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Rating: 
Summary: Good Find!
Review: A solid, well written book that I will be reaching for a lot faster than some of the current well known authors. For someone not having much time to de-code recipes, the techniques and content of the book are easy to read and very well done.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful cooking experience
Review: A wonderful cooking experience was had by all for myself and family. For some extra fun, my family and I sometimes decide to pick out a cookbook and make a meal entirely from that book. Using this cookbook we all picked out one recipe apiece to try out to make a full dinner. Our experence ranged from fairly competent and experienced to the true novice in the kitchen. We made our different courses and the at the end we were very happy with the results. We all agreed that the recipes were well thought out and easy to follow with excellent intstructions and sidebars to answer just about all of our questions. They were practical and informative with the net result being a pleasureable cooking experience for us. Being from the San Francisco area, we are exposed to many wonderful foods and restaurants which I think have increased our appreciation of well prepared foods. We think this cookbook will be enjoyable for all who use it. Chin chin!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful cooking experience
Review: A wonderful cooking experience was had by all for myself and family. For some extra fun, my family and I sometimes decide to pick out a cookbook and make a meal entirely from that book. Using this cookbook we all picked out one recipe apiece to try out to make a full dinner. Our experence ranged from fairly competent and experienced to the true novice in the kitchen. We made our different courses and the at the end we were very happy with the results. We all agreed that the recipes were well thought out and easy to follow with excellent intstructions and sidebars to answer just about all of our questions. They were practical and informative with the net result being a pleasureable cooking experience for us. Being from the San Francisco area, we are exposed to many wonderful foods and restaurants which I think have increased our appreciation of well prepared foods. We think this cookbook will be enjoyable for all who use it. Chin chin!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful gift
Review: I bought this cookbook on a caterer's recommendation as a high school gift for a young man who is living with my family and hopes to become a chef. It was perfecto! I'm grateful he leaves it in my kitchen so I can make use of it, too. I've been cooking for 40 years, but I learned many new tricks and absorbed into my DNA several new recipes from just leafing thru these pages while sipping a latte in the morning.
A must-buy for the serious but casual cook.
Rating:
Summary: Who Thought a Cook Book Would Be a Great Read!!
Review: I like the recipes and have now cooked a number of them. The chicken with spinach and beans is an all time favorite! But I also find the book great reading. There are so many answers to questions I had -- or never knew enough to ask. I leave the book on the kitchen counter and find myself reading through the comments and tips again and again. I never knew how to reliably cut a cooked chicken, just how to hold the knife for slicing an onion, got the idea of buying a couple of hard (as they always are) avacados and sticking them in a drawer to ripen -- and so many more. This is a "must have".
Rating:
Summary: Good Find!
Review: I love a cookbook like this! As a good cook who is completely self taught, I love how easy this is to use and how enjoyable it is to read. The recipes I tried are well written and delicious. This book is laid out really well. The "Contents" lists each food section in red and all the recipes that follow with page number in black. This makes it easy to find what you want to cook. Few cookbooks offer this helpful layout. The recipes are explained well and easy to follow. Again, the 2 color format really helps make this cookbook user friendly. I like how each chapter starts with an informative overview of the food and cooking techniques. It includes a paragragh called "The Big Problem". Here you'll get tips on what problems you could encounter and how to avoid them. Boy, is that a big help. Then the last paragraph is "How to Cook Without A Recipe". This is a great help so you can improvise and not be a slave to the recipes. Then all the recipes follow. After each recipe are helpful tips and information that can only come from lots of experience. This is where a cooking instructor like the author really shares all her knowledge.
The recipes I tried were simply delicious and simple to follow.
Some recipes require more work but they are still easy to do. The instuctions are so well written it makes it fun to cook.
This is a "MUST HAVE" book!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Must Have Cookook
Review: I love a cookbook like this! As a good cook who is completely self taught, I love how easy this is to use and how enjoyable it is to read. The recipes I tried are well written and delicious. This book is laid out really well. The "Contents" lists each food section in red and all the recipes that follow with page number in black. This makes it easy to find what you want to cook. Few cookbooks offer this helpful layout. The recipes are explained well and easy to follow. Again, the 2 color format really helps make this cookbook user friendly. I like how each chapter starts with an informative overview of the food and cooking techniques. It includes a paragragh called "The Big Problem". Here you'll get tips on what problems you could encounter and how to avoid them. Boy, is that a big help. Then the last paragraph is "How to Cook Without A Recipe". This is a great help so you can improvise and not be a slave to the recipes. Then all the recipes follow. After each recipe are helpful tips and information that can only come from lots of experience. This is where a cooking instructor like the author really shares all her knowledge.
The recipes I tried were simply delicious and simple to follow.
Some recipes require more work but they are still easy to do. The instuctions are so well written it makes it fun to cook.
This is a "MUST HAVE" book!
Rating:
Summary: Not just recipes, but how to cook!
Review: If Mary Risley had stopped after training some of my favorite San Francisco chefs, she would earn my undying gratitude. But what she's done with this book is invaluable. It's so much more than a book of recipes. She really teaches you how to cook -- with a recipe or off the cuff. Tante Marie's Cookbook sits on our kitchen counter as a constant checkpoint, no matter where we get recipes from. I always use it as a cross-reference against other books. I'll open a recipe in the Silver Palate, but I'll check Mary's techniques for cooking that kind of meat, fish or vegetable. When I incorporate her suggestions, it always comes out better - and I understand more thoroughly the principle behind the recipes. So this is a cookbook that will enhance every other cookbook you own. We are passionate cooks, but this book has taught us what we've never been able to do before -- cook without a recipe. In fact, at the beginning of every chapter Mary tells you how to select the discussed meat, fish or vegetable, what cooking methods are best for it, and how to cook it without a recipe. Mary straddles the difficult divide of providing a resource that teaches the experienced cook but is accessible enough to the beginner. In fact, if you own only one cookbook, this is the one to get. In addition to wonderful recipes, tricks, techniques and the how-tos that change okay to fabulous, this book is filled with great anecdotes and recipes from some of the Bay Area's best restaurants. All made accessible by Tante Marie herself, patiently explaining the difficult, offering alternatives for when you can't find some exotic ingredients, but firmly telling you when you simply can't compromise. (Mary declares "seared tuna has no place in Salad Nicoise!") We have a new vocabulary in our kitchen: "What does Mary say?" and "Mary says. . ." I promise you, if you let Tante Marie guide you, you'll never eat another so-so meal at home.
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