Bistro Cooking at Home

I'm picky when it comes to cookbook shelf space. My habit is to only keep around cookbooks that I love. After 20 years of cooking, I have kept only about two dozen books (aside from the vintage Foods of the World series by Time Life). Having said that, *Bisto Cooking at Home* has become one of my go-to books. Just as a previous reviewer said, the Chicken recipe on p182 alone is worth the price of this book. What all my favorite cookbooks seem to have in common is that they not only deliver great recipes, but they also educate as to why they taste great. This book is no exception.

you open "Bistro Cooking at Home". Your next Sunday afternoon should be spent making the Beef Short Ribs Braised in Dark Beer with Bacon and Red Onions. It's incredible. The dishes are comparatively easy to make, unpretentious, earthy, and deeply soul satisfying. While not for the completely novice cook, Hamersley helps out with wine suggestions, accompaniments, and helpful preparation notes with almost every dish. Highly recommended.

I borrowed BISTRO COOKING AT HOME from the library, thinking I might steal a few tempting recipes, but upon reading it promptly purchased my own permanent copy. The recipes are delicious yet accessible (my last meal was his Orange and Ginger-Glazed Roasted Swordfish with a Carrot and Tarragon Vinaigrette, which caused swooning at my table. It was so good that I wondered, "Why would a chef give away a recipe like this?" ) The side dishes take delicious basics and rachet them up a notch, i.e. Roasted Asparagus with Pancetta and Shaved Asiago or Lemony Braised Endive or Garlicky Cherry Tomato Confit with Toasted Pine Nuts. If you love a flexible chef, one that can accept your vanilla extract if you don't have a vanilla bean on hand, this book is for you. My best summary is: Unpretentious, friendly, practical, and fabulous.

Mr. Hamersley's "Bistro Cooking at Home" belongs next to Julia and Marcella in your cookbook collection. The 'presentation' is terrific; easy to read with many helpful pictures. There is a wealth of background information, all the way from techniques to sources for hard to find ingredients. The writing style is as comfortable as his restaurant. There is a full range of selections that will satisfy every taste. Recipes are presented with alternatives for technique and ingredients. I'm not the first one to say that the Roast Chicken p. 182 is worth the price of the book, but it's true. But Fiona's Easy Halibut, Seared Sea Scallops with Garlic Tomato and Olive Compote, Roast Pork with Apples, Onions, and Sage, ..............there's just no end to it. Best of all, the consistent end result is flavor, flavor, flavor. Buy the book, work your way through and start again.

Gordon Hamersley has done what no other restaurant cookbook author has done before ( or wanted too). He has successfully written a cookbook that yields results from home that rival that of his restaurant. Having visited his restaurant on several different occasions, I was skeptical about how close the recipes would turn out. With my first bite of the roast chicken I'd prepared, all the sights, sounds, aromas and tastes returned, as though I was sitting in the dining room of Hamersley's Bistro.