Classic Chinese Cuisine
Author: Nina Simonds
Repeatedly singled out as one of the all-time cookbook bibles, Classic Chinese Cuisine is a thorough introduction to the basics of Chinese cooking, covering all the essential techniques, ingredients, and cooking utensils, with more than 225 recipes, step-by-step illustrations, and full-color photographs. Nina Simonds has an unerring eye for the most approachable and delicious dishes in the Chinese repertoire, from Crispy-Skin Duck and Hundred-Corner Shrimp Balls to Lemon Chicken Wings and Dry-Cooked String Beans.
Shirley Reis - KLIATT
Classic Chinese Cuisine is a thorough introduction to the basics of Chinese cooking. More than 225 detailed recipes provide information about basic techniques, ingredients, and cooking utensils. Simmonds does not always use traditional methods or ingredients in her recipes. She also suggests substitutions for the reader who does not have access to an Asian market. Some of the recipes are: Scallion Cakes, Barbecued Pork with Rice Noodles, Curry Turnovers, Steamed Shrimp Rolls, Tangerine-Peel Chicken, Crab in Sweet & Sour Sauce, Home Style Spareribs, Cinnamon-Flavored Beef, Stir-Fried Broccoli in Oyster Sauce, and Crabmeat & Corn Soup. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1994, Houghton Mifflin, 399p. illus. index., Ages 12 to adult.
Library Journal
First published in 1982, Classic Chinese Cuisine has long been regarded as one of the standards in the field. The majority of the recipes have been revised for this editon, and about three dozen new ones have been added. Simonds's books, which also include China Express (LJ 11/15/93), are particularly known for making Chinese cuisine accessible and approachable for American cooks. Most collections will want to add this updated version of a classic.
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
Author: Julia Child
The companion volume to the public television series Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
Two legendary cooks, Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, invite us into their kitchen and show us the basics of good home cooking.
What makes this book unique is the richness of information they offer on every page, as they demonstrate techniques (on which they don't always agree), discuss ingredients, improvise, balance flavors to round out a meal, and conjure up new dishes from leftovers. Center stage in these pages are carefully spelled-out recipes flanked by Julia's comments and Jacques's comments--the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime of honing their cooking skills. Nothing is written in stone, they imply. And that is one of the most important lessons for every good cook.
So sharpen your knives and join in the fun as you learn to make . . .
*--Appetizers--from traditional and instant grav-lax to your own sausage in brioche and a country pâté
*--Soups--from New England chicken chowder and onion soup gratinée to Mediterranean seafood stew and that creamy essence of mussels, billi-bi
*--Eggs--omelets and "tortillas"; scrambled, poached, and coddled eggs; eggs as a liaison for sauces and as the puffing power for soufflés
*--Salads and Sandwiches--basic green and near-Niçoise salads; a crusty round seafood-stuffed bread, a lobster roll, and a panbagnat
*--Potatoes--baked, mashed, hash-browned, scalloped, souffléd, and French-fried
*--Vegetables--the favorites from artichokes to tomatoes, blanched, steamed, sautéed, braised, glazed, and gratinéed
*--Fish--familiar varieties whole and filleted (with step-by-step instructions for preparing your own), steamed en papillote, grilled, seared, roasted, and poached, plus a classic sole meunière and the essentials of lobster cookery
*--Poultry--the perfect roast chicken (Julia's way and Jacques's way); holiday turkey, Julia's deconstructed and Jacques's galantine; their two novel approaches to duck
*--Meat--the right technique for each cut of meat (along with lessons in cutting up), from steaks and hamburger to boeuf bourguignon and roast leg of lamb
*--Desserts--crème caramel, profiteroles, chocolate roulade, free-form apple tart--as you make them you'll learn all the important building blocks for handling dough, cooking custards, preparing fillings and frostings
And much, much more . . .
Throughout this richly illustrated book you'll see Julia's and Jacques's hands at work, and you'll sense the pleasure the two are having cooking together, tasting, exchanging ideas, joshing with each other, and raising a glass to savor the fruits of their labor. Again and again they demonstrate that cooking is endlessly fascinating and challenging and, while ultimately personal, it is a joy to be shared.
Bon Appetit - Laurie Glenn Buckle
In Julia and Jacques Cooking at Homethese two legendary cooks explore the classics of French home cooking, explaining the traditional methods of preparing the dishes and then offering up their own interpretations and innovations for a book that is as full of information as it is full of personality.
Publishers Weekly
Culinary grande dame Child and master chef Pepin pin define "the basics of fine food that looks good, tastes the way it should and is a total pleasure to eat." Chapters are organized into appetizers, soups, eggs, salads and sandwiches, potatoes, vegetables, fish, poultry, meats and desserts. Based on the vast experience of these chefs, the book takes a she says/he says approach to home-style French cooking: While Julia finds the dark digestive vein in shrimp "ugly" and automatically removes it, Jacques considers it "perfectly good protein to eat"; Julia prefers seasoning food with white pepper, but Jacques uses black pepper, and so forth. Child and P pin recycle familiar Franco-American classics, like Omelets, Souffl s, French Fries, Sole Meuni re, Roast Chicken, Steak Au Poivre and Cr me Br l e, with a contemporary sleight-of-hand (e.g., stocks that can be made within an hour; a microwave method for clarified butter). Eschewing today's trendy global pantry, recipes emphasize fresh, seasonal ingredients. There is also no shortage of shopping, preparation and technique tips from the pros, such as Jacques's perspective on buying a good steak: "it's more useful to have knowledge about cuts of meat than a lot of money." A charismatic tag team, veterans Child and P pin illuminate novice and seasoned home cooks alike, gently reminding readers that "eating, as well as cooking, should be pleasurable and guiltless." First serial to Gourmet; Good Cook Book Club main selection; author tour. (Sept.) FYI: Cooking at Home is based on a forthcoming 22-part PBS series. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
What could be better than seeing these two incomparable chefs cooking together in Julia's kitchen and having a wonderful time while they're at it? This is the companion volume to the authors' new PBS series, premiering in October, but there are many "bonus" recipes here, including some that had to be cut from the series because of time limitations and others created especially for this book. For each show, the two chefs started out with ideas and ingredients but no set recipes, so they improvised as they went along, cooking a lot of their favorite traditional dishes and coming up with new ones as well. The two didn't always agree--each recipe has one sidebar from Julia, another from Jacques, presenting each one's take on the dish and personalized tips. Dozens of boxes throughout the text provide information on a wide variety of topics, from "Julia on Getting a Good Chicken" to "P pin Peels a Pepper," and the more than 300 color photos show both techniques step by step and many of the finished dishes. An essential purchase, of course. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/99; BOMC/Good Cook main selection.] Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Christian Science Monitor - Jennifer Wolcott
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home is every bit as entertaining as it is the program and even more useful. Colorful comments from each of these formidable cooks make it a good read and differing opinions on such topics as tools used to scramble eggs or what type of chicken to buy probe that cooking, like any art, is highly individual.
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