Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire & Empower: A Cookbook

by Anne Burrell, Suzanne Lenzer

In this follow-up to her spectacular bestselling debut Cook Like a Rock Star, Food Network chef and host Anne Burrell shows you not just how to keep rocking in the kitchen, but how to cook like you own it.

Taking control in the kitchen means mastering flavors and constantly keeping an eye on what Anne calls "QC" (quality control). It starts with learning the power of great ingredients (how quality olive oil and salt can transform an everyday dish), understanding the tools in your kitchen, and getting your mise en place ready before diving into a recipe. Anne shows you how to apply these skills to a slew of delicious, high-brow/low-stress recipes that get you out of a cooking rut, so you can keep surprising yourself in the kitchen. POC (piece of cake)!

Try out your new skills with classic bistro fare, such as Grilled Hanger Steak, Fish and Chips, or simple dishes, like Mushroom Soup with Bacon, and Shrimp in Garlic Oil and Chiles. Master roasting with a Hawaiian pork dish, have fun with spices making chicken roti, for a casual bite there’s her Sicilian Tuna, Caponata, Provolone & Arugula Panino. Each dish—whether firsts, seconds, sides, brunch, sandwiches or desserts—is accessible yet teaches a range of techniques and embraces tantalizing flavors. And they all share Anne’s secrets to great home cooking.

Here is Anne at her most personal—complete with her enthusiastic, sassy approach to how to get the most out of ingredients and whip up irresistibly delicious dishes that she likes to cook at home. So cook these recipes, master them, and then you will OWN YOUR KITCHEN!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Foodie

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Anne W. Burrell was an American chef, television personality, and former instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She was the host of the Food Network show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and co-host of Worst Cooks in America. She was also one of the Iron Chefs, Mario Batali's sous chefs in the Iron Chef America series and appeared on other programs on the network such as The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She was a contestant on the fourth season of The Food Network competition show, The Next Iron Chef Super Chefs being eliminated in episode 6. She was also a contestant on the first season of Chopped All-Stars Tournament, winning the "Food Network Personalities" preliminary round to advance to the final round, where she placed second runner up to Nate Appleman (winner) and Aarón Sanchez. In 2015, Burrell won the fourth installment of the Chopped All-Stars tournament winning $75,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She also hosted the series Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell in 2012–2013.

Reviews

[Woman Inside Water · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed chef Anne Burrell's simple, straightforward and sassy cooking instructions ever since seeing her on the tv show Worst Cooks in America, where she encouraged her students to do better and provided constructive criticism. She is my favorite chef because she is so likable, and I love her sense of style, which she isn't afraid to show. Her recipes are delicious, affordable and inspire confidence in the amateur cook.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.

My husband and I love The Food Network, so I was very excited to win a copy of Anne Burrell's cookbook! Right off the bat the colors and pictures in the book are great and make me want to eat everything. I like her advice on "10 Ways to Own Your Kitchen" at the beginning of the book, very helpful for people learning to cook like myself. There is even a picture step-by-step on how to butterfly a chicken. Also helpful is that before each recipe Chef Anne lists the "mise en place", or prep work you need to do before starting to cook. A lot of the recipes do seem more advanced that I was prepared for, however.

I was impressed to see the recipe for "Scotch eggs" on page 38, which my husband and I always used to get at a little restaurant in Indiana. Can't wait to try and make our own! Though, we like the eggs hardboiled not runny.

Many of the recipes sound delicious, if not a little weird. Does anybody like "marinated white anchovies" (page 34)? These "different" recipes are contrasted with old favorites like "shepherd's pie" on page 92 and "fish and chips" on page 114. I do like the humor Chef Anne adds right into the recipes, like "Remove and discard the garlic- it has fulfilled its garlic destiny" (pg. 119).

And AHHH a whole section on brunch! Now we're talking. Cranberry-walnut scones?! Yes please. Baked eggs, stuffed french toast, "french" rolled omelets, fruit smoothies- all YUM.

Sandwich section. "I'm like Joey from Friends- my favorite food is sandwiches" (page 172). Never has making your own focaccia bread seemed so possible (page 174). I've never heard of "cubano toscano" (page 182), but I want one. Now. Also, since Thanksgiving is right around the corner I love that she has a recipe for a "leftover thanksgiving dinner sandwich" on page 193. That will come in handy.

I guess I'm missing something in that I've never had "mushy peas" (page 210). Doesn't SOUND very appetizing but I've heard it is. I do want to make the "cranberry-clementine chutney" (page 225)for Thanksgiving- forget canned cranberry sauce! It is a short, easy recipe too.

Desserts- gotta try the "almond caramel thumbprints" on page 233. I love anything almond. And caramel. So really it's a win-win.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of my disappointment is that Italian does not generally immediately appeal to me and that's Burrell's background. Okay, so be it. The menu suggestions were just generally mediocre in my opinion, however. Or not things I can see myself having a place to serve. The brunch section was a strange addition and seemed out of place. The writing, which was cute at first, grated on me by about halfway through the book. It seems like Burrell must have actually written it despite the celebrity predilection for ghost writers and she clearly had little interest in taking her copy editor's notes. There was just legitimately broken English scattered through the book. The rest seemed too cutesy--you don't have to throw in your catch phrases into the directions every time. You don't need to use multiple instances of punctuation for one sentence; I was rather expecting to see i's dotted with hearts. Anyway, the fact I was this distracted and annoyed by the text of a cook book (nevermind the copious pictures of Burrell...like, yes, you have parties, you like serving, super...) overall left me with quite a poor impression.

[Melissa B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I love cookbooks, and this is no exception. Well written, well illustrated, and a wide variety of recipes.
I want to quit work so I can stay at home all day and cook her recipes. It is written in her "vernacular" so is lots of fun to read! The recipes don't contain lots of exotic ingredients, most everything I have on-hand!
I recommend this book without reservations!
I received this book through Goodreads FirstReads.

[Sallee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures in this cookbook and lush and mouthwatering. This is a real "foodie" book. The recipes are quite doable but some of the ingredients are not real common and may take searching in more than your big box stores. Yet, I found myself drooling looking at the pictures. This makes it a keeper.

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Anne Burrell for many years for her work on Food Network, so the chance to try out some of her recipes was not to be turned down. In fact, the recipes that I have tried so far have not only been tasty and delicious, but also easy to follow and without an excess of ingredients. Italian cooking at its finest.

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

She’s fantastic!! She knows her stuff and she teaches well. She’s got so many recipes in this book though that I just don’t know if I want to try. Not weird ingredients necessarily, just unique or different, even expensive.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love anne all her stuff is delicious

[Mrs. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Anne Burrell and her previous cookbook. This one, while well written and filled with color photos, just didn't have recipes that appealed to me as much as those in her first book.

[Catherine Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good cookbook

Anne makes the recipes look very easy to make. The pictures of the recipes let you know what the final product will look like.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've like her recipes I've made but I didn't see anything here I really want to try.