5 comments about The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant.

1. I was eager to purchase this book after tasting the best "Roasted Rosemary Potatoes" I have ever eaten in my life at a friends house. I am a simple cook, but love good food. This book is beautifully written, and does not intimidate me. I feel as if I can make every recipe and make it successful because Judy Rodgers will walk you through each step. I have not tried a recipe yet, but will soon. I am just enjoying reading it right now. You really want to savour this book as you read it.



2. Summary: With these recipes and techniques you can almost magically turn relatively few items into unimaginable dishes that highlight the main ingredient. While some recipes can be complicated as written, you can take shortcuts and still enjoy amazing results.
   
   This books lets you precisely duplicate the amazing dishes at Zuni Cafe. However, you can decide whether (for example) you'll follow the beef stock recipe or buy beef stock pre-made. Whatever you do, don't deprive yourself of such delicious food only for lack of time to follow each recipe to the letter. Take whatever shortcuts you need.
   
   This book not only provides amazing recipes, but also has great suggestions and techniques that will make you a better cook. Within each recipe are suggestions on how you may want to improvise, to make the dish your own. I simply have not found another cookbook like this.



3. I like to cook, but this book is entirely too esoteric. I have never made a recipe from it.



4. This is a revolutionary and amazing cookbook. Is it for everyone? I would say NO. This cookbook is for those who value extraordinary culinary experiences. If you want a cookbook that will give you weekday 30 minute recipes, this is not for you. If you want a cookbook that produces memorable and extraordinary culinary experiences (at the expense of some effort, time, getting top-notch ingredients, attention to detail, and some practice) that you and your dinner guests will remember forever, this is your book.
   
   This cookbook is extremely detailed, with both the "how" as well as the "why". The section on pre-salting meats alone is worth the price of the cookbook.
   
   While I consider myself to be a medium-to-advanced cook, I will proudly say that the Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad is one of the best dishes I have ever made. Does it require pre-salting the chicken 72 hours in advance? Yes. Is finding a 3 pound chicken challenging? Yes. Is the technique hard? No. The reviewers who find Judi's recipes esoteric, in my opinion, are off base.
   
   The Pasta Alla Carbonara, while requiring fresh sheep's milk ricotta which was a pain to find, was eye-opening,magical, and unlike any Carbonara I have had here in the States.
   
   The Rosemary Roasted Potatoes was, in my wife's words, "the most potatoe-y potatoes I have ever tasted."
   
   I have a laundry list or recipes I cannot wait to try, including the Braised Fennel, Mock Porchetta, Brasato, Citrus Risotto, Madeleine's Omelette, Pasta with Preserved Tuna, Zuni Gnocchi, Braised Fennel, and Pot Au Feu.
   
   In addition to eye-opening cooking techniques, Judi is a very good writer, and you will love reading her stories even if you never attempt a single recipe from this book.
   
   I own many cookbooks, and this one is definitely in the top 3. Highly recommended.



5. This book covers a selection of Italian (and a few French) dishes served in the author's Californian restaurant. The recipes comes across as quite Italian, but there might be some very slight Californian modifications. This is a recipe collection but there is also a fair bit of background material explaining the dishes. This is actually interesting. In many cases writers add anecdotes that are just fake or totally trivial. Not so this author, who tells us that she observes a lot and and takes copious notes when travelling to taste food, starting as a teenager. These notes were probably very handy in picking the recipes (they are very varied) and sprinkling the text with tidbits of useful information. The books is a pleasure to read and the author comes across as a likeable person (not really that important, but anyway).

5 comments about Bouchon.

1. Beautiful book with a special atmosphere and story. The format, pictures, text are really interesting and worth to see and read.



2. This is a great book. It is so much more than a cookbook. I have quite a collection of cookbooks and love to read them. This one is very interesting and visually pleasing. If you are looking for a great gift for someone who enjoys food (cooking and/or eating) this is it! The French Laundry Cookbook makes a great companion to this book. Thomas Keller is a culinary genius.



3. "Bouchon" is Thomas Keller's everyday home cooking equivalent to his fancy "French Laundry." While the French Laundry cookbook has elaborate equivalents to everyday dishes, Bouchon goes back to the basics of French cooking. Keller teaches the basics of quiches, using the egg, and onion soup. He even describes what makes a bistro a bistro. One could be dismissive like the fictional critic Anton Ego in "Ratatouille" when he calls it a "simple peasant dish"--but with Keller,even ordinary cooking is extraordinary.
   
   "Bouchon" is named for Keller's bistro of the same name in Yountville. It's also the name of his bakery/pastry shop that's right next door. The Bouchon bakery supplies many coffee shops in the Napa Valley, and its version of the Oreo cookie is positively divine!
   
   "Bouchon" is sophisticated everyday French cooking. Since this is a Thomas Keller work,it's not a "30 minute meal." Its recipes are more within reach of the ordinary cook... though he does say onions need to caramelize for 5 hours to make the soup just right. Still,it's a fun,fascinating coffee table book. Bon appetit!



4. Bouchon is a beautifully photographed coffee table cookbook. Its 360 pages are filled with some of the restaurant's most popular recipes that have been tested for the home cook. Keller provides detailed instructions, essays and informative tips and techniques to achieve French bistro perfection.
   
   Keller, chef and proprietor of The French Laundry, opened Bouchon in Napa Valley in 1998. Unlike The French Laundry, Bouchon is fashioned after the many bistros in France, with bistro comfort food that Keller truly enjoys. Keller explains in his introduction that "bistro food is not about specialized ingredients, rather it is about precision of technique brought to bear on ordinary ingredients."
   
   Bouchon covers the vast array of classic French bistro fare, everything from hors d'oeuvres, onion soup, frisee salad with bacon and poached egg, quiches, savory tarts, croque madame and other sandwiches, mussels, stews, roasts, and steak frites to crème caramel, chocolate mousse, dessert tarts and even profiteroles. Dishes are stylishly photographed. Close-up photos allow the reader to see proper techniques and results.
   
   Recipes titles are in both English and French. The recipe for My Favorite Simple Chicken-Mon Poulet Roti has only six simple ingredients. Keller explains to salt and pepper the cavity, how to truss the bird, and provides valuable tips and techniques to achieve a crisp, salty and flavorful skin. The adventurous cook will find recipes, like boeuf bourguignon and duck confit, well laid out.
   
   "The Importance of Onion Soup", one of the twelve informational essays, demonstrates Keller's passion for his craft and a true respect for high-quality ingredients. His sidebars, tips and techniques offered throughout the book, explain how the home cook can achieve perfect, satisfying results. A mini cooking lesson captured on each page that will engross the reader.
   
   The last chapter, "Basic Preparation and Techniques", will allow the home cook to lay the foundation that so important to build upon. It includes recipes to prepare stocks, sauces, aioli, butters and sweet dough and creams. How to prepare a bouquet garni or sachet is also covered, as well as, instructions for brining.
   
   Like Julia Child's, Mastering the Art of French Cooking; Keller and his collaborators have created the gold standard for classic French bistro cuisine. This alluring book will have the reader starting at the beginning and working their way through to the end. A must-have for any lover of French food.



5. I got this book for my wife at Christmas, along with its companion French Laundry. Since then I have enjoyed Keller's elegant and classic recipes, especially his Quiche Lorraine. My wife is an excellent cook having grown up around the restaurant business, but as a (very) amateur cook myself I was probably most impressed by Keller's recipe for brioche. Normally this light table bread is considered something of a challenge to make, but Keller guides you right through the process. And, in both French Laundry and Bouchon he provides you with guides to where one can find the more difficult to locate cooking tools and foods (quail eggs, duck confit, rendered duck fat, whole rabbit, and pig's trotters).
   
   Though I did not get this book for myself, I like to think that I have been the primary beneficiary of Keller's extremely well written and beautifully illustrated cookbook - in fact, you'll find it would function equally as well as a coffee table book.

5 comments about Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition, and Health, Revised and Expanded Edition (California Studies in Food and Culture).

1. Amazing, well thought out and researched book. I found it to be an interesting book as well. One of the best in the type of genre.



2. I purchased this book for a course I am taking in food policy and find it a very readable companion to the course. I think it provides a firm grounding in the underlying structures that shape our food landscape, namely the powerful influence of industry over government.



3. 
   
   This is a wonderful book by nutrition expert Marion Nestle. Reading it really change my life. The information within this book really opened my mind to what is really happening, not just what I learned in undergraduate university nutrition classes.
   Please read this. Borrow from the library if necessary, but I purchased it and highlighted so many great thoughts so I could show others.
   If you read any book about health or nutrition, make this the one. (Then read the China Study, by T.Colin Campbell)



4. I plowed my way through this book across many late-nights at my favorite 24/7 coffee bar, easily ignoring all of the "local atmosphere."
   
   If you can handle heavy academic reading, this book is practically a Woodward & Bernstein thriller -- an extremely engrossing exposé concerning the VERY ugly political underbelly of the American food industry, and how it chugs away to keep all of us as confused as possible about our food choices and what honestly constitutes sound nutritional guidance.
   
   If you're boggled by choices that SHOULD be simple, such as trying to figure out whether it's healthier to eat butter or some chemical facsimile which includes ingredients you couldn't pronounce to save your grandmother's soul, the spotlight on politics in this book will salve your frazzled mind. The decades of political insanity and posturing surrounding something so seemingly simple as [what food pyramid version is permitted in schools] says so much about the ENTIRE industry. Don't feel badly if you're a bit confused about "good nutrition," because you are NOT alone. Scores of millions of Americans feel the EXACT same way ... and Big Food likes it that way!
   
   Nestle's writing does indeed get rather heady in some sections; however, she's challenging decades of contradiction, confusion, obfuscation, and outright lies that Big Food has tried to sell to America, so it really is necessary for her to preemptively buttress herself against anticipated challenges from Big Food and their seemingly-endless supply of lawyers and lobbyists. Ignore the negative reviews.
   
   If heady, heavily-cited reading is NOT your thing, feel free to check out the [similar reading] suggestions, because there will probably arrive some point (or several) at which you REALLY want to throw this book at the wall. Just an honest observation.



5. Had to read this for a college class on Consumer Science. None the less, this is actually disturbing and eye-opening about the industry. You can really see many of the examples that she points out in current time.
   
   If you enjoy nutrition, food or health, this is something to put on your reading list.

5 comments about The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home.

1. An essential book for anyone interested in making wine at home. Very readable, concise and well organized. The instructions are easy to follow even for a complete beginner. Highly recommended. Please be advised, however, that the book does not contain any information about growing grapes.



2. I've tried a bunch of books and this seems to be the best one. It's not too technical and yet it covers everything with enough detailed explanations. It's my first year making wine and the only book I'm going to use in the future.



3. If you do not like cleaning dishes then don't start wine making. I am a homebrewer and in wine making everything has to be sterile more than brewing beer. If you choose to make wine the this book is for you. Has step by step process of making wine.



4. According to this book, you'll need lots of specialized equipment and $$ to make your own wine. Disappointing.



5. Is a very intresting tool for the people who love wine like me, and need to go deep into the wine production. In this book it is all the small details that are in the process, from the grapes fermentation to the botteling and labeling, it is a step by step covering everything you need to now to make your own wine at home. It is very profesional edition. Thank's God my wife and me will get our own firt bottles of the wine for the holidays this year, and everybody in the family will take one.

1 comments about Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition.

1. I am always looking for new foods, new ways to present old foods and new techniques to prepare them. This book is a treasure! The food of the Basque region of Spain has them all, and this book presents them in a tapas-like format. Pintos is the Basque version of tapas. Great party foods!

5 comments about Chez Panisse Vegetables.

1. Aside from the box being gorgeous itself, these cards are exquisite!! You will not be disappointed.



2. I love this cookbook. It's organized alphabetically by vegetable and for each there's an introduction that gives some history and general information like how to select a ripe tomato. There are recipes for vegetables you may not have heard of like cardoons, chicories, and sorrel. It is great for anyone participating in a CSA (getting veggie boxes from a farm) or shopping at farmers markets because it's so extensive and creative -- eleven cabbage recipes for instance.
   
   Alice Water's cooking style is easy and elegant though some recipes might appear challenging to the novice cook as she doesn't always specify quantities of ingredients. Most of the recipes are vegetarian but there are several that include meat such as Artichokes with Baked Anchovy Stuffing or Wilted Mustard Greens and Proscuitto.
   
   I made the Whole Wheat Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts, and Ricotta Salata the other night and it was delicious. Even my fiance, who's generally anti vegetarian and anti cauliflower couldn't get enough of it. There really shouldn't be any vegetarian stigma (if you're inclined to have one) attached to this book as it's simply European and California inspired recipes for lovely dishes.



3. We belong to a farm co-op, so every week we get a fresh batch of surprise produce I have to figure out how to use up. This book has been very helpful for simple, delicious preparations of one or just a few veggies. There are more complicated recipes as well that I generally don't use, but even just for the basics it's very useful.
   
   One caveat, though: the book assumes you are quite proficient in the kitchen. There's very little information about what level of heat, what kind of pan to use, or defining basic terms. If you need a little more hand-holding in the kitchen, this book probably isn't for you.



4. Best as a source of general information, rather than a recipe book. Beautifully illustrated, each vegetable chapter gets a concise discussion on buying, storing, varieties, and even growing your own, followed by a few pages of recipes. Most of the recipes are fairly simple and a bit "sketchy", as in not a lot of detailed step-by-step instructions. If this style appeals to you, you will probably like this book. If you're expecting a traditional cookbook, maybe not. There is a companion book, Chez Panisse Fruit, in a similar format.



5. Have been using this cookbook for 2 years & love it! Organized with vegetables in alphabetical order so you can buy a fresh inseason vegetable and look it up to see how to prepare, store & cook it. The best! Bought this one for a friend & it arrived quickly & in excellent condition. Really tasty recipes from Chez Panisse's repertory.

5 comments about The French Laundry Cookbook.

1. This book is fantastic. The devotion and drive of Thomas Keller is unparalleled. I highly recommend this book for Chefs and Aspiring Home Cooks alike. The photos and lessons are great.



2. Anything by Thomas Keller is a must-have for the serious French cook. This is definitely not the cookbook for the beginning home cook, as most of the recipes are multi-step--time-consuming for some. The recipes are unique, fresh, and simply delicious. The written instruction is clear and easy to follow. As an aside, I bought The French Laundry and Bouchon together, which saved me some money because I got free shipping from Amazon, not to mention the prices of both books was considerably cheaper then prices in book stores.



3. For the most part good. However, extremely disappointed in the large amount of information on foie gras. Told quite a bit EXCEPT how extremely inhumane the preparation of this brutal 'delicacy' is.



4. I bought this as a Christmas gift for my mom, and she was more than thrilled when she got it. I would suggest it for Mother's Day or Birthday gifts. Not everything in it is completely out of an average person's budget, although there are several recipes that call for some out of reach ingredients, but there are some substitutes available for most of those.



5. A wonderful read, beautiful photos, and recipes of culinary refinement that can be duplicated in your own home. Worth every cent - even better when on sale!

5 comments about Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's.

1. This is the greatest cook book for someone like me! Shops at Trader's and a flea Market for veggies... simple and easy and yumy yum yum!



2. I had great hopes buying this cookbook because as I joke with my family, "if it's not at Trader Joe's, I don't buy it". I am a devoted shopper there, partly because it's the best place to find lots of French products at excellent prices, from salt to wine to frozen desserts. Since I grew up in France, I really love food and I try to cook from scratch every day - save for the shortcuts I find at TJ's... That said, this cookbook does not incorporate much "cooking": it does not offer really much more than throwing a few ready-made ingredients together, and as a result this is the first time I am returning a book to Amazon. It reminds me of our first nanny who was from Wisconsin for whom "cooking" meant a can of green beans mixed with a can of mushroom soup thrown in the oven (with potato chips on top for extra effect). The recipes available for free from the stores themselves in the tasting corner, or from the TJ website, are just as good and will save you $20... That said, maybe this could be a good start for a VERY beginning cook unsure of what to make of the plethora of ingredients available at TJ.



3. TJs is such an improvement over a regular grocery store, my expectations were high for a book by this name. But: 1) TJs does change stock. Wouldn't you know it, the first recipe I picked, they no longer carry a main ingredient (mole sauce). 2) Not much imagination and adventure in these recipes. A few worth trying. But most, anyone could put together without the cookbook. 3) It should have been a paperback, not a hardback. I got it to try before giving it as a gift to many friends. I won't be giving it to anyone.



4. I love this cookbook and I've been making recipes out of it for several months now. I keep it on my counter and nearly everyone who comes over automatically grabs it and starts flipping through it. The best thing is the photos. There is a photo on every other page and I think it makes it so easy to decide what to make. I love that. I wish every cookbook had photos throughout. I'd buy more of them.
   
   Tough to pick favorites, but I like the mango chicken, sesame peanut noodles, soyaki salmon, almond pudding, olive-stuffed bread, stuffed bell peppers, and the zesty shrimp salad. I have that for lunch several times a week. The recipes are easy and all pretty healthy - I'd describe it as California-style. There's basic stuff like pot pie and lasagna too, but even those usually have a twist to them.
   
   I already do most of my shopping at Trader Joe's, but lots of the recipes can be made with stuff from other stores (although the quality usually goes downhill if it's not from TJ's, in my opinion). I did run into a discontinued salsa, but I just picked another salsa and it worked out fine.
   
   The only thing missing is nutritional info for the recipes, but it doesn't bother me much since the ingredients are either all fresh or I can read the label on the jar. Easy enough to figure out.
   
   Overall, a super cookbook with the bonus of using stuff from Trader Joe's. If you shop there, it's the cookbook to get.



5. This is a wonderful cookbook for Trader Joe's lovers who want something more than microwaved 'gourmet' dinners but don't have two hours to make a healthy, yummy homemade meal.
   
   The recipes are easy to follow, each with high quality large pics (so you know what it's supposed to look like).
   
   The caveat is that Trader Joe's does not always stock the same items, but we've been able to find replacement ingredients when necessary at the grocery down the street -- the recipes are well worth it and replacement ingredients easy to find.
   
   Disclaimer: Wona married my cousin and both are amazing people, so I am totally biased (and very proud that someone in the family can do this as a self-published, first-time book!).
   
   - John Miniati

5 comments about Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine.

1. Not bad for a used book. Some wear and tear but was nice enough to give as a Christmas gift!



2. For those who appreciate plodding character and plot development over surprise. Tabor gives away the ending at the beginning. Do not approach this account hurriedly or you will be disappointed, as the journalist leaves no stone unturned. Sip it, savor its layers, appreciate its complexities and you will find yourself recalling it in dozens of conversations for weeks afterward. The book creates its own world and it continues to beckon long after the act of reading is done.



3. This was a gift to a very good friend.
   He states that he is reading the book and enjoying it.
   I felt that the service I received from Amazon and the vendor were excellent.



4. This is an excellent and easy read. Part drama and part biography, it is highly recommended for anyone interested in the story behind this historic event, or the history of the rise of Napa as a great Wine producing region, including short biographies of the major participants. It is a nice mini-reference to several of the major wine regions in the world. Also, for anyone who was introduced to this event by the movie Bottleshock, it gives you the real story on which the movie was loosely based.



5. Although non fiction with a known ending, it was well written and tells the story well. It is MUCH better than the Hollywood-ized movie "Bottle Shock" based on this book. Recommended.

5 comments about In-N-Out Burger.

1. Informative beyond necessity. You get the idea the author was paid by the word and padded this book heavily with extraneous material for a big paycheck. The pertinent information is in there and it is worth reading, but you have to wade through a lot of historical background and family background material given in too much detail. A good editor would have helped pare this book down to make it a better read.



2. Why do grown men day dream during business meetings? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but when I had my guys in for quarterly meetings in Las Vegas, we always had In-N-Out Burgers for lunch. I could see the glazed looks that came over their eyes as lunch time neared. There was nothing like In-N-Out Burger, and I don't think there ever will be.
   
   The Snyder family simply ingrained a culture of quality in running their business, and that culture survives today, despite all the tragedy and turmoil the family has suffered in recent years.
   
   I suppose any successful business becomes that way with a solid foundation of core values that everyone in the organization understands and fully embraces. It's no wonder this family owned business became so successful. They simply knew the ingredients for successs, and kept that recipe in tact for future generations of burger lovers to enjoy.
   
   This book was a delight to read and of course, now I've got to run out and grab an In-N-Out Burger for dinner! Bye.



3. I love In-N-Out and am looking forward to my next Double-Double and fries Animal style, but this book left me wanting more. The secret menu's origins "are untraceable?" One of the things that I expected from this book was more insight into the secret menu! Perman covers the early days, the Snyder brothers and the corporate infighting and secrecy, but I still wanted more to feed my In-N-Out obsession.



4. I work for the company. The book is partially true. It was never given any consent to writing about the company, Harry, or Esther. It is only the opinion of the author and is not legit. This company is so grand because our customers stay so loyal to us as we do them. It doesn't need to be dug up if you have questions go in a store and ask an associate. :]



5. When is a burger MORE than a burger? From its secret menu, to the secret of one of the friendliest staffs in the fast food industry, to the secrets of the Snyder family who built this industry staple, In & Out Burger is surprisingly worthly of a detailed tell-all. A fascinating case study and a great summer read!