Without Reservations: How to Make Bold, Creative, Flavorful Food at Home [Hardcover]

Joey Altman (Author), Jennie Schacht (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2008

Praise for Without Reservations

"In this enticing book, Joey Altman shows us that with the proper techniques, the knowledge and craftsmanship of the professional chef can be translated to the home kitchen with great menus."
--Jacques Pepin

"I am lucky enough to be able to cook with Joey quite a bit, and I promise you, Joey knows food. With this book, we are lucky to bring his expertise into our own kitchens."
--Tyler Florence, host of Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network

"Joey's Without Reservations exudes personality, insight, and enthusiasm. From his tour through the chef's palette of flavors, ingredients, and techniques to his uniquely 'Joey' takes on all the food we want to eat, this is a book that'll inspire many a happy meal."
--Rick Bayless, Chef of Chicago's Frontera Grill and host of PBS's Mexico--One Plate at a Time

"This is the kind of food I love to cook and eat! Joey has triumphed with a book chock-full of recipes perfect for every day of the week. And the best part, they're doable. This book should find a place in every cook's library."
--Joanne Weir, cookbook author and host of PBS's Joanne Weir's Cooking Class

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Altman, a San Francisco chef and host of Bay Café, a popular local TV cooking show, enthusiastically encourages people to cook California cuisine in their own homes. He introduces an array of global flavors that aim to highlight the best ingredients, particularly citrus and spices, putting a spark into recipes like Island Gazpacho, which features mango, papaya, chiles and horseradish, and Oven-Roasted Beet and Orange Salad. Intriguing combinations like tamarind, pecan and cherries with chicken, or maple, apple and mango with pork augment the dishes' central elements without overwhelming them. Like any good California chef, he gives suggestions for what to drink with main-dish recipes, and he also provides helpful tips throughout about preparation, presentation and ingredients. Altman includes a few simple classics like pasta carbonara, but despite his goal of making chef-style innovation accessible at home, most of the recipes involve numerous steps and techniques that are more suited to cooks with some experience than to absolute beginners. Altman's gusto is infectious for any reasonably confident cook with a love of putting great ingredients to use in unexpected ways. This is an excellent springboard for experimentation. Color photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)
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From the Inside Flap

Joey Altman spent the first part of his career as a professional chef, cooking at some of the nation's top restaurants. Nine years ago, he launched a second career as host of a popular, award-winning television food show. But even though he no longer cooks at a restaurant full-time, his family and friends still expect him to prepare restaurant-quality meals. Now, in this fun and inspiring cookbook, Joey shares his secrets for cooking chef-caliber food at home.

The 120 recipes in the book, along with Joey's notes and tips, will help you take casual meals and entertaining to a whole new level. From cocktails, appetizers, salads, and soups to pasta, seafood, poultry, meat, and desserts, Joey's recipes feature great ingredients, vibrant flavors, and artful presentations—everything you need for that restaurant "wow" factor in your own cooking. Kick off your next dinner party with Spicy Lamb Sliders, Crab Stuffed Avocado, or Island Gazpacho. For a main course, try Duck Cannelloni, Tamarind-Pecan Chicken with Dried Cherries, or Grilled Caribbean Lamb Skewers. And for dessert, serve something fabulous—Oozing Chocolate Cake or Black and White Tiramisu. Tempting dishes like these will help you build confidence and kitchen skills and are guaranteed to impress your guests.

Throughout the book, more than 140 beautiful color photographs illustrate specialized techniques as well as finished dishes and show Joey in thekitchen and at home with family and friends. Joey's clear instructions ensure that even complicateddishes turn out perfectly, and suggested substitutions and variations help you make the recipes your own. Complete with recommended wine and bever-age pairings, guidance on working with special ingredients, pointers to boost your kitchen skills, and symbols that show how you can work the recipes into your everyday or party menus, Without Reservations is your indispensable guide to memorable meals with family and friends. With Joey's lively kitchen wisdom and the recipes in this book, you'll soon be cooking like a four-star chef—and entertaining without reservations.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470130458
• ISBN-13: 978-0470130452
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > International

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars kitchen bookshelf, June 20, 2008

By 

Stephen R. Altman Cigar - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Without Reservations: How to Make Bold, Creative, Flavorful Food at Home (Hardcover)

WITHOUT RESERVATIONS is one of those rare cookbooks that come along and inspire you to actually cook the resipes! the delicious sounding combinations and photography made my mouth water immediately. i will say that this is for people like me who like to be in the kitchen and stir things up. altman has made his enticing dishes seem very doable with his easy to understand "think like a chef"tips and many "how to"photos.his suggestions for ingredient substitutions also make it easy to customize many of the recipes to my palate..... great new addition to my kitchen bookshelf

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get it Without ANY Reservations!, June 21, 2008

By 

Sue Burish (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Without Reservations: How to Make Bold, Creative, Flavorful Food at Home (Hardcover)

Joey Altman and Jennie Schacht have found a way to make you shine like a trained chef in your home kitchen. Joey is a chef who understands home cooks want to make wow dishes without spending hours doing it. Jennie captures his enthusiasm, point of view and delicious, often surprising recipes with clear directions and personal insights about the chef/musician. My favorites: a rarely seen chapter on hip cocktails; curried chicken in radicchio cups; ahi poke with wasabi cream; the surprising easy and show stopping duck confit; thai grilled prawns with emerald noodles; the whole chapter on sauces, salsas and chutneys; and the drop dead fabulous sweet potato puree. Detailed, color and large-ish How-to photos will help novice chefs feel comfortable they are executing some of the trickier recipes/steps correctly. Finally the authors provide a dozen excellent start to finish menus for a range of occasions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes It Easy, June 23, 2008

By 

Philip Cooper (Palm Springs, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Without Reservations: How to Make Bold, Creative, Flavorful Food at Home (Hardcover)

This occasional cook needs things spelled out clearly and this cookbook does exactly that. My favorite part is that the basic recipes also have tips on things to add to change or adapt to guests, an overall menu, or just for interest. I bought one as a gift for an accomplished cook, who really liked the tips and ways to customize recipes. Even the photos seem to clarify, rather than just being eye-candy. A very helpful and useful book indeed.