Simple Classics Cookbook (Williams-Sonoma Complete Cookbooks) by Williams, Chuck published by Oxmoor House (2002) [Hardcover]

by Chuck Williams

From the creators of the best-selling Williams-Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook comes a wonderful addition to the Complete Series. Williams-Sonoma Simple Classics Cookbook , a guide to Italian, French, and American favorites, offers a wealth of delicious and, more importantly, simple recipes for cooks who favor foods with international flair. Combining the best of Simple French , Simple Italian , and Simple American Cooking , this beautifully photographed and incredibly valued book is a must for people who love to cook.

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks, Food, Reference

Unknown Binding

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Chuck Williams

Charles Edward Williams (October 2, 1915 – December 5, 2015) was the American founder of Williams Sonoma and author and editor of more than 100 books on the subject of cooking. Williams is credited for playing a major role in introducing French cookware into American kitchens through his retail and mail-order business. He became a centenarian in October 2015 and died two months later on December 5, 2015, in San Francisco, California.

In 1947, Chuck Williams settled in Sonoma, California, and opened his first shop as a hardware store. In 1953, Williams took his first trip to France, where he quickly fell in love with French kitchenware such as copper cookware, and is quoted as saying, "I knew this was something that wasn't found in America, but thought people would want." Shortly after returning home, he formulated a plan to import French cooking and serving equipment into America and eventually converted his store into a cookware shop in 1956. Thus, Williams Sonoma was founded, selling professional and restaurant-quality kitchenware for home use, leading to founder Chuck Williams being recognized as one of the titans of the American food revolution.

source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Devon Flaherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t normally like the cookbooks put out by publishing houses, brands, and stores and such. I ended up with William Sonoma’s Simple Classics Cookbook as a gift very early in my marriage, and it is one of the few of this type of book I have hung on to. Maybe the only, actually. Why? Because it contains exactly what it claims to: simple classics. Who doesn’t want to make simple classics? And from this particular book, they would be either French, Italian, or American. Well, we’re probably not going to eat Dan Dan Noodles and Bibimbap every day. These are the types of recipes that will take a suburban Midwesterner right back to the eighties and nineties of their childhood and provide both weeknight and weekend comfort dinners.

My copy’s a little old and stylistically outdated, but there are large photos for every recipe, as well as pretty meticulous recipes. There isn’t a never-ending supply of them, but you’ll still be pretty happy, I imagine, with Minestrone, Chicken with Basil Aioli, Veal Scallopine with Marsala, Grape Focaccia, and Mixed Berry Shortcake. There’s nothing super special about this book, and if I were you I probably wouldn’t run out and find a copy, if indeed they can still be found. But I will be keeping it on my shelf to make simple classics from braised pork loin to roasted duck.

***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE STARVING ARTIST BLOG***

[Charissa Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview: Williams-Sonoma has been known for the cooking and baking essentials. And while everyone needs something to cook in or on, you need to know what to cook. Otherwise, all we would do is warm up tv dinners or other microwavable meals. This book offers recipes from the American, Italian, and French cuisines for our enjoyment. How does this book measure up? Let's find out.

Dislikes: This is a matter of personal tastes, or tastebuds to be precise, but there were a few eggplant recipes in this book.

Likes: We were given icons to identify the cuisines that each recipe belongs to.

There is a sliding scale of skills for these recipes. We go from easy, as in the case of many of the salads, to complicated, as in the case of the chocolate mousse. This is a book that will grow with the new cook.

I've heard of tomato sauce/catsup-based meatloaves, white meatloaves, and even smoked meatloaves. This is the first time that I've ran across a red pepper sauce meatloaf. It sounds quite interesting.

We also get a recipe for lemon curd.

Conclusion: This is quite the useful book. If you like cooking at home, then this is the book for you. Enjoy the read.

[Catherine Gillespie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Williams-Sonoma Simple Classics Cookbook: The Best of Simple Italian, French & American Cooking has some great ideas like adding cardamom and orange peel to chocolate mousse and also contains a ton of basic how-to sections with pictures, like for zesting and roasting red peppers, and trussing a chicken and so forth. If you need the basics, that would be helpful. However, I felt like some of the recipes I read through sounded a little bland for my tastes. For example, I would not describe a recipe that seasons two pounds of lamb with a mere 1/2 teaspoon each of coriander and cumin as “strong” like this book does. But that’s a matter of personal tastes, and you may find that the less spicy route is better for your family.

{Read the rest of my review on A Spirited Mind}

[Don LaVange · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favorite cookbook. Which is odd, because I loathe the William Sonoma store itself. Not the things inside, which tend to be quality items, but the whole fu-fu overpriced model of it (I do buy their overpriced martini glasses, some of them are beautiful).

Regular family favorites from this book are:
Chicken Curry, Baked Beets in Cream, roasted chili peppers in cream with shallots and basil, chicken with sage and calvados and a few others. I really need to keep trying new recipies in this because everyone I've tried is a winner. One note on the chicken curry -- I started with his recipe, but now I add onions, garlic, ginger and use more hot curry than he recommends. I tend to make an additional curry sauce that is very hot from a paste that I can add to mine.

[Katheryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page 42 is delicious. Curried Chicken Breasts with Basmati Rice. Zucchini soup on page 13 is also great.