Cooking With Grace: A Step-By-Step Course In Authentic Italian Cooking (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In this chapter, I present special recipes that showcase techniques that are very important for you to learn early on before progressing to the rest..." (more)
Key Phrases: reclosable plastic freezer bags, freezing this dish, leaving room for the dough, Ricotta Cloud Cream, Use This Recipe, Chocolate Custard Cream (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pilato, longtime potter (some of her pieces are showcased here) and cooking teacher, has produced a veritable primer of Italian cuisine that instructs with keen attention to the craft of cooking and with an artist's appreciation for the good things in life. She begins with a practical list of essential pantry ingredients and basic kitchen equipment, plus a prep guide for mainstays like Romano cheese, chopped garlic and canned tomatoes, followed by "stepping-stone" recipes for such staples as marinara and pesto. After the salad section, dried pasta, fresh hand-made pasta and gnocchi are thoroughly explained and sauced, from a simple Pasta with Raw Tomato and Mozzarella Sauce to a more complicated Cannelloni Stuffed with Spinach and (home-made, of course) Ricotta. Pilato is sensitive to modern home cooks' busy schedules and unabashedly promotes her love of using a microwave to prepare her Spinach Sauce. Beyond pasta and sauce, the recipes range from Squash and Potato Stew and Ladder Bread with Olives and Onion to classic Italian meat and seafood preparations such as Osso Bucco (braised veal shanks); Fresh Sausage; Mama Rosa's Roast Chicken with Honey, Oranges, and Lemon; and Cod from the Christmas Eve Tradition. And what could be better to complete an authentic Italian meal than an ethereal Basic Eight-Egg Sponge Cake? Pilato clearly understands food and appetites and has prepared a book that is as inviting to the novice as it is to the advanced home cook.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Born in Sicily, Pilato now lives in Pennsylvania, where she teaches Italian cooking to both adults and children. The first section of her engaging book presents "Stepping-Stone Recipes," which are set up to provide a mini-course in essential cooking techniques. These are followed by dozens of her favorite recipes, both familiar traditional dishes and more unusual regional specialties. Pilato is obviously knowledgeable, and her text and head notes, many of which include family anecdotes and memories, are written with warmth and charm. There are dozens of Italian cookbooks in print, but Pilato's style sets this one apart.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312261381
• ISBN-13: 978-0312261382
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #643,273 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking with Grace changed my life, September 18, 2001

By	Debra Cameron (Gaithersburg, MD) - See all my reviews

I met Grace Pilato at an international cooking class. I was there because I was raised in the Betty Crocker era; I literally did not know how to cook anything but desserts. One time cooking with Grace and I was hooked.

Grace's book is so unlike other cookbooks. Usually I pick up a cookbook, try one recipe, find that it is a dud and never pick up the book again. In Grace's cookbook I can try any recipe and it will be wonderful. Some of the recipes I've made in Grace's classes, but I recently made Rolled Stuffed Salmon, a fairly complex recipe, on my own and it turned out fabulous. Because Grace's recipes have been tested repeatedly by students of her cooking classes, they are easy to follow--not to mention incredibly delicious.

The book is full of both decadent recipes as well as numerous recipes for people trying to eat more healthfully. Grace says Italians eat vegetables not because they're good for them but because they love them. You'll love them too if you try Grace's way of cooking them! Asparagus, salad dressings, marinated roasted peppers--the list goes on! I especially love the Lentil Pumpkin Soup.

I highly recommend Cooking with Grace to everyone, from experienced cooks to Betty Crocker types like me. You'll be addicted, trust me.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steps to Great Italian Cooking, May 30, 2001

By	"gyc1" (State College, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Okay, I'll jump in and be the first to write what I'm sure will be many glowing reviews of this cookbook. I've had the great privilege to have taken Grace's Italian Cooking classes and when I'm reading the recipes in "Cooking with Grace", it's like I can hear Grace's voice explaining the procedures. Her Stepping Stone approach to creating the basics for great Italian dishes is a sensible introduction for new cooks, and opens creative doors for those experienced in the kitchen. For a few examples...Grace's basic marinara sauce is simple and can be dressed up or down, depending upon if you want it to be the basis for Mussels in Spicy Marinara sauce, or as a virtuoso solo act on pasta. Making crepes from Grace's recipe assures melt-in-your-mouth savory manicotti or a sweet, light dessert when rolled around Mama Rosa's Lemon Custard Cream. And speaking of manicotti...when you learn how Grace makes homemade fresh ricotta (another Stepping Stone Recipe) you will never use storebought again. And it's so easy, I'm surprised it isn't illegal. The breads are also wonderful; I always keep a few loaves in the freezer. Grace's instructions for making the dough quickly in a Cuisinart have eliminated my former fear of breadmaking. In conclusion, I'll say the first third of the book with the Stepping Stone recipes sets this book apart from other good Italian cookbooks. The remaining recipes in "Cooking with Grace" are delicious and encourage the reader's skills, imagination, and creativity.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Complete Course in Italian Cooking for Everyone!!!!, July 16, 2001

By	Judith C Andronici (Centre Hall, PA United States) - See all my reviews

If you are an experienced Italian cook as many members of my family are, you will find a wealth of information most pleasantly presented in Grace Pilato's book. Beginning with her introduction, it is clear that she truly loves cooking as she reverently describes the experience of cooking for family and friends. Then it is apparent that she really hopes to impart this knowledge by presenting the reader with a highly readable and easily followed vehicle for creating fine Italian food. This book is so much more than the usual compilation of recipes. It is truly an instructional vehicle.

My daughte received this book for a gift and hs been working her way through the "stepping stones" section which provides very helpful techniques for making the basic recipes like marinara, roasted peppers, and pesto which are used in other recipes throughout the book.

Although I have been cooking for 35 years, I am amazed by some of the tips with which this book is filled about selecting the best ingredients, storing food, and detailed information about utensils and the basic pantry. I believe that if I cook these recipes and follow the advice given, that I will really have a chance of becoming a very good Italian cook.

I have rarely seen a book cross referenced so thoroughly. For example, after the Ricotta Fresca recipe, a list of eleven other recipes which use the Ricotta and their page numbers is presented. Notes after each recipe include storage suggestions and ideas for use of leftovers or excess made in other recipes.

I intend to make this my main Italian Cookbook and though I have only had it in my possession for a few weeks, I am using it a great deal. The author's thorough descriptions, directions, are clear and easy to follow.

The Seafood Lasagna and the Stuffed Artichokes are the best I have ever had anywhere. My enjoyment of eating this food is surpassed only by the fun of watching the recipes unfold, appreciating the gentle style in which this cookbook is written and my appreciation for the plethora of practical information it offers.

I am recommending it most highly to all of my family and friends.