or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
More Buying Choices
62 used & new from $12.35

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

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...)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

List Price: $40.00
Price: $26.40 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: $13.60 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Wednesday, November 11? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
26 new from $21.26 30 used from $12.35 6 collectible from $35.75

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Hardcover $26.40 $21.26 $12.35

Frequently Bought Together

Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking + At Home with Michael Chiarello: Easy Entertaining + The Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country
Price For All Three: $69.27

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking by Michael Chiarello

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • At Home with Michael Chiarello: Easy Entertaining by Michael Chiarello

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • The Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country by Michael Chiarello

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country

The Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country

by Michael Chiarello
4.8 out of 5 stars (17)  $16.47
Michael Chiarello's Easy Entertaining Deck: 50 Irresistibly Simple Recipes

Michael Chiarello's Easy Entertaining Deck: 50 Irresistibly Simple Recipes

by Michael Chiarello
3.0 out of 5 stars (2)  $10.17
Michael Chiarello's Flavored Oils and Vinegars: 100 Recipes for Cooking with Infused Oils and Vinegars

Michael Chiarello's Flavored Oils and Vinegars: 100 Recipes for Cooking with Infused Oils and Vinegars

by Michael Chiarello
3.5 out of 5 stars (4)  $16.20
Napa Stories: Profiles, Reflections, and Recipes from the Napa  Valley

Napa Stories: Profiles, Reflections, and Recipes from the Napa Valley

by Michael Chiarello
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  $38.50
Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook

Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook

by Cindy Pawlcyn
4.9 out of 5 stars (13)  $26.37
Explore similar items

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.

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)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #66 in  Books > Reference > Etiquette

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Inside This Book (learn more)




What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Excellent book. Have made several recipes from this book and they all turned out amazing.
Published 10 months ago by Caupolican

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Cook
Always enjoy his show that is shot somewhere in wine country in northern CA. I wish I had a kitchen like that and or a house and land but always enjoy his food and show and the... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Stuart Floyd

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have in every chef's library
One killer recipe after another in this book. Outstanding suggestions and photos, remarkable results. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Vox Rox

4.0 out of 5 stars great recipes
I bought this book because I saw it at my daughter-in-laws and the recipes looked interesting. I have not been disappointed. Read more
Published on September 25, 2007 by Roberta S. Jones

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Buy It!
We are serious foodies and particularly love all regional Italian cooking. Admit we are bit skeptical of Italian American recipes but after watching MC on TV (finally got a Food... Read more
Published on January 10, 2006 by Cynthia Goulet

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the Napa Style
Michael Chiarello's Napa Style cooking show is one of my top rated cooking shows, and when I discovered his new, you too can cook his down to earth recipes, I just had to have... Read more
Published on September 11, 2005 by G. L. Knight

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking
Nice book, beautiful pictures. I enjoyed the hints Michael includes with the recipes and text. This is an extension of what you get from his TV programs.
Published on August 22, 2005 by Kathy J. Stogner

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy cooking, get ready to do some heavy grocery shopping
First off, I love watching Mr. Chiarello on his show, Napa Style. I was a little intimidated to try some of his dishes. I went ahead and bought the cookbook. Read more
Published on July 12, 2005 by Kyra_Athena

4.0 out of 5 stars ohh Michael...swooooon....
Ok, I admit, I bought this book b/c I watch Michael on PBS and love his show - and he's a big hunk! I took a cooking class with him and got him to sign the book. Read more
Published on March 27, 2003 by Heidi Puder

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
meatless entrees? 0 April 2006
See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
   




Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.