{ "item_title" : "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home", "item_author" : [" Julia Child", "Jacques Pepin "], "item_description" : "The companion volume to the public television series Julia and Jacques Cooking at HomeTwo legendary cooks, Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, invite us into their kitchen and show us the basics of good home cooking.         What makes this book unique is the richness of information they offer on every page, as they demonstrate techniques (on which they don't always agree), discuss ingredients, improvise, balance flavors to round out a meal, and conjure up new dishes from leftovers. Center stage in these pages are carefully spelled-out recipes flanked by Julia's comments and Jacques's comments--the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime of honing their cooking skills. Nothing is written in stone, they imply. And that is one of the most important lessons for every good cook.        So sharpen your knives and join in the fun as you learn to make . . .        *--Appetizers--from traditional and instant grav-lax to your own sausage in brioche and a country pâté        *--Soups--from New England chicken chowder and onion soup gratinée to Mediterranean seafood stew and that creamy essence of mussels, billi-bi        *--Eggs--omelets and tortillas; scrambled, poached, and coddled eggs; eggs as a liaison for sauces and as the puffing power for soufflés        *--Salads and Sandwiches--basic green and near-Niçoise salads; a crusty round seafood-stuffed bread, a lobster roll, and a pan bagnat        *--Potatoes--baked, mashed, hash-browned, scalloped, souffléd, and French-fried        *--Vegetables--the favorites from artichokes to tomatoes, blanched, steamed, sautéed, braised, glazed, and gratinéed        *--Fish--familiar varieties whole and filleted (with step-by-step instructions for preparing your own), steamed en papillote, grilled, seared, roasted, and poached, plus a classic sole meunière and the essentials of lobster cookery        *--Poultry--the perfect roast chicken (Julia's way and Jacques's way); holiday turkey, Julia's deconstructed and Jacques's galantine; their two novel approaches to duck        *--Meat--the right technique for each cut of meat (along with lessons in cutting up), from steaks and hamburger to boeuf bourguignon and roast leg of lamb         *--Desserts--crème caramel, profiteroles, chocolate roulade, free-form apple tart--as you make them you'll learn all the important building blocks for handling dough, cooking custards, preparing fillings and frostings        And much, much more . . .        Throughout this richly illustrated book you'll see Julia's and Jacques's hands at work, and you'll sense the pleasure the two are having cooking together, tasting, exchanging ideas, joshing with each other, and raising a glass to savor the fruits of their labor. Again and again they demonstrate that cooking is endlessly fascinating and challenging and, while ultimately personal, it is a joy to be shared.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers2.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/37/540/431/0375404317_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "65.00", "online_price" : "65.00", "our_price" : "65.00", "club_price" : "65.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

Overview

Customers Also Bought

Details

Two Legendary Cooks in a Delectable Dialogue . . . Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home is the big (416 pages), beautiful (full color photographs throughout) companion volume to the new 22-part PBS series airing in October. This is a "companion volume" that can stand alone and stand proud. TV cooking shows can be fun, instructive, and even inspirational but, when the image fades, it's over, even if you've been taking notes madly. A good cookbook lasts for years, taking on the sauce-spotted patina that proves it's well-loved and well-used; Cooking at Home is bound for that exalted, if stained, status. Julia Child, one of our great gastronomic gurus, is a champion of the home cook; as a culinary pioneer on TV and a cookbook author, her disarmingly direct approach to the making of French food forever changed the way we cook. Jacques Pepin, a popular TV chef and cookbook author too, is a professional chef who has cooked in some of the renowned restaurants of France. Food is not only J and J's business, it's their greatest pleasure, and they want it to be ours as well. Here they take us back to basics and way beyond, from scrambling eggs to a sublime souffle, from simple poached chicken to "Turkey Galantine," boned, stuffed with forcemeat, roasted, and garnished. There's a full range of interesting, intriguing recipes - appetizers, soups, salads, veggies, fish, poultry, meat, and desserts - including both classics and new improvisations. But it's Julia and Jacques's collaborative commentaries on ingredients, utensils, and techniques that make this book unique. Their running dialogue, distilled into chatty, informative accompaniments, flank each recipe. These patient, provocative explanations and explications can buoy up a sagging home cook who wonders why it's important to make mayonnaise rather than buy it, or who is faced with off-season, unripe tomatoes (a sprinkling of sugar can do the trick in ten minutes). As with Ms. Waters's book, there's much here that the home cook can learn from the pros. We don't have to do things at chef-speed, cutting up whole chickens in seconds, but if, as Julia advises, we can absorb some of their restaurant-honed methods into our own repertoire, we can do what we do with more ease and excellence. Julia's and Jacques's joint effort wonderfully integrates the experiences and expertise of a top-of-the-line professional and a serious home cook, properly seasoned with their joy in sharing and their unflagging elan.