the gorgeous flavors.

Another recipe met with stunning reviews from my guests (Pumpkin Soup with Pheasant Breast and Fried Ginger), although I did serve it as a main course, and not as a soup.

Recipes are broken out into groups: Soup; Salad; Lobster; Scallop; Catfish; Salmon; Tuna; Pasta; Poultry; Pork; Duck; Beef; Dessert; including a Pantry section explaining how to make herb oils and other sauces used throughout the book.

I also purchased the Kitchen Sessions video set and became glued to the TV when I watched them. The videos are exciting and Chef Trotter's enthusiasm will send you off into your own kitchen to try it for yourself.

On January 7, 2000, I reviewed this book and wrote that I had trouble with two of the recipes that I tried. I decided to give this book another try, and had great success with the following recipes, since they were more straightforward and didn't require flipping to the back of the book for sub recipes. The grilled swordfish and somen noodle salad was delicious, mussels and linguini in garlic-mussel broth was excellent, roasted pork tenderloin with red cabbage-- yummy, and poached salmon with noodles, fennel and apple outstanding! I'm giving this book a revised rating of four stars and am trotting off to my bookstore to check out some of Charlie Trotter's other cookbooks.

The Kitchen Sessions With Charlie Trotter was given to me as a gift. The initial thumb through brought chills down my spine-I can never do this! Instead of reading the recipes(first-as I usually do), I actually read the forward and statements by Trotter. There, I found the lessons! Trotter's perspective on food challenge you to use the book as a blueprint, not a tablet from on high. This was the first cookbook I've read that has a wide angle focus on the joy and fun of food.

This is the first book that I have read about Charlie Trotter and his style, but I will say this, I will definetly go to his resturant in Chicago for what I understand is a remarkable experience. The book is valuable, both for his analogies to jazz sessions and the need for improvisation in cooking just as in music, to emphasizing assembly and presentation of various receipes. I bought this book in Napa Valley, and while on a flight home to the East Coast, I was busily writing notes in the book(it is good for that, both the cover that gives it the feel of a workbook in a sense), no pork would also go with that, perhaps beef there instead of duck- the book inspires ideas, and for someone like myself who is getting into gourmet cooking, Trotter's book makes cooking fun and enjoyable. His analogy with jazz music, has inspired me to have a set of music that will be played at my various "dinner sessions". Highly recommend!

There is no question that this book, and any of chef Trotter's books, are for the medium to advanced cook. I found these recipes to be fairly easy to follow, but require preparation. My advice is to read the recipe fully first. I have prepared at least a dozen of these recipes and never once has the dish turned out wrong. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to create advanced dishes.

Charlie Trotter shares a little of his culinary philosophy and the passion that helps create some of the most innovative dishes in America. His interpretation of classic dishes, such as, Cobb Salad are beautifully prepared with step by step instructions that can be understood by cooks of any level. Most dishes prepared by Chef Trotter are completely original and innovative. The use of the freshest ingredients during peak season is one of Chef Trotter's secrets.Beautiful photography as we have come to expect from Charlie Trotter's books. Kitchen Sessions is an excellent teaching tool

This is an ambitious cookbook , even for a good cook such as myself who normally has no difficulty following recipes. I made the meal on page127, roasted cornish game hens, and was sent to the back of the book three times for sub-recipes to complete the main recipe. I found all of this flipping back and forth very bothersome. To make matters worse, when I flipped to the back to make these "basic recipes" I was sent to yet another page, which turned out to be the WRONG page! Frustrating. All in all the meal was good, but definitely not worth the time and trouble. I think that this book should have been proofread more carefully, and tested more thoroughly.

if you love cooking and want to work on some cool techniques in contemporary american cuisine, this is the book for you. great price and shipping time.

I gave this as a gift from a relative's wish list, so I can't say specifically much about the product - sorry. But, my sister was so thrilled with the cookbook, and she is a Cordon Bleu graduate, so she knows her cooking and her foods. She said it was very well-written, easy to follow and had very interesting recipes in it. Also, she said that Charlie Trotter is one of her favorite chefs. I highly recommend this book!

After purchasing his other books I was relieved to finally have an opportunity to actually cook something of his without improvising on some key ingredient. The book is short onepictures which makes it tough to visualize the end result but that is only a minor flaw. Every cook should have this book in their library.