Mariel's Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Delicious and Satisfying Life [Hardcover]

Mariel Hemingway (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 5, 2009

How do you cook nutritious and delicious meals when life is busy and time is short? How can you make fresh, organic food a part of your and your family's way of life—simply and affordably? These are the questions that Mariel Hemingway answers by sharing tried-and-tested recipes, straight from her kitchen to yours.

Filled with exciting, beautiful photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, Mariel's Kitchen includes seventy-five sensational recipes that can be mastered by anyone, regardless of cooking experience. Arranged according to the seasons, these recipes show how simple it can be to put locally grown, seasonal produce on your table in place of packaged and processed foods. From sublime summer breakfasts to delectable desserts and heartwarming winter dinners, these tasty dishes, snacks, salad dressings, marinades, and drink recipes put homemade eating back into easy reach.

Mariel also shares her secrets that make it possible to eat well all week long, even with a full schedule. She reveals what staples are necessary for any pantry and how to prepare core recipes that become the foundation for multiple dishes. She offers shopping tips for navigating the world of organic and sustainable foods. And as she reveals what makes her kitchen “the heart of her home,” she peppers recipes with stories about her own lifelong love affair with food.

Combining Mariel's no-nonsense attitude with wholesome recipes for every occasion, Mariel's Kitchen is a new kind of American cookbook designed to help you—and all those you cook for—eat better, fresher, and more delicious foods, day in and day out.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Book Description

How do you cook nutritious and delicious meals when life is busy and time is short? How can you make fresh, organic food a part of your and your family's way of life--simply and affordably? These are the questions that Mariel Hemingway answers by sharing tried-and-tested recipes, straight from her kitchen to yours.

Filled with exciting, beautiful photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, Mariel's Kitchen includes seventy-five sensational recipes that can be mastered by anyone, regardless of cooking experience. Arranged according to the seasons, these recipes show how simple it can be to put locally grown, seasonal produce on your table in place of packaged and processed foods. From sublime summer breakfasts to delectable desserts and heartwarming winter dinners, these tasty dishes, snacks, salad dressings, marinades, and drink recipes put homemade eating back into easy reach.

Mariel also shares her secrets that make it possible to eat well all week long, even with a full schedule. She reveals what staples are necessary for any pantry and how to prepare core recipes that become the foundation for multiple dishes. She offers shopping tips for navigating the world of organic and sustainable foods. And as she reveals what makes her kitchen "the heart of her home," she peppers recipes with stories about her own lifelong love affair with food.

Combining Mariel's no-nonsense attitude with wholesome recipes for every occasion, Mariel's Kitchen is a new kind of American cookbook designed to help you--and all those you cook for--eat better, fresher, and more delicious foods, day in and day out.

Recipe Excerpts from Mariel's Kitchen

Summer Squash "Linguini" with Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Basil

Fresh Raspberry Soufflé

From Publishers Weekly

Actress and model Hemingway (Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living from the Inside Out) shares her secrets for cooking nutritious and appetizing food in this lavishly photographed book. She focuses on seasonal foods, organizing the book by what's fresh at each time of year. For each season, she provides simple and comfortable breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack dishes, suited for busy lifestyles. Recipes share common ingredients to make preparation fast and don't require extensive shopping. Often core recipes feature in other meals. Spinach pancakes are used instead of pasta in spinach and mushroom lasagna. Vegetables and fruit are the centerpieces of her dishes. Highlights include roasted bell pepper tapenade; ricotta No Bread pudding with blueberries; tomato, tarragon and a mostly egg white frittata; and portobello mushrooms with spinach and goat cheese. Poultry and fish are featured in such dishes as oven Fried chicken; seasoned wild salmon with minted mango salsa; and black cod with snow peas. Hemingway proves that healthy food can be enticing, and her dishes will appeal to even the least health-conscious among us. (May)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061649872
• ISBN-13: 978-0061649875
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #456,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious, fresh, accesible cooking May 5, 2009

By j.s.

Format:Hardcover

I have been eagerly awaiting Mariel Hemingway's first cookbook since "Healthy Living From the Inside Out," her first publication, was released years ago. I am happy to report that "Mariel's Kitchen" does not disappoint.

This cookbook emphasizes local, fresh and organic ingredients. It is a good companion to "Super Natural Cooking," a similar cookbook by Heidi Swanson.

I enjoy Hemingway's book better, however, for a number of reasons. For a "natural" cookbook, the ingredients here are much more accessible. You won't have to rush out and buy five new kinds of flour and hard-to-find regional ingredients. Also, this book is NOT vegetarian, which I appreciate. I try to eat naturally, but I do not intend to give up chicken, fish, and beef. (Hemingway is mindful to note when vegetarian substitutions can be made for those who feel otherwise.)

Overall, I would recommend this book to any cook interested in farmers' markets, natural cooking, or simply healthful eating. It is full of beautiful pictures, comprehensive lists of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and recipes organized by season. Hemingway also offers some interesting tips on going "green" and how to best utilize local resources.

Highly recommended!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!!! May 17, 2009

By Tina

Format:Hardcover

As I grow older, I have really focused on the whole issue of food. It is always amazing to me just how powerful what we put in our bodies can be! and I am also amazed at how much crap there is out there and how easy it is to buy.

Along cames Mariel's first book which got me thinking alot about the whole process, including detoxing, etc. I have always admired Mariel and felt that she was a survivor. I was extremely thrilled to finally, finally get her cookbook, as her first book had a few recipes (one of which I use all the time and love) but did not come close to having enough recipes to keep me happy.

Well, I am certainly happy with this cookbook. Once again, Mariel's second book is beautifully illustrated using beautiful colors and great pictures of Mariel, preparing, serving and actually eating the food, but more importantly of the finished product. Since I am not a great cook, I appreciate having pictures of the meals to make sure that I am not completely off target when I created them.

As for the recipes themselves, I have already done 5 of them and they are extremely easy and tasty. I am a little scared of using things like real butter and coconut oil, but Mariel's point (as she writes in the book) is interesting - basically saying that if we remove the "perceived no nos" of food and simply enjoy healthy, satisfying foods within reasonable portions, our bodies will not crave what it does not need. I also appreciate the comments and thoughts that Hemingway sprinkles along in the book.

There are only two things that I thought were a little less interesting. The first one is that she has sectioned this book by seasons, which is a tad difficult to work with if you are looking for breakfast recipes for example as these are kind of here and there and not located under "breakfast". Also, I live in Montreal and let me tell you that the foods Mariel considers "in season" for her summer or winter, are definitely not necessarily the same as mine.

Secondly, and this one is a biggie - the ingredients that Mariel uses are top notch - which, of course, is wonderful for the body (not to mention the taste buds) but they are extremely, extremely expensive and a bit of a challenge to find. I had to run to 3 different health food stores to get the variety of flours and other "staples" that Mariel recommends and when I did buy the 3 flours ( 1 lb each of coconut, brown rice, Almond), Xanthan Gum and White Balsamic Vinegar, I ended up paying $75.00. Yikes! that is really what I consider sticker price shock!!!!! Which may be no problem for people who are saying "well, it beats the price of junk food", but since I don't really spend $$$on junk food in the first place, I simply gulped down the price tag and told myself it was worth it.

Having said that however, I have to say that the recipes really are delicious and I am in love with this book. I am already dying to read Mariel's follow up cookbook with more great, great recipes.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A very nice cookbook, well worth taking a look at May 20, 2009

By Steven A. Peterson TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Pretty good cookbook. After seeing a recent televised interview with her, I am delighted to see that this is a credible celebrity-authored cookbook. Mariel Hemingway begins with a simple statement (Page 1): "My kitchen is the heart of my home. It is where my day begins and where my day ends." Her focus is simplicity and healthy recipes.

As many cookbooks, this begins with background material, such as key ingredients in the pantry (e.g., coconut oil, vinegars, relevant herbs and spices), seasonings that go with different foods (think cilantro with chicken), her core recipes (e.g., breakfast smoothie, spinach pancakes).

There follows a season by season set of recipes, based on what is fresh each season.

Spring? Spring produce is listed on page 59 (such as arugula and kohlrabi). Recipes? Grilled shrimp salad over spinach, almond and garlic-crusted chicken breasts. Then, on to seasonal recipes for summer, fall, and winter.

Summer? Hemingway notes that this is her favorite season. Once more she begins with summer produce, such as apricots, basil, collards, okra, peaches, and so on. The opening recipe is interesting and quite doable--Tomato, tarragon and mostly egg white frittata. We make frittatas now and again, so I appreciate a good recipe here. This one takes a simple set of ingredients: egg whites, a couple eggs, parmesan, tarragon, black pepper, sea salt, butter, onion, and plum tomatoes. The steps are clearly presented and easy to follow.

Fall. An interesting dish here is Buffalo meatloaf, featuring ground free-range buffalo meat (don't laugh; I have had Bisonburgers and Bison steaks, and they're pretty good if you don't overcook them).

Winter. . . . Baked sweet potato sticks are of interest to me, because I recently began to use a similar recipe from Ina Garten. This is simpler, but still an interesting riff on sweet potato French fries.
All in all, an interesting cookbook. Worth taking a look at.