Rating: 
Summary: My second copy of Seasoned America
Review: "Chef Paul's San Francisco Cioppino recipe is reason enough to buy this book" is what I wrote in November, 1998, as ABDissert.
Seasoned America was my first Chef Paul book, and my copy is simply worn out. "Last Thanksgiving (I said in 1998), I made San Francisco Cioppino as an appetizer for a dozen guests. The turkey sat unnoticed and unwanted as I scambled for ingredients to "stretch" the Cioppino. All of last year's attendees are returning this year." Actually, they have come back for the Cioppino every year since.
Seasoned America was a three year project for Chef Paul, but it is a three-tiered tutorial for us. As our director, mentor, and innovator, Chef Paul introduces us to caramelizing finely diced vegetables as the foundation of his recipe architecture. Later in the cooking, larger cut vegetables are combined with meats or seafood (or both) to complete the dinner dishes. I am a devotee of spicey foods and find the obligatory spices in his usually remarkable combinations make each recipe a distinctive statement.
In 1998, I wrote about some of my favorites then, but I've discovered more. With fat free cream cheese in place of (some of) the heavy cream, the West Coast Chicken (named for Luisa) Tetrazzini is a heart healthy, filling, and most satisfying dish. Texas Red Chili is a regular export from my kitchen. Chef Paul's Beef and Oyster Jambalaya, his Guacamole recipe, Texas Shrimp and Rice, and the Pasta Primavera make restaurant versions pale and poor.
(From my 1998 remarks), Chef Paul fairly insists that the reader experiment, alter amounts, make substitutions. His ingredients (two cups of brewed black coffee in his "Cowboy Stew") might frighten the fainthearted, his "fried green tomatoes" are heart cloggers, and his reliance on heavy cream invites substitution. Yet, because of the overall upgrading of old favorites by spice and technique, nearly every recipe can be retrofitted to accomplish two paradoxical goals - heart health and marvelous taste. When the tomato harvest reached its peak recently, Chef Paul's instruction to take the time to blanche, peel, and seed a peck of plum tomatoes for Cream of Tomato Soup kept me standing between pots of boiling water and ice water longer than I liked. The result, with skim milk added instead of cream, was more than worth every minute on my feet. This was my first of several Chef Paul books. It should be yours.
Rating:
Summary: My second copy of Seasoned America
Review: "Chef Paul's San Francisco Cioppino recipe is reason enough to buy this book" is what I wrote in November, 1998, as ABDissert.
Seasoned America was my first Chef Paul book, and my copy is simply worn out. "Last Thanksgiving (I said in 1998), I made San Francisco Cioppino as an appetizer for a dozen guests. The turkey sat unnoticed and unwanted as I scambled for ingredients to "stretch" the Cioppino. All of last year's attendees are returning this year." Actually, they have come back for the Cioppino every year since.
Seasoned America was a three year project for Chef Paul, but it is a three-tiered tutorial for us. As our director, mentor, and innovator, Chef Paul introduces us to caramelizing finely diced vegetables as the foundation of his recipe architecture. Later in the cooking, larger cut vegetables are combined with meats or seafood (or both) to complete the dinner dishes. I am a devotee of spicey foods and find the obligatory spices in his usually remarkable combinations make each recipe a distinctive statement.
In 1998, I wrote about some of my favorites then, but I've discovered more. With fat free cream cheese in place of (some of) the heavy cream, the West Coast Chicken (named for Luisa) Tetrazzini is a heart healthy, filling, and most satisfying dish. Texas Red Chili is a regular export from my kitchen. Chef Paul's Beef and Oyster Jambalaya, his Guacamole recipe, Texas Shrimp and Rice, and the Pasta Primavera make restaurant versions pale and poor.
(From my 1998 remarks), Chef Paul fairly insists that the reader experiment, alter amounts, make substitutions. His ingredients (two cups of brewed black coffee in his "Cowboy Stew") might frighten the fainthearted, his "fried green tomatoes" are heart cloggers, and his reliance on heavy cream invites substitution. Yet, because of the overall upgrading of old favorites by spice and technique, nearly every recipe can be retrofitted to accomplish two paradoxical goals - heart health and marvelous taste. When the tomato harvest reached its peak recently, Chef Paul's instruction to take the time to blanche, peel, and seed a peck of plum tomatoes for Cream of Tomato Soup kept me standing between pots of boiling water and ice water longer than I liked. The result, with skim milk added instead of cream, was more than worth every minute on my feet. This was my first of several Chef Paul books. It should be yours.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: As a believer in real butter,cream,etc. This is my favorite cookbook of all time. Cooking with Chef Paul is almost ritual in the preparation of receipes. This book is not for people in a hurry, it is for people who love to lose themselves in chopping, stirring and tasting. The meatloaf and clam chowder are heaven and in the days of fast food, this book takes you back to a more genteel time when guests were treated to the best a kitchen was able to turn out. Long live cholesterol!!
Rating:
Summary: Our Everyday cookbook
Review: As a believer in real butter,cream,etc. This is my favorite cookbook of all time. Cooking with Chef Paul is almost ritual in the preparation of receipes. This book is not for people in a hurry, it is for people who love to lose themselves in chopping, stirring and tasting. The meatloaf and clam chowder are heaven and in the days of fast food, this book takes you back to a more genteel time when guests were treated to the best a kitchen was able to turn out. Long live cholesterol!!
Rating:
Summary: Seasoned America-My Second copy!!!
Review: Chef Paul has done it again! I absolutely love this cookbook. I have two copies! The first one so worn I had to purchase a second. Every dish I've made has been wounderful. You just can't go wrong with any of Prudhomme's recipes. The Buffalo Wings are the best I've ever had! Be sure to try the Black Bean Soup, Sopa de Albóndigas,Baked Stuffed Tomatoes,Indiana Dutch Cabbage Rolls,Chicken Paprika. These are just some of our favorites. You'll get the best results following the recipe exactly. Paul Prudhomme is my favorite chef, and soon he too will be yours. Don't pass up this great cookbook.
Rating:
Summary: Traditional Dishes in Flavorful New Renditions
Review: Chef Paul Prudomme's Seasoned America is my second favorite cookbook. (The first is Erma S. Rombauer's Joy of Cooking, which I use for basic cooking procedures and recipes.) There are three things you need to know about Seasoned America: The first is that it is a veritable bible of seasonings. Don't think that this cookbook is a gimmick to get you to buy Prudhomme's prepared seasoning mixes. It's not; he doesn't use them in his recipes here. But you are going to learn more than most of you can even imagine about the creative and extensive uses of seasonings. Don't get the idea you're going to need a cupboard full of all the different seasonings at the market. You will find that they are usually the basic ones any well-stocked kitchen should have: white and black pepper, onion and garlic powders, paprika, oregano, basil, etc. I used to buy one or two ounce bottles of seasonings at the store for $3 or $4, but now buy them in five to six ounce bottles at membership stores for about the same price. Use his lists as a guide, but don't follow them slavishly. Substitute, leave out the ones you don't like or don't have. I love basil and use it almost every time, sometimes as an addition, sometimes as a substitute for tarragon or something else I don't have. If you are using a recipe from another cookbook that doesn't use much in the way of spices, find as similar a recipe in Prudhomme as you can and use some of his seasonings in your cooking. Second, as far as I am concerned, Chef Paul is often more complicated than he needs to be. Here's an example: "Stir in the tomatoes and the remaining 2 teaspoons of garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup beef stock and cook 3 minutes. Add the butter and cook 3 minutes. . ." and so on. I just add all those ingredients at once and cook them for several minutes. Gourmet cooks may want to follow the instructions precisely, but we average cooks can just as well keep it simple. Another example is his use of several kinds of chili peppers in a recipe. He will have a note that you can use whatever ground chili peppers are available in your area, but "not commercial chili powder." I disregard that and use the commercial stuff. I have better things to do with life than track down and stock multiple varieties of chili peppers, but do your own thing. Third, use the strong spices sparingly. I have used just a fraction of some of the hot peppers he calls for in his recipes and the results were still too hot. Start out with only a small amount and work up from there in future preparations. Don't get the idea all these recipes use hot spices, only some of them do, and they are some of my favorites. Do yourself a favor and buy this wonderful cookbook, which will introduce you to new variations on many familiar dishes and others that are not-so-familiar. You'll be amazed at how much difference the use of seasonings can make.
Rating:
Summary: Best Cookbook
Review: I must have 50 cookcooks, but this is my favorite. The recipies need to be followed precisely, however the directions are excellent. Every dish I've made from this book has been aromatic and full of flavor. Be careful, they are also full of salt and calories! But if you want to WOW your guests, select a few of these recipies and enjoy!
My favorite recipe is the Milwaukee Potato Soup. Be careful, it takes a full 90 minutes to prepare! The New England Butternut Bisque introduced me to the wonders of squash and is much easier to make than the Potato Soup. The Mulacalong Chicken is flavorful, although I prefer to cut out the bell peppers. The Chicken Paprika is devine.
Every recipe I've tried from this book has been wonderful. Buy this and prepare for a treat!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have on Your Kitchen Shelf!
Review: I was first exposed to this book nearly seven years ago when I first started dating the women who would eventually become my wife. On more than one occasion, she made me dishes from the book that were absolutely fantastic. In later years as I became acquainted with the kitchen and began to share it with her, this book became a staple of our diet. Whenever there is a sense of what to have for dinner, this is inevitablely what is brought down from the shelf. In addition, perhaps one of my favorite wintertime dishes, Carolina Chicken Purlieu comes from this book. While some of the dishes in here may make the health conscience or the heart faint wag there fingers at me, I strongly recommend this book as it is what good living and good food are about. This is a classic book and you definitely, definitely need to buy it and cook from it.
Rating: 
Summary: Reprehensible.
Review: I'm sorry, but I simply cannot condone this sort of behavior. Cannibalism is utterly unacceptable in any but the most dire of situations, the fact that 'Chef' Paul Prudhomme profits off of it in book after book should not be condoned. Seasoned Americans is not a book I can recommend to anybody. In addition to the ethical aspects, which should be readily apparent, the fact is that cramming gigantic handfuls of human flesh into your ravening maw is not at all healthy. In addition to leading to kuru, which is in all cases fatal, in eskimo folklore it causes insanity--and we all know that most myths have some basis in reality. Also, unless you have a special permit like Prudhomme does, slaughtering people for meat is illegal in most states. Some cannibalism enthusiasts prefer to scavenge from morgues, but that brings an entire new set of problems into play, as you can imagine. And finally, we have it on pretty good authority that the man's been known to track down people who eat his recipes for his own culinary needs--a regular diet of human flesh improves the flavor, apparently. Put simply, it's just not worth it. I know it's tempting, but trust me: this is not a path you want to tread--you WILL grow to regret it. I'd also watch out for Chatokay, if I were you. He's a tricky one.
Rating:
Summary: Reprehensible.
Review: I'm sorry, but I simply cannot condone this sort of behavior. Cannibalism is utterly unacceptable in any but the most dire of situations, the fact that 'Chef' Paul Prudhomme profits off of it in book after book should not be condoned. Seasoned Americans is not a book I can recommend to anybody. In addition to the ethical aspects, which should be readily apparent, the fact is that cramming gigantic handfuls of human flesh into your ravening maw is not at all healthy. In addition to leading to kuru, which is in all cases fatal, in eskimo folklore it causes insanity--and we all know that most myths have some basis in reality. Also, unless you have a special permit like Prudhomme does, slaughtering people for meat is illegal in most states. Some cannibalism enthusiasts prefer to scavenge from morgues, but that brings an entire new set of problems into play, as you can imagine. And finally, we have it on pretty good authority that the man's been known to track down people who eat his recipes for his own culinary needs--a regular diet of human flesh improves the flavor, apparently. Put simply, it's just not worth it. I know it's tempting, but trust me: this is not a path you want to tread--you WILL grow to regret it. I'd also watch out for Chatokay, if I were you. He's a tricky one.
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