It’s difficult to imagine the average home cook not gaining wisdom, skill and confidence from this worthy addition to the...
“I’m too busy.” “It’s too expensive.” “I don’t know how.” Celebrity chef and author Oliver (Jamie’s Food Revolution, 2011, etc.) doesn’t want to hear your excuses for not preparing home-cooked meals. None of them are true anyway, and he sets out to prove it.
The author provides an eclectic assortment of recipes for 50 entire meals—not just single dishes—that can be prepared in around 30 minutes. The key to foolproof success, Oliver writes, is smart preparation of the kitchen workspace, having the right tools on hand and learning to excel at multitasking. If readers find the system a bit intense at first, the author promises that it becomes easier with experience, and, he warns lightheartedly, possibly even a little addictive. Oliver provides simply stated and easy-to-follow instructions for every aspect of the process, from getting started to serving. He lays out the steps for each meal like a lavishly illustrated road map; which dish to start first with, when to begin the second dish, when to start dessert, etc.—it’s all plainly indicated on the page. Those who might prefer to prepare a single dish rather than the entire meal will find that easy to accomplish, as all the individual dishes are indexed at the back of the book, with vegetarian dishes designated.
It’s difficult to imagine the average home cook not gaining wisdom, skill and confidence from this worthy addition to the Oliver Empire.Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1401324421
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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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