Customer Reviews

Made in America: Our Best Chefs Reinvent Comfort Food

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

 

 

Length:: 5:03 Mins

Lucy Lean has taken older comfort food recipes like s'mores and mac and cheese, and had some of our leading Chefs reinvent the recipes for today's updated tastes.

Pros:

the cookbook is beautiful. It's full of pictures, history of the recipes, short background information on the chefs. The index is well put together making finding a recipe very easy. The recipes themselves are well laid out, the ingredient list is one one side of the page, the directions in the middle. The directions are step by step and the times and measurements for the recipes I've tried are spot on. The ingredients list is in dark black, the directions a more faded ink font, I would prefer all dark but it's not a deal breaker.

I can't list the next part as a con exactly, more a heads up. These recipes are not easy "Rachael Ray" type interpretations, and I find the recipes can be intimidating on first glance, two pages of ingredients are not uncommon. I will say that although intricate, the ability of the chefs, or perhaps the editing of Lucy Lean herself, makes the recipe easy to follow. Take a deep breath, have a mis en place, and follow the directions step by step and you will end up with a beautiful and delicious result that is impressive.

Impressive is a good description of this book in general. As a foodie who loves places like serious eats, watches top chef, next iron chef, etc, and Lives on food network and cooking channel, I am familiar with many of the chefs chosen to redo the recipes. The size of the book is impressive, lots of bang for the buck here with a ton of recipes, pictures of the finished food, pictures of the chefs, cute insertions of the original recipes to the complex delicious reinventions by today's top chefs.

I don't want to sound negative about this book. To clarify, I love it! I just would be sorry if anyone was disappointed, thinking these recipes had been reinvented for the home cook to come home after work and throw together a family meal easily. It's not that kind of book. Most of the recipes have been invented to be upscale, from fried chicken that called for lard, flour, and chicken, to Duck fat fried chicken with homemade ketchup. I want you to love this book as much I do, so I just want to be very clear on what it is, and what it isn't, so the expectations will be met.

I do wish, personally, the chefs had reinvented the recipes a little closer to the originals in some cases. For example, the corn soup, which was basically a thin chowder of corn, milk, water, morphed into a recipe with lemongrass, scallops, and some corn kernels, plus another ton of ingredients. Some chefs were more faithful with the reinventions.

I saw this book reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, very positively, so I ordered my copy from Amazon. I am a compulsive cookbook collector, and I purchase sparingly these days, because my collection is just getting too big. This is a nice book, but I don't find it as compelling as some others do. The stories behind the dishes and the background material on the various Chefs is interesting, but I have read everything except the dessert entries now, and there wasn't any dish that made me want to jump up and head for the kitchen. And I jump up and head for the kitchen all of the time. I don't see this as a go-to book in the future, though I may take another journey through it, to see if I missed something.

Lucy Lean has done a fabulous job. Made in America is a cookbook that will make you want to go try the recipes immediately. Though the recipes come from famous restaurant chefs they are not intimidating and are meant for the home kitchen. I have made Mario Batali's Pappardelle Bolognese and it is delicious. Can't wait to try Patrick O'Connell's Macaroni and Cheese with Virginia Country Ham. What I like most about this book is that Lucy Lean gives us a brief but very informative history of the dish. And also a short, illuminating profile of each chef. Definitely a book I will be using a lot.

I am always a bit averse reviewing cookbooks written by restaurant chefs/owners. They seem to forget they are writing to home cooks. Mercifully, in //Made in America// author Lean took care not to fall in this category. In fact, this book is excellent, something like watching the Food Channel that millions do with no interest in getting into their kitchens. This is a serious book for foodies and average home cooks alike. Even if you don't intend to test any of the recipes, this book reads like watching Iron Chef--very entertaining. The author interviewed some hundred chefs and asked them for their comfort food recipes. She introduces each recipe writing a page about the chef and the recipe, and her excellent writing is a pleasure to read, not just scan. Quarter- to full-page gorgeous photos of the chef, the dish and shot or two in the kitchen fill the space between the texts.||Yes, many recipes are for dedicated cooks only yet many others (tomato soup, baked beans, chicken soup) any home cook can reproduce. In not many recipes you need to hunt for special ingredients but some will keep you in the kitchen for hours working on three separate preparations before assembling (e.g., pulled pork sandwich). Though from many chefs, all recipes are uniform, re-written by the author, easy to follow with step-by-step instructions. A brief useful Chef' Tips follow many recipes, also sidebars giving historic recipes mostly from the 19th century. Many chefs based their comfort foods on these, updating, testing and retesting them and making them easy to use for today's home cooks. E.g., when the old recipe calls for "1 large cup yeast," the chef interpreted this as one cup of sourdough starter.||Even though this is a coffee table and anytime-reading book, many home cooks can attempt the easier, simpler recipes. But you better leave some for the truly serious cooks, like the Spiced Corn Broth with Scallops, Noodles and Herbs, having 20 ingredients (based on a recipe that had six ingredients). Many of the illustrations showing the finished dish are attainable by a home cook but having professional training helps to reproduce others (Grilled Flatiron Steak with Truffled Creamed Spinach and Pickled Onion Rings). The nine chapters include everything from Breakfast/Brunch through Desserts. Chances are you will find an updated version of your own comfort food somewhere in there.||The index is also very good, cross-referenced, listing all the chefs' establishments. This serious cookbook benefits any cook and foodie.

Satisfied with the book quality and very timely delivery. This book went for a Christmas for my friend who moved here from Russia, and now thanks to this book can't fail to impress her American boyfriend with the new culinary creations. Btw, he's learning more about his own culture now as well. Thanks Amazon!

Some of the greatest chefs come together in this book to help you make some absolutely stunning dishes. The only star I take away is due to the knowledge assumed by the author, that the home cook may not have.

What a great cookbook! Lucy Lean made this a fun book to enjoy cover to cover. I was lucky enough to meet her, Evan Klein, and Ludo Lefebvre at an event at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort in Hawaii. Evan was kind enough to teach a hands on pie making class that ended up deliciously. Thank you Lucy and all the talented chefs in the book for sharing! Happy Cooking...

I love this book, the format is perfect, a page of bio information on the chef & a beautiful picture of every dish. It's great to page thru a new cookbook and really feel like you want to prepare the food and also feel the connection to the chef & their offering to Lucy Lean's book. Well done!