There's a Chef in Your Freezer: Fast, Fabulous, Delicious, Mediterranean-Inspired Recipes Your Family, Friends, and You Will Love [Paperback]

Richard Azzolini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

This book will change the way you cook and eat! In a perfect world everyone would have as much time as they wanted to prepare delicious meals for themselves and their loved ones. Unfortunately, at the end of a day?s work most people don?t have time to create a fine meal from scratch. This book will teach you how to make edible building blocks that will enable you to prepare sophisticated meals at a moment?s notice. What are the building blocks? Succulent roasted tomatoes and peppers; luscious mushroom duxelles; sweet and meltingly soft onions, shallots, and leeks; creamy roasted garlic; rich chicken and vegetable stocks; and fragrant herbal marinades. The building blocks can be used right away, or kept frozen, ready at a moment?s notice, your own mise en place. Think of them as sunshine in your freezer. The building blocks will allow you to turn a steaming bowl of soup, some pasta, and a chicken breast into a feast in short order. Written for people who enjoy good, simple food with a Mediterranean accent, this book consists of two parts. The first part of the book focuses on how to prepare the edible building blocks. The second part of the book is filled with recipes designed to allow you to create fine meals from the building blocks. Quick, easy, and delicious, you will love the results.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Universal Publishers (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581126549
• ISBN-13: 978-1581126549
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,980,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different way of cooking, November 6, 2001

By 

Henry Rabinowitz (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: There's a Chef in Your Freezer: Fast, Fabulous, Delicious, Mediterranean-Inspired Recipes Your Family, Friends, and You Will Love (Paperback)

I'm probably not the typical reader of this book. I like cooking, but only do cooking that takes very little time. Still, I learned a very useful philosophy of cooking from this book, "Chef in your Freezer." The philosophy is how to prepare some useful building blocks in order to have them on hand in the freezer. Then, it is much easier to make a good meal in a short time without cutting corners. This isn't a fast food cookbook, nor does quality suffer.
I particularly liked learning some interesting tricks in how to make polenta and risotto. I like to cook vegetarian, and found many delicious vegetarian recipes in these sections.
I'd highly recommend this book, to both beginning and advanced home cooks.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This "Chef" Inspires All Home Cooks!, November 5, 2001

By 

cdea "cdea" (San francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There's a Chef in Your Freezer: Fast, Fabulous, Delicious, Mediterranean-Inspired Recipes Your Family, Friends, and You Will Love (Paperback)

I love this book. I have been cooking for 50 years, and I learned a whole new way of cooking with this book. Not only is it great reading, but "Chef" is a wonderful collection of delicious Mediterrean "building blocks" and recipes that anyone who loves to cook and eat gourmet meals every night but doesn't have time to prepare will literally eat up! Richard Azzolini gives step-by-step instructions for preparing items such as carmelized onions, roasted peppers, tomatoes and garlic, soups and sauces that are written in a clear, user friendly manner with prenty of hints and humor. He encourages the homecook to buy foods at the height of ripeness, in quanity, then gather friends and family to prepare the "building blocks" together and to share in the bounty. All the "building blocks" can be put in the freezer, packaged in small amounts, ready to use as needed. Every recipe Chef Az provides to use the "building blocks" is mouthwatering, easy to prepare and healthy, including the desserts! Imagine being able to prepare a fabulous meal every night in minutes with recipes such as Classic Onion Soup, Tomato Orange Basil Risotto, Salmon with Rosemary/thyme Marinade finished with Balsamic Vinegar and Carmelized Onions,and for dessert, a lucious Hazelnut Frangipane Tart because the "building blocks" are ready and waiting in your freezer. This is one cookbook you will use again and again and will soon be "stained" with happy memories.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tasty meals in record time, February 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: There's a Chef in Your Freezer: Fast, Fabulous, Delicious, Mediterranean-Inspired Recipes Your Family, Friends, and You Will Love (Paperback)

There's a Chef in Your Freezer is great for the overly busy
working mom. With the help of Chef Az I have learned how to prepare meals that aren't boring, within 20 minutes.

I never think about preparing a meal until the kids are starving and demand an instant dinner. So with a little prep, I can cook something besides the boring hot dogs and hamburgers.

My kids now eat more veggies and I am amazed at my gourmet results. Thank you Chef Az.