Santa Fe School of Cooking: Flavors of the Southwest [Paperback]

Susan D. Curtis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2008

For over fifteen years, visitors to Santa Fe have learned that the best meal they'll have there may be one prepared by a guest chef at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Now anyone can share in the expertise of some of this culinary hot spot's top chefs with this follow-up cookbook to the original Santa Fe School of Cooking. Here are dozens of recipes, techniques, traditions and flavors that helped define a region. Fresh ingredients, local foods and products, Native American and Mexican flavors, and the blessed green chile are the hallmarks for Santa Fe-style cooking. All original recipes, exemplifying traditional New Mexican, Spanish, and contemporary Southwest cuisine. Sidebars and features include chiles, equipment, wines of New Mexico, farmers market, techniques for nopales and tamale.

Susan Curtis, with her husband, David, founded the Santa Fe School of Cooking in 1989. She has coauthored several cookbooks, including Tacos and Salsas and Summer in Santa Fe. She has been on the board of directors of the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta for fifteen years.

Nicole Curtis Ammerman grew up in Santa Fe and is a graduate of the University of Arizona. She handles day-to-day operations of the cooking school.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In this long-awaited follow-up to the original Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook, authors Susan Curtis and Nicole Curtis Ammerman share dozens of new recipes, techniques, traditions, and flavors from one of America's culinary hot spots. Fresh ingredients, local foods and products, Native American and Mexican flavors, and the blessed green chile are the hallmarks of Santa Fe-style cooking. Now anyone can share in the expertise of some of the Santa Fe area's top chefs with this new cookbook that features original recipes exemplifying traditional New Mexican, Mexican, Spanish, and contemporary Southwestern cuisine.

Flavors of the Southwest offers more than 100 recipes made easy for the home cook. The school's philosophy is that of buying fresh ingredients from farmers markets and local food artisans, using nature's bounty to create traditional recipes as well as menus for healthier eating. Bring together your own mix of Southwest flavors by following easy directions to create delicious appetizers, side dishes, soups, salads, main dishes, and desserts with a taste that's unmistakably Santa Fe.

Growing up on a cattle ranch in Idaho, Susan Curtis picked chokecherries for homemade jam, ate fresh grouse for dinner and,simultaneously, developed a love of the land and locally harvested foods. She moved to New Mexico in 1978 and founded the Santa Fe School of Cooking in 1989. More than sixteen years later, the school is thriving and has garnered acclaim in publications such as the New York Times and the Boston Globe. When not planning growth strategies for the school, Susan usually can be found cooking a family meal for husband, David, their two epicurean daughters and three grandchildren. Susan has co-authored several cookbooks, including Salsas and Tacos and, of course, the Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook.

Manager of the Santa Fe School of Cooking, Nicole Curtis Ammerman grew up in Santa Fe hiking the red lands and green mountains of New Mexico and making dinner for the whole family by the time she was ten years old. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Nicole briefly managed a retail clothing store before returning to her hometown in 1993 to oversee the school's day-to-day operations. Nicole and her husband, Mike, have a two-year-old daughter who loves to tag along on hiking excursions and takes great pride decorating homemade pizza with peppers and olives.

From the Back Cover

Learn the subtle difference between an aji amarillo chile and a cascabel pod- Master the flavors of the real southwest!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (June 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423604709
• ISBN-13: 978-1423604709
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.7 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #582,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This isn't just a Tex-Mex cookbook -- it raises New Mexican cooking to an entirely new level of cuisine. January 5, 2013

By joseph j yarusinski

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The recipes are unique and detailed. They are centered on fresh ingredients and do not rely on 'cans of chilis or jars of salsa.

3.0 out of 5 stars Cookbook doesn't quite live up to the cuisine of the area November 30, 2012

By Andrea from Boston

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having returned from my first trip to Sante Fe, I rushed to buy this cookbook as both a way to remember the richly tasty foods we ate, and to cook that way more myself. It just doesn't quite reflect the range and depth of flavors and excitement we experienced in person. The Cooking School itself was closed when I was there, as I went to visit and hoped to look around the bookstore in person.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Santa Fe School of Cooking February 28, 2010

By Jerry M. Foster

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book has great recipes and great photos. I'd love to go to the school to further educate my southwestern cooking skills.