Chez Panisse Vegetables
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend For twenty-five years, Alice Waters and her friends at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California have dedicated themselves to the ideal of serving the finest, freshest foods with simplicity and style. From tender baby asparagus in early spring, to the colorful spectrum of peppers at the height of summer; crisp, leafy chicories in autumn, to sweet butternut squash in the dark of winter, much of the inspiration about what to put on the menu comes from the… Product details and pricing info |
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29 Customer Reviews Posted
- Not just a recipe book
- Best as a source of general information, rather than a recipe book. Beautifully illustrated, each vegetable chapter gets a concise discussion on buying, storing, varieties, and even growing your own, followed by a few pages of recipes. Most of the recipes are fairly simple and a bit "sketchy", as in not a lot of detailed step-by-step instructions. If this style appeals to you, you will probably like this book. If you're expecting a traditional cookbook, maybe not. There is a companion book, Chez Panisse Fruit, in a similar format.
- 2008-12-13, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Great for gardens and farmer's markets
- We belong to a farm co-op, so every week we get a fresh batch of surprise produce I have to figure out how to use up. This book has been very helpful for simple, delicious preparations of one or just a few veggies. There are more complicated recipes as well that I generally don't use, but even just for the basics it's very useful.
One caveat, though: the book assumes you are quite proficient in the kitchen. There's very little information about what level of heat, what kind of pan to use, or defining basic terms. If you need a little more hand-holding in the kitchen, this book probably isn't for you. - 2008-12-04, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- From the Garden to the Kitchen
- Cook by the season has been Alice's Water's modus operandi for three decades. It's a simple concept. Prepare food that is fresh and seasonal: the sweet mellow taste of a spring onion, and the sweet-tart flavor of an early fall apple. If you are going to spend time in the kitchen, why not work with the best "tools"-- the freshest, tastiest vegetables and fruits. Vegetables always taste best when prepared fresh from the garden or farm market. Here's a quick list:
* Spring: artichokes, arugula, asian greens, asparagus, beets, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbages, cardoon, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, endive, fennel, green garlic, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, scallions, spinach, turnips.
* Summer: arugula, asian greens, avocadoes, basil, beans, cactus pads, celery, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, fava beans, kohlrabi, leeks, melons, mustard, onions, peppers, pumpkins, radicchio, rhubarb, shallots, squashes, tomatoes.
* Fall: arugula, beets, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowr, chard, cress, endive, fennel, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuces, olives, peas, potatoes, radishes, salsify, scallions, spinach, sunchokes, tomatillos, turnips.
* Winter: artichokes, asian greens, avocades, cabbage, collards, cress, kale, onions, parnsips, potatoes, salsify, turnips.
CHEZ PANISSE VEGETABLES is Alice's roundup of vegetables matched with great seasonal recipes. There's an introductory essay in which Alice gives us her years-in-the-kitchen wisdom followed by 4 or 5 recipes for 43 commonly used vegetables. This is a companion to Water's own Chez Panisse Fruit. Once you own this book, you'll no doubt want Jane Grigson's seminal collection from 1978 Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book (At Table) written when Alice Waters was just a pup. To get started growing all of these and more in your own garden try The Kitchen Garden Grower's Guide: A practical vegetable and herb garden encyclopedia. - 2008-12-03, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Elegant Veggie Recipes I Always Wanted to Know...
- I love this cookbook. It's organized alphabetically by vegetable and for each there's an introduction that gives some history and general information like how to select a ripe tomato. There are recipes for vegetables you may not have heard of like cardoons, chicories, and sorrel. It is great for anyone participating in a CSA (getting veggie boxes from a farm) or shopping at farmers markets because it's so extensive and creative -- eleven cabbage recipes for instance.
Alice Water's cooking style is easy and elegant though some recipes might appear challenging to the novice cook as she doesn't always specify quantities of ingredients. Most of the recipes are vegetarian but there are several that include meat such as Artichokes with Baked Anchovy Stuffing or Wilted Mustard Greens and Proscuitto.
I made the Whole Wheat Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts, and Ricotta Salata the other night and it was delicious. Even my fiance, who's generally anti vegetarian and anti cauliflower couldn't get enough of it. There really shouldn't be any vegetarian stigma (if you're inclined to have one) attached to this book as it's simply European and California inspired recipes for lovely dishes. - 2008-09-17, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Beautiful Cards
- Aside from the box being gorgeous itself, these cards are exquisite!! You will not be disappointed.
- 2008-07-17, 0 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
