Customer Reviews

The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love to cook but was in a rut with my weeknight standard recipes, and heard Lynne talk about this new book on NPR. I immediately bought it just for the Hoisin Noodles 4 Flavors recipe, which I made this weekend for a very appreciative audience of husband and dad - it was easy and delicious of course, but most happily it was something different. I can't wait to try many of the ideas I've found there - now I need a bottle of fish sauce to add the umami to lots of recipes - and am excited about weeknight cooking again. I'd recommend this to anyone who isn't afraid of red pepper flakes, roasting a vegetable, or the occasional pat of butter or dollop of cream. It's full of tips, clear explanations, realistic cooking times for recipes, and a great "Here's a basic equipment list," plus great little stories and quotes. I love this book! I'm ultra-confident that new recipes will put the "Wow" back into our weeknight AND weekend cooking! Thank you, Lynne and Sally!

I like, not love, The Splendid Table. I enjoy it when I happen to turn on the radio, but I don't market my calendar to ensure I catch the radio show.

On the other hand, I'm completely taken with this cookbook. It fills a specific niche: real non-shortcut cooking, with the awareness that you probably have to start dinner after you get home from work. The recipes are all chosen with that desire/limitation in mind, and give you an estimate of how long it'll take from start to finish.

There's a pretty wide range of ethnic flavors, from Italian pasta to Chinese stir fries, which can keep the supper table interesting. So far, I've made only one recipe, but it was a clear winner: tarragon chicken breasts with buttery leeks. It promised to be done in half an hour... which was really more like 45 minutes, but we spent less than ten minutes in the kitchen. Many recipes suggest improvisations, simple or complex; she suggests other herbs instead of the tarragon for that chicken recipe, but another recipe for pasta with butternut squash and greens extends to a fennel garlic roast. I have my eye on this recipe for corn chowder and on the tamarind-glazed pork chops.

Among the features I like in this cookbook (and wish others would adopt) is that the ingredient is in boldface. That is, "2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice" has the "lemon juice" in bold type, making it easy to scan through the ingredient list while you're composing a shopping list or cooking.

A more major component of the cookbook is the little essays that come from the radio show, such as the discovery that consuming different cheeses before bedtime affects the nature of your dreams, and an explanation of the seed savers' exchange. Plus, a "building your library" sidebar will recommend cookbooks that you probably want to explore. The result is an inordinately *readable* cookbook, not just one to grab when you're wondering what you can possibly feed the family.

I received this book from my girlfriend, who knows how much I love Lynne's show and collecting cookbooks. I am usually skeptical of books written by media personalities (e.g., nearly everyone on the Food Network) because the books are almost always hyped and are no more special than cookbooks written by others. A pretty face does not always a good cookbook make.

Many others have commented on the book's layout and design, so I'll focus on the recipes contained within the book. Most of the them require a lot of little ingredients, especially spices, oils, and herbs, so most of your time in the kitchen will involve gathering and preparing these than actually cooking the food. I found that nearly all of these dishes tasted better the next day and needed more salt than specified.

Nearly every recipe has been a revelation of some sort:

1. The Pan-Crisped Deviled Eggs are a new take on the American classic: you brown the the recipe's deviled eggs in a skillet, which enhances the taste and texture.

2. The Cuban Black Bean Stew is hearty and simple; it's perfect for a chilly fall day. It's inexpensive, too: my grocery store practically gives away smoked ham hocks.

3. The recipe for Tomato-Cheddar-Packed Turkey Burgers produces wonderfully moist burgers and the splash of wine adds a welcome (but light) complexity. Word of warning: You'll think there's something wrong after you mix the ground turkey with the rest of the ingredients: the patties will be very wet and not hold shape. Don't worry: drop them on the hot skillet and everything will work out in the end.

4. Lynne's Winter Tart of Roast Vegetables and Endive demonstrates how easy it is to use frozen puff pastry and how well it works as a "pizza" crust. The use of Asiago cheese adds a nice tang and makes the dish so savory. Lynne's variations show how easy it is to improvise on this recipe so it can work with nearly whatever vegetable you have on hand. Happily, she even includes a page describing how to roast vegetables. My mouth is watering just remembering this dish.

5. Lynne's recipe for pho is divine. The "cheater's Asian broth" that is the base of this recipe is savory, a wonderfully balanced blend of onion, garlic, ginger, cloves, pepper, chicken broth, sugar, and fish sauce.

6. Jane and Michael Stern's broccoli casserole calls for 3 tablespoons of sugar, white bread, 3 eggs, a cup of shredded cheddar, and half a stick of butter. The sugar really is the surprise in this dish; I never expected that in a casserole in which I would assume salt to dominate.

7. The 21st Century Mac 'n' Cheese is definitely an adult take on mac and cheese. The use of cheddar, cream cheese, and Gruyere, along with a finely minced onion, give this dish a real zip that is so often lacking in traditional recipes.

8. The Pork Tenderloin Pan Roast with Black Olives and Orange is delicious, juicy, and tender. I never had before thought of the combination of black olives, orange, and white wine.

What hasn't worked? It was the Sicilian corkscrews with white beans. I'm not sure what happened, but the dish lacked any flavor. I had to pour salt on it, even though I generously salted the pasta water, as Lynne is always recommending. And I am just not sure about the iced cantaloupe soup with jalapeno and basil. I think the recipe called for *too* much salt. It just may not be a taste that I like.

In conclusion, Lynne has an impressive sense of how to boost the savoriness and depth of flavor through the use of sensible amounts of simple ingredients, like wine, onions, and tangy cheeses, all without sacrificing the balance of flavor in a dish. The overall effect is a filling supper without extraordinary amounts of added fats. I would recommend this book to the amateur cook who likes cooking, new tastes, and isn't afraid to try using wine as a cooking ingredient.

As a fan of The Splendid Table weekly radio program, I was very curious about how the same style of information would be made into written form, so ordered this book. I really like that the recipes focus on dinner, or lunch, menus, instead of just trying to cover every type of recipe (for that type of cookbook, I recommend Bittman's How To Cook Everything - fabulous in it's own way). And most of the recipes look full of flavors, AND can be made ahead of time and served reheated, or at room temperature (a real boon for families!). We actually made the delicious Warm Bean with Rosemary dish, and the Oven Roasted Onion dishes for our 3 year olds birthday party, and they were both great hits w/ kids and adults alike! And though not encyclopedic, all of the recipes look very tasty, and not difficult to make. And one last reason I like this book - the recipes are typed out in a larger, very clear type face, which makes it so much easier to read when you're busy in the kitchen reading the recipe while cooking it. Bravo Ms. Kasper and Ms. Swift!

Am I the only person who was surprised to find grammatical errors in this book? I know, I know, it's a cook/lifestyle book and I should get a life, but I wish they had sent me a galley copy so I could have fixed the handful of errors. And no, grammar isn't that important when the food and life promulgated on the pages are so passionately, lushishly described.

But here's the thing: I have begun to wonder if there might be some finer points missing in the directions as well. The first recipe I chose to make was the Butter-Steamed Leeks, and nowhere does it say if the leeks should be sliced. The authors want me to make a vertical cut down the length of each leek (which to me is not the same thing as "slice in half vertically") and then soak them to remove grit. Fair enough, but that's it. Most recipes then have you cut the leeks crosswise into one or half inch slices. But I am left to my own devices here. Not that I am going to get into serious trouble if I decide to slice or not to slice, but this is the kind of attention to detail (as well as grammar) that differentiates good cookbooks from great cookbooks.

Regardless, it's still a recommended book (tomorrow night I'm making the covershot Tumeric Potatoes) though I would have appreciated more photos of the dishes and/or their preparation.

I work full time and cook for my husband and me. It is important to me to cook healthy meals and I am willing to purchase quality ingredients although my budget is limited and I hate waste (buying a jar when I need a quarter cup of a rarely used ingredient, for example). Once in awhile I'll cook an elaborate meal, but my preference is for meals that can get on the table with less than a half hour of my time and rely mostly on staples I can keep around. So far I LOVE the "Warm white bean salad with fragrent garlic and rosemary" which is now a weekday,throw-together-at-the-last-minute meal for us on a regular basis. I also LOVE the "Summer Zucchini Pasta." But the cookbook is worth the price for the French Fudge Cakes alone. I made the panna cotta and served it along with the fudge cakes for guests who haven't stopped talking about it when I see them. I can't remember the last cookbook where I found both weekday staples along with dishes that impress. I also appreciate that Lynne teaches techniques and encourages experimenting. I've riffed on the zuchinni pasta but now always add the pasta water to create the "sauce." I feel like I am learning to cook, not just following a recipe. I agree with one reviewer that the graphic design is a bit distracting in some cases, but I've taken to writing on the recipes myself - notes about substitutions and favorites - so it feels like a two-way conversation. This cookbook is for the just beyond basic beginner or the cook who has more ambition than time. A cooking 102 from a master teacher.

As a huge fan of the Public Radio show I was delighted when this book came out. Rossetto-Kasper is a practical enough cook to know that supper is often a hurried affair, often involving a bag of Fritos. The recipes are easy to prepare and easy to upgrade. My most-used recipe is the cheater's version of homemade broth, which starts with canned chicken or vegetable broth to which you add white wine, herbs and spices and aromatics. This versatile broth is used in any number of dishes to good advantage. I also enjoy the taste tests including canned tomatoes, canned chicken broth, etc. This has become a staple of my collection in under two weeks.

As a former caterer and still-avid cook, when I saw this book, I grabbed it. I like to read a cookbook--in other words, give me cooking tips, great stories and exciting recipes!

The book begins: "The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who wake up thinking about what they're going to eat for supper, and those that don't. We are decidedly in the former camp; in fact we wake up thinking about what we are going to cook for supper."

I love it!

What I love even more is Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift's philosophy on food: "We feel strongly about local, sustainable,and organic food... This philosophy doesn't come solely from concerns over well-being. It is larger than that. It is about ecology, the survival of rural life, and values."

Amen!

Some highlights:

In salad section, there is a do-it-yourself dressing kit. If you buy bottled dressings, please give this a try--homemade dressing is extremely easy to make and far superior to store-bought.

In soup section, the authors advise how to improvise your own soups.

Basically, the authors seek to teach the reader how to cook and they do a great job. The neat part about cooking is that no matter how experienced you are, there is always more to learn.

I look forward to trying many of the recipes in this beautiful book. The instructions are crystal clear, to boot.

A quote from the book: "I aam not a vegetarian because I love animals. I am a vegetarian because I hate plants." A. Whitney Brown

By the author of the award winning book,Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet.

I want to give this book a great review, because the content is top-notch, but overall, the poor layout and inadequate index make it much less useful than it should be.

The recipes I have tried ('Plumped Ginger-Caramel Shrimp' and 'Green Apple, Cheese, and Chard Oven Omelet') have been great, and the book is an absolute treasure trove of information on all sorts of cooking-related topics.

Unfortunately, only the recipes are indexed, not the tips. So good luck finding the entry where she discusses vinegars - the only entry under "V" is for "vegetables."

A cookbook pet-peeve of mine is having to flip pages while cooking; unfortunately, this book has a tendency to put the recipes' ingredients on one page, and the recipe itself on the flip-side of that page. Since I don't do a full mis-en-place when I cook, I keep needing to turn back to figure out exactly how much water I'm supposed to be adding in Step Three.

My hope is that they'll come out with a revised edition that addresses these issues (especially the index!).

Again and again I find myself excited to pick up this unique more-than-a-cookbook. Recipes for healthy food prepared with manageable numbers of ingredients abound, and lessons on technique teach us how to think about food and work with it. Not only are the tips, quotes, and book recommendations fascinating to learn, but variations to many recipes inspire me to think about food creatively. I gleaned so much from this one book and enjoy myself each time I open it. The scope of The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper invites the reader to cook more and learn more about food and culinary customs.

Graphically, the work's clear, inviting font sizes and types delight the eye. I have fun reading it and find it tremendously inspiring. The enthusiasm of its authors is infectious, instantly making this my favorite cooking treatise!

WHEN IS YOUR NEXT BOOK COMING OUT? : ) I'll be waiting for it.