Chef, Interrupted: Delicious Chefs' Recipes That You Can Actua

Description: Chef, Interrupted: Delicious Chefs' Recipes That You Can Actually Make at Home

For anyone who aspires to restaurant-chef-type food but not the long ingredient lists and interminable cooking directions, here's the perfect book. Melissa Clark retains the spark of genius in the chefs' original time-consuming recipes, but pares them down (interrupts the chefs) to their most essential, simple elements, allowing any cook to create four-star cuisine at home without a staff of sous-chefs, an unlimited budget, and an entire weekend to fritter away. "Chef, Interrupted" is like taking a cooking class from not one or two but more than fifty world-renowned chefs across a broad spectrum of expertise, including seafood with Eric Ripert and dessert with Claudia Fleming, American standouts like Tom Colicchio and Wylie Dufresne, and the international flavors of Norman Van Aken, Bobby Flay, and Marcus Samuelsson.
For the past decade, Melissa Clark has made a name for herself by doing one thing very adeptly: making chefs' recipes accessible to home cooks, whether through coauthoring books with the likes of David Bouley and Daniel Boulud or writing "The Chef" columns and other articles in the "New York Times," Melissa is a genius at discovering what's really great about a chef's recipe, then simplifying it--keeping the part where the recipe is inventive and delicious, and then interrupting the chef when it gets out of hand.
The result--this book--is a remarkable combination of creative cuisine and real-life practicalities, and "Chef, Interrupted "offers a fantastic panoply of mouthwatering dishes. From salads like Suzanne Goin's Arugula-Mint Salad with Apricots and Cumin to fish like Christian Delouvrier's Roasted Cod with Brandade Potatoes, from Jonathan Waxman's Pollo alForno with Panzanella to Tom Douglas's Citrus-Braised Pork Shank with Bread-Crumb Gremolata, from Bill Telepan's Heirloom Pea Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche to Claudia Fleming's Goat Cheese Cake with Thyme-Macerated Raspberry Compote--this is restaurant food that you can really and truly make at home.

Review: "It's not easy to close the gap between professional chefs and home cooks, but Melissa Clark does it with elan. As someone who is both a chef and a home cook, I was delighted to read her book and discover any number of come-hither recipes decoded for home use." --Sara Moulton, executive chef at "Gourmet Magazine," host of Food Network's "Sara's Secrets," and food editor for ABC-TV's "Good Morning America"
"I was always taught that it was not a wise thing to interrupt a chef in the process of cooking a great dish. Melissa Clark has turned that notion on its head by picking on some of our nation's most exciting culinary talents--many of whom I've had the honor of working with--and convincing them to tell her in the clearest possible terms what they're doing and how the heck they made it seem so easy." --Danny Meyer
"I usually read chef cookbooks and say to myself, 'Great, I'll go to his restaurant.' But I just read Melissa Clark's chef-inspired cookbook and said to myself, 'Great, I can cook that.' Melissa knows exactly how to bring a professional recipe down to earth. She is, indeed, a master of the genre." --Arthur Schwartz
"Melissa Clark has created an all-embracing cookbook that celebrates the superb food being executed in some of the finest restaurants in America, but in such a way that any home cook can create in their own home. Clark's attempt to demystify professional recipes and tailor them to the home cook is fantastically achieved in "Chef, Interrupted,"" --Mario Batali
"An absolute must for all home cooks who like to eat well, this book is the one that you will turn to when you want to impress." --Daniel Boulud
"Melissa Clark can interrupt me anytime! Thinkof her as the perfect interpreter as she guides you through the treacherous terrain of some of America's greatest chefs' recipes." --Bobby Flay
"Normally it can be dangerous to interrupt a chef--even though we don't throw pots . . . very often. But Melissa Clark does it for good reason. She shares the recipes of some of our finest 'clog-beaters' and makes them something you won't be throwing pots about, either! Great flavors and less time . . . maybe she's on to something extraordinary." --Norman Van Aken