Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | Q 641.5 NEF | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Amazingly flavorful, low-fat, low-calorie food from America's #1 spa chef
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The very phrase "spa cuisine" holds the promise of luxurious food (at empyrean prices), dazzlingly presented and of course, more nutritious and healthful than you could ever imagine. To his credit, Neff, chef at Chicago's Miraval Life in Balance Resort, makes good on most of these superlatives in his book, which is as much a manifesto for a beautiful way of life-wholesome, elegant, flavorful-as it is a cookbook. Earnest and articulate, Neff is an able culinary innovator. In an entire chapter on low-fat sauces he coaxes strange bedfellows into happy marriages: carrot-cardamom sauce, saffron-chive sauce, beet-ginger sauce. All the recipes are low-fat, just daring any home cook to try sauting a pound of protein in 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil. There is, of course, a catch in this too-good-to-be-true formulation: these are not simple dishes to prepare. Easy-sounding "Vegetable Casserole" calls upon four separate recipes dispersed throughout the book. And that's child's play compared to the side dish Layered Spinach, Wild Mushroom, and Carrot Mousse. Neff trained as a traditional chef, which may explain his assumption that readers have an army of prep staff and dishwashers awaiting orders. In any case, it seems clear that this is not a cookbook for the average weekday night-unless one commits to living with the "conscious cuisine" ethos ("to become more conscious or mindful of food") for weeks at a time, in which case one might have Toasted Fennel and Tomato Sauce, or Beet, Cranberry and Jicama Relish on hand at any hour of the day or night. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Few aromas impart the comfort of walking into a house on a fall day like that of the scents of a stew that's been lazily simmering on the stove for hours. In Real Stew, Clifford Wright expands the notion of stews beyond customary red meat-based versions to include bouillabaisse, chowders, minestrone, chili, and more. Wright's tome covers a truly world-encompassing repertoire. He has Brazilian feijoada, Palestinian green bean and lamb stew, Croatian sausage and sauerkraut stew, Iranian fesenjan, Aruban goat stew, Mexican xonequi, and dozens more. Organized by the basic meat or fish of the stew, recipes are easy to follow and authentic without being inaccessible. There is a section of meatless stews for vegetarians. The book's comprehensiveness (bypassing only China and Japan) adds to its value. More common in American households than stews are their near relatives: casseroles. These, too, can be set in an oven and forgotten, freeing the cook for other duties. Barbara Jones' The Ultimate Casserole Cookbook doesn't immediately rush into common shortcuts such as adding a can of cream soup to meat. She calls for fresh ingredients such as white wine and sour cream in her mushroom-chicken stroganoff. But she does resort to canned soup when time is of the essence in an easy broccoli chicken bake. By spicing this hasty casserole with curry and adding steamed fresh broccoli, she adds flavor and texture missing in so many soup-based dishes. Cooks with little time and much responsibility for family dinners will find lots here to entice hungry mouths of all age groups. Opposite these books designed to get food on the table and appetites quickly satisfied lies the deeply caring Cary Neff's Conscious Cuisine. Neff thinks about every ingredient he puts on the plate. Not only must each item be high quality, it must meet the chef's exacting nutritional standards. Based on his experience in spa cookery, Neff strives for a menu of little fat, and every recipe inventories the dish's nutritional benefit. Although not exclusively vegetarian, Neff's cuisine uses meat sparingly and emphasizes fresh vegetables of the highest quality. A few examples of tofu and tempeh-based dishes appear, but they are only supplementary. His Dauphinoise potatoes achieve a semblance of the original's creaminess by using rice milk, almonds, and roasted garlic to sauce thin potato slices. Expert home cooks will enjoy the challenges here while they decrease their families' intake of saturated fats. Large-format photographs increase the foods' appeal. Colin Cowie understands the importance of setting in appreciating good cooking. In Dinner after Dark, Cowie designs whole menus and recommends table settings to enhance entertaining. The careful home cook can duplicate most of the foods, but few will have on hand the panoply of china, crystal, and silverware, let alone the designer furniture, to fully realize Cowie's lavish events. But the food is always the heart of the matter, and one can wow one's guests with many of Cowie's creations. His Portuguese menu of spicy chicken livers and peppery shrimp needs the sweetness of raisin-studded rice as a balance. As they contemplate these lovely comestibles, guests are prone to overimbibe the fizzy Portuguese wine cocktail Cowie offers as a beverage. A less rambunctious crowd might be attracted to his meat loaf, macaroni and cheese, and green bean dinner. Photographs illustrate the settings of some of the author's catering successes. Cowie's numerous television followers will create demand for this title. Ina Garten made her name as a premier supplier of prepared foods in Long Island's Hamptons' carryout Barefoot Contessa. Her latest cookbook continues the traditions of her earlier work. In Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Garten serves up dinners centered on homey comforts. Mashed turnips are made palatable to even the fussiest eater by topping them with crisply fried shallots. Squash gets enriched with brown sugar and plenty of butter. Basil, cheddar, and ricotta cheese enliven otherwise bland corn pudding. For a patriotic party, nothing surpasses the sentiment of Garten's flag cake, with its precise rows of red raspberries marching between stripes of whipped cream. Blueberries and more piped whipped cream create a field of stars. Who doesn't subsist on the sandwich? Whether made at home or purchased at a fast-food outlet, it's the quintessential American lunchtime repast. Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book gives dozens of sophisticated and unusual ideas for sandwiches that transcend the ordinary. Silverton, owner of Los Angeles' La Brea Bakery, recognizes how important good bread is as the foundation of a sandwich. First come open-faced sandwiches ranging from simple grilled garlic bread to a festal combination of rare tuna, braised leeks, hard-boiled egg, and olives topped with garlic mayonnaise. She re-creates the retro Monte Cristo sandwich, a deep-fried version of French toast layered with ham and turkey. Silverton avoids prepared ingredients, preferring even to roast her own pork. For dessert, she invents "club sandwiches," triple layers of cake, filling, and frosting. Silverton's juxtapositions of ingredients should inspire readers to create their own unique sandwich medleys. Bread recipes include buttery brioche and classic hot dog buns.
Library Journal Review
"Conscious cuisine" is what Neff calls the food he cooks at Miraval Spa near Tucson, AZ, among the top spa resorts in the country. Here he presents dozens of recipes for the sophisticated but healthful food he serves-one of the major reasons for the spa's popularity. Dozens of color photographs, many of them full page, show off the gorgeous presentations that add to the appeal of Neff's boldly flavored dishes. For diet collections and others where spa cookbooks like Jeanne Jones's Canyon Ranch Cooking or Michael Stroot's Golden Door Cookbook have been popular. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.