Learn to COOK - Cook What You Love: Simple, Flavorful Recipes to Make Again and Again
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List Price: $30.00
Our Price: $18.42
Your Save: $ 11.58 ( 39% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Clarkson Potter
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: 2005-10-18
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Release Date: 2005-10-18
Studio: Clarkson Potter
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Editorial Reviews:
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More than a decade ago, Bob and Melinda Blanchard decided to follow their dreams, taking a risk that many of us would not chance: They uprooted themselves from the cold winters of Vermont, moved to the Caribbean island of Anguilla, opened a seaside restaurant, and settled into the beautiful rhythms of a new life on island time. The Blanchards chronicled this inspiring transformation in their book A Trip to the Beach—the story of their journey to living the life they love. Here, in Cook What You Love, Bob and Melinda extend that journey into the pleasures of the kitchen, teaching us that even if we can’t move to paradise, we can create our own little paradise wherever we are, at any time of year.
In Cook What You Love, Bob and Melinda bring food and people together in the kitchen and around the table. With simple ingredients, no-fuss instructions, and flavorful meals that can be prepared in a snap, this book celebrates the Blanchards’ knack for combining the sublime comforts of great food and great company with glimpses into their paradise.
Cook What You Love blends many of the Blanchards’ favorite recipes with anecdotes about how their love for food seeps into every part of life. Bob and Melinda’s transporting stories take you from making tortillas and salsa in the mountains of Mexico to discovering the combination of lime, coconut, and ginger in Thailand and grilling chicken and ribs at an Anguillan bike race. From Blue Cheese and Mango Bundles, Reggae Pork, and Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese Salad to Crunchy Coconut French Toast, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, and Key Lime Pound Cake, every recipe merges the timeless flavors of the Blanchards’ classic New England roots with the rich influences of the Caribbean.
The delicious recipes are accompanied by expert cooking tips and, to make it easy, include prep and cooking times. Cook What You Love joins some of the Blanchards’ most celebrated restaurant recipes with their personal home-cooked favorites, creating an incredible breadth of both everyday and special-occasion dishes—all enlivened with their infectious enthusiasm for exploring new tastes, places, and friendships around the common bond of food.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Easy, Amazing recipes
Comment: We were told before our recent trip to Anguilla, Blanchard's is simply the best! Not only did we fall in love with the island but with Blanchard's and their newly opened restaurant, Zurra. The food was amazing and each night Bob Blanchard personally greets all the guests. We purchased both this cookbook and another and yes, we have brought it all home. The recipes are easy to follow, quick and are simply delicious. You can not go wrong!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Exactly as advertised: your go-to cookbook
Comment: It's easy to love --- or envy --- Melinda and Bob Blanchard.
They have a charmed life: a restaurant on a Caribbean island so popular that people fly to Anguilla just to have dinner there, a lovely house in Vermont for summer retreats, lifestyle books that sell and sell.
But in the end, the early motto of Motown applies: "It's what's in the grooves that counts."
That is: These "simple, flavorful recipes to make again and again" --- well, do you?
We bought "Cook What You Love" because "At Blanchard's Table: A Trip to the Beach Cookbook" was very much a cookbook we turned to again and again. And not for the entertaining stories about Blanchard's Restaurant, the Blanchards' enlightened management theories and their annoyingly happy marriage --- those passages made for pleasant reading, but only once. The reason to own a cookbook is the food. And here the Blanchards shine.
Melinda Blanchard does not begin in the kindergarten --- she assumes you know your way around a kitchen and can crank out a dozen meals good enough to serve to friends. She assumes you have sharp knives and quality pans. She assumes you don't need to be told that fresh trumps frozen, that prepared foods are generally a disguised delivery system for chemicals, and warmth and friendship are essential ingredients in any dish.
As a result, Mrs. Blanchard produces stunningly straightforward recipes. You'll need fresh ingredients and a few spices. You won't need much time; nothing takes very long to make. And you won't need to stress, as dinners build around Blanchard recipes somehow seem.... relaxed.
Bonus points: great range and great editing. In about 175 pages, Melinda Blanchard not only covers hors d'oeuvres, salads, main dishes, vegetables and desserts, she presents a toothsome selection of breakfast specialties and eight recipes for kids.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I adore this book!
Comment: A friend gave me this book, and I absolutely love it. The recipes depart refreshingly from standard fare and yet remain very accessible, often by providing a twist on old favorites. Just as the title says, these are wonderful, simple recipes you'll want to make many times.
The style of the writing is warm and welcoming, a friendly reminder to slow down and savor the moment. And whose life wouldn't be improved by a little more savoring? :)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yum Yum
Comment: This is probably the best cookbook that I have ever purchased. So far, I haven't found a recipe that wasn't great and easy to make. Unlike some complicated and unclear recipes found in cookbooks and internet sites, this book lays out clear unambigious tasks while identifying the times and ingredients to make it all happen. Recipes are simple to make and oh, so delicious! I would recommend this book to anyone from a beginner to a pro! Go ahead, buy the book for some Caribbean flavor!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Cook what you love...that is, if you love food more than Chihuahuas
Comment: So...with all the free recipes online, why would I need to buy cookbooks? The authors address this question in the introduction, and I agree with the answer they quote in their book:
"Like other good books, the best cookbooks have strong voices that lure readers into unfamiliar worlds, give colorful observations about those places, and, above all, reveal a passionate interest in sharing pleasure." (Barbara Haber, food historian.)
Online recipes (not the food described, but the writing style, if that makes any sense) are usually straightforward and colorless. "Do this. Do that. Don't let this happen." The recipes in the best cookbooks, on the other hand, imply the outlook of their writers. "Do this, because it will make your tongue melt. I did that the other day, and while it isn't for everyone, it made me want to dance around naked."*
The recipes in Cook What You Love are appealing. The first section, breakfast, begins with a short essay about the joys of making breakfast in bed, so while I was reading this section, I was imagining my husband bringing me breakfast in bed. "Yes," I said to myself, "I would eat Crunchy Coconut French Toast in bed. I would eat Orange-Currant Muffins and One-Eyed Jacks and Spanish Scrambled Eggs in bed..." It all sounded good. I then asked myself whether I would cook all those recipes if it meant getting up early to do it...well, that one was harder, but I ended up with a "yes" there, too. As I read my way through the book, I realized I would cook anything in the book, just so I could eat it, and that, I think, is the mark of a good cookbook.
The mark of a really good cookbook is when it can talk you into trying something you normally wouldn't try, either because you don't care for it or it's a pain to make. I found myself actually considering roasting cherry tomatoes, even though I don't like them, just because of the description in the book:
"We're always looking for ways to add color and texture to a recipe. Food seems to taste better if it looks beautiful. Roasted whole cherry tomatoes are a quick, easy way to brighten up a platter of these or any other scrambled eggs. Just toss the tomatoes with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast at 400F for about 10 minutes or until hot and wrinkled. Serve them hot or at room temperature."
Hm....I'll think about it. I keep promising myself a trip to the farmer's market. Maybe I'll pick up some cherry tomatoes and give it a go.
*Also, online recipes usually don't have pictures. Mmmm....it's food erotica.
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