How do great chefs make their food taste better? Is it the ingredients they use?
Their cooking techniques and equipment? That's part of the answer. But the real
secret is that truly great chefs follow their instincts -- the kitchens in their
heads. Now, in her first cookbook, Jody Adams, the award-winning chef/co-owner
of Boston's Rialto, teaches you how to follow your own instincts and make the
transition from passionate eater to passionate cook.
In the Hands of a Chef shares Jody's favorite dishes, those she prepares for
family and friends in her home kitchen. By teaching the basics of artisanal
cooking, or making good food from scratch, she gives cooks a solid foundation
for cooking like a chef. She tells readers what to look for when buying
ingredients, what equipment is essential, and how a dish should look and taste
while being prepared.
Above all, Jody encourages readers to trust their instincts and follow them to
create a cooking style that feels right, using recipes as the building blocks
for their own creations.
From starters, seasonal soups, salads, and main courses to desserts, Jody
reinvents Mediterranean foods using unconventional ingredients, many from New
England. For a boost of summer flavor, grilled tomatoes add depth to gazpacho.
To vary the flavor of simple salads -- from a Minted Romaine Salad with Grapes,
Ricotta Salata, and Toasted Almonds to Arugula and Portobella Mushroom Salad-one
or two seasonal ingredients are added to the usual recipes. Drawing inspiration
from Italian tradition, Jody offers up innovative pasta and grains dishes.
Ravioli, pappardelle, gnocchi, and linguine are served up with Mediterranean
flavors and ingredients -- tomatoes, olives, figs, chestnuts, fresh greens, wild
mushrooms, Parmesan cheese -- for home-style meals any time of the year. Yet
much of Jody's cooking is pure American in flavor. Dessert classics are
reinvented with new twists, such as Super-Creamy Rice Pudding with Passion Fruit
Sauce and Heather's Cranberry Chocolate Pecan Tart. Here, too, are Jody's
signature dishes, including Roasted Marinated Long Island Duck with Green Olive
and Balsamic Vinegar Sauce and Soupe de Poisson, which Jacques Pépin calls the
best version outside of France.
Intended to make you wish you had more time to spend in the kitchen, In the
Hands of a Chef is an inspiration as well as an essential resource for every
cook. Why be just a good cook when you can be a great one? Put yourself in the
hands of Jody Adams with In the Hands of a Chef. Buy at Amazon now!
