The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook Volume II (Paperback)

~ Michael Bauer (Editor), Fran Irwin (Editor), Micheal Bauer (Author) "Hors d'oeuvres are back..." (more)
Key Phrases: tender white part, desi ghee, hot red pepper flakes, The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook Volume, Marlena Spieler, Georgeanne Brennan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Even hard-core New York foodies know that San Francisco is the epicenter of food trends. New York may grow trends, but they are born in the City by the Bay. In San Francisco, food is more than just fuel, it's a lifestyle. With the top wines in the nation produced less than an hour away, the country's best produce grown at its doorstep, the myriad cultural influences from around the globe, and the abundance of artisan producers of bread, cheese, and other culinary delights, it's no wonder that Bay Area diners and home cooks are so food savvy. Their home is truly a culinary mecca.

This passion for good food means that readers of the city's preeminent daily newspaper, The San Francisco Chronicle, are destined to demand an equally savvy and intriguing food section that celebrates the abundance and diversity of its home town. Sure enough, the Chronicle food section is known for its fresh, inventive recipes.

The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook, Vol. 2, edited by Chronicle food section editors Michael Bauer and Fran Irwin, collects 375 of the best recipes from world-renowned chefs and food writers including Paul Bertolli, Marion Cunningham, Mark Franz, Marlena Spieler, Flo Baker, and many others. Just a quick glance through this fat volume--the much-awaited sequel to the popular volume one--gives readers a sense of the sheer diversity of the recipes included. Appetizers range from a traditional French Provencal appetizer of Creamy Brandade of Salt Cod and Potatoes with Garlic Croutons to Shrimp Crostini with Thai Basil and Kaffir Lime Leaf to Libyan Spicy Pumpkin Dip; entrees from the meatless Malaysian Curry of Autumn Vegetables to Pan-Grilled Steaks with Toasted Walnuts and Roquefort-Shallot Butter to Grilled Tequila Chipotle Shrimp. Dessert offerings are equally enticing: creamy, sweet Butterscotch Pot de Crème, Mary Risley's Fresh Fig and Plum Tart, and a tender, moist and nutty Oatmeal Cake with Walnut Topping, to name just a few.

With chapters devoted to soups, salads, morning repasts, and relishes, sauces and chutneys, along with all the standard chapters you'd expect, this book covers the entire range of home cooking--from quick weeknight meals to lavish party spreads. It will surely prove to be a boon to busy cooks, as well as those who are ready to challenge themselves with new techniques and explore the diverse range of ingredients available today. --Robin Donovan

From Publishers Weekly

It's been four years since Chronicle food editors Bauer and Irwin published the first volume of 350 recipes drawn from their newspaper. Among changes here are added chapters on appetizers and morning repasts and notes citing online sources for hard-to-find foodstuffs. Otherwise the 375 all-new recipes are as solid and varied as their predecessors. Many dishes are credited to Marion Cunningham, Georgeanne Brennan, Flo Braker and other Chronicle contributors who make the most of the Bay Area's amalgam of cultures and abundance of fresh ingredients. Grilled Cheese on a Lemon Leaf may not be so easy to replicate everywhere, but Bauer's exotically accessible Vanilla Shrimp with Avocado-Tarragon Dip is. Most of the meals are easily prepared, such as Tomato and Pancetta Sauce for pasta and Chile Relleno Casserole. French-Vietnamese Bouillabaisse is notable for its lack of pretension and Grilled Lavender Chicken on Arugula for its novel blend of flavors. Some uncommon preparation techniques are exemplified by Lamb Klephtiko, which is seasoned and then wrapped in parchment and baked for four hours at just 200 degrees. Local celebrity is exhibited in such fare as The Best Way Roast Turkey, a brined bird ? la Chez Panisse. The editors declare that their intention is to achieve the best results with the least effort, and cooks countrywide will agree they have attained it once again. (Apr.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811830217
• ISBN-13: 978-0811830218
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #403,363 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars capturing the many flavors of the city, January 16, 2002

By	Tina Morris "schultheiss" (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

San Francisco has a very unique food and restaurant landscape with more ethinc cuisines on offer than in any other city in the US. This is reflected very well in this outstanding volume that brings together another great selection of eclectic dishes from local restaurants and coinisseurs. This is quite a big book and it is bursting with good stuff. It is also what I call a "no fluff" cookbook that really only has recipe after recipe, with no glossy pictures and other decor.

The recipes are well-written, easy to follow and also organized extremely well. This is a detail that I look for a lot, since you want to be able to pull a cookbook out and get right to the section of dishes that might interest you for a particular type of menu. Many of the more glamorous cookbooks are meant for browsing rather than serious searching, this is not.

If you are a beginner cook who needs visuals with every meal, this book is not for you. Basic cooking skills and a basic recipe skills are a must.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic cookbook!, November 20, 2009

By	J. Poe (DFW, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Now that I live in Dallas, I often long for the Bay Area food I grew up with, which has a lot more vegetables and variety than Texas cooking. San Francisco Chronicle has had a wonderful selection of recipes for years, and this cookbook is a wonderful compilation of some of the best. I received this cookbook as a gift.

There is a wide variety of recipes in here, from traditional to ethnic, vegetarian to carnivore. There are, of course, complex recipes because it is the Chronicle, but there are also many recipes that sound fancier than they are. My "meat & potatoes" Texan husband & I both loved the pork chops with lavender and rosemary. The lemon curd is to die for, too. Neither of those recipes required more than a basic knowledge of cooking - just fresh ingredients & an ability to follow instructions. There are a few recipes that call for ingredients that are more difficult to find outside of a foodie area like the Bay Area or in places like Dallas where Asian groceries are limited. But for the most part, recipes call for basic fresh ingredients available anywhere.

If you're looking for a pretty coffee table book, there are no pictures. But if you want a cookbook with a diverse selection of great tasting recipes (I haven't had one fail on me yet), this is it.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Using Fresh Ingredients, July 9, 2001

By A Customer

This book gives simple but good recipes for using the local vegetables and fruits that are available at the local farmer's market. I have clipped many of the recipes from past FOOD sections of the newspaper and now I have them all in one easy to find place. I like to cook new recipes and enjoy ones with lots of flavor and I find that in this book.