Customer Reviews

Roasting-A Simple Art

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Perhaps once in a decade there is a book which changes the way we think about cooking. Julia Child's introduction to French cooking did this in the 1960's and started culinary revolution in the United States that still rages. This book's influence may not be quite so profound, but it will forever change the way we think about roasting meats and vegetables. Or at least it ought to do so.

Kafka's implicit thesis is that it is the browning of meat and vegetables that imbues each with the rich 'meaty' flavor we love dearly. Most recipes for roasted meats fail to get the surface temperature high enough to cause browning. This means that almost every recipe for roasting chunks of meat at 350 F cheats both chef and diner. The solution to the problem is to crank up the temperature.

In my own oven, following Kafka's instructions will inevitably set off six smoke detectors, fog the house in thick smoke, and dispatch the local fire company. This is not how I wish to spend my mealtimes; for there is never enough food in the oven to feed them all. So I have adapted one or two recipes from this book. And in any month I will treat myself several times to a perfectly roasted chicken using one of these. (Click on my profile to reach the website that will soon have my favorite poultry recipes adapted from this book.)

Do not be put off by the fire alarm problems. Buy the book and try cooking at 425F or 450F instead of 500F. Make sure the bottom of the pan onto which the drippings fall is kept moist by covering it with vegetables of one kind or another during the entirety of the cooking process and that these same vegetables or a rack holds the meat out of the liquid. Do all these things and roasting will become a painless, economical and delicious way to prepare a meal. You will never look back.

When we moved to Asia last fall I had to get rid of half my cookbooks and many of my pans... but there was no way I was going to let go of "Roasting" or my non-stick roaster! I have roasted three Thanksgiving turkeys -- two fresh birds, as Kafka recommends, and one frozen (turkey's hard to come by in Taiwan) -- and all three came out BEAUTIFULLY. What was the brouhaha all about?

When I first bought the book I roasted a lot of meat: pork loin, chickens, lamb shanks--all were excellent. Now I find myself turning more often to the vegetable section; I especially like to roast a pan of mixed veggies (Kafka gives a table for timing them all perfectly) to serve as an appetizer and in my own recipe for a hearty, flavorful soup that even my vegan friends can enjoy. Her recipes for left-overs are so tempting I roast with a week's worth of meals in mind.

I have given this book as a gift, and shared recipes with guests who love the food. I have no complaints about the mess. Maybe it's my non-stick pan--cast-iron works great, too--but I have had no problem with too much smoke (a little is to be expected), encrusted pans, or a filthy oven afterwards.

If you like to cook, and if you like to serve and eat great meals even more, you have to try this one out. Kafka makes it fun & easy, and she makes you laugh -- I love this book.

A few days ago I made the absolute best roast chicken I have ever had. My family raved about it. The butter-lemon-garlic inside the bird made it great. I made two together since one chicken is never enough if you want leftovers. The bad side is after back breaking scrubbing - my almost new oven is still dirty. A new professional Viking and NO self cleaning! I loved the chicken but don't think I can go through this hard work every time. I still don't know what else to try to clean off what's left in there. She recommends lining the bottom of the oven with foil but the Viking info I have says NOT to do that. Has anyone else lined the bottom of their oven with foil and not had problems with heat distribution? I also made the New York Strip Roast and that too was out of this world.

Without doubt one of the best cookbooks I have ever read. And I mean READ. Kafka's writing style is as comforting as the food she teaches you to prepare. The roast chicken, lamb, rib roast (rare, but not Saxon pillage), beef fillet...one better than the next. Makes a bit of a mess but cooking is an art and some energy needs to be expended. Lent the book to a friend about a month ago. I think she changed her phone number so I couldn't call her to get it back!

I learned to cook in my teenage years, and learned a lot of things from my parents, my grandmother, and from cookbooks. However, I have never come across a cookbook that changed my outlook on cooking more than this one. After hearing Barbara Kafka on the radio, I bought a copy as an impulse buy. After reading the book and trying out a couple of recipies, I was hooked. It is the only cookbook that I proselytize about, and I have provided copies to several family members and friends. Perfect meats and vegetables - every time. Juicier meat than I ever had been able to cook in the oven before. A profound change in the way I prepare foods.

Try it - you will never look at your oven in the same way again.

I wasn't sure about the high heat method at first but I am now a true believer. It is the best way to roast most things. The basic roast chicken, the rosemary pork and the recipes for roasting potatoes are frequently relied upon quick but delicious dinner solutions. My absolute favorite is the New York Steak roast! The Prime-Rib recipe offers an excellent timing guide as well. Yes, you can get smoke in your kitchen and dirty pans. Just make sure you start with a clean oven and a good quality roasting pan of the type recommended in the book. Any smoke and mess is well worth it for the flavor trade-off. The problems can be mostly avoided with a decent kitchen exhaust sytem (or an open window or door), a self-cleaning oven and deglazing the pan properly. Try this method of roasting, you'll love it!

This cookbook is not for those with a fear of cooking! With average temperatures just shy of inferno and the potential to so utterly destroy your main course that no quantity of scraping and salt is going to ressurect it (regardless of what your mother say's), these recipes are a high risk proposition. However, the rewards are well worth it. Kafka's tarragon chicken will remind you that chicken breast can be moist and flavorful, and her pork loin with onion and rubarb sauce will make your guest think you've been professionally trained. With a well calibrated oven, a good set of Pyrex casserole pans, and a scrubbing sponge with green abrasive, you will have great success with this cookbook: it is absolutely one of the best references in my library.

All the complaints are bubkus. Yes, you get smoke - I recommend opening a window and turning on a fan. Yes, the pan gets caked with stuff, but deglazing gets it clean (or use a non-stick pan and clean-up will take two minutes). Everything I have made has been fantasic, guests have told me that I have "mastered cooking meat". After trying five different ways of cooking turkey, roasting is the only way I'll go now. My originally suspicious mother-in-law is asking for it for Mother's Day.

Every time I have people over to eat turkey, it never fails, they all rave and say they never ate such tender and juicy turkey. And the roasted leg of lamb... hummmmmm, just divine. The only thing about it is that you have to start with a clean oven and you end up with a very dirty one. But it's all worth the trouble.

I have over 160 years of chefs in my family including myself and this is one of the finest, most useful cooking books on the market. Roasting is just one of the best and easiest ways to cook.