The Culinary Institute of AmericaRezensionen

The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition by Culinary Institute of America (2001)

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This is an old cookbook I acquired at a library sale. No pictures and some of the recipes are complicated.

That being said, I've made several recipes and they're great

Georgia Peanut Salad Dressing (sans garlic but yum!)
Lentil Ragout (a little bland and underdone at 8500 feet)
Mussels and Shrimp with Orzo (sans mussels but with the chorizo - wow!)
Quinoa Pilaf with Red and Yellow Peppers (sans peppers but with roasted corn and celery)

I will be making more recipes from this book!

A beautifully illustrated cook book full of recipes for one that are too elaborate for me to make.½

An excellent collection of recipes for pie lovers.

Elaborate recipes that don't seem possible to cook for one person. The cook book is a thing of beauty. The pictures of the various dishes look mouth watering. The directions are clear. The downside is that there will be a lot wasted food during the preparation. The authors don't seem to be budget minded. This book is not written for anyone wanting good food in single sized portions. This book is for the gourmet / foodie interested in exploring exotic dishes.

Baking and Pastry is one of the book that I read along side Professional Baking. Like Professional Baking, I read this for my culinary classes and it does help me understand some of the content that was included into my lectures. Similar to the other book, the textbook is appropriate for those who seek additional knowledge in the culinary arts. For beginners in culinary arts, this book provided a variety of subjects that might help in understanding the works that involved in baking. There are also additional chapters on confectioneries and cake decorating

However, being a chef is more than just reading from a book. You need to practice with the basics and any culinary text book is not enough for the work needed in the kitchen.

Baking and Pastry is one of the book that I read along side Professional Baking. Like Professional Baking, I read this for my culinary classes and it does help me understand some of the content that was included into my lectures. Similar to the other book, the textbook is appropriate for those who seek additional knowledge in the culinary arts. For beginners in culinary arts, this book provided a variety of subjects that might help in understanding the works that involved in baking. There are also additional chapters on confectioneries and cake decorating

However, being a chef is more than just reading from a book. You need to practice with the basics and any culinary text book is not enough for the work needed in the kitchen.

This 6th edition, completely updated and revised, has many more recipes (712 pages worth) than earlier editions, but I prefer the older editions, such as the 4th revised edition (1974) for its excellent coverage of the basics of professional cookery (why should an egg be simmered, not boiled?)

Italian Cooking at Home features the gorgeous, full page photographs, clear instructions, and in-depth detail that readers have come to expect from the Culinary Institute of America. A large section describing the best cheese, wine and other foods found in each region of Italy make this a must have for anyone traveling there. I made several recipes from this cookbook and they ranged from good to great.

Focaccia al rosmarino -

This was a solid, easy focaccia recipe. I think recipes that include an overnight rise are generally more flavorful, but obviously more time consuming too. This is a good addition to an upscale, company italian dinner and made really good sandwiches the next day.

Frittata con asparagi -

Fantastic! Better than you would expect for such simple ingredients. Cut in small slices this would make an impressive and unusual appetizer.

Insalata d'arance e finocchi -

A salad with endive, fennel, and oranges. Nothing too unexpected, but a sprinkling of black olives ups the flavor and makes a simple, winter salad a bit more special.

Spaghetti cacio e pepe -

A simple, delicious weeknight supper. Spaghetti, pecorino, and pepper I think makes the perfect comfort food dinner.

Polenta co sugo di saliccia -

This is a showstopper of a company dish. The spicy sausage sauce combined with the creamy polenta was heavenly. It was relatively easy to make and didn't require any hard to find ingredients.

So many dishes left to try! There are many delicious looking fish recioes, deserts, duck and rabbit......I will be cooking out of this cookbook for a while to come.

Healthy Cooking comes from a line of cookbooks created by the Culinary Institute of America for home cooks. Its a beautiful hardcover packed with gorgeous, full-color photographs. The recipes are all very manageable, nothing too complicated or time consuming and no exotic, impossible to find ingredients. To keep the recipes relatively simple and still provide fresh and interesting flavor combinations is a real accomplishment! I tried many recipes from this cookbook, here are some reviews:

Artichoke Seviche in Belgian Endive - I love the idea of a vegetarian seviche! This came together easily and makes a very unique and light appetizer. I found the endive a little too bitter with the artichokes and lime, but it was great with baked tortilla chips.

Moroccan Carrot Salad - This was a huge hit! The date and onion puree gives it such a sweet, rich flavor and the cayenne and lemon balance it out nicely. I will make this recipe again.

Chinese Long Bean Salad with Tangerines and Sherry-Mustard Vinaigrette - I used regular green beans in this salad and it turned out well. A nice variation and the perfect side dish for a hot summer evening. I love the bright green and orange colors together.

Fedelini with Broccoli Rabe, Pancetta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Toasted Bread Crumbs - I really liked the bright lemon flavor and the toasty breadcrumbs on top. This is a light pasta dish that is quick and easy enough for a weeknight. Very good!

Ratatouille - Easy and delicious side dish. Nothing unusual about this particular ratatouille, but it was nice to be reminded of this simple way of using up zucchini.

Spinach Souffle - Wow was this good! Its amazing what you can do with such humble ingredients. We ate this as a side, but I would be happy with a big dish of this souffle for dinner or breakfast. It was extremely light and fluffy with a wonderful spinach cheese flavor.

I haven't tried any of the meat recipes, but there are many tempting ones here - Turkey Tenderloins with Ancho Sauce, Cocoa Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, and Loin of Lamb with Blood Orange Sauce to name just a few. This is a great cookbook for healthier cooking with all the flavor and ease you could ask for!

The best book for cooking technique I've ever had. Peterson's are also nice, but this monumental volume is the size of a small European nation and produces vastly better cuisine. An absolute must for anyone who wants to cook a legitimate meal.

Amazing reference book! Freakin fab.

I originally bought this to have a "how-to" reference for cooking skills (knife usage, how to identify ingredients, how to make proper stock and sauces, how to properly prepare meat, fish, and fowl, etc). If it had done just that excellently, this would have been four star book. However, I give this a 5-star rating because, in addition to the excellent how-to reference sections, all of the recipes that I have tried have turned out to be exceptional.

Includes excellent full colour illustrations, great step-by-step explanations, and two indexes: a subject index and a recipe index (having two indexes is more useful than it sounds, especially if you refer to this book often). The price is steep but if you've got the motivation and kitchen tools, it's a great investment.

How to cook eggs in the shell, p. 725; maybe a no duh, but a thorough explanation with much distinguishing. How to boil potatoes, p. 637. A solid teaching volume.

I haven't read the entire book nor have I made all the recipes (some I will never make) but Gourmet Meals in Minutes is a good recipe book. I like that they have recipes for boneless chicken thighs as well as breasts and that they have main and side dishes as well as desserts. "In minutes" pretty much means in under 1 hour with prep time included. That's not too bad! They do assume a level of pantry stocking that I do not generally keep but since I generally want to cook in 30-60 minutes I can plan my shopping around a few recipes.

We especially liked: Tomatilla Salsa, Fiery Fruit Salsa, Salad of Crab and Avocado, Soba Noodle Salad (I'm pretty sure I twitched this recipe but I forgot to note what I changed), Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, Stir-Fry Citrus Beef, Moroccan Lemon Chicken, Lemon-Ginger Grilled Chicken (this is now a regular on our dinner table), Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Walnut Chicken, Oven Roasted Potatoes, and Coconut Rice with Ginger.

The only problem I had with a recipe was the couscous. 2 Tablespoons of salt are too much and I thought even 1 tablespoon was too salty. There were three veal recipes which I will just skip.

Less useful than its cost and gravitas would suggest.

A unique combination of recipes, cooking techniques, and stories about the Culinary Institute of America's one week "boot camp". The photography is interesting - a contrast between blurry "action" shots and crisp stills of restaurant dining rooms.

Anyone who is serious about learning to cook well needs this text book in thier library. It is a "how to" treasure trove of information.

A heavy duty book and a culinary school text. Lots of color photos & illustrations of techniques (like emulsion and chaud-froid). Yields are high (10 sandwiches, 1 gallon, etc.). Not a necessary investment unless you are in the food service trade; pretty useful if you develop recipes or do catering.

Expensive (a culinary school textbook), but very useful -- the first 400 pages are how-tos, then 500 pages of recipes, and a good glossary. Ingredients are given by weight (not volume) and yields are generally more than you need for home use. Don't spend the money if you aren't a serious cook, or aren't solid on decreasing yields, but if you are, it's a great reference book. Helped me a lot in creating new recipes for the catering kitchen I ran.