Jacques Pepin's Table: The Complete Today's Gourmet

I've got lots of cookbooks, and I find that in most of them only a few recipes are to my liking. Other books appear to have great recipes, but they're too complicated for me. This is the book I come back to again and again for great, and I mean great, food that is practical for me in the kitchen. I consistently get rave reviews from my guests and I don't have to cook all day to get them. His recipes are simply stated and always convey his love of the craft. I can't think of a way to improve this book. Period.

There are so many things to say about this book that have notyet been said by other reviewers that I almost can't believe it. Firstof all, I love food and have been cooking for family and friends nowfor years and Jacques Pepin's books have been the most helpful to meby far. This particular book is wonderful because it not only providescomplete menus for every season and occasion you might imagine, but italso outlines how to prepare different recipes so that everything endsup on the table hot and in good time. ...It is a true indulgence tobe able to make and eat delicious food. This book permits bothpleasures without the guilt of unknown excesses of fat, cholesterol,sodium and the like. -- Eat what you like, but please...know what youare eating!I have made nearly every beef, poultry and fish dish inthis volume with terrific and consistent results. -- The greatestthing is that the book teaches you how to spend your money wisely andget the most bang for your buck, usually with little more than a someminor attention to detail, which is free.My mother-in-law who is avery well travelled, difficult to impress foodie consistently lavishesme with compliments when I whip up dinner with recipes culled fromthis book. She was so impressed with the stuffed chicken breast dish'Chicken Kiev Style' that she asked to watch me make it so that shecan serve it at her dinner parties! Very economical and easy for suchhigh praise!The side dishes are exquisite, flavorful, andeasy. They are great to bring along when visiting, compliment avariety of meals, are generally inexpensive, and are a bit morespecial than other run of the mill recipes you might tend to fall backon. The simple recipe for potatoes persillade (pan fried potatoes withgarlic and parsely) is such a favorite in our house that is worth theprice of the book all by itself. I cannot stress enough that when Ibegan cooking I was almost completely inept, and now I am a force tobe reckoned with in the kitchen. (Thanks in large part to this book.)With the help of Mr. Pepin's flawlessly executable recipes, I evenmake my own bread from scratch -- without owning a foodprocessor.For me eating and entertaining well has become a part ofliving a good life. You can go out and pay someone else to cook foryou for the rest of your life or you can learn to make a few thingsand take tremendous satisfaction in it.The money you save on dinnersout will more than pay for this book and the inspiration andinformation it provides are priceless. If you want to learn how tocook, there will never be a more qualified or humble teacher thanJacques Pepin. -- So often the quality of the result is dependent onsomething small like knowing how to thicken a sauce, the order to chopyour ingredients, or when during the cooking process to add aparticular seasoning. A lot of that extra know-how gleened during alifetime of hands-on effort is conveyed here.Lastly, but worthnoting: all of the recipes in the book are made with readily availableingredi

Jacque Pepin has masterfully created so many wonderful and unique dishes that this cookbook is one of the finest of the decade! The recipes are mostly simple but turn out to taste complex. Some of my favorites so far are the use of chicken and yams together, a great recipe using quinoa and the apple tart.

Have sampled several recipes, each of which is outstanding. Soups are wonderful. Most first-course items can be served as a full meal. The color photos are a great help with presentation. This is by far my favorite cook book these days - we are eating like kings.

I really liked this cookbook for a number of reasons. Good photo's well-written recipes, and especially for including Nutritional Info. I am LOW-CARB dieting now for 7 months (and 65 lbs lost) and have had a hard time finding cookbooks that give me carbohydrate counts. This one does.I have learned much from MR. Pepin in expanding my culinary skills, both from his books and his TV show and highly recommend everything he has done!