Synopses & Reviews
Eva Longoria may be most recognized for her role as
Desperate Housewives’ saucy Gabrielle Solis, but on her own time, there are few places she would rather be than in the kitchen, cooking the food she loves for her family and friends. Here is the food Eva loves to eat, and the recipes in
Eva’s Kitchen trace her life story, taking readers on her culinary journey—from the food she was brought up on to the recipes inspired by her travels abroad to the dishes she serves during casual nights at home.
Having grown up on a ranch with every meal based on what was in the family fields, Eva believes, like so many of us, that good cooking relies on local, fresh, easy-to-find ingredients. In Eva’s Kitchen, she teaches readers essential cooking skills and she sprinkles in the histories and traditions behind her favorite dishes, including personal stories and anecdotes that capture the warmth, humor, and joy of her most memorable meals.
In her first cookbook, Eva welcomes you into her kitchen, offering 100 of her favorite dishes—many of which are family recipes collected over the years—all fused with her passion for cooking. She also shares memories of her Texas ranch upbringing, her very first cooking adventures, vacations overseas, nights in with her girlfriends, and last-minute pre–red carpet meals.
Inspired by her heritage, Eva highlights the essentials of great Mexican cooking, Texas style—with her family’s recipes and techniques for making the world’s best tamales, homemade tortillas, Spanish rice, and Pan de Polvo (Mexican pastry), to name a few. She also offers dishes from a variety of international cuisines, from Latin American to Italian and French, inspired by her globe-trotting travels. A taste of Lemon Dover Sole whisks Eva to a tiny hotel-restaurant she once visited on a trip to Normandy; the recipe for Cannellini Beans with Crushed Red Pepper was a souvenir from a trip to Florence; kimchi adds a kick to her Spicy Roasted Brussels Sprouts, a Thanksgiving staple; and Yellow Squash Soup with Lemon brings her full circle, back to her family’s vegetable garden in Corpus Christi.
With full-color food photographs, intimate portraits of her family and friends, and a glimpse into Eva’s home and her lesser-known domestic side (family first, acting second, she says), Eva’s debut cookbook will entice her loyal fans and inspire home cooks to broaden their culinary horizons and create memorable meals for the people they love.
Review
andquot;Iand#39;ve been lucky enough to be a guest at many of Katie Leeand#39;s summer soirees. I promise that the recipes are as mouthwatering as they look. Hit the fish tacos immediately.andquot;
Review
andldquo;To me, a girl who comes from upstate New York, endless summer is a great state of mind. What I love about Katieandrsquo;s latest book is the color. It really explodes off the page. The pictures of the food are stunning and you want to cook up the entire book all in the same dayandmdash;of course, that would be an endless meal and not an endless summer. Personal fav (Iandrsquo;m a burger loving girl)andmdash;that BLT Ranch Burger is one sexy beast!andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Rarely am I as impressed as I was when I first saw this new cookbook by Katie Lee . . . itandrsquo;s as breezy and yummy as it sounds and makes me want to summer all year round.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The minute you meet Katie Lee you realize that this is someone who loves life and has boundless energy. What I love about this book is not only its wonderful and simple recipes but the fact that you can literally feel the joy coming off the pages.andnbsp;The best food is made with love, passion, and happiness . . . these are things that Katie Lee and Endless SummerCookbook are full of and I know once you jump in, you will agree!andrdquo;
Synopsis
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Katie Leeandmdash;co-host of Food Networkandrsquo;s The Kitchenandmdash;is known for her summer soirees, and in Endless Summer Cookbook, she shares more than 100 recipes that are staples at these parties. As Chef Bobby Flay can attest, andldquo;the recipes are as mouthwatering as they look.andrdquo;
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For Katie, cooking isnand#39;t just about the food. Itandrsquo;s about the whole experience: the atmosphere, the stories that each ingredient tells, and, of course, the people who share the meal. Katieandrsquo;s vision of a complete entertaining experience continues with Endless Summer Cookbookandmdash;where the cooking reflects the distinctive flavors of her home in the Hamptons.
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From photography to design to the recipes themselves, Endless Summer Cookbook evokes the delicious flavors of the best season of the cookandrsquo;s year. Included are salad Niandccedil;oise, peach blueberry cobbler, figs wrapped in prosciutto, a pizza thrown onto the grill, steak tacos served with avocado and fresh cilantro, and much, much more. Katie also offers ideas for wine pairing and easy entertaining. Endless Summer Cookbookandmdash;with its stunning photography and fresh, easy recipesandmdash;brings to mind the ultimate summer fantasy of lazy, luxurious days at the beach.
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About the Author
My love affair with cooking started long ago, but I remember it so clearly. When I was about six years old, my mom was leaving for work early one morning and I told her I was hungry. “So cook something!” she answered. I vividly remember pulling up a chair to the stove and turning it on with a match. (I know—dangerous, but it was a different time!) I selected the smallest frying pan I could fi nd because I wanted to cook one egg. Not eggs, just one egg. I cracked the egg on the edge of the pan, as I’d seen my mom do effortlessly many times before, and emptied it into the frying pan.
Of course, the pan was full of eggshell. I didn’t use any butter or oil, so the egg stuck everywhere. I can’t even remember now what it tasted like, but I can recall the feeling of accomplishment I had after cooking that egg. I found it empowering and energizing. I was hooked from that day forward.
I wanted to learn everything! I wanted my little EASY-BAKE Oven to make casseroles like my mom’s. I wanted my lemonade stand to have more flavor options than just lemon. And for Christmas I wanted my own hand mixer! I eventually graduated from cooking an egg to making my own spaghetti sauce.
I have my family to thank for my cooking skills and the inspiration they gave me to begin my own culinary journey. My dad was a big believer in never eating fast food, so we were not allowed to have it. And nothing ever went to waste. I grew up on a ranch outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, and throughout my childhood my family grew our own vegetables and raised our own chickens. Every day my mom cooked with garden-fresh calabasa (squash), carrots, and beans, and freshly laid eggs. Every last bit of that garden’s harvest was always used, and any trimmings went right to the compost pile. She worked full-time as a special education teacher; took care of my oldest sister, who is developmentally disabled; and had three other daughters to drive all over town to cheerleading, band practice, work, and everywhere else busy teenage girls need to go. But in spite of it all, she always managed to have dinner on the table every night at 6P.M. for my dad. This was such an important lesson in my life. The fact that my mother clearly reveled in taking care of her family in addition to having a career inspired me to be the same way. I cannot count the number of times that I’ve found myself in a Gucci dress and heels—with full hair and makeup, about to run out to an event—pulling a roasted chicken out of the oven in order to make sure that my family is fed before leaving the house to face a hundred photographers on a red carpet.