Chef on a Shoestring: More Than 120 Inexpensive Recipes for Great Meals from America's Best Known Chefs - Softcover

Friedman, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 074321143X ISBN 13: 9780743211437

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2004

Synopsis

You Don't Have to Break the Bank to Cook Restaurant-Quality Meals

Cooking great meals doesn't require spending a fortune on ingredients. Each week on the CBS Saturday Early Show, a prominent chef is given thirty dollars to create a three-course meal for four. Chef on a Shoestring collects some of the best of those culinary delights to benefit Share Our Strength, one of the nation's leading antihunger, antipoverty organizations. These recipes, created by some of the most celebrated chefs in the country, are produced on a budget but are rich in every other way.

The recipes are organized into convenient categories to allow you to mix and match various courses from different chefs. You can begin a meal with Sara Moulton's Miniature Pumpkin Soup, serve Bobby Flay's Saffron Risotto with Sautéed Shrimp as your main course, and finish with Don Pintabona's Polenta Lemon Cake with Fresh Berries. Or try the Asparagus and Bean Sprout Salad with Dill Pesto from Aquavit's Marcus Samuelsson, Crispy Fried Snapper with Chili Ponzu from Tom Douglas, and Coconut Rice Pudding with Fresh Mango from John Villa, chef of Dominic Restaurant & Social Club in New York City. These and other delectable recipes from Mario Batali, Terrance Brennan, and Waldy Malouf are sure to liven up your weekday or weekend dinners.

Filled with advice on stocking your pantry, buying in season, shopping on a budget, and avoiding the temptation to be too frugal, Chef on a Shoestring is a unique culinary adventure for taste- and budget-conscious home cooks.

About this title

Review:

If you'd consider a chef-inspired three-course meal for four for $20 the answer to your prayers, Chef on a Shoestring is a must-have. More often than not, following recipes shared by great chefs involves hours in the kitchen and breaking the bank, but this companion to the weekly segment of the same name on CBS's Saturday Early Show is proof that great food does not have to come at a great price. In the television show, the best chefs from around the U.S. are invited to take $20 to purchase their ingredients, and then they demonstrate how to make a three-course meal for four with what they've bought.

With advice such as "buy only as much as you need," use "all parts of an ingredient," and "buy in-season ingredients," the introduction is useful, and easy to understand. Although each chef prepares three courses at a time, the book is divided by course so you can mix and match the recipes. Each recipe begins with information from the chef on his inspiration and any changes he might have made to stay within budget. Richard Sandoval's Mahi Mahi Ceviche is based on the ones he learned to make in Guerrero, Mexico, early in his career. Mario Batali's Marinated Roasted Peppers with Goat Cheese, Olives, and Fett'unta hails from Southern Italy, where fett'unta refers to toast drizzled with olive oil. And Michael Romano's Warm Shrimp and Bean Salad with Arugula can be made with lobster if you don't mind going over budget.

Some of these recipes are sure to amaze you. David Reardon's Pan-Seared Scallops and Oyster Mushroom Sweet Potato Salad with Cilantro Ginger Vinaigrette may be a mouthful to say, but it can be made in less than 30 minutes. John Schenk's Chile-Rubbed London Broil with Barbecued Onions is rich, filling, and bursting with flavor. Erica Miller's Chocolate Banana Terrine is not only quick and easy to make, it's beautifully elegant to serve.

These recipes are delicious, impressive, surprisingly inexpensive, and easily prepared. The instructions are clear and simple, and, as if all this isn't appealing enough, all royalties from sales of this book are donated to Share Our Strength, a charitable foundation of creative professionals organized to fight hunger and poverty. --Leora Y. Bloom

About the Author:

Andrew Friedman has made a career of getting to know the heads and hearts of professional cooks and athletes. For more than ten years, Friedman has collaborated with many of the nation’s best and most revered chefs on cookbooks and other writing projects. His writing career began in 1997, when Alfred Portale, asked him to collaborate on the Gotham Bar and Grill Cookbook. The book received wide acclaim and since then he has worked as a cookbook collaborator on more than twenty projects, helping a number of the nation’s best chefs (Alfred Portale, David Waltuck, Tom Valenti, and many others) share their unique culinary viewpoints with readers.  As coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Breaking Back, the memoir of American tennis star James Blake, he took readers inside an athlete’s mind during training and competition, and he does the same as a frequent contributor to Tennis Magazine. In KNIVES AT DAWN: The American Team and the Bocuse d’Or 2009, Friedman combines these two personal passions to tell the story of the premier cooking competition in the world. Friedman has contributed articles to O—The Oprah Magazine and other publications and websites. He has been profiled in The New York Daily News and New York Magazine, and interviewed for, or featured in articles in, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as on NPR’s Taste of the Nation and WOR Radio’s Food Talk. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Columbia University, and is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute’s “La Technique” cooking program. He lives in New York City with his family.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 074321143X
• ISBN 13: 9780743211437
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256