Finally, a cookbook that fully explains how to do a recipe

books:


	• Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home Julia Child, Jacques Pepin Knopf, 1999 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 53 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Love this Book

I have several cookbooks, particularly French books. This one has become my favorite. The recipes and instructions are very straightforward. In the first week, I made three dinners from the book. Love it!!!!

One of my most favorite cookbooks....

I watched this series on TV and just love the recipes. My favorite - the hamburger recipes. But, all of these recipes are wonderful. There is something for everyone in this book.

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Perfect!

This book is good for beginners as well as intermediate cooks...since it not only provides basic information about cooking, but gives various tips and methods which intermediate level cooks will appreciate. I loved the recipe for american potato salad that julia gave...it came out exactly like it should! As for the pie/tart dough that Jacques gave, it was heaven;y....crumbly and flaky all at the same time! Love this book!

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Fool-proof-good-food

I'm a Foodie. I know about proper stocks and demi glace. But I tried the simplest recipe in this book-- Julia's simple (I must emphasize "simple") sautee of chicken and was astounded by the results. Here's what I did:

I bought a pack of chicken legs/thighs (a family pack for 5 bucks), I browned it, steamed it with some garlic and thyme, reduced the chicken stock and white wine into a sauce with some shallots, and served....THAT is the simplicity and deliciosity of this book. END RESULT: HEAVEN

Finally, a cookbook that fully explains how to do a recipe

I am skeptical of cookbooks based on TV shows; I find them to be a waste of time and money. This one, however, is a happy exception. It is one of the few cookbooks aimed at the home cook that will make you a better cook. It is an excellent resource for home cooking.

It is a very friendly book for the home cook and easy to use. No fancy tools that only a professional chef can afford, no exotic ingredients that can only be found at one specific ethnic deli in Manhattan, no complicated multipart recipes that require several prep cooks backstage to pull off correctly. There are only a couple of recipes the home cook might have problems with (galantine, soufflé, roulade). Here is a 5# sack of potatoes or a whole chicken; OK, smarty pants, what is the home cook suppose to do with them? How do you cook a steak? This book will tell you.

The TV show was rather unusual. When you tape a cooking show series, the recipes and script are all predetermined months in advance. Here, the shows were all done extemporaneously, and the cookbook written after, not before the TV taping. They started with just ingredients and went from there. They chose the best way or favorite recipes with the home cook in mind that are simple and easy to do. There was also no attempt to `cover' all of the culinary bases, just their favorite home recipes; for example, they have recipes for mussels and lobster, but there are none for cakes or pies (If you discount the roulade and galette).

Most of the photos are not from the tapings, but taken during the writing of the book. The main recipes and texts were written by a third co-author. Recipes or comments (which are often longer than the recipes) by Jacques or Julia are clearly labeled and even color-coded. And, naturally, the 2 often do not agree. Some recipes have 2 different versions, one from each person (pie dough; crepes; scrambled eggs, poached eggs). There are several mini essays on various ingredients.

There are many culinary gems. How about Steak Diane, or the original version of Caesar salad (no, there are no anchovies)? When was the last time you made crepes? How about 3 different recipes for gravlax, depending on how much time you have? Most recipes span several pages and have explanations and related information. Hollandaise gets 4 pages, mayonnaise gets 5, and beef bourguignon gets 6. So, there is no excuse for not understanding a recipe or being unsure of how to do a step.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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 pan bagnat
        *--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.

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