A popular Food Network personality offers detailed recipes to help home chefs rock the kitchen.
Known best for her upbeat persona and edgy look, Burrell has appeared on the Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and battled alongside Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. In her first cookbook, she begins with the twin principles of preparation and comfort, assuring readers that any home chef can "rock out" and prepare delicious meals for family and friends. “Being a rock star in the kitchen means taking control, having fun, and thinking of cooking as entertainment,” she writes. She starts with recipes for piccolini (“Think of them as Italian tapas”), such as Figs Stuffed with Gorgonzola and Walnuts, Oyster Mushroom Chips and Eggplant Cakes with Ricotta. Appetizers like Parmigiano Flan give way to entrees as diverse and exciting as Duck Breast with Dried Fruit and Vin Santo, Seared Crispy-Skin Black Bass and Braised Cabbage Stuffed with Sausage and Fennel. Recipes featured in the chapters on Pasta, Sides and Desserts are equally varied and mouthwatering. Throughout, Burrell adds expertise and advice for both novice and experienced chefs—e.g., her warning about preparing risotto: “Brace yourself and really whip the hell out of the rice—the Italian word for this is mantecare, and this is the step the Italians don't tell you about!" A spirited cookbook that will lead to fun and flavor at home.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-88675-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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