Customer Reviews

Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking

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

 

 

PBS' Napa Valley chef emphasizes a well-stocked pantry and fine presentation in addition to fresh, quality ingredients in this oversized, lavishly illustrated collection of California wine country Italian dishes. From Basil Chive Butter, Toasted Spice rub and Herb Oil (pantry items) to Salsa di Parmigiano and Marinated Salmon with Fennel Salad (antipasto) to Summer Corn Soup and Autumn Panzanella, Chiarello will have you willing to skip the entrée altogether. Until you get to one of his simple and satisfying pasta dishes - with Walnut and Ricotta Pesto perhaps or Salsa Rosa (roasted pepper and tomato) from the pantry. And then there's Tuscan Shrimp with White Beans, Baby Back Ribs with Espresso BBQ Sauce or Quail with Bacon and Honey. His way with vegetables offers simple variety - Sautéed Greens with Vinegar, Skillet-Fried Corn and Tomatoes, and a baked Cauliflower Alla Parmagiana that has become a staple in my house - whatever the vegetable. There are desserts too, mostly fruit with a few comfort items like Caramel Panna Cotta and an easy tiramisu, but the real pleasure comes from the savory. Leaf through the gorgeous pictures, and choose a dish - chances are you can have it on the table in half an hour - if you stock that pantry (there's even a recipe for fresh ricotta that's a must-try). Notes offer tips on technique and variations.

I've grown to love Michael Chiarello's recipes. In the Goldilocks challenge between making a dish "too simple" or "too much work," time after time Chiarello manages to find the spot that's exactly right. His recipes don't promise instant gratification, in the semi-homemade 30-minute style that's become popular recently. But he's also aware that you have something else to do with your day besides cooking dinner.

Chiarello's background is Italian, so a lot of recipes in this book display that influence -- quite a bit of pasta, for example, and a tendency to use olive oil where others might choose butter. But you'd do better to think of it as Napa-meets-Italian, as his recipes aren't the sort of food that you'll find at the traditional restaurant with a red-checked tablecloth and a candle stuck in a bottle of Chianti. The book lives up to its promise of "casual cooking."

Chiarello encourages you to create a pantry of ingredients that you can call upon whenever needed, and I completely agree with that "good cooking in not much time" philosophy. At first, it might sound as though you need to cook three things just to have the ingredients for a single dish, but the pantry section helps you create items that, later, you'll be able to grab out of the freezer or your spice shelf and put into an "instant" meal. For example, we first made his awesome winter panzanella, which uses homemade croutons in addition to butternut squash and brussels sprouts. The croutons are easy enough -- assuming that you already made his bagna cauda butter. (It's basically anchovies, parsley, and garlic mixed with two sticks of softened butter.) But two days after the salad, we made clams and linguine with more of the bagna cauda butter, and *that* came together in less time than it took to boil the noodles. I still have a half cup of the bagna cauda butter in the freezer, just waiting for a day when I feel like more than a slab-of-steak.

The pantry chapter is 30 pages long (including lots of beautiful photos; this is a great eye-candy cookbook), which includes everything from spiced walnuts to a fennel spice mix. The other chapters are appetizers; eggs & sandwiches; soups & salads; pasta; rice, beans & polenta; fish & shellfish; meat & poultry; vegetables; and sweet things. If you want a collection of fine Italian baking, you'll have to buy another book in addition to this one (you notice I'm assuming you'll buy this in any case), as his dessert choices are on the no-big-deal side of Thursday dinner rather than a big blowout feast. Panna cotta, perhaps, or dried fruit compote with Sambuca.

Many of the recipes are extremely simple, in that "perfect roast chicken" way (his uses rosemary and lemon -- and it came out great) but he isn't afraid to provide a recipes for a sauce that needs to cook for hours. He usually includes menu advice (i.e. serve this with roast pork), and some kind of cook's notes, such as the tip that soaking red onion briefly in sherry vinegar will mellow the raw onion taste.

A fine cookbook. Recommended.

I bought this book because of the lemon rosemary chicken I saw Michael prepare on the Food Network. I made it myself and it was just as good as I imagined. The recipes are easy to prepare and every one that I have tried, I have loved.

We are serious foodies and particularly love all regional Italian cooking. Admit we are bit skeptical of Italian American recipes but after watching MC on TV (finally got a Food Channel on satellite here in Australia) decided to invest in the book. It is brilliant - every recipes tried has scored a "do again" and the pantry items are great. Even a beginner can follow the recipes and experienced cooks will appreciate the layers of flavour that MC is always talking about. Buy this book - you won't be sorry! Off to buy his latest now....

First off, I love watching Mr. Chiarello on his show, Napa Style. I was a little intimidated to try some of his dishes. I went ahead and bought the cookbook. It can be intimidating at first because he basically tells it like it is. Be prepared to shop extensively for his pantry items. I don't know that I'll ever have all of these in my kitchen and I am fairly well stocked. I did make some substitutions so shoot me! Once you get over the shopping, the recipes are wonderful. They are quite simple and easy to follow as opposed to some celebrity chefs' cookbooks. Even if you don't cook anything from this book, you'll learn something about cooking and food quality just from reading. I did like the information he gave on buying "real" cheeses and such as opposed to the reduced-fat or fat-free varieties. He said the real stuff has more flavor and you can use less of it. He called fat-free cooking inferior. I did find that by mostly sticking to the recipe (couldn't find everything specified) I was able to eat less because the flavor was quite satisfying.

Michael Chiarello's Napa Style cooking show is one of my top rated cooking shows, and when I discovered his new, you too can cook his down to earth recipes, I just had to have this cookbook. The cook book is very self explanatary, the recipes succinct and the pictures make it all seem so easy. Michael's Napa Style is extremely refreshing in today's lifestyle.

Nice book, beautiful pictures. I enjoyed the hints Michael includes with the recipes and text. This is an extension of what you get from his TV programs.

One killer recipe after another in this book. Outstanding suggestions and photos, remarkable results. Not always very simple cooking, but simple directions made easy to understand. Wine recommendations come with recipe selections too, very complete and tasty!

The pictures in this book are so beautiful they are almost satisfying all by themselves, but of course, we want to taste too--and we can. I love that this book starts with Michael describing store bought kitchen staples that really make a difference in how a dish turns out. I fully understand that you can carefully follow a delicious sounding recipe and then be disappointed with the results. He says this sometimes happens because the ingredients used aren't the same as those used by the chef. We can use fresh, in season and flavorful raw ingredients, but vinegars, oils, spices and other packaged products can vary significantly and affect the outcome. I completely agree and have my preferences just as he does, but I also learned some things from his discussion, like that dried beans can get old just like fresh beans and then not rehydrate properly. Since I've had that happen, I am now more willing to use dried beans again and will just be sure I purchase them from a place where the stock turns over often so the beans are no more than a year old.

I also love the next section on home preparation of certain basics such as chicken stock and herb or spice combinations. Here again I have my personal favorites but am tempted to make the herbed butters and sauces he describes to add to my repertoire. One thing I learned was that while I always keep a spray bottle of ascorbic acid (vitamin C powder from the health food store) mixed with water in the fridge to spray on cut sections of apple to maintain their color, it hadn't dawned on me to do the same with my basil pesto to keep it a vibrant green.

I'm looking forward to making my own ricotta as it sounds easy and I've never found a store bought brand I liked. The Salsa Genovese is divine and since it has multiple varied uses I can use up the whole recipe (yield 1 cup) in a few days of entirely different meals.

This is a coffee table book, but also really useful. It raises simple foods to new heights and makes you want to linger over preparation instead of rush, like I usually do. I don't always have the time to devote, but when I do, preparing some of these recipes feels like taking a warm bath--relaxing and uplifting.

Many of the recipes include special 'Michael's Notes' at the bottom, which I've really learned from. I love the smell of fennel but it always seemed too hard to chew when in a salad. It never crossed my mind to use my beloved adjustable V-slicer to slice it paper thin. I guess all cooks get into some ruts and forget to seek other solutions sometimes. I sure do. These tips have helped me see things a different way.

Michael's notes also include ideas for using up some leftover sauce or breadcrumbs prepared for a particular dish. This alone is worth the cost of the book for me because now those extras that might have been thrown out spur creation of another interesting dish I might not otherwise have thought of.

All in all, I love this book. The recipes are clearly described, easy to follow and not too labor intensive. Most are different from those commonly found elsewhere or at least have a different twist and even though most are fairly simple there is a languid quality about their preparation that makes them feel special. The `Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Oil' is utterly straightforward, yet wonderful, and tips are given for both the preferred convection roasting technique and for regular oven roasting.

This book is just as delicious to read as to cook from. You don't have to love Italian food to love the way it's presented here. Highly recommended.

My husband is the cook in our household and this book is his #1 favorite. The book takes you through the what, why and how of cooking, ingredients and even what you should have on hand in your pantry. Some of the most amazing meals have come from this book. I like Chiarello's methods because he is so good at explaining how to get the best out of each ingredient.