Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Deborah Jones (Photographer), Janet Fletcher (Contributor) "OLIVES- Good olives for the kitchen and table are not those black things you used to put on your fingers as a kid..." (more)
Key Phrases: prosciutto bits, gray salt, powdered ascorbic acid, Damn Hot Peppers, Salsa Rosa, Fennel Spice (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Michael Chiarello is the real thing--a nice guy and a great cook, enviably telegenic, and privileged to live in the Napa Valley, northern California's Eden, where he's surrounded by the best raw ingredients and the most enthusiastic dinner guests on the subcontinent. On top of all that, he's absolutely generous about sharing his secrets--and his pleasures--with the rest of us, delivering a warm and inviting new world to the home kitchen.

Casual Cooking is a big, beautiful, and friendly guide to "cooking smart"--that is, by the author's definition, making the very best meal possible in the time available and with the ingredients you have on hand. His recipes, of the Italian cucina rustica by way of California persuasion, are thorough and clear. Without being patronizing, they leave nothing to guesswork. The flavor, the texture, the moisture, the appearance, the behavior of the dish and its synergy with other foodstuffs are all respectfully and lovingly noted in these pages. "Michael's Notes," in red, share the kind of tips and cautions only a tenured chef and terrific home cook would know. Some credit should no doubt go to Chiarello's mom, at whose elbow he began picking up these nuances and appreciations. The illustrations are plentiful and elegant enough to make this a coffee-table book, the content thorough enough to make this a serious working cookbook. --Schuyler Ingle and Joyce Thompson

From Publishers Weekly

Chiarello is founder of the Napa Valley restaurant Tra Vigne, and his recipes combine his Italian heritage (from Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot) with local produce to mixed results. Some innovations are wonderful: Warm Peach and Prosciutto Salad is a great variation on traditional prosciutto with melon, and the flavors of succulent peaches and salty prosciutto marry so well it's a wonder no one's come up with the combination before. His four seasonal takes on panzanella-a traditional tomato bread salad for summer, Autumn Panzanella with mushrooms, Winter Panzanella with squash and brussels sprouts, and Spring Panzanella with asparagus and peas-also stand out. Occasionally, Chiarello gets whimsical with titles, as with Green Eggs and Ham, a rustic dish of prosciutto, poached eggs and basil oil on toast. Sometimes, though, he goes just a bit overboard with the food itself, as with Brodetto di Mare seafood stew served over risotto, which sounds like a runny combination, and Baby Back Ribs with Espresso BBQ Sauce. Photography and layout are beautiful, making this book as much a pleasure to page through as it is to cook from, and the more appealing fare, such as a Spring Pea Soup with a confetti spray of chive flowers and Radicchio Slaw with Warm Honey Dressing, makes up for the occasional odd duck.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 2nd Printing edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811833836
• ISBN-13: 978-0811833837
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,803 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stock that pantry and go!, November 19, 2002

By	Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

PBS' Napa Valley chef emphasizes a well-stocked pantry and fine presentation in addition to fresh, quality ingredients in this oversized, lavishly illustrated collection of California wine country Italian dishes. From Basil Chive Butter, Toasted Spice rub and Herb Oil (pantry items) to Salsa di Parmigiano and Marinated Salmon with Fennel Salad (antipasto) to Summer Corn Soup and Autumn Panzanella, Chiarello will have you willing to skip the entrée altogether. Until you get to one of his simple and satisfying pasta dishes - with Walnut and Ricotta Pesto perhaps or Salsa Rosa (roasted pepper and tomato) from the pantry. And then there's Tuscan Shrimp with White Beans, Baby Back Ribs with Espresso BBQ Sauce or Quail with Bacon and Honey. His way with vegetables offers simple variety - Sautéed Greens with Vinegar, Skillet-Fried Corn and Tomatoes, and a baked Cauliflower Alla Parmagiana that has become a staple in my house - whatever the vegetable. There are desserts too, mostly fruit with a few comfort items like Caramel Panna Cotta and an easy tiramisu, but the real pleasure comes from the savory. Leaf through the gorgeous pictures, and choose a dish - chances are you can have it on the table in half an hour - if you stock that pantry (there's even a recipe for fresh ricotta that's a must-try). Notes offer tips on technique and variations.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Special recipes... without being exhausting, October 29, 2006

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

I've grown to love Michael Chiarello's recipes. In the Goldilocks challenge between making a dish "too simple" or "too much work," time after time Chiarello manages to find the spot that's exactly right. His recipes don't promise instant gratification, in the semi-homemade 30-minute style that's become popular recently. But he's also aware that you have something else to do with your day besides cooking dinner.

Chiarello's background is Italian, so a lot of recipes in this book display that influence -- quite a bit of pasta, for example, and a tendency to use olive oil where others might choose butter. But you'd do better to think of it as Napa-meets-Italian, as his recipes aren't the sort of food that you'll find at the traditional restaurant with a red-checked tablecloth and a candle stuck in a bottle of Chianti. The book lives up to its promise of "casual cooking."

Chiarello encourages you to create a pantry of ingredients that you can call upon whenever needed, and I completely agree with that "good cooking in not much time" philosophy. At first, it might sound as though you need to cook three things just to have the ingredients for a single dish, but the pantry section helps you create items that, later, you'll be able to grab out of the freezer or your spice shelf and put into an "instant" meal. For example, we first made his awesome winter panzanella, which uses homemade croutons in addition to butternut squash and brussels sprouts. The croutons are easy enough -- assuming that you already made his bagna cauda butter. (It's basically anchovies, parsley, and garlic mixed with two sticks of softened butter.) But two days after the salad, we made clams and linguine with more of the bagna cauda butter, and *that* came together in less time than it took to boil the noodles. I still have a half cup of the bagna cauda butter in the freezer, just waiting for a day when I feel like more than a slab-of-steak.

The pantry chapter is 30 pages long (including lots of beautiful photos; this is a great eye-candy cookbook), which includes everything from spiced walnuts to a fennel spice mix. The other chapters are appetizers; eggs & sandwiches; soups & salads; pasta; rice, beans & polenta; fish & shellfish; meat & poultry; vegetables; and sweet things. If you want a collection of fine Italian baking, you'll have to buy another book in addition to this one (you notice I'm assuming you'll buy this in any case), as his dessert choices are on the no-big-deal side of Thursday dinner rather than a big blowout feast. Panna cotta, perhaps, or dried fruit compote with Sambuca.

Many of the recipes are extremely simple, in that "perfect roast chicken" way (his uses rosemary and lemon -- and it came out great) but he isn't afraid to provide a recipes for a sauce that needs to cook for hours. He usually includes menu advice (i.e. serve this with roast pork), and some kind of cook's notes, such as the tip that soaking red onion briefly in sherry vinegar will mellow the raw onion taste.

A fine cookbook. Recommended.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!!!, November 21, 2005

By	ydnical (Maryland) - See all my reviews

I bought this book because of the lemon rosemary chicken I saw Michael prepare on the Food Network. I made it myself and it was just as good as I imagined. The recipes are easy to prepare and every one that I have tried, I have loved.