Chef On A Shoestring: More Than 120 Inexpensive Recipes for Great Meals from America's Best Known Chefs (Hardcover)

~ Andrew Friedman (Author) "Mario Batali is the ponytailed chef-proprietor (chef-general might be more accurate) behind a growing New York City restaurant empire that includes Babbo, Lupa, and Esca,..." (more)
Key Phrases: coarse salt, teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, executive chef, New York City, Michael Lomonaco, Ira Freehof (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you'd consider a chef-inspired three-course meal for four for $20 the answer to your prayers, Chef on a Shoestring is a must-have. More often than not, following recipes shared by great chefs involves hours in the kitchen and breaking the bank, but this companion to the weekly segment of the same name on CBS's Saturday Early Show is proof that great food does not have to come at a great price. In the television show, the best chefs from around the U.S. are invited to take $20 to purchase their ingredients, and then they demonstrate how to make a three-course meal for four with what they've bought.

With advice such as "buy only as much as you need," use "all parts of an ingredient," and "buy in-season ingredients," the introduction is useful, and easy to understand. Although each chef prepares three courses at a time, the book is divided by course so you can mix and match the recipes. Each recipe begins with information from the chef on his inspiration and any changes he might have made to stay within budget. Richard Sandoval's Mahi Mahi Ceviche is based on the ones he learned to make in Guerrero, Mexico, early in his career. Mario Batali's Marinated Roasted Peppers with Goat Cheese, Olives, and Fett'unta hails from Southern Italy, where fett'unta refers to toast drizzled with olive oil. And Michael Romano's Warm Shrimp and Bean Salad with Arugula can be made with lobster if you don't mind going over budget.

Some of these recipes are sure to amaze you. David Reardon's Pan-Seared Scallops and Oyster Mushroom Sweet Potato Salad with Cilantro Ginger Vinaigrette may be a mouthful to say, but it can be made in less than 30 minutes. John Schenk's Chile-Rubbed London Broil with Barbecued Onions is rich, filling, and bursting with flavor. Erica Miller's Chocolate Banana Terrine is not only quick and easy to make, it's beautifully elegant to serve.

These recipes are delicious, impressive, surprisingly inexpensive, and easily prepared. The instructions are clear and simple, and, as if all this isn't appealing enough, all royalties from sales of this book are donated to Share Our Strength, a charitable foundation of creative professionals organized to fight hunger and poverty. --Leora Y. Bloom

Product Description

You don't have to break the bank to cook restaurant-quality meals!

Here's a sample of the more than 120 delicious and surprisingly economical recipes from America's finest chefs, as featured on the popular Chef on a Shoestring segment of the CBS Saturday Early Show:

Mario Batali's Mushroom and White Bean Bruschetta

Terrance Brennan's Pear and Gorgonzola Salad

Roe Di Bona and Sue Torres's Chilled Avocado and Grapefruit Soup with Chipotle Chile Purée

Sara Moulton's Miniature Pumpkin Soup with Ginger and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Bobby Flay's Saffron Risotto with Sautéed Shrimp

Michael Lomonaco's Pan-Roasted Halibut with Spring Vegetables

Alfonso Contrisciani's Pepper-Crusted Turkey "London Broil" with Mushroom Confit

Matthew Lake's Grilled Pork Chops with Black Bean Salsa, Grilled Sweet Potatoes, and Roasted Corn

Linda West Eckhardt's Beef and Tomato Stir-Fry with Whiskey and Black Bean Sauce

John Doherty's Irish Tiramisù

Don Pintabona's Polenta Lemon Cake with Fresh Berries

Erica Miller's Chocolate Banana Terrine

Robert Bruce's Un Deux Trois Quatre Cake

Cooking great meals doesn't require spending a fortune on ingredients. Each week on the CBS Saturday Early Show, a prominent chef is given twenty dollars to create a three-course meal for four. Chef on a Shoestring collects the best of those culinary delights to benefit Share Our Strength, one of the nation's leading antihunger, antipoverty organizations. These recipes, created by some of the most celebrated chefs in the country, may have been produced on a budget but are rich in every other way.

The recipes are organized into convenient categories, such as Finger Foods and Small Plates, Salads, Pasta and Risotto, Poultry, Meats, and Desserts, to allow you to mix and match various courses from different chefs. You can begin a meal with Salmon Corn Cakes from Walter Staib of Philadelphia's historic City Tavern, serve Seared Chicken Breast with Red Onion Vinaigrette from Charlie Palmer of Aureole in New York as your main course, and finish with Beacon restaurant's Waldy Malouf's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Or try the Asparagus and Bean Sprout Salad with Dill Pesto from Aquavit's Marcus Samuelsson, Tom Douglas's Crispy Fried Snapper with Chili Ponzu, and Coconut Rice Pudding with Fresh Mango from John Villa. Spice up your favorite burger or grilled chicken with Barbecued Onions from John Schenk of Clementine, and from '21' try Erik Blauberg's Baby Arugula Greens with Watermelon "Croutons" and Caesar Dressing, to jump-start a weeknight dinner.

Illustrated with eight pages of beautiful color photographs, with advice on stocking your pantry, buying in season, shopping on a budget, and avoiding the temptation to be too frugal, Chef on a Shoestring is a unique culinary adventure for taste-conscious, budget-conscious home cooks.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743200721
• ISBN-13: 978-0743200721
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,107,079 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Who Have/HaveNot Watched the TV Series, February 19, 2001

By	rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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Not being much of a TV watcher, never knew this was there. Now, I'll watch every now and then. The concept is terrific, shop with only $20 and then create some gorgeous food.

To date have completed these dishes and found them to be innovative, complex, yet the price is just outstanding and time and techniques involved are achievable for wide grouping of cooks: loved this one: Peter Kelly's Roasted Onions with Bacon and Apple Stuffing; Walter Staib's Curried French Lentil Salad and Sausage; David Walrog's Asparagus and Cremini Mushroom Barley Risotto; and these are out of this world -- "Rick Moonen's Salmon Burgers with Green Tartar Sauce."

Bonus is with this purchase that CBS donates the royalties to Share the Strength. As the cookbook in memory of Patrick Clark, cooks everywhere will want this for themselves as well as gift-giving not only for the excellent dishes but also for the cause of charity.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually worth reading- Certainly worth the price!, January 14, 2001

By	R. Sparks "middle_path" (Norman, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a rule, I don't concern myself with compilation cook books. I simply don't like the "K-Tel" feel of the disjointed conglomerations of food from cooks that may or may not have even heard of one another. This book is surprizingly cohesive. The recipes are not really ones that I would have sought out individually, but of the ones my wife and I have tried, we've been pleased with the results.

This is certainly not the end-all be-all of the cooking world in a book, but there are some surprizes for those willing to experiment. Not the least of which really is the fact that these recipes are inexpensive. I was kind of shocked. Okay, I was really shocked. The ingredients aren't that tough to find, either. I've actually bought books that I still have yet to find some of the ingredients listed, but they offer "substitute" ingredients. . . It really makes me wonder what the real ingredient would have done for the flavor.

Why not 5 stars? Regardless of the recipes that I liked, it is still a compilation cookbook, and there are some pretty far to one side or the other recipes. I like knowing what I'm buying in advance.

I still recommend this book to anyone willing to try something new!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good recipes, but not really on a shoestring, June 14, 2004

By	Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Chef On A Shoestring : More Than 120 Delicious Easyonthebudget Recipes From Americas Best Chefs (Hardcover)

I took this book out of the library before I committed to purchasing it, and I'm glad I did so. While I like the premise, this book wasn't compelling enough to make me feel as though it had to be in my collection.

There are, indeed, some very good recipes in here, as the other reviewers mentioned. Nothing that I couldn't live without, but I could certainly put together a few Sunday dinners from this list.

However, I'm dubious about the claim that each of these chefs put together a dinner for four on $20. If they managed it, they certainly don't shop where I do.

To be fair, one of the tenets of cooking frugally is to buy in season -- a point the compilers and the chefs do make. One additional suggestion, which they didn't highlight but should, is to buy locally. There's no way that, in Arizona, I'm going to buy *any* amount of lobster (for an appetizer, even) and keep the dinner budget under $20. Back when I lived on an island off the coast of Maine, where the dinner decision is "Do you want lobster, honey, or would you prefer a hamburger?" it would have been another story. (You don't want to know what we Arizonans have to play for blueberries, either.)

As it turns out, most of the contributors to this cookbook are on one coast or another, so many of the most delicious-sounding recipes will exceed the arbitrary dollar amount.

That doesn't mean that this isn't a good cookbook. It really is quite nice. But if your eye moved to this listing because you're trying to cook well on a budget, you'll be disappointed. (As just one alternative... back when I had to watch every penny, I found Molly Katzen's original Moosewood Cookbook to be a good way to eat well and still have money left at the end of the week.)