Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook
by
How does one become an Iron Chef and a Chopped judge on Food Network—and what does she really cook at home?
Alex Guarnaschelli grew up in a home suffused with a love of cooking, where soufflés and cheeseburgers were equally revered. The daughter of a respected cookbook editor and a Chinese cooking enthusiast, Alex developed a passion for food at a young age, sealing her professional fate. Old-School Comfort Food shares her journey from waist-high taste-tester to trained chef who now adores spending time in the kitchen with her daughter, along with the 100 recipes for how she learned to cook—and the way she still loves to eat.
Here are Alex’s secrets to great home cooking, where humble ingredients and familiar preparations combine with excellent technique and care to create memorable meals. Alex brings her recipes to life with reminiscences of everything from stealing tomatoes from her aunt’s garden and her first bite of her mother’s pâté to being one of the few women in the kitchen of a renowned Parisian restaurant and serving celebrity clientele in her own successful New York City establishments. With 75 color photographs and ephemera, Old-School Comfort Food is Alex’s love letter to deliciousness.
MY REVIEW:
Our concept of "comfort food" is influenced by the family kitchen of
our childhood and our encounters with food from outside the home. If you
are a true "foodie", then you have a fascination with all the things
that combine to complete your food and make it into the finished dish
which you consume. "Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook",
by accomplished chef and TV personality Alex Guarnaschelli, is a
perfect example of how our differences in heritage and life experiences
shape our idea of what is our comfort zone, and that includes our
favorite foods and beverages. Written with dry humor, and a refreshing,
down-to-earth tone, this cookbook almost makes you feel as though you
and Alex are having a conversation about food. Even if your idea of
comfort food is much different than hers, you will appreciate her
amazing "journey in food". Her earliest food impressions were provided
by her esteemed cookbook-editor mother, and by her father, whose Italian
heritage was blended with a love for cooking Chinese food. Once grown,
and out on her own, Alex traveled the globe, cooking and learning from
some of the most highly-renowned chefs in a number of the most
prestigious restaurants in the world. Her eventual return to her home
turf of New York added further layers to her adventures in food, as she
worked in a Madison Square Garden steakhouse, taught at the Institute of
Culinary Education, and even held a job as private chef for a family on
Park Avenue. Now an executive chef at more than one top New York City
establishment, Alex is also a veteran star of numerous TV food and
cooking programs. In addition to sharing her recipes, Alex also shares
cooking techniques and essential kitchen tools, and she is not afraid to
specify her favorite brand names for ingredients. She also provides a
"sources" pages featuring some of her personal picks for places and
products. Here are some of her recipes which I found most appealing:
"Overnight Garlic Bread"; "Chilled Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese and
Leeks"; "Shrimp and Cucumber Salad"; "Mom's Meatloaf"; "Bacon-Wrapped
Pork Chops with Apple and Brussels Sprouts"; "Broiled Bluefish with Corn
and Bacon"; "Mashed Potatoes Chantilly"; "Yellow Cake with Chocolate
Frosting and Caramel Top"; and "Evil Cheese Biscuits". Also included is a
"Make it from Scratch" chapter which provides recipes for such kitchen
staples as butter, pickles, BBQ sauce, and hot sauce. You will enjoy
this view of "comfort food" from an author whose love of subject and
considerable skills and knowledge shine through from page to page.
Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
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