Customer Reviews

Weir Cooking: Recipes from the Wine Country

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the first book I have ever been moved to buy from a PBS television show. I was skeptical - but it has turned out to be my favorite cookbook. The recipes emphasize fresh ingredients and simple preparation. There are no recipes in this book that the uninitiated cook would not succeed with. I love it so much I am giving it as a gift this Christmas. Best of all, it highlights the fact that good, simple food is best shared with family and friends. A winner!

Impressed by Joanne Weir's PBS show, I bought this book from Amazon and I am SO glad I did. The book is beautiful with lots of great pictures. The colored cover looks exactly like the dust jacket as opposed to some plain cardboard paper used in most hardbound books. The quality of the paper is also amazing.

However, this book is more than just a pretty cookbook you put on your coffee table. It's full of great and inspiring recipes. It has inspired me to eat healthy and use more fresh in-season produce in my cooking instead of serving my family something frozen or canned. Some recipes call for ingredients that are only available in upscale supermarkets (truffle oil, some gourmet cheeses, prociutto, pancetta, creme fraiche). But don't let that turn you off. I have learned to use things that I have never used in my cooking before and it's been a fun adventure. So far, I have tried 8 recipes and they all turned out wonderfully. My favorite recipe is "Crispy Polenta Cakes with Wild Mushroom Ragout". It's out of this world. "Pizza with Asparagus, Prociutto, and Truffle Oil", "Wild Mushroom and Blue Cheese Crostini", and "Coffee Honey Brulee" are also terrific.

I highly recommend this book.

The best recipes come from cooks with hands on teaching experience. I recently attended a cooking class taught by joanne and i can tell you her strengths come out the classroom. Her book not only displays beautiful images of culinary delight but the recipes are easy to construct. i just ordered 6 books for holiday giving. "Thank you Joanne for sharing your heart, your craft and creative soul"

I loved this show on PBS partly because she made it seem so easy. Her recipes didn't seem as easy in the book, and my family probably wouldn't eat most of them, but I still loved it! (I would certainly eat them, they all contain such interesting and fresh ingredients.) Overall, I really like her and her cookbook, she's such an opptimist (and her cookbook reflects that).

I, like many other readers, bought this cookbook after watching Joanne Weir prepare most of these recipes on PBS. Her ingredients are fresh, healthy and simple and they seemed to result in delicious meals. I also loved the fact that as a chef she seemed very at ease and therefore her recipes must reflect her basic approach. (That woman can use a butcher's knife in practically any situation!) I'm not very fond of long, involved recipes and have not yet encountered a problem with anything I have made, my only regret being that I wish that I had ingredients that look as ripe and fresh as Joanne's! I plan on ordering her next book as soon as possible.

I've tried many of the recipes in this book and they have been terrific. They all have great flavor and have been big hits. Great soup recipes are not easy to come by but Joanne has succeeded -- the Asparagus Soup with Lemon Creme Fraiche and the Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Toasted Walnut Butter are two of the best!

The photographs are gorgeous, and Joanne's stories at the start of each chapter are wonderful. Her recipes are for the most part, easy to prepare, and everything is fresh and delicious...very little here in the way of processed or canned ingredients.

Joanne is a gifted teacher...her PBS show is what made me buy this book. I think you will enjoy it, too.

Joanne has made the intro to every chapter of her cookbook enjoyable to read, it makes you want to visit the wine country. She talks about her architech husband, her father and her grandmother, she has made the book very personable. I served the Italian Bread Salad with Tomatoes and Basil, to friends, they raved about it and there were no leftovers. I had to share the recipe with them at the end of the night, when they found out how easy it was to make. I've also watched Joanne's television show, that corresponds to the cookbook, she has a great talent.

I received this book as a gift and have been given it to others as well. The layout is terrific and the quality of the photos are as gorgeous as the scenes in her series on tv. I use this book often, but always have it out just so guests can view it. I highly recommend it!

After watching Joanne Weir's cooking show on PBS, we decided to find her cookbook and try the recipes ourselves. We have now cooked five items out of the book and all have been great. They are easy to follow recipes and the food is delicious. This is now becoming the book to give to friends for birthdays and holidays.