Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook
by By the Creators of Top Chef
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Book Summary Information
Author: By the Creators of Top ChefForeword: Padma Lakshmi
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-30
ISBN: 0811870820
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Book Reviews of Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook
Book Review: Have some more fun in the kitchen!
Summary: 5 Stars
If anyone knows me they know that my favorite show in the history of television is...`The Sopranos', but my favorite REALITY show in the history of reality T.V. is `Top Chef'. I love to cook, I mean truly LOVE it. There is no place I'd rather be than a kitchen (well, I won't totally exaggerate, but you get the idea).
If only I had the time and money to put myself through culinary school!
Alas, I can only dream, and this show helps me dream BIGGER. It influences me and urges me with each intricately conceived dish to push myself even more, expand my personal taste and grow as a chef myself. Okay, so I'm not a chef, but try and tell my friends and family that!
So, that brings me to the second `Top Chef' cookbook, `The Quickfire Cookbook'. I'm a fan of the quickfire challenges on the show, for it really gets down and showcases the chefs ability to adapt on command. You have time restraints and limited ingredient selection or themes you need to work within and you have to make it pristine and polished. Using these challenges for this cookbook was a great idea, and I'm almost tempted to say that this cookbook is, overall, better than the one that preceded it.
Okay, I'm not tempted too...I'm saying it. This one is better!
Just like the first in the series, this is so much more than a simple cookbook. For any fan of the show, this is a MUST HAVE item. With bios on every contestant (cheftestant) from the first 5 seasons, as well as trivia, back-stories on the show itself, quizzes and fun exercises, this is the ultimate cookbook (and a pretty showpiece at that). Oh yeah, and the recipes are great here. So, I haven't prepared everything (that'll take a while) and I rarely follow a recipe to the T since I'm all about improvising and using other recipes or ideas as mere inspiration for my own style, but I have cooked quite a few of these in one way shape or form.
So, some suggestions:
C.J.'s Seafood-Cauliflower-Pepper Salad (found on page 69) is phenomenal. I personally went with shrimp over crayfish, but that is just a personal preference. Spike's Sensual Beef Salad (found on page 91) is also superb, just don't overdo it on the cilantro, unless you really like that flavor (I don't). These two salads are great and easy dishes, and they are fun to play with. They are salads yet they have a lot more bite than you usual. Speaking of easy, Mia's Bean Salad (found on page 87) is the easiest dish I've made from this book (everything is basically found in a can) but when you serve this under a pork tenderloin it becomes exquisite, seriously.
And I am determined to master Joey's Scallops with Jasmine Rice Risotto (found on page 125). Okay, so I got the scallop part down (YUM) but risotto is my Achilles Heal!
So, I totally recommend this book. It's fun, vibrant, entertaining and informative. The recipes range from simple to intricate, but most importantly they all taste really good (or at least the ones I've tried). The pictures are mouth watering, the instructions are fairly easy to follow, and while you may not be able to find every ingredient you need at Wall-Mart, this is the type of book designed to expand your horizons and wrestle out the culinary god (or goddess) in us all.
Oh, and a minor factual error in the book, it was Andrew, NOT SPIKE, who coined the term `culinary boner'.
Summary of Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook
The much-anticipated follow-up to the New York Times best-selling Top Chef: The Cookbook is here! Drawing from all 5 seasons of the show, Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook features 75 of the best recipesfrom Spike's Pizza alla Greek to Stephanie's Bittersweet Chocolate Cakeculled from the Top ChefQuickfire Challenges. Everything the home chef needs to assemble an impressive meal and channel the energy of the Quickfire kitchen is collected here, including advice on hosting a Quickfire Cocktail Party and staging Quickfire Challengesat home. Best of all, this book is spilling over with sidebar material, including tips for home chefs, interviews with contestants, fabulous photos, and fun trivia related to the chefs, dishes, and ingredients that make Top Chef a favorite.Quick & Easy Books
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