Synopses & Reviews
Can I use a twelve-inch black cast-iron skillet for roasting? What can a mandoline do that a food processor cant? What is the difference between tournedos, filet mignon, and Chateaubriand?
Whether youre a beginner, a seasoned cook, or a professional chef, no doubt youve spent precious time trying to unravel such kitchen conundrums, learning largely through trial, error, and perhaps one too many dry, leathery roasts.
Every home cook has questions, and in this user-friendly, indispensable volume, acclaimed cooking teacher and food writer Perla Meyers concisely and authoritatively answers each one, taking on the most basic as well as the more complex questions on everything from kitchen equipment, pots, and utensils to pantry essentials. Part technical reference guide, part cookbook, How to Peel a Peach is the comprehensive resource to rely on, day in and day out, for common-sense solutions and satisfying recipes from Meyers, plus tips from famous chefs.
The creative process doesnt begin with a recipeMeyers maintains that it starts at grocery stores, farmers markets, and specialty shops, places where cooks gain an intimate knowledge of ingredients and equipment. In a lively, direct style, she reveals the art of shopping, plus how to store and prepare everything from meat and game to vegetables, seafood, pasta, grains, and fruitspriceless guidance that is essential for cooking intuitively.
Whether sharing a recipe for blender mayonnaise or Sherry Sabayon, Viennese Goulash Soup or Pan-Seared Rib-Eye Steak in Herb and Shallot Butter, this culinary insider brings home her deep knowledge and deft techniques. Delicious and accessible, these recipes, over 150 in all, are quintessentially Meyerscontemporary classics with a Mediterranean twistand make it easy to put the authors sage, savvy advice into action.
Review
The Seasonal Kitchen, Meyers’s first cookbook, was published in 1973, long before cooking with fresh local ingredients became a mantra for chefs and good cooks everywhere. Several titles in that same vein (e.g. From Market to Kitchen) followed. Her new book features hundreds of culinary Q&As (the questions are culled from Meyers’s workshop students), along with her favorite recipes in each category, from vegetables to fruit; also included are chapters on equipment and stocking the pantry. There is a lot of information here, and while some readers will appreciate the format, others might wish for an easier-to-use organizational style – i.e., a factual section on cooking duck rather than a series of questions, e.g., “I’d like to buy a duck breast, but I don’t know how to prepare it” and “I love to grill chicken but have never attempted duck – can it be done?” Nevertheless, Meyers is knowledgeable, and her recipes sound delicious. For most collections. (Library Journal, May 15, 2004)
Synopsis
EVERY HOME COOK HAS QUESTIONS
and How to Peel a Peach has the answers. Whether youre a bona fide beginner or a kitchen dynamo, chances are youve been stumped by culinary questions great and small. In these pages, wise, worldly culinary professional Perla Meyers comes to the rescue, offering a wealth of information about ingredients, equipment, and techniques in a forthright Q&A format. With timeless recipes that illustrate her points, its as if this prominent cooking teacher is by your side, conducting a series of special classes just for you.
Synopsis
PERLA MEYERS is one of the countrys leading cooking teachers and a much-in-demand food industry consultant. A graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière in Lausanne, Switzerland, she is the author of eight cookbooks, including the award-winning The Seasonal Kitchen, the first cookbook inducted into the Cookbook Hall of Fame. Her articles have been featured in the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and Food & Wine.
Synopsis
EVERY HOME COOK HAS QUESTIONS
and How to Peel a Peach has the answers. Whether you're a bona fide beginner or a kitchen dynamo, chances are you've been stumped by culinary questions great and small. In these pages, wise, worldly culinary professional Perla Meyers comes to the rescue, offering a wealth of information about ingredients, equipment, and techniques in a forthright Q&A format. With timeless recipes that illustrate her points, it's as if this prominent cooking teacher is by your side, conducting a series of special classes just for you.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.
Chapter 1. Introduction.
Chapter 2. The Essential Kitchen: Equipment and Utensils.
Chapter 3. The Cook’s Pantry.
Chapter 4. Vegetables and Herbs.
Chapter 5. Seafood.
Chapter 6. Poultry.
Chapter 7. Meat and Game.
Chapter 8. Pasta, Grains, and Beans.
Chapter 9. Fruit.
Sources for Equipment and Ingredients.
Basic Recipes.
Index.