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Manufacturer: Scribner
Publisher: Scribner
Author: Tom Valenti, Andrew Friedman

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.821
EAN: 9780743243759
Format: Illustrated
ISBN: 0743243757
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2003-10-21
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner

This is the way we love to eat -- slowly braised, cut-with-a-spoon-tender meat resting in aromatic juices just waiting for the perfect piece of bread to come along and sop it up; a steaming bowl of chowder filled with chunks of fish and potatoes in rich broth laced with the smoky-sweet-salty flavor of bacon; a casserole that's spent some serious time in the oven as layer upon layer of creamy, soft cheese, pasta, herbs, and meat meld into a delectable whole.

And as luck would have it, this is the way celebrated New York City chef Tom Valenti loves to cook. Considered Manhattan's grandmaster of comfort food, Valenti has made this beloved cooking his trademark. In fact, on any given night, you'll find him in his wildly successful Upper West Side restaurants Ouest and 'Cesca feeding the world's A-list -- Bill Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Charlie Rose, Jerry Seinfeld, Judy Collins, Joan Didion. Because, of course, this is the food they love to eat, too.

In Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews, and One-Pot Meals, Valenti and coauthor Andrew Friedman dish up the flavor we've come to expect from a New York chef, without any of the fuss. This is food that gets better a day or two after it's made, food to make on the weekend and savor throughout a busy week, food that is perfect for dinner parties and family celebrations.

Here are 125 realistic recipes for the home cook -- most made in one pot -- and all based on the fact that the right ingredients, left alone to cook in a single vessel with virtually no intervention from the cook, steadily build glorious flavor and leave far fewer pots to clean.

The book includes "Variations" and "Tomorrow's Table," tips on ways to embellish a dish by adding vegetables or meats or provide economy by stretching it into another satisfying meal by simply adding another ingredient. Valenti and Friedman embrace what they term "cooking in the real world," encouraging home cooks to use canned stocks and beans whenever appropriate. They discuss key ingredients; offer a section on condiments, garnishes, and accompaniments; provide a list of mail-order sources; and recommend cookware (though you won't need a lot).

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: mostly great, but.....
Review: i love tom valenti....his restaurants AND his cookbooks. BUT i was not happy with the way some of these recipes came out. for instance, turkey soup with stuffing dumplings. what a great idea...stuffing dumplings. but now that i've tried them twice, i realize this just isn't going to work. both times, the dumplings disintegrated after only a few minutes into the soup, leaving a messy, gloppy lump floating on the soup. otherwise, i love the book.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: fantastic book to own and to give as a gift!
Review: The recipes in this book really do make meals that are full of flavor and extremely hearty! One pot usually lasts at least two meals for me and my boyfriend and we just love the fact that something like a bowl of stew can be hearty enough to fill us up.

Some of the recipes definitely don't go cheap on the ingredients (I spent $25+ on buying the fish needed for the manhattan fish stew) but the result is well worth it--a gourmet meal with amazing taste! Many of the recipes use root vegetables (carrots, celery, onions, etc.), which is essential to a good stew for the flavors, and it's also good because it's ingredients that people are usually familiar with and have readily available.

The meals will usually take at least an hour to make, but the process is not difficult (usually just involving chopping things up and throwing all the ingredients into the pot). We've tried several of the recipes so far (beef stew, texas chili, fish stew, mushroom stew) and we have been consistently impressed with all of them. This is definitely a good book to have if you enjoy good quality food (no Grade C ingredients here!) or if you have a lot of mouths to feed. We can't wait to try the rest of the recipes!

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: cramped space good food!
Review: If you are limited in space or you have a huge kitchen and HATE doing dishes, this book is for you. The recipes in this book are flavourful, quick, and easy to make. And once you've stuffed yourself, with a delightlful dinner and all your guests have gone, you'll wonder if they took some of the dirty dishes with them. I bought this book looking for a solution to the small kitchen I have: one element & one sink, no JOKE! What I found was an excuse to invite my friends over to indulge in Tom Valenti's wonderful creations! If you love food, and like it to be easy to prepare, but taste good this book should be on your kitchen counter, if you have one.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: not at all impressed
Review: I was looking primarily for some strew recipes that were good and easy to make. This book was really a let-down. First off, right off at the start this book claims that it "does not call for hard-to-find ingredients". Then you look at the recipes, which call for things like mussels, swordfish, goat cheese, calamari and duck just to name a few. And even when more mundane ingredients are called for, even that is made complicated. It doesn't require rice, it requires "arborio rice". It doesn't require squash, it requires "butternut squash", and so forth. Good luck shopping for these recipes.

The other thing I really dislike about this book is that it is a tough read for those of us without a lot of cooking experience. It uses a lot of jargon, has no pictures, and gives very vague directions. For example he tells you to "season with salt and pepper" with no clues about technique or amounts, or "2 bell peppers sliced length-wise" (length-wise? A bell pepper is nearly round). Also the recipe I made (requiring 8 steps, owch) listed one item in the ingredients list that isn't even mentioned anywhere in steps.

I'm sure there are some people that will like this book, especially if you are a very experienced cook, are willing to knock yourself out making these recipes, and are willing to spend a lot of time and money gathering the needed ingredients. But for me, ick, this might very well be the worst cookbook I've ever seen for my needs.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: If you only can buy one cookbook
Review: As a busy working father who also does the cooking, I have always looked for the collection of recipes which is appealing to the whole family yet tastes interesting, and can be prepared without needing to take the whole day off to shop and prepare. Without exception, every recipe in this book as been a winner. Try the seemingly ordinary poule au pot, Slow Braised Chicken in a Pot. You won't believe how something so simple will be so satisfying, so incredibly delicious, all in less than an hour. Treat yourself to this book-it is the single most used in my collection of 50 cookbooks.

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