Cooking with Curtis: Easy, Everyday and Adventurous Recipes for the Home Cook

by Curtis Stone, Craig Kinder (Photographer)

Three steps to astonishing meals. Divided by season, Cooking with Curtis features such traditional ingredients as lamb, chocolate and rhubarb along with scallops, vanilla and even truffles. Professional chef Curtis Stone points out that his dishes are often chosen from a restaurant menu, but are rarely prepared at home. He selects 24 ingredients, then offers three different recipes for one for beginner cooks, one for the experienced and the last for the adventurous. This three-step approach ingeniously builds confidence in even the most timid cook. After all, cooking basics can be mastered by anyone -- and this book promises that a complex dish can successfully be prepared by following Chef Stone's expert directions. Recipes
Tagliatelle of white truffles from Alba
King prawns with caramelized endive
Roasted sea scallop wrapped in pancetta with tomato and gremolata
Zuppa ribolita (lentil soup with vegetables)
Classic apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream. Cooking with Curtis serves up a remarkable repertoire of delightful dishes for cooks of all levels of expertise.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2005

Reviews

[Katie Cat Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recipe book. Seasonal. 3 recipes per ingredient.

Australian celebrity chef brings recipes featuring seasonal ingredients in this 2005 book.

The book is broken down into the 4 seasons, then again to 6 ingredients, which each include an easy, medium and hard recipe.

While I appreciated the layout and recipes in the book, when I tried an easy one I failed. Guess I'm no Masterchef. The fault was in me or my ingredients, not the book, so give it a go and have better luck than me!

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for one of his first books, but too chef-y for me.

[Stormy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so I love me some Curtis Stone. I am a picky eater. I don't have an adventurous culinary bone in my body. Most cooking shows, I watch and while I'm fascinated at the technique and skill, I have absolutely NO interest in trying to eat any of it. Just not appetizing. Curtis is different, even when he gets a little fancy, I'm usually on board.

Then there's this book. In perhaps roughly 40-60, I found 6 recipes that I would try. Mostly I flipped through going "Ewww", "Yuck", "Why would anyone eat that?"

In other words, I was back.

Sigh, well, even sweet cheeks can't be perfect, I guess.

[Joelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I love Curtis in person after attending a cooking demo and meeting him for an autograph copy of this book, I've gone through it and I wasn't exactly impressed. He uses some hard to find/unqiue ingredients, making some of his recipes a little too challenging for an everyday home cook. His book is broken down by seasons - and although this is a thoughtful approach, I don't find it to be very efficient.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curtis is my favorite chef no contest. Though we have different tastes at times I do share alot of ideas with him such as the importance of eating in season, the use of chocolate, and taking a chance to try something new. The man is amazing beyond belief and I was lucky enough to meet and cook with him. I hear he has another book out in 2009, can't wait!

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could nearly give this cookbook 4 stars. I like the difficulty ratings on the recipes, and I like the difficulty of some of the recipes. It's good to challenge yourself with difficult recipes sometimes.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his recipes. Everytime I read the recipes I think, they're going to be bland, and then I make them and they're absolutely delicious. This guy has skills.