Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication [Hardcover]

Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Author), Mark Bittman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2000

What happens when a four-star chef and a culinary minimalist decide to join forces to create something different? They invent a new style that adapts to every occasion and every level of cooking expertise. Simple to Spectacular introduces a unique concept developed by one of the world's top chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything and the New York Times's hugely popular column "The Minimalist." Ever since their award-winning collaboration on Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, the acclaimed duo has been cooking up a repertoire of new dishes that can be prepared in any of five progressively sophisticated ways.

Simple to Spectacular features a total of 250 recipes in 50 groups. Each group begins with a simple, elegant recipe--a few ingredients combined for maximum effect--followed by fully detailed, increasingly elaborate variations. For example, a recipe for Grilled Shrimp with Thyme and Lemon leads to Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini on Rosemary Skewers, Grilled Shrimp with Apple Ketchup, Thai-style Grilled Shrimp on Lemongrass Skewers, and Grilled Shrimp Balls with Cucumber and Yogurt.
Every aspect of the meal is covered, from superb soups and salads to unforgettable side dishes, entrees, and desserts. In Simple to Spectacular, everything--from the basics to innovations by a four-star chef--is tailored for a quick Tuesday night dinner or an elegant weekend party.  And in the now-classic Vongerichten-Bittman style, all of the recipes can be made in the kitchen of any home cook. With 80 full-color photographs giving a mouthwatering view of the Simple-to-Spectacular transformations, readers and cooks will eagerly explore the possibilities.Jean-Georges Vongerichten (right) won the 1998 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef and Best New Restaurant. His Manhattan restaurants include Vong, Jo Jo, The Mercer Kitchen, and Jean Georges, which earned a rare four-star rating from the New York Times.  

In Simple to Spectacular, two titans of the food world have created a truly groundbreaking cookbook.  Here are 250 superb recipes arranged in a uniquely useful way: a basic recipe and four increasingly sophisticated variations, with each group (there are 50 groups in all) based on a given technique.  This ingenious organization enables cooks of all levels of expertise to understand how a recipe is created and to re-create the brilliantly simple recipes and dazzling variations from one of our best food writers and home cooks teamed with one of America's greatest chefs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What happens when a world-class chef--Jean Georges Vongerichten, to be exact--writes a cookbook with a culinary minimalist, the New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman? The answer is Simple to Spectacular, a book that presents more than 250 recipes in a unique way. Here's the drill: a few-ingredient "core" recipe is offered, followed by formulas for four increasingly sophisticated (though not necessarily more taxing) variations. Chicken Breasts in Foil with Rosemary and Olive Oil, for example, yields to recipes for the breasts with tomatoes, olives, and Parmesan; with mushrooms, shallots, and sherry; Thai style; and, finally, with foie gras and porcini mushroom. In hands other than the authors', the dishes could be banal or overwrought. Vongerichten and Bittman triumph, however, presenting richly imagined yet straightforward fare whose preparation almost all cooks can manage.

Dish categories range from soups, salads, and entrees to seasonings, sauces, and desserts. In a number of cases, a particular ingredient, such as pasta, or a technique, such as vegetable roasting, is explored (the authors offer recipes for making plain pasta flavored with curry, for example). The sauce section is particularly useful and provides interesting theme-and-variation recipes for vinaigrettes and mayonnaises. Desserts, including Roasted Almond Ice Cream, Butter-Poached Pears with Praline, and Chocolate Tart in a Chocolate Crust, should please all sweet lovers. With 80 color photos, useful tips, and notes on food and equipment, Simple to Spectacular offers an original premise that will stimulate thought as well as great cooking. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

Following their James Beard Award- winning collaboration, Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, Vongerichten and New York Times food columnist Bittman (The Minimalist) team up again, this time ingeniously leading home cooks from simple to spectacular dishes. "A mastery of basic recipes and an idea of how to vary them leads to almost limitless options," writes Bittman. They emphasize time-saving techniques and offer an intriguing range of flavor possibilities. An excellent section on seasonings and sauces introduces innovative flavor-enhancers such as Citrus Salt, Mint-Licorice Spice Mix and Lobster Oil Mayonnaise. The authors expertly marry an updated French culinary sensibility with Asian-inspired influences, gradually transforming one basic recipe into four increasingly sophisticated dishes by adding luxury ingredients (e.g., truffles, caviar) or unusual seasonings (like harissa or pistachio oil), or by incorporating more advanced techniques (such as making beurre noisette). Among the mouthwatering permutations on French-bistro basics, One-Hour Chicken Stock morphs into Rich Chicken Soup with Chestnuts and Mushrooms; Best Scrambled Eggs is elevated to Oeufs au Caviar; and Tuna Tartare takes a fancy turn as Tuna Spring Roll with Soybean Coulis. Clean, pared-down prose, helpful "Keys to Success" sidebars and clear recipe instructions ably guide both novice and seasoned cooks. With a masterful understanding of today's global pantry, the authors have produced a modern classic. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1 edition (October 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767903609
• ISBN-13: 978-0767903608
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 1.2 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The first thing you should know about me is that I'm a country boy at heart. I grew up on a farm in Alsace where my mother and grandmother taught me to eat and cook according to the seasons. It was there I fell in love with food--fresh herbs and vegetables and the warmth of our local Franco-German flavors. Though I've been living an urban life since 1973, I'm still most at home in the country.

Since my departure from Alsace, I've lived, trained, and cooked all over France, in Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Boston, and New York. Now, I'm rooted in New York, in my little Perry Street neighborhood and in the hills of Westchester County. But I also feel at home in my other restaurants around the world.

Wherever I go, I always want to cook both globally and locally. If you've been to my restaurants, you've probably guessed that I love Asian flavors. My first trip to the open-air market in Bangkok remains one of my most influential culinary experiences, and I've since adopted those herbs and spices as my own. Everything I cook has to have a little heat. (Even at home, my wife, who's Korean-American, keeps our fridge stocked with kimchi.)

As for life outside the kitchen, I enjoy relaxing with my family. In the country, I often go fishing in my little pond and, while the weather's still nice, chop wood for the fireplace. In the city, I take my chefs out to eat after work and catch up with friends when we're cooking together for charity events. The greenmarket is one of my favorite places to stroll. I guess you can see that I love food. It's my passion. It's my life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your search has ended for the best cookbook of the year 2000, November 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication (Hardcover)

First of all, the book is gorgeous. Better yet, the recipes are divine. They go from simply luxurious to positively decadent. The day I got the book I made Steak with Butter and Ginger Sauce. It was soooo easy and soooo good, and it was also different from any other steak I had ever made. The fabulous combination of Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman came up with the idea of taking a simple recipe and then building on that recipe to create a series of more sophisticated variations, and the idea really works. Mark Bittman's recipes are always clearly written, and Mr. Vongerichten is truly an alchemist in the kitchen. Whatever he starts with ends up being so much more than the sum of its parts, it's remarkable. Most cookbooks seem to have basically the same recipes distinguished by slightly different methods of arriving at a similar result. Not true of Jean-Georges Vongerichten. His recipes are very unique and usually uncomplicated. The difference is he combines ingredients that go very well together but that no one else has thought of. I have both his other cookbooks, and each recipe I have tried is easy to execute for the home cook. I would recommend both of them also. In fact, all three together would make a great gift set. An even better idea is to get them all for yourself and enjoy the results. Happy cooking and eating.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy family cuisine and variations for the gourmet, December 13, 2000

By 

Melissa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication (Hardcover)

Although I have over 150 cookbooks, this is my first by Jean-Georges. I've become acquainted with him through his appearances on Martha Stewart and enjoyed watching him create some of his recipes. However, it was a recent appearance on the Regis show that sold me on this particular book. From a simple version of mashed potatoes, he then proceeded to enhance it four different ways. Wow! Also recommended which version would best accompany different meats or fish. I am always a fan of cookbooks that show one main recipe as well as subtle ways to change accompanying ingredients to create simple or spectacular menus.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brought new life to my cooking!, June 23, 2003

By 

Matthew Hunter "Technology Geek" (Blacksburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication (Hardcover)

My fiance and I throw a lot of dinner parties. I've loved cooking for years, and have mastered a number of great dishes that my friends love - and usually keep asking for. Constantly in search of new 'greats' - I've bought shelves of cookbooks trying to find great recipes that I could then modify to make my own. If only I'd found this book first - I would have saved myself hundreds of dollars!

This book is incredible - it starts with one basic (but great) recipe for something (like sauteed red snapper, for instance) then gives you 3 additional recipes, each becoming more complex. For instance, sauteed red snapper becomes potato crusted red snapper with a mustard/wine sauce, then spice and nut crusted red snapper, and finally pistachio crusted red snapper with pistachio oil and sauteed spinach.

The best part is that this isn't just a book of recipies. The author always explains in detail what you're doing, and why. He points out the really important part of these dishes, to ensure you know where to be careful. Plus, because it's written showing how you can constantly modify recipes for new creations, it opens a *big* door for you to constantly modify and be creative. I've never seen another cookbook like it.

Pros:
-Recipies are amazing!
-Even better, you learn how to modify them all in order to create fantastic new recipies.
-Besides the recipies, there's a lot you can learn about cooking in general - there is a wealth of knowledge in here.

Cons:
-I don't have any... this book is just remarkable.