The Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook: More Than 250 Recipes for the Passionate Home Cook - Hardcover

Mary Risley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743214919 ISBN 13: 9780743214919

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2003

Synopsis

Have you ever read a recipe that called for artichokes and wondered just how to trim them, or wanted to learn the proper way to use a pastry bag? While most cookbooks provide home cooks with only recipes, The Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook provides recipes and detailed cooking techniques -- it's like going to cooking school without ever leaving your home. With more than 250 delicious yet approachable recipes and countless techniques, The Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook enables readers to become familiar with the basics of cooking and then encourages them to improvise. Because the recipes have been tested in the San Francisco kitchens of Tante Marie's by hundreds of students, home cooks can be assured that they are virtually foolproof.

Having guided thousands of students through the world of French cooking for the past thirty years, renowned cooking teacher Mary Risley is well aware of common mistakes made in the kitchen. Risley troubleshoots a multitude of problem areas for cooks (such as what to do if your soup is too thick, or not thick enough), allowing home cooks to avoid common pitfalls. With variations provided for many dishes and instructions on how to cook without recipes, more advanced home cooks can start to create dishes on their own.

From delicious hors d'oeuvres like Fava Bean Crostini with Pecorino and Miniature Shrimp Quiches and Asparagus-Fontina Pizza with Truffle Oil, to enticing entrees like Roast Chicken with New Potatoes and Olives, Halibut Baked with Warm Shallot Compote, and Herbed Rack of Lamb with Béarnaise Sauce, Risley presents an impressive array of French-inspired recipes for contemporary American tastes. Classic recipes are updated with modern twists in dishes such as Fresh Pea Soup with Cilantro and Meyer Lemon Crème Brûlée. Delectable dessert recipes include Grand Marnier Soufflé, Gingerbread Napoleon with Poached Pears and Caramel Sauce, Compote of Fresh Berries with Lemon Verbena Ice Cream, and classic Tiramisù.

Additional chapters on first courses, soups, salads, pasta and risotto, fish and shellfish, vegetables, breads, cookies, chocolates, cakes, and pastries offer the home cook a recipe for every occasion. Risley also provides in-depth discussions on ingredients such as cheese, chocolate, truffles, and planned leftovers. A section of Suggested Seasonal Menus as well as a chapter of foundation recipes for accomplished cooks complete this wonderful volume.

Illustrated with gorgeous black-and-white drawings, The Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook will become the cookbook you can't live without. It's the next best thing to having a cooking instructor cook right beside you.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Risley is founder and owner of Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco, California. Inspired by Julia Child, Mary established her school in 1979, after teaching cooking to friends in her apartment for many years. Mary currently oversees the school's operations and travels frequently, giving cooking demonstrations throughout the U.S. and Canada. A regular contributor to Bon Appetit, Mary also writes for Saveur and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Reviews

Operating a full-time cooking school in San Francisco since 1979, Risley brings an authoritative voice to her serious instructive approach. Don't even think of cooking leeks al dente, she declares, due to their fibrous quality. Eschewing the chumminess prevalent in cookbooks today, she resolves to teach the user every home cooking technique necessary. After proceeding through the book, cooks of any stripe can learn hors d'oeuvre from the simple Parmesan Cheese Twists to Caviar in Beggar's Purses, a first course like Whole Artichoke Filled with Roasted Garlic Souffl‚ and entrees as uncomplicated as Linguine with Roasted Peppers and Sausage or as sophisticated as Magret of Duck in Cassis Sauce. As the title suggests, French is the dominant accent, but international favorites appear throughout, as in Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese, Paella and Chicken Saute with Preserved Lemons and Olives. The fat police should beware of such dishes as Mushrooms Filled with Garlic Butter, and Mussels with Mashed Potatoes Gratin‚e, each of which contains three sticks of butter and serves four. Sidebars appear frequently to describe how, for example, to deep fry properly or butterfly a leg of lamb. Desserts run the gamut from the familiar Blueberries in Lemon Mousse to the far more demanding Hazelnut Dacquoise. Directing with a firm but gentle hand, Risley has earned the mantle of culinary tutor.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook similarly grounds itself in classic French cuisine, but San Francisco cooking teacher Mary Risley expands the traditional repertoire to include currently popular pasta and risotto among her recommended recipes. In fact, Risley draws on other national cuisines as well. Her Spinach Triangles may use a cream-cheese pastry instead of phyllo, but the feta-cheese filling reflects Greek inspiration. Her Poulet au Vinaigre couldn't be more classically French, but Chicken Pot Pie uses artichokes and shiitake mushrooms instead of the usual vegetable complement. A pair of ducks becomes two separate meals, one with the breasts in sweet cassis sauce, a second with legs and thighs braised into an earthy bacon and lentil casserole. Juniper-scented rabbit stew crowns cakes of polenta enriched with both Parmesan and Gruyere cheeses. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743214919
• ISBN 13: 9780743214919
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432