La Cucina Di Lidia or At Home With The French Classics

La Cucina Di Lidia: Distinctive Regional Cuisine from the North of Italy

Author: Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

Now in paperback–the debut cookbook from the beloved Italian cook, restaurateur, and public television personality.

Lidia Bastianich is famous for her Italian-American cooking, but this cookbook–her first–captures the distinctive cuisine of her native Istria, located on Italy’s northeastern Adriatic coast near the border of the former Yugoslavia. This book is also her most personal; in addition to the recipes, she has included numerous personal stories, memories, and photographs from her childhood.

With La Cucina di Lidia, you can savor antipasti such as Polenta with Fontina and Mushrooms or Shrimp and Mixed Bean Salad. Rice and pastas include Plum Gnocchi, Risotto with Squash Blossoms, and Zucchini and Tagliatelle with Leek Sauce. Entrées feature fish (Swordfish in Sweet and Sour Sauce), fowl (Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Orange), meat (Stuffed Breast of Veal), and game (Duck Roasted with Sauerkraut). Desserts range from Chocolate Zabaglione Cake to Apple-Custard Tart.

Here is an Italian cuisine infused with the flavors of Eastern Europe, the early repertoire of one of America’s favorite chefs. Discover Lidia’s history and memories as well as the dishes from her homeland. The stories and tastes are unforgettable.

Library Journal

Bastianich is a co-owner (with her husband) and chef of New York's Felidia Ristorante, Jacobs a food journalist and restaurant reviewer; together they have written a remarkable book. Part memoir, part cookbook, it showcases Bastianich's unique cuisine, which is at heart Italian but influenced by Yugoslavian, German, and Hungarian cooking. The text is both intensely personal, with evocative reminiscences of growing up in Istria or of the origins of the various dishes, and knowledgeable and wide-ranging, with discussions of ingredients and difficult techniques and informed wine suggestions. Highly recommended.

Go to: Macroeconomic Essentials 2nd Edition or From Walt to Woodstock

At Home With The French Classics: Great French Recipes Updated and Simplified for the Contempory American Kitchen

Author: Richard Grausman

No one has done more to make French cooking accessible to Americans than Richard Grausman. His culinary innovations and techniques -- golden souffles baked in just 10 minutes, a light and luscious mousse au chocolat that can be made as a cake, chocolate roll, souffle, or pudding -- transform the classics to fit our contemporary diet and schedule. When a step isn't crucial, he eliminates it. If something can be done in advance, he does it. Plus he's cut the amount of butter, cream, egg yolks, salt, and sugar for health-conscious recipes without compromising the essential nature of the dish. In more than 250 splendid recipes, Grausman presents grand cuisine for both gracious entertaining and the everyday meal with an unmistakable French flair.

Publishers Weekly

If you are cowed by puff pastry, souffles and things sauteed, Grausman's book will help you conquer your awe of French cooking. His title reflects his aim: to make classic French recipes and techniques approachable for the average cook. With more than 20 years of experience as a teacher in this country of the Cordon Bleu technique, Grausman knows the classic dishes inside out but favors the exercise of independent judgment in preparing them, on the theory that ``there is always more than one way to achieve a desired end.'' Accordingly, he advises flexibility and creativity as a cook's cardinal virtues; urges us to adjust ingredients to taste in recipes; and notes that the ``timing given in recipes should be viewed merely as a guide, not an absolute.'' Where practical, recipes have been shortened and do-ahead steps included. Grausman reduces or even eliminates certain staples (salt, sugar, egg yolks, cream) and uses appliances (e.g., food processors) to blend, chop and mix. (Feb.)

Library Journal

``French Cooking Without Fear'' might be another title for cooking teacher Grausman's book; his aim is to update traditional French cuisine by cutting out calories and salt, simplifying preparation and techniques, and using readily available ingredients. His intentions are good, but there is still a fair amount of butter and cream--and time--required in many of these recipes; that is part of classic French cuisine. And are all of Julia Child's and Jacques Pepin's books really so intimidating? For larger collections.-- JS

Table of Contents:

	Introduction	1
	Coming to Terms	3
	First Courses	16
	Soups	18
	Salads	32
	Eggs & Omelets	39
	Souffles	46
	Fish Mousses	55
	Pates & Terrines	62
	Crepes	69
	Quiches	74
	Cream-Puff Pastry	79
	Puff Pastry	84
	Pasta	89
	Main Courses	98
	Seafood	100
	Poultry	121
	Meat	158
	Vegetables & Other Accompaniments	194
	Pastries & Desserts	238
	Pastries	240
	Desserts	298
	Basics	342
	Stocks	344
	Sauces	354
	Dessert Sauces	385
Appendix A	The Metric System in Cooking and Pastry Making	404
Appendix B	High-Altitude Cooking	406
	Index	408