A celebration of simple home cooking

books:

	• Roast Chicken And Other Stories Simon Hopkinson Hyperion, 2007 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A celebration of simple home cooking

Simon Hopkinson is a venerable English chef and newspaper columnist who enjoys pushing for simple, home-y food. This cookbook, originally published in London in 1994, is a small but useful collection of Hopkinson's favorite recipes, along with personal stories and asides to accompany each one.

My husband is a retired chef and his most basic meals are my favorites. Not that I don't love the rolled and stuffed game hens or the complex patés, but nothing compares to his beef lentil soup and his roast chicken with garlic buttermilk mashed potatoes.

In Roast Chicken and Other Stories we find a celebration of simple home cooking. There's plenty of butter, cream, and other "no-no's" to be found, but very little processed pre-cooked and microwaved food. This book celebrates fresh food, be it potatoes, chicken, or calves brains. It is simply organized around Hopkinson's favorite ingredients, and while many of them are not appetizing to an American taste (i.e., kidneys, tripe, sweetbreads) there is enough that is universal enough to suit us all.

Hopkinson writes in a very conversational style with many cooking tips in the prose and not in the recipes, so it is important that you read the entire book and then bookmark the recipes you like. For example, he tells us that boiling is better than steaming for vegetables to maintain color and texture (just don't overdo it) and that canned Italian tomatoes will work better in most stews and sauces than fresh Western tomatoes.

My favorite recipes? The Eggs Florentine, the Chocolate Tart, and the ubiquitous Roast Chicken. But again, don't just buy Roast Chicken and Other Stories for the recipes - but for the prose. Witty, warm, and interesting tales will make you feel like you are in the kitchen with a good friend who also happens to be great cook, and who doesn't like that?

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Not a novel

I read an article about this book and thought it was a novel; only when I ordered and received did I realize it was cookbook ( I am kinda slow ); however, wonderful and all encompassing cookbook which covers a tremendous range of foods with easily understood instructions; who would have thought what a cup of red wine vinegar would do to a stewing chicknen!

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A delight

Any one who loves to cook and eat will enjoy this charming, useful, and even -- culinarily speaking -- inspiring book.

Keep It Simple

Again and again we learn and learn again that simplicity in life, especially in cooking, is the key to success. The author has studied cooking to the point of expertise that allows him to do things and, more importantly, to say things simply and convincingly. When politicians gain this level of authority they become legendary: think Churchill. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Hopkinson takes good, clean fresh ingredients and makes hearty dishes which he believes are vital to the good life. He avoids all chef snobbery, all foodie elitism. Instead, we have the wholesome attitude of the farm, the cookery philosophy of America's Alice Waters. There is no avoidance of the fat and buttery; this is no dieter's bible. The artificial is avoided in favor of authenticity. Hopkinson seem to believe that what is wholesome and fresh is good for you, and rejects all the short cuts and alternate ingredients which have made cooks everywhere confuse substitutes for the real thing. The author is able to convey great warmth, that special brand of English decency and refreshing unpretentiousness. The author loves food, animals, vegetables, customs, tradition, the drama known as life. What is especially surprising and refreshing is his celebration of ethnic cuisines as diverse as the obligatory French and the exotic Mexican. He has expertise in both. This is the food channel between hard covers.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

"Good cooking depends on two things: common sense and good taste."

In England, no food writer?s star shines brighter than Simon Hopkinson?s, whose breakthrough Roast Chicken and Other Stories was voted the most useful cookbook ever by a panel of chefs, food writers, and consumers. At last, American cooks can enjoy endearing stories from the highly acclaimed food writer and his simple yet elegant recipes.

In this richly satisfying culinary narrative, Hopkinson shares his unique philosophy on the limitless possibilities of cooking. With its friendly tone backed by the author?s impeccable expertise, this cookbook can help anyone -- from the novice cook to the experienced chef -- prepare down-right delicious cuisine . . . and enjoy every minute of it!

Irresistible recipes in this book include:

Eggs Florentine Chocolate Tart Poached Salmon with Beurre Blanc And, of course, the book?s namesake recipe, Roast Chicken

Winner of both the 1994 André Simon and 1995 Glenfiddich awards (the gastronomic world?s equivalent to an Oscar), this acclaimed book will inspire anyone who enjoys sharing the ideas of a truly creative cook and delights in getting the best out of good ingredients.

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