In Madeleines Kitchen P

I enjoy my big heavy copy of "New Making of a Cook" with it's superb education about techniques and science of cooking. I also, in a different way, find "In Madeleine's Kitchen" to be the more intimate cookbook to have at one's side for those beginning or intermediate cooks wanting to make delicious French style food. There is no shortage of "French" cookbooks, yet a dearth of cookbooks that can lead you happily through the nuts and noisettes of "how to make a good sauce", create appetizers or tell how to have sparkling fresh-appearing vegetables as easily as Ms. Kamman does. There's comfort food as well in here...how to bake a potato, followed up with toppings such as: tasty mustard butter, bacon cream, basil and Parmesan cream...some recipes quick to prepare, as well as complex longer recipes; they are all interspersed throughout. Like a simple roast duck or chicken? Learn how to cook it with such pairings as: red pepper puree and vinegar, pears and cassis, crushed mint, pears, green peppercorns and ginger, mushrooms pancetta and candied shallots, artichokes and lemon...such tasty variations! Want a steak to taste like venison...try her marinade! Want to make a proper confit? M. Kamman has the best instructions I have yet to read on this traditional preparation. Rarely made in homes are glorious terrines, pate, saucissons or galantines...these forcemeat creations are work! The instructions here are the best I've ever seen. Even "The New MAking of a Cook" gives barely two pages on this, admonishing the reader to look to the prior version for instruction. In "Madeleine's Kitchen", one gets 10 pages on theory and technique..and that's then followed by the recipes. She will tell you when to use a mortar and pestle, and when to save time with a food processor, or meat grinder to get to the proper end point. There's even a (rare) recipe for microwave lobster with (non-microwaved) caviar sauce, and get a great meal in far less time. Learn to substitue leeks for spinach if it's not the right season for one or the other. I especially like the theory and preparation of sauces, and especially her guidance on how to correct sauces for problems of: too salty, too bland, too acid, too little depth or body...Easy ways to save sauces that 'just didn't come out" as they should have, and only 15" before company is to be served! Buy this book; having a friend/top cook at your side; helping you to cook tasty food properly, shall never go out of style!

Madeleine is one of the most creative chefs ever to write a cookbook and, next to Julia Child, probably the most skillful teacher. Her complete command of French cuisine makes most of today's media-crazed chefs look like amateurs. This is a workable cookbook that is carefully laid out, with many sauces that can be applied to a variety of dishes. There is a wonderful range of dishes, from simple to complex. You can start wherever you are comfortable and learn with this woman who probably knows more about food than anyone living. The techniques, which are at the forefront of everything Madeleine does, are straightforward and easily mastered. Among the many, many pleasures of this spectacular book (in addition to the food, of course) is the sense of confidence it can give any aspiring cook to create extremely refined dishes without pretence or fear. If you use this book, you really won't be able to look at most other books in the same way. Fantastic!

In these dark days of broccoli pesto, "roasted vegetables", and everything swimming in balsamic vinegar, In Madeleine's Kitchen offers readers a return to the soul of good cooking in the French tradition: techincally adept but not gimmicky, tasty but not obtrusive. The book is organized by course (soups, meats, vegetable dishes, etc.) and is all recipes and technical information. It's gloriously free of the huge glossy photos and decorative filler found in other books. It contains recipes for terrines, duck confit, petits fours and other typically French foods, but also has a distinct modern touch and is appealing to North American readers. There's no fat-hysteria either. As always, one of the pleasures in her book is her style and occasional reminiscences about growing up with this kind of food. Good for serious amateurs and professionals.