21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brand new, but already our-go-to cookbook, January 5, 2009
This review is from: Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Perfect Recipes for Each (Paperback)
Back in the 1970s, when many Americans were under the impression that wrapping a boneless chicken breast around a stick of butter and deep-drying it was "gourmet" cooking, Sheila Lukins started helping some bachelor friends with their dinner parties. Her foot was healthy, simple and, above all, tasty. That impromptu business morphed into The Other Woman Catering Company, and then, with a partner, into a gourmet store.
The Silver Palate opened on New York's Upper West Side --- then a culinary wasteland --- the same year that Dean & DeLuca opened downtown. And the foodworld suddenly changed.
In 1982, The Silver Palate published a cookbook. It presented 350 recipes, most of them pleasingly toothsome, all of them easy. It too rocked foodworld --- in 2007, having abandoned several grease-stained copies, I couldn't not buy the "Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition".
"Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Perfect Recipes for Each" should also be around a quarter century from now --- and I suspect I'll have gone through several copies by then. It's not just that the recipes are simple, sane and sensible. It's that this book is built on a great idea.
And it's a simple idea: We may like many different kinds of food, but we have our favorites. For the carnivores, that's steaks, chops, burgers, ribs and stews. For fish-lovers, that's shrimp, lobster, clams and seafood salads. For pretty much everyone, it's mashed potatoes, pasta, corn and tomatoes. Add desserts, cocktails, salads and a few others, and you have 32 favorites.
But here's the smart part: In each category, Lukins presents ten recipes. Some are classic. Others play with the possibilities. Chicken, for example, begins with the basic: herb-roasted chicken; it's nicely conventional, but then she adds a touch I've never tried --- a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to the gravy. Then it's on to a roasted chicken that's been brined for 12 hours, Asian-scented orange chicken, orange-ginger-tomato glazed chicken, Vietnamese-style chicken, Tandoori-style roast chicken, Daniel Boulud's chicken grand-mere, a salted roast chicken, a South American chicken and herb-roasted drumsticks. A trip around the world of chicken, in ten recipes. I want to make them all.
In every category, I admire the creative details. A vanilla bean added to stewed tomatoes. Mac and cheese with equal amounts of cheddar and mozzarella. Stalks of lemongrass in the steamed clams. These ingredients could, in other books, turn recipes into tricks. Here, they just make food taste better.
"Ten" hasn't been in our kitchen long. But it's already muscled out some formidable competition. Soon, I suspect, it will be our go-to cookbook.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I love this cookbook!, December 12, 2008
This review is from: Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Perfect Recipes for Each (Paperback)
I used to buy way too many cookbooks, an in recent years I have scaled back to a few essential ones - Bittman's How to Cook Everything, Cooks Illustrated's The Best Recipe, and a handful more. This cookbook, in the short time I have owned it, has earned a spot among the top three! The way it is organized is *so* innovative and different, yet perfectly intuitive. I love that she starts out with the ten best cocktails, because it's so fun to have a signature drink when you entertain. The chapters on soups, steak, and chocolate are particularly fabulous. The recipes (I've cooked about 15 things out of it since I got it last month) have turned out every time, and I've rated most of them "great" and a few of them "good". Delish!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love It!!!, April 9, 2009
This review is from: Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Perfect Recipes for Each (Paperback)
I love this book because it takes the everyday foods we know and love and gives them a bit of a twist. My favorite recipe is the Market Street Meat Loaf. This particular recipe scored high points in our house...even with the uber picky hubby. I like this meat loaf because it packs a huge punch of flavor...like I said; it's a unique twist on an old favorite. Plus, it's loaded with veggies. I don't know about you, but we always struggle to get all our vegetable servings in. When you sneak it into the meat dish, you can't miss. Lukins says it's the carrots, celery and bell peppers that get the flavor going; but I think it's the spices that take it over the edge. It provides a nice crisp flavor you don't expect with meat loaf.
It also makes a huge batch, making it the ideal freezer meal. You can bake half now and put the rest in the freezer for later.
I can't wait to try more recipes!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
